By the time you read this, Frank Rubio, who was chosen as one of 12 astronaut candidates from NASA’s largest pool of applicants in history, will already be starting his two-year basic training. Continue reading #NBCLatino20: The Astronaut, