Houston students join others nation wide to "come out as undocumented.

Immigrant students will publicly declare their undocumented status at UH-D on May 17th. The event is part of the Right to Dream day of action initiated by the United We Dream campaign.

The students and their supporters seek to gain relief from the increased deportations under the Obama administration and step up pressure on lawmakers to pass the DREAM Act, a piece of legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for eligible undocumented youth who completed either two years of college or two years of military service.

Obama’s immigration policies have come under fire by immigrant activists and national Hispanic organizations. Campaign season has kicked into full swing, and the growing importance of the Latino vote in swing states has been recognized by both Democrats and Republicans. Both parties have begun courting Latino voters.

“This is bigger than the DREAM Act, this is about justice and equality for all students. I deserve the right to be an engineer,” said Dulce Matuz, President of Arizona DREAM Act coalition.

Sen. Marco Rubio unveiled a scaled back version of the DREAM Act to help the children of undocumented parents gain legal status. Rubio’s version would provide DREAM Act students with visas before allowing them to go through the normal immigration process, a move some of his fellow Republicans have decried as backdoor amnesty. Previous versions of the DREAM Act called for undocumented students to receive permanent residency or citizenship.

As part of the student’s campaign they have released a “Declaration of DREAMs,” which claims certain rights for DREAMers:

• The right to live our lives without fear
• The right to live with our families
• The right to live with our loved ones
• The right to move freely
• The right to education
• The right to give back to our communities
• The right to build a strong sustainable economy
• The right to fulfill our Dreams.

FIEL, a local DREAM Act activist organization, organized the local coming out action in concert with 22 other events around the country.

“Under the Obama Administration, we’ve experienced record high deportations and our communities are still stuck in the shadows. And, despite waiting over ten long years, Congress has not passed the legislation to protect us. Enough is enough. Through the Right to Dream campaign, we’re launching a nationwide call for real and lasting relief for DREAMers and our communities,” said a statement released by FIEL.

The rally will feature DREAM Act eligible students sharing their stories alongside their supporters.

Right to Dream video from Los Angeles
 

Three members of the H.I.S.D. school board voted against merging Kaleidoscope charter school with Long middle school

At a meeting in April, the Houston Independent School District Board decided to merge the exemplary-rated Kaleidoscope Charter School with Jane Long Middle School by a vote of 6-3.

The decision was called “horrible” by activists who gathered over 640 signatures in a petition to save the school. At the meeting, 35 supporters in red shirts stood together to urge the school board to not merge Kaleidoscope with what they feel is a struggling middle school.

“Out of all the schools that are currently Exemplary, why would you shut one down?” asked community organizer Fidencio Leija Chavez, Jr. “Instead of embracing it — keeping it intact — they’re wanting to take it apart and dismantle it.”

A coalition of local Latino groups, which included Mi Familia Vota, Familias Inmigrantes y Estudiantes en la Lucha (FIEL), and National Hispanic Professional Organization (NHPO) Leadership Institute sought to keep the school open.

The school board took about ninety minutes to reach their decision after hearing from parents, who were concerned about the quality of education at Jane Long, and students who brought up issues of potential bullying.

“Every opportunity to learn from and empower our community is a win for us. Students, parents and community leaders took a heart-felt stand for quality education and fought to save a successful program in Southwest Houston. That we lost is bitter but that we came together is cause for celebration.” said a press release put out by the coalition.

HISD Trustees Manuel Rodriguez, Juliet Stipeche and Board President Michael Lunceford supported keeping the school open.

Kaleidoscope has just over 100 students, many of which are immigrants.

MillerCoors will choose 12 individuals from the pool of nominees to participate in the 2012 MillerCoors Líderes program. The 12 Líderes will be announced during Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15- Oct.15), when the public will have the opportunity to vote for the Líder of the Year. The MillerCoors Líder of the year will receive a $25,000 MillerCoors grant to develop a community leadership project benefitting the Hispanic community.

“We are excited to open the nomination process to the public and anticipate a great response,” says Jose Ruano, multicultural relations manager for MillerCoors. “There are many Latino leaders who are working hard to improve themselves and their communities. MillerCoors is proud to shine a light on those who are making a difference and award one Líder with a grant to make an impact in his or her own local community.”

The general public can nominate a candidate on www.MillerCoorsLideres.com, until May 25, 2012.

