Film on Rights Struggle of Colombia's Indigenous - Huntington's Cinema Arts Centre 2/15/09

WE ARE RAISED WITH THE STAFF OF AUTHORITY IN HAND
Somos Alzados En Bastones De Mando

An award-winning documentary produced by the Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, about the resistance of the indigenous population of Colombia to repression.

Sunday, February 15

Brunch: 10:30am/Introduction, Film, Discussion: 11:30am

Speakers: Mario Murillo, host of WBAI's Wake Up Call and Assoc. Prof. of Communications, Hofstra Univ.; Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host of WBAI’s First Voices: Indigenous Radio

Help bring Colombian radio station Radio Payu-mat back on the air!

Tickets for this benefit: $25

Advance tickets available online, or call 800-838-3006 and ask for event 54041, or at CAC box office

CINEMA ARTS CENTRE - a not-for-profit film arts organization
423 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY 11743 * 631-423-7611 * Fax: 631-423-5411 * For show times, call 631-423-FILM (3456).

Army Spc. Juan Leon arrives from Afghanistan to see newborn son

Army Spc. Juan Leon, 23, of East Massapequa with his wife Lorraine, and brand new son, Nicholas Francisco Leon.

After denying him permission to travel from Afghanistan to Long Island to be with his wife during the early and difficult birth of his son, the U.S. Army relented--thanks to Congressman Steve Israel and officials--and Leon was given leave.

While Leon missed the actual birth by a few days, he had this to say: "But I'm happy I could see him, and be there for the first couple days of his life."

Congratulations to Juan and Lorraine -- and happy birthday to Nicholas!

Link: LI soldier arrives from Afghanistan to see newborn son

Sgt. Alex Jiménez' Final Gift?

Sgt. Alex Jiménez was finally laid to rest today at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale. A funeral mass was held earlier at Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church in Corona, Queens.

Sgt. Alex Jiménez was one of three U.S. soldiers that went missing in Iraq a year and half ago. Listed as a POW/MIA, his remains were finally found a few weeks ago in a village south of Baghdad.

Make no mistake about it, Sgt. Alex Jiménez' is an American story with a timely lesson for us.

Alex was an immigrant to the U.S. -- and like so many other immigrants, a gift to this nation. He was born in the Dominican Republic and was brought to the U.S. as a child. His parents, Maria Duran and Ramon Jiménez, lived and labored in the immigrant communities of Corona, Queens and Lawrence, Massachusetts. By all accounts, Alex was a good guy.

It's been said that Alex knew early on he wanted to serve his country as a member of the U.S. military. He enlisted, made the U.S. Army's elite 10th Mountain Division, and was sent off to war -- to the Iraq. And as has happened to so many other immigrant parents, Maria and Ramon lost their son.

However, Jiménez' story has a contemporary twist -- and I don't just mean that he fought and died in an unpopular war whose true purpose has been veiled. It's about the domestic and popular war against immigrants. Specifically, while Jiménez was missing in action in Iraq, his young wife, Yaderlin, was being threatened by ICE blackboots with deportation.

Yes, the very government Alex was serving was rushing to boot his new wife from the country. Imagine the fear and sense of helplessness they must have felt. It was only when Alex went missing in action that Yaderline's terrible plight became known. If it hadn't been for the ensuing public outcry, she surely would have been booted.

So, it's only fitting that Jiménez be buried in Long Island; after all, it's a place heavily shaped by the contributions and sacrifices of immigrants and their children. And it's an island that is being transformed and renewed by newer waves of immigrants settling in Long Island City, Montauk and everywhere in between.

Sadly though, Long Island has its unique brand of nativism -- an anti-newest and poorest immigrant intolerance percolating just beneath its leafy surface. It's a bias that operates subtly (and not-so-subtly) through local codes, profiling, racial steering and the like; and during times of strive--such as the present--flows into acts of intimidation, vandalism, assault and even murder.

Unfortunately, it's a dark side too many Long Islanders deny -- even though it's evident to even the casual observer.

