Federal court panel upholds Democratic-drawn state legislative districts
A federal court panel in Chicago on Thursday upheld a Democratic redrawing of the state’s 177 legislative district boundaries, paving the way for next year’s statehouse elections and rejecting challenges from Republicans and Latino and Black advocacy groups that argued it violated voting rights laws.
chicagotribune.comA Puerto Rican filmmaker on ‘West Side Story’: ‘It’s hard to think that this is still what we’re talking about’
What does “West Side Story” have to offer in 2021, when marginalized groups are increasingly pushing to tell their own stories and using social media to seek more authentic representation in media? About US spoke with award-winning Puerto Rican filmmaker and Columbia University professor Frances Negrón-Muntaner about the latest adaptation, and Latinos in cinema.
washingtonpost.comDems: Discovery, AT&T merger will hurt diversity, workers
House Democrats are raising concerns that the proposed merger of Discovery and AT&T’s WarnerMedia, a $43 billion effort to conquer the world of streaming, could affect diversity efforts in Hollywood and particularly hurt Latinos, who are already deeply underrepresented.
As Texas’ population grows, so too could Latinos’ political power – Houston Public Media
Political observers say the state's growing Latino population is why more education efforts are needed to help Latinos understand how redistricting affects their vote. In Harris County, Latinos make up 43% of the population.
houstonpublicmedia.orgUTRGV earns prestigious Seal of Excelencia certification
Excelencia in Education, the nation’s premier authority on efforts accelerating Latino student success in higher education, Friday announced that The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has been certified with the Seal of Excelencia for 2021.
myrgv.comBooming Latino populations are helping GOP states like Texas gain new seats in Congress
The 23rd is the district that Republicans in 2011 had tried to eliminate entirely but a federal court put back in the map, though critics said it was altered to the disadvantage of Latinos, by disproportionately creating a district of higher-turnout Whites and Latinos who do not have a consistent voting history or who cannot cast ballots, such as noncitizens and children. Republicans were able to hold it for most of the decade. The other two Latino-majority seats that were drawn by the court in the last redistricting process are not currently represented by a Latino, but rather a Black Democrat in one and a White Democrat in the other.
washingtonpost.comGarden to open for El Paso Walmart shooting 2nd anniversary
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Officials in the border city of El Paso will unveil a garden Tuesday that is meant to bring healing two years after a gunman targeting Latinos opened fire at a Walmart, killing 23 people in an attack that stunned the U.S. and Mexico.
myrgv.comBiden tries to stem the alarming flow of minority voters away from Democrats ahead of midterm elections
The novel coronavirus delta variant is surging across the country, and his infrastructure proposals could catch on different political snags — but President Joe Biden is making overtures to minority voters this week.
news.yahoo.comAuthentic Latinos Representation For Latinos Still Fights The Same Barriers – Houston Public Media
Stereotypes of Latinos created a century ago still paint how entertainment media depicts Latinos today. While smaller publishing houses are avenues for Latino creatives, major film and book publishers still hold up walls.
houstonpublicmedia.orgBlack and Brown Unity Car Parade
People caravan in what organizers called the 2nd Annual Black and Brown Unity Car Parade, which began Friday evening near the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Chicago's Marquette Park. Dozens of cars, trikes and motorcycles took part in the caravan, which moved through several Black and Latino communities before ending at the South Shore Cultural Center.
chicagotribune.comBarbers, artists help defy vaccine myths for people of color
A new wave of public health advocacy that is multilingual, culturally sensitive, entertaining and personal is rapidly replacing mundane public service announcements in the battle to stamp out the disinformation around COVID-19 vaccines in communities of color.
‘I can finally hug her again’: Strong family bonds encourage Latino elders to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as Chicago youth help to book appointments
Chicago youth work together to help Latino elders book an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine as many begin to reunite with loved ones a year after the pandemic.
chicagotribune.comCoronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened March 4 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area
Meanwhile, Illinois public health officials reported that 93,302 coronavirus vaccine doses were administered Wednesday, bringing the statewide total to 2,993,543. Here’s what’s happening Thursday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:8:10 p.m.: Will the world ever really get over COVID-19? Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in an online question-and-answer session that there was a “huge rush of people” when registration first became available Thursday on the Zocdoc registration website. Still, that progress could vanish should revelers on March 17 shirk social distancing guidelines from public health officials, she said. —The New York Times8:33 a.m.: Can you stop wearing masks after getting a COVID-19 vaccine?
chicagotribune.comDaywatch: Illinois opens two new vaccination sites, Dems tap new state party chair, and ABC-7 sportscaster in limbo after on-air comments
Despite efforts by the city to make the shots available to every resident of areas most affected by COVID-19, regardless of whether they meet other standards to be vaccinated, some Latinos are still having trouble getting the vaccine while those in other hard-hit communities continue to wait for it.
chicagotribune.comMany Latinos are hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccine, poll shows
Many Latinos are hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccine, poll shows The Biden administration faces several hurdles to inoculating the U.S. against COVID-19 as quickly as possible, including hesitancy among Latino communities. A recent poll shows nearly half of Latinos in the U.S. will wait and see how the vaccine affects those who receive the shot. Professor Iris Lopez, the director of the Latin American and Latino Studies Program at City College of New York, spoke to CBSN's Tanya Rivero about the history of mistrust among Latinos with the medical community.
cbsnews.comChicago reports improvement in COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts among city’s Black and Latino population
As of Friday, nearly 67% of the COVID-19 vaccine doses administered statewide have gone to white residents, compared with 7.7% to Latinos, who make up 17.5% of the state’s population, and 7.6% to Black residents, who account for 14.6% of all Illinoisans. Race and ethnicity information is not available for nearly 10% of the doses administered across Illinois.
chicagotribune.comLatino-owned businesses are achieving record growth, but big banks still won't fund them
Despite being the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. small business ecosystem, Latinos continue to struggle to secure capital from national banks. That's according to the State of Latino Entrepreneurship 2020 research study from the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative. "Over the last five years we've really been able to dig deep into the challenges facing the Latino segment," said Marlene Orozco, lead research analyst of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative. Stanford's report found that only 20% of Latino-owned businesses that applied for national bank loans over $100,000 obtained funding, compared to 50% of White-owned businesses. The 2020 report expanded the data pool to include 3,500 White-owned businesses as a benchmark group to compare and quantify performance.
cnbc.comEarly data shows racial disparity in coronavirus vaccine recipients
Early data shows racial disparity in coronavirus vaccine recipients Black and Latinos are more likely to die from the coronavirus, but people of color are significantly behind White Americans in receiving the vaccine -- despite having a higher death rate. Adriana Diaz reports.
cbsnews.comInside the effort to add ‘Selena’ to the National Film Registry
Lawmakers are hoping to boost Latino representation in the U.S. media by adding “Selena” to the National Film Registry, NBC News reported. The 1997 blockbuster movie starring Jennifer Lopez directed by Mexican-American filmmaker Gregory Nava has been nominated to be included in the registry by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, chaired by Texas U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro. “And this is one effort to make sure that Latinos are represented in the telling of American culture and the retelling of American culture, and part of that includes American films.”The film touched important cultural identity themes that depicted Mexican-American communities living between bilingualism and navigating personal connections between the two cultures, according to Castro’s letter. He felt there was a “renewed sense of urgency” to bring Latino representation in question after the El Paso shooting in 2019 that killed 23 people, NBC News reported. Castro told NBC News he will continue to push for more Latino representation in media and film to the U.S as congressman after his term as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus ends this weekend, hoping to tackle the invisibility of the community he represents.
Julián Castro expects "good, healthy" turnout of Latino voters in Georgia
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro is confident in Democrats' ability to turn out Latino voters in Georgia's special election on Tuesday. Both the Republican and Democratic parties have sent high-profile surrogates to the state, including President Trump, President-elect Biden and former President Obama. The Associated Press' Votecast survey found that 3% of Georgia's 5 million general election voters were Latino and 60% of them voted for Mr. Biden in November. "What I expect is that we're going to see a good, healthy turnout, not only in the Latino community but across diverse communities for these Democratic candidates," he said. "I'm confident … the Latino community is going to come out in a big way for these two Democratic candidates."
cbsnews.comUS population growth smallest in at least 120 years
(AP Photo/Donald King, file)The U.S. population grew by the smallest rate in at least 120 years from 2019 to 2020, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau — a trend that demographers say provides a glimpse of the coronavirus pandemic’s toll. Population growth in the U.S. already was stagnant over the past several years due to immigration restrictions and a dip in fertility, but coronavirus-related deaths exacerbated that lethargic-growth trend, said William Frey, a senior fellow at The Brooking Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. “I think it’s a first glimpse of where we may be heading as far as low population growth," Frey said. Among the states, Idaho had the largest single-year population increase, growing 2.1% to 1.8 million residents. Sixteen states lost population, including California, the nation’s most populous state, which declined 0.18% to 39.3 million residents.
