The temperature was falling faster than the setting sun on a Friday evening that felt more like Autumn than Spring. Car after car with members of the Ojalá Foundation rolled into the parking lot of Fairplay Foods on Chicago’s Southwest Side for the weekly “Neighborly Deeds Initiative” of passing out food to the homeless. “As-salamu…
These are just a few of the terms used to describe a group of more dynamic people than the one-dimensional labels forced upon them, often by the U.S. government and academics. Census racial and ethnic epithets, for example, widen the gap by erasing people behind labels, leading to stereotypes that promote bias. Latinx is a…
The missteps in the COVID-19 vaccine distribution were predictable. How could anyone expect better from a broken health care system riddled with barriers for people of color due to deeply rooted structural racism and bias? For nearly a year, it’s been widely reported how the pandemic is disproportionately affecting Black and Brown communities across the…
Did that title grab your attention? For some of you, it’s unsettling. Others, a reaffirmation. To many, empathy. To be clear. There are many white people who like me (smiling). I have many white colleagues, friends and relatives who appreciate and respect me, as I do them. This story is about the resentment of white…
Will anyone in the Trump administration be held responsible? Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen certainly should be held accountable for the physical and psychological pain migrant children are enduring. The despicable result of the heartless policy would have been easily predicted had anyone on Trump’s team (including the President) would’ve treated people escaping terror as…
OPINION: The threat to our nation aren’t immigrants coming to the U.S.A. 🇺🇸 through the southern border, legally or not. The threat is president Donald Trump’s politics of fear. What’s most important to him (Trump) is the repetition of the lie to the MAGA hat wearing zealots who will be at the Coliseum, undoubtedly chanting…
Mr. President, stop using the derogatory and inaccurate term, “illegal aliens”. Last night, President Donald Trump repeatedly used those demeaning words in his speech from the Oval Office to instill fear and win favor for his campaign promise to build a border wall that many critics say is too costly and unnecessary. Pulitzer prize winning journalist Jose Antonio…
Friend Request. Invitation to Connect. Follows You. Like many of you, I am active in social media. I don’t just use it to pass the time, but also as a tool in managing my career. I engage with persons who can potentially help me enhance my personal brand and advance my professional aspirations. I apply…
It will be some time before we learn whether or not the Latino Vote 🗳 made a difference in the midterm elections of 2018. Leading up to Election Day, there were mixed signals 👍🏼👎🏼 if this would finally be the year that the so called “Sleeping Giant” would awake. Many Democrats 🐴 were counting on…
”Live in Springfield, Jenifer Abreu, KOLR 10 News.¨ Being a reporter like Jenifer, for a local television station or national network or even a digital news outlet isn´t easy. It takes a lot of preparation to get right, what is more often than not 15 to 30 seconds of face time. As the most visible member…
Happy #HispanicHeritageMonth! Or is it ¡Feliz #MesdelaHerencia? 🤔 How does one celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month anyway? With tequila and guacamole? Or perhaps empanadas y mate tea? How about with Andean music or reggaeton? And why Hispanic and not #Latino Heritage Month? Each year millions of people celebrate the history, culture, contributions and #DIVERSITY of Hispanic…
“Did you read it?” she asks just before taking a sip from her michelada. “I did”, I reply. And then I start going down my list: “Journalists are not the enemy”, The Boston Globe. “A Free Press Needs You”, The New York Times. “Defendemos la libertad de prensa”, El Diario. “Think your enemy is the…
Car horns blare as dozens of impatient drivers slowly weave in and out of lanes looking for familiar faces from the many strange ones staring at them from the curb. A trip to the airport can be exciting if you are being dropped off; it is a different story when you are there to pick…
Like millions of people around the globe, my family and I are celebrating lesbian l, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ) Pride Month. It is the first time we are participating in the annual June festivities since my daughter Isabella announced openly with all of our family and friends that she is a bisexual woman.…
Don’t do it. Resist the urge to put on a sombrero. That fake mustache isn’t funny. And that wanna be Mexican accent isn’t either. But, yes…by all means do have a shot of tequila. It’s Cinco De Mayo once again! Time for misinformed, insensitive nitwits to justify celebrating tired stereotypes about Mexican history, culture and…
Straight Talk 