Elianne Ramos, Vice Chair, Communications and PR for Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) was one of the 2011 MillerCoors Líderes based on her exceptional contributions to the Latino community.

Ford's donation helps HAHMP provide scholarships to the next wave of Latino media professionals.

Each year HAHMP awards scholarships to college students pursuing media careers. At HAHMP’s 2012 gala, in addition to 10 scholarships, the organization was able to provide free Ipads to scholarship recipients.

The Ford Motor Company is a pioneer in Hispanic outreach, with over 20 years of aggressive spending to market to the demographic. Hispanic car-buyers in 2010 made up seven percent of all new vehicle retail purchases in the U.S., according to a study by Truecar.com. The same study also noted that import brands are the most sought after vehicles by Hispanics.

“The Hispanic market is very critical for automakers, being the fastest growing minority group in the U.S.,” said Jesse Toprak, Vice President of Industry Trends and Insights at TrueCar.com. “The domestic automakers have some work ahead of them as the Asian brands have a stronghold on Hispanic car buyers.”

HAHMP Website

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund has received an anonymous gift of $4 million dollars which will enable the organization to award scholarships to 600 students who are currently college freshmen during the current academic year, with an opportunity of renewal in their sophomore year.

The majority of the students are pursuing careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), or health care fields. All of the students come from low-income homes, and are the first in their families to pursue a college degree.

“We were humbled and encouraged that someone felt so strongly about our mission to send an anonymous gift of $4 million dollars,” says Frank D. Alvarez, President and CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. “We have a pool of academically-talented students, who would not have been selected to receive our support because of lack of funds,” he added, “thanks to this generous donation, these students can now continue to earn a college degree.”

“I will be the first to attend a four year university and achieve a bachelor’s degree. Having an abundance of little cousins and sisters I want them to have hope that they too can succeed” says Alejandro Pena, freshman accounting major from the DePaul University in Chicago, and one of the awardees. “I am creating footsteps for other Hispanics like my sisters and cousins to follow,” he added.

To help students like Alejandro, HSF created Generation 1st Degree, a new initiative which aims to send at least one member of every Latino household in America to complete a college degree. The initiative is focused on closing the “degree gap” that exists between Hispanic students and their peers.

HSF’s seeks to the boost degree attainment among Latinos from 19 percent to 60 percent by 2025.

This is not the first time HSF has received a gift of this nature. HSF was one of the organizations chosen by president Obama to share a portion of his Nobel Peace Prize, and Gil and Jacki Cisneros, who won $266 million in a multi-state lottery, donated a portion of their winnings to advance the Generation 1st Degree initiative in their hometown of Pico Rivera, Ca.

“Once there is a college graduate in the home, others in the family realize they too can pursue a college education,” says Alvarez, “if we want this nation to compete in the global economy, we need to help Latino students and their families believe college is possible, and help them with the resources to get there. This multimillion dollar donation will help us do just that.”

Controversies are brewing in the U.S. over the hijab. Recently, Ambercrombie & Fitch was sued for discrimination because a woman says she was fired due to her wearing the Muslim headscarf. Now a Missouri jail will allow the hijab for Muslim women.

The St. Louis chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations recently requested law enforcement officials in St. Louis County provide religious accommodation for Muslim women who wear an Islamic headscarf, or “hijab,” and are being held in the St. Louis County Jail in Clayton, Mo.

CAIR-St.Louis made the request after a Muslim woman was recently jailed because of an unpaid traffic ticketed and reported that an officer forcibly removed her hijab.

Director of St. Louis County Justice Services Herb Bernsen said he would review current policies “to try to work out a solution that would satisfy both our security needs and individual concerns.”

In a recent meeting that included Bernsen, Chief of Police for the St. Louis County Police Department Colonel Tim Fitch, representatives of CAIR, Muslim community leaders and other law enforcement and county officials, it was agreed that any Muslim woman wearing an hijab would be screened by a female officer in a private area and have the scarf returned following the screening.

A letter of apology will be sent to the woman whose hijab was removed according to CAIR representatives that attended the meeting.

“We thank all those involved in discussing this issue for their goodwill and flexibility in meeting both the religious needs of those held in the jail and the legitimate safety and security needs of the facility,” said CAIR-St. Louis Executive Director Faizan Syed.