A child’s killing at Cabrini-Green sparks memories of a neighborhood’s troubled past, and hopes for a lasting peace
“They’re not going to go back to 100% public housing,” Hammond said. “That’s the new CHA, is to bring mixed in the communities now. Not just all minority Black or minority Latinos. That’s the main reason of the renovation and the new reputation with development of the CHA, is to put us all together. They feel when they do that, it’s less crime.
chicagotribune.comUtah senator blocks national museums for Latinos, women
WASHINGTON – A lone senator from Utah has singlehandedly blocked the bipartisan approval of two new national museums to honor American Latinos and women, arguing that “last thing we need is to further divide an already divided nation.”Republican Sen. Mike Lee objected Thursday to the creation of the two proposed Smithsonian museums, stalling two projects that have been in the making for decades and enjoy broad bipartisan support. Senate approval would have sent the legislation approving the Latino museum to President Donald Trump for his signature. The Senate was attempting to pass the measures by voice vote, which requires every senator's consent. Lee said he sees an exception for museums dedicated to American Indians and African Americans that already sit on the National Mall. “We have been systematically excluded, not because this senator said so but because the Smithsonian itself said so,” Menendez said.
Hospitals near capacity as U.S. sees record COVID-19 cases and deaths
Hospitals are filling up, coronavirus cases continue to break records, and the vaccine may be too late for too many. According to Bloomberg, 80% of U.S. counties saw even more people traveling this Thanksgiving than last year. More than one-third of all Americans live near hospitals that are critically short of intensive care unit beds, according to the New York Times. California has more than 11,000 people hospitalized and over 30,000 new cases — both all-time records, the state reported. "If you would have told me back then that I would come out walking, with difficulty but I'm standing," said Felipe.
cbsnews.comDeadliest year ever for fatal opioid overdoses in Cook County. ‘These are losses that could and should be prevented.’
Blacks and Latinos make up 63% of the deaths even though they represent less than half of the county’s total population, she said. Men account for more than three-quarters of the cases. The 45- to 54-year-old age group is most likely to die from an overdose, followed by 55- to 64-year-olds.
chicagotribune.comThe message behind Texas’ Latino vote
HOUSTON – During the November election, Latinos in Texas helped former Vice President Joe Biden secure his bid for the White House. However, Zermeno said, this doesn’t mean the Latino community isn’t engaged“We are seeing a tremendous uptick in participation,” Zermeno said. “The Latino vote has always been kind of nuanced,” said Michael Adams, PhD., chair of Texas Southern University’s political science department. “I think, too, both parties dialed in the Latino vote for this election,” said Diaz. On the flip side, there’s not an articulated approach to the Latino vote.”The election-eve poll from the research firm Latino Decisions also ranked priorities in the Latino community based on answers.
To court Latinos, Democrats have to expand strategy in 2022
Latinos also now account for 24% of eligible voters in Arizona, compared with 19% in 2012, according to Pew Research Center. And how or whether Democrats can keep that enthusiasm in the 2022 midterm elections will require a lot of work. But it’s also incumbent on campaigns to prioritize Latino voters by spending time and money in their communities consistently, not just right before an election. “And that’s something this administration hasn’t done.”To sway Latino voters, she said Democrats need to take the tactics used in Arizona to other states. In Arizona, Democrats presented Trump as the boogeyman, getting voters to show up, while in south Florida, Republicans used socialism to drive voters to Trump, Shope said.
