Monthly Archive for November, 2011

Moving to U.S. and Amassing a Fortune, No English Needed

Published on November 27, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Photo by Richard Perry from The New York Times

By Kirk Semple from The New York Times

More than 40 years after arriving in New York from Mexico uneducated and broke, Felix Sanchez de la Vega Guzman still can barely speak English. Ask him a question, and he will respond with a few halting phrases and an apologetic smile before shifting back to the comfort of Spanish.

Yet Mr. Sanchez has lived the great American success story. He turned a business selling tortillas on the street into a $19 million food manufacturing empire that threaded together the Mexican diaspora from coast to coast and reached back into Mexico itself.

Mr. Sanchez is part of a small class of immigrants who arrived in the United States with nothing and, despite speaking little or no English, became remarkably prosperous. And while generations of immigrants have thrived despite language barriers, technology, these days, has made it easier for such entrepreneurs to attain considerable affluence.

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Little Diversity Among ‘Occupy Chicago’ Protesters

Published on November 20, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Photo by Jean Lachat from the Sun-Times

By Mary Mitchell from the Chicago Sun-Times

On Wednesday, I dropped by the “Occupy Chicago” protest in front of the Chicago Board of Trade. It was fascinating.

At one point, there were more uniformed police officers stationed in the courtyard adjacent to the Board of Trade than there were protesters.

But that didn’t stop a young man with a bullhorn from heckling the officers.

“This is what a police state looks like,” he kept shouting.

Now that 300 people have been arrested for being in Grant Park after the park’s 11 p.m. closing time, the protest has kicked up a notch.

The “occupation” is no longer just about Wall Street. Now it’s about free speech and the right to assemble peacefully.

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Seventh-graders Challenged to Respect Diversity

Published on November 12, 2011 in News. 0 Comments

Germantown Middle Schooler Micail Niter (center) goes along for the ride with school counselor Carey Collins at Challenge Days.

By Sherri Drake Silence from The Commercial Appeal

Teenagers can be mean to each other, but seventh-graders at Germantown Middle School this week are learning to set aside judgments and value diversity.

For the second straight year, the school has brought in leaders from “Challenge Day,” a social coaching program featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and MTV. The lively program, put on by a California-based nonprofit organization, aims to connect young people and promote respect through games and candid group talks.

“What if we had one day when no one felt like they were left out?” said Challenge Day leader Katie Salvage of California, who shared her own experience of growing up biracial and being called derogatory names.

“Every day I would sell myself out just to feel included,” she told the students Tuesday. ” … I don’t think anyone should come to school and be bullied for who they are.”

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Thumbs in Eyes, Kids in Schools

Published on November 5, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From The Economist

Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil-rights division, sent a letter to the superintendents of Alabama’s school districts. HB56, Alabama’s harsh immigration law, requires “public schools to determine the citizenship and immigration status of students enrolling.” Supporters insist that this information will only be used to compile statistics. Latinos in Alabama, you will not be surprised to hear, are not convinced: school districts seem to be losing Hispanic students. Mr Perez wrote that HB56 “may chill or discourage student participation in, or lead to the exclusion of school-age children from, public education programmes based on their parents’ race, national origin, or actual or perceived immigration status… In Plyler v Doe, the Supreme Court held that a state may not deny a child equal access to public education based on his or her immigration status.” Mr Perez has asked for a list of all students enrolled in the state’s public schools on September 27th (the day before a federal judge in Birmingham allowed most of the law to take effect), and all students who have withdrawn or had at least one unexplained absence since that date. He has asked for the information to be delivered by November 14th, and then by the 15th of every month thereafter. So score one for all lovers of list collection, government bureaucracy and vigorous federal oversight.

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