Syed said a similar policy on religious accommodation could be adopted by other area jails.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to overturn a lower court ruling that said a Muslim woman “had the right to wear the scarf unless jailers could show it was a security risk.”

In that case, the Muslim woman’s suit cited the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which prohibits state and local governments from imposing “a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person residing in or confined to an institution.”

“Día at Discovery – A Sweet 16 Celebration of Children’s Day, Book Day” took place April 21 at Discovery Green in downtown Houston. Families learned about Children’s Day/Book Day, while children sampled pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread), created lucha libre (wrestling) masks and took home books and other treats.

El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros is the brainchild of author Pat Mora, an El Paso native who got her publishing start at APP in 1985. Today, Mora is recognized as an award-winning author of more than 40 volumes of poetry, nonfiction and children’s picture books.

Día, as it’s affectionately referred to, is an initiative to focus children and families on literacy, culture and language. Housed at the American Library Association, Día began in 1996 and is celebrated across the country.

“Pat has been a trailblazing emissary to what she calls ‘bookjoy,’ a pure love of what reading brings, which, at its purest, is a connection, an exchange, an enrichment,” said Marina Tristán at APP. “This year’s Día celebration comes on the heels of the controversial removal of ethnic studies books from Arizona classrooms, many of which were written by Hispanic authors. Now more than ever we need ‘bookjoy.’”

The “Dia at Discovery” event featured Houston author Gwendolyn Zepeda, Xavier Garza and Mora. Children participated in a gardening activity (as illustrated in Zepeda’s bilingual picture book, “Sunflowers”/ “Girasoles”) and cheered for Mexican wrestlers (as portrayed in Garza’s book, “Kid Cyclone Fights the Devil and Other Stories”). Mora was hand to discuss the literacy initiative and talk about “The Desert is My Mother”/“El desierto es mi madre,” her first children’s book published by APP’s, Piñata Books.

Phoenix, AZ — Recently, there has been much discussion from Senator Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney regarding the DREAM Act.  Both were against it and now seem to want to support a version of a DREAM Act that creates a permanent underclass in light of a key election year and as they seek the Latino 2012 vote.  The Tequila Party will not stand and allow this issue to be used as a continued political football, therefore, if Sen. Marco Rubio and Romney really want to support the DREAM Act — they must support Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) sponsored version of S.1545 — the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.  Anything short of Hatch’s bill will be recognized as a divisive tactic and as a means to limit political power and issues supporting taxation without representation.  According to Ron Hayduk, Professor of Political Science City University of New York (CUNY), immigrant taxation without representation not only challenges the legitimacy of America’s mantle of democratic governance but also provides a rationale and opportunity for organizing a progressive political majority.

Houston Area Women’s Center Hotline Gets a Major Makeover

Women’s Center’s 24-Hour Hotline Call Center Receives $100,000 Humana Communities Benefit Grant for a Telecommunications Transformation

The Houston Area Women’s Center unveiled its newly updated 24-Hour Call Center last March 21 at 9 a.m. at its facility located at 1010 Waugh Drive. The new state-of-the-art call center includes an updated phone system, as well as new computers, headsets, updated software and other equipment. One of the most important parts of the upgrades is the fact callers will not have a busy signal when they call in.

In addition to new equipment, the crowning jewel of the upgraded system is the capability of tracking every call that comes in through an electronic information screen. The large electronic screen – which replaces the much less sophisticated white-board that hotline advocates previously utilized to manually track callers – will display the various types of calls on hold. This display allows hotline advocates to distinguish between information-only calls and emergency/distress calls for greater efficiency in helping serve the community.

The upgrades to the system were made possible through a $100,000 charitable grant from the Humana Communities Benefit program in Houston. The Women’s Center is proud to be the seventh Houston nonprofit to receive this prestigious award.

   “The Women’s Center’s emergency hotline number is often the first number people call when domestic and sexual violence has disrupted their lives. The hotline is the door to a host of life-saving, life-changing services offered by the Houston Area Women’s Center. We will forever be grateful to Humana for providing us with the necessary funding to upgrade our call center and open that door even wider,” said Rebecca White, president and CEO, Houston Area Women’s Center.

 Last year, the Women’s Center provided services to 60,000 people and reached another 30,000 through its education and professional training programs. At the core of the agency’s mission is its 24-Hour Hotline – the largest hotline of its kind in Texas. Staff and trained volunteers answered 44,000 calls last year.