So when "Latinos Go Home" was splashed for all to see, authorities just weren't sure the message was anti-Hispanic hate. Or when a motorist jumped the curb and plowed into a groups of Latino day workers, authorities didn't see it as a bias crime--or any crime at all. Or when a restaurant was harrassed by the local police only during "Hispanic Nights", yet authorities claimed they were just enforcing the law. Or when a village seizes rental property under the guise that it's an eyesore, evicts the immigrant/Latino residents, and trustees wonder why their motives are suspect. Or when county legislature push laws targeting Latino immigrant workers claiming they're only levelling the playing field for their largely white, middle class and heavily protected, nonimmigrants constituents. Or when a local cable station exams the rise of hate groups, ignores local anti-immigrant incidents, and then proclaims Long Island to be hate-free.

(BTW: The above incidents--and countless others--are all real and have occured on Long Island in just the last few months.)

Perhaps Sgt. Alex Jiménez' burial in Long Island soil will help sow a new resolve among concerned residents--oldtimers and newcomers, native-born and foreign-born, whites and people of color--that stopping nativism and hate is vital to preserving all that is good and right about Long Island.

Might it be Sgt. Alex Jiménez' final gift to us?

Links:
WCBS-Channel 2 -- Fallen Hero
The Body of Alex Jiménez Found
Sgt. Alex Jiménez (POW/MIA): R.I.P.
Prayers And Hope
Alex Jimenez' Wife Might Be Deported
Iraq: Missing soldiers' bodies recovered
May 2007 abduction of US soldiers in Iraq
Jimenez Family Waits
Alex Jimenez's MySpace page
Kerry Tells Homeland Security Not to Deport Wife of Missing Soldier
Woman's husband missing in Iraq since May; DHS halts her deportation

Napoleón Barragán Gives Back

A diminutive, handsome man whose graying hair is combed neatly back from his forehead, Napoleón Barragán, the founder, owner and CEO of 1-800-Mattress.com, imparts some of his creative approach to business — along with instruction on a range of business skills — to students of Newcomers High School in Long Island City and of Queens College, who participate in an internship program he has developed.

From February to June, students come to the corporate headquarters of 1-800-Mattress.com, the largest retailer of bedding by phone in the U.S., where they work in departments including marketing, sales, human resources, customer service and legal operations.

"They get the chance to learn how to manage a business, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," says Barragán.

Having immigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador in 1968 at age 27, Barragán feels an obligation to give back, particularly to other Latinos trying to make it in the U.S.

"I'm grateful to this country but I don't forget where I came from," he says. "I say [to the students], 'If I can achieve something, you can do better, because you are better prepared.' "

More

Related:
Napoleón Barragán, fundador de 1-800-Matress recibió la Condecoración Nacional al Mérito en Nueva York

Napoléon Barragán de 1-800-Mattress

1-800-Mattress: Founded by Napoleon Barragan with $2,000

Because a Guy from Ecuador Can Sell Soda Off the Back of a Donkey, Then Come Here and Build a $120 Million Business—All It Takes Is a Few Mattresses and an 800 Number

Alan Garcia Beats the Odds

Alan Garcia, 22 years old, is the jockey who rode Da'Tara to an upset victory over Triple Crown contender Big Brown in the Long Island Belmont Stakes this past Saturday. Da'Tara was a 38-1 long shot.

Native of Lima, Peru, Garcia currently resides in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

Related:
Big Brown

Mel Guadalupe is Levy's New Director of Minority Affairs

Hauppauge – Suffolk County Executive Steven Levy has named Mel Guadalupe of North Babylon as director of Minority Affairs.

Guadalupe joins Suffolk County from Bovis Lend Lease Inc., a project management and construction company, where he was manager of Community Resource Development at the firm’s New York City office. In this role he oversaw the company’s construction-based diversity program, bringing minority- and women-owned subcontractors, suppliers and vendors into the company’s projects.

Guadalupe was the chair of the L.I. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Corporate Advisory Board, chair of the National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC) Major Corporate Partners Board, and chair of the NAMC Hispanic Caucus.