Frank X. Moraga
A hero in Boston, diversity on cable news networks, death of a Chicano activist and support for a new Latino-focused movie
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805
With the week rapidly drawing to a close, this seems like a good time to review recent issues and events and look ahead at what’s coming up.
The week started off badly with the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday.
Three people were killed and scores injured, including a dozen still in critical condition. The event brought to mind my visit to Boston a few years back, visiting the Old North Church where a lantern was displayed warning colonists the British were coming, the historic downtown, and of course, a tour of Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox.
It sent shivers through me knowing that the two blasts could be heard at the baseball stadium, which is less than a couple of miles from the end of the marathon where all the carnage took place.
But while this is indeed another tragedy to join the list of Oklahoma City, 9-11 and other acts of terror, the event once again highlighted the way this nation can quickly put aside petty political differences and help others in their time of need.
Instead of racing away from the blasts, police, medical workers and everyday people ran toward the injured, providing life-saving aid to the scores of victims.
One hero was Carlos Arredondo, a Costa Rican immigrant who lost his son in Iraq in 2004. According to a New York Times story, his son, Alexander, was killed by a sniper. The death eventually caused Alexander’s younger brother, Brian, to turn to drugs to deal with depression, with Brian killing himself in 2011.
Carlos Arredondo also tried to kill himself, setting himself on fire. However, he recovered from his severe burns and has become a peace activist.
A story in The Guardian recounts how the cowboy hat-wearing Arredondo ran across the street after the bombs went off in Boston, helped tear away fencing and scaffolding and used his clothes and towels to stop a victim from bleeding out.
For him there were no issues of race, inequality or politics — just the need to help people. What a perfect example of those who contribute to this wonderful mosaic of individuals who make up these United States.
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Monday was supposed to be the day when the so-called Gang of Eight in Washington, D.C. was to present its sweeping immigration reform bill proposal. The announcement, delayed due to the bombing in Boston, creates a path toward citizenship for 11 million undocumented (not illegal because they haven’t been tried and convicted) immigrants.
The proposal achieved one goal — making sure no one is entirely happy, with some saying it’s basically amnesty, while others say it still would make it very difficult and take years before citizenship is fully achieved.
A story this week by Reuters brings a human face to the issue with interviews of strawberry workers in Oxnard who have not seen sick family members in Mexico for years because the workers fear not being able to return to work.
The bill faces a tough challenge on Capitol Hill, a place that proved this week that even if you have 90 percent of the American public supporting reasonable background checks for gun purchases, that is no guarantee that a bill will pass thanks to hardline, National Rifle Association-supported members of Congress.
But the Republican Party is in a bind, fears losing more Latino votes and needs to prove to Latinos that they are indeed interested in addressing their pressing issues. This should make for some lively debates among various factions of the Republican Party in Congress in the coming weeks.
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The growth of the Latino population, the growth of Latino buying power and the growth of the Latino electorate has been well documented in recently years. But you wouldn’t know that by looking at the faces on cable news shows. Soledad O’Brien recently left her hosting gig at CNN to create more documentaries, leaving only Zoraida Sambolin, who co-hosts “Early Start” from 5 to 7 p.m., according to a story in Latinorebels.com
Meanwhile, MSNBC, which likes to tout itself as the network that “Lean Forward,” continues to stand in place on the issue of promoting Latinos to host primetime, or even any time cable news programs.
Chris Hayes was moved from his weekend morning spot to primetime position this week, being replaced by Steve Kornaki. As reported last year in The Daily Beast, with only one of the 23 MSNBC hosts listed as Latino (and even that is questionable if they include Filipina-American and Asian-American Journalist Association member Veronica de la Cruz on the list) the weekend spot would have been a perfect opportunity bring in and prepare a Latino/a to host a primetime show. However, in this baseball season, MSNBC took a big swing and missed again.
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One individual who never backed down from making sure Latino voices were heard was educator Sal Castro. Discriminated against as a child because he only spoke Spanish in school, Castro became a teacher at Lincoln High School in Los Angeles and eventually led more than 4,000 students in a walkout of five high schools in Los Angeles in 1968, with students and the community members demanding creation of ethnic studies, bilingual education and other changes in the school district.
“He will be remembered as a teacher, counselor, leader and courageous adult who stood with students in the 1968 walkouts and ever since dedicated his life to learning and leadership,” Los Angeles School Board President Monica Garcia said in a statement reported this week in the Los Angeles Times. “Sal Castro’s courage and dedication will continue to be inspirational to future generation of students and educators.”
Castro died this week of cancer. He was 79.
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Finally, actor Edward James Olmos made a pitch this week for the community to see a new movie being released this weekend.
“The time has come for all of us to take action and to help ensure that we’ll see more Latino movies. On April 19, the movie ‘Filly Brown’ opens in 200 theaters around the United States. The movie, which I’m honored to be a part of, is a story about an 18-year-old Latina poet, Filly Brown, who is also a rap artist who sings her poetry. It’s an honest story about a 21st Century family,” Olmos wrote in Latino Print Network’s April 18 e-newsletter — Hispanic Marketing 101.
The movie also stars the late singer Jenni Rivera as Filly’s mother and actor Lou Diamond Phillips as Filly’s father.
“Beyond the film, attending this movie-especially on opening weekend-will send the message to movie studios that the audience wants to see more Latino themed films,” Olmos said. “If Filly Brown succeeds in the box office, we will start to see our stories told in major motion pictures. We are 52 million Latinos and major studios are still not telling our stories.”
So here’s wishing you all a great movie-going weekend.
— Frank X. Moraga is editor/publisher of Amigos805. He has served as business editor, director of diversity and general manager of a bilingual publication at the Ventura County Star, and as a reporter in the community editions of the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Daily News.
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