“The Humana Communities Benefit charitable grant in Houston is proud to continue its tradition of providing funds to deserving nonprofits striving to improve the well-being of the greater Houston area,” said Pattie Dale Tye, president of commercial operations for Humana in Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth. “Humana is thrilled to play a role in improving the quality of the Houston Area Women’s Center’s hotline services and looks forward to seeing the organization continue to support the health and well-being of the area’s women, children and men for years to come.”

The Humana Communities Benefit program in Houston awards a one-time, $100,000 grant annually to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on improving health experiences or building healthy communities. A panel of local judges, comprised of community leaders and business representatives, worked with Humana to select the $100,000 grant winner. The program has awarded nearly $1 million to Houston charities since 2004.

The Houston Area Women’s Center helps individuals affected by domestic and sexual violence in their efforts to move their lives forward. We provide shelter, counseling and advocacy to support them in building lives free from the effects of violence. We seek social change to end domestic and sexual violence through community awareness and education. Our services are confidential and available to everyone.

Phoenix, AZ –Latinos are fighting the sentiment of California’s Proposition 187  in the new millennium again via Pete Wilson.  Mitt Romney has received the endorsement of Wilson who is kryptonite to Latinos, and it is unfortunate old mistakes that precede the Civil Rights era is rearing its ugly head.  Tequila Party movement members, leaders, and a broad coalition of California DREAM Act activists will be protesting Pete Wilson and Mitt Romney at their California fundraising events this upcoming week beginning March 26 through 27, 2012.

It is common knowledge that Pete Wilson is kryptonite to Latinos and has been ever since after he signed Proposition 187.  Pete Wilson is viewed as an extreme anti-Latino politician in the State of California and it is arguable that he cost Meg Whitman her election in 2010 when she ran for California Governor.

It is clear the California GOP leaders cannot seem to learn from their Pete Wilson mistakes because they continue to support Wilson and his endorsement of Mitt Romney.  The presidential race cannot be won without the Latino vote and this was evident in other high Hispanic populated states such as California and Nevada.

According to TIME Magazine:

“But instead of learning the [Pete] Wilson lesson, Republicans have repeated the error across the Mountain West. In 2010 the Nevada GOP’s Senate candidate, Sharron Angle, ran ads that reprised the black-and-white images of menacing Latinos crossing the border. (“The best friend an illegal alien ever had” was her tagline for Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who won overwhelming support from Latino voters.)”

Tequila Party troops are protesting Mitt Romney due to his endorsement of Kris Kobach who is the legal architect behind most  anti-immigrant laws in this nation that are restrictionist and protectionist in their nature.  Extremists and nativists via Kris Kobach, John Tanton, FAIR (with ties to white supremacist groups and eugenicists and have made many racist statements), and Numbers USA believe that the answer to the broken immigration system is to simply have no immigration at all – and this is not reasonable solution.   Furthermore and more importantly, Mitt Romney promised to VETO the DREAM Act; therefore, Mexican-Americans and Latinos promise to VETO Mitt Romney at the polls.

PROTEST ALERT ACTIONS AND LOCATIONS:

Protest Pete Wilson and Mitt Romney rally:  March 26, 2012, 11:30 AM- San Diego, U.S. Grant Hotel.

Protest Meg Whitman and Mitt Romney rally:  Monday, March 26, 2012, 5:30 PM- Redwood City, Hotel Sofitel San Francisco Bay

Protest David Horowitz and Mitt Romney:  Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 12:00 PM, Irvine, Private Home of David Horowitz

Protest Tony Strickland, former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan, former state GOP chair Shawn Steel and Mitt Romney:  Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 6:00 pm Los Angeles, Century Plaza Hotel
About the National Tequila Party Movement:
The National Tequila Party Movement is a female-led political movement.  More females vote in Presidential elections than men strong Latina matriarchs are emerging.  It is our goal to communicate to females and Latina matriarchs across the nation with regard to the need for compassion towards undocumented immigrants and the need to fix the broken immigration system.  The Tequila Party is currently organizing a national tour of concerts, events, dinners and college rallies that will encourage a massive Latino Get Out The Vote and political participation.  This movement is a non-partisan movement.  We don’t care how people vote, we just want them to get on the early ballot system, become consistent primary and general election voters.