How Latinos in the U.S. can reinvent their careers post Covid-19
Getty ImagesThe effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Americans' career trajectories has varied by industry, geography and ethnicity, with Latinx Americans among the most heavily impacted. According to the 2020 American Family Survey, 53% of Hispanic respondents reported a career change since the pandemic began; while a troubling 41% report a decline in income. We spoke with Caroline Castrillon, career coach and founder of CorporateEscapeArtist, to discuss how Americans impacted by the Covid recession can develop their careers and reinvent their futures. Understand cultural nuancesThere are subtle differences between the way employment interviews are conducted in the United States versus Latin America, says Castrillon. Key organizations that should be on your radar include the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA), the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), among others.
cnbc.comHow Latinos in the U.S. can reinvent their careers post Covid-19
Getty ImagesThe effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Americans' career trajectories has varied by industry, geography and ethncicity, with Latinx Americans among the most heavily impacted. According to the 2020 American Family Survey, 53% of Hispanic respondents reported a career change since the pandemic began; while a troubling 41% report a decline in income. We spoke with Caroline Castrillon, career coach and founder of CorporateEscapeArtist, to discuss how Americans impacted by the Covid recession can develop their careers and reinvent their futures. Understand cultural nuancesThere are subtle differences between the way employment interviews are conducted in the United States versus Latin America, says Castrillon. Key organizations that should be on your radar include the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA), the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), among others.
cnbc.comOpinion: The diversity of the Latino vote in the 2020 presidential election sets up future debates
The 2020 presidential election is set to be one of the most historic elections in our time, and the Latino vote has been at the forefront of many discussions. First things first: It's important to acknowledge that a step in understanding the Latino community is to understand its diversity. BATTLE FOR LATINO VOTERS: Democrats lose ground with Latino voters in Florida, TexasThe electoral character of the Latino voter continues to change, and nowhere is it more relevant than the 2020 presidential election. According to NPR, Biden received 250,000 fewer Latino votes in Miami-Dade County than Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, while Latinos supporting Trump in Florida were up from 35 percent in 2016, according to CNN. It's evident future candidates will need to take note of what it will take to garner the Latino vote.
chron.comConfounding Democrats, Trump makes inroads with Latinos
And even in Nevada, where Democrats' strength among Latinos had powered the party to dominance, there were some signs of new Trump support among Latinos frustrated at the economic toll of coronavirus-related shutdowns. Democrats had hoped this would be the year when their strength among Latino voters would translate into victories in Florida and Texas, a game-changer that would reshape presidential politics. But Trump's margins dashed those hopes and prompted debate on whether the party was taking Latino voters' support for granted. Forty-one percent said they approved of the way Trump has handled the public health crisis, compared with 34% of Latinos nationally. The most dramatic shift in Latino voters came in Florida.
Residente signs with Sony Music to create TV, films and more
Residente, the most decorated winner in the history of Latin Grammys, has signed a multi-year deal with Sony Music Entertainment to launch 1868 Studios. Residente, the most decorated winner in the history of Latin Grammys, has signed a multiyear deal with Sony Music Entertainment to launch 1868 Studios. Under this new venture, which the company announced Thursday as “groundbreaking,” the Puerto Rican rapper and Sony Music Latin/Iberia will create, produce and globally distribute original content across multiple formats and in Spanish and Engish. 1868 Studios takes its name from the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares,) the first major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico on September 23, 1868. “It is the only day that Puerto Rico has been independent, for eight hours,” Residente noted.
Californians to vote on racial, gender preference programs
Jesse Jackson asks a crowd for donations to the advertising fund to stop Proposition 209 during a rally in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. The U.S. Supreme Court has long outlawed racial quotas, but it has ruled that universities may use tailored programs to promote diversity. Opponents include Ward Connerly, an African American businessman and former University of California regent who pushed for the 1996 ban. They say government should never discriminate by race or gender, and the only way to stop discrimination is to end it. The numbers of Latino and Asian American residents — and voters — have grown, although likely voters are still disproportionately white.
Wanted: Bilingual poll workers who reflect U.S. diversity
The coronavirus has upended how elections officials recruit poll workers, who are typically older and thus more susceptible to becoming seriously ill from COVID-19. The email came in at 7:54 p.m., desperately seeking 100 poll workers because of an expected shortage. During the August primary, nearly 25% of the county's 1,289 poll workers were bilingual; in the 2016 general, about 20% were. When early voting starts Oct. 13, three bilingual election workers will staff each of the county's 122 voting locations. Harvey Soto, the fund's democracy coordinator, said it has already recruited 300 poll workers for Miami-Dade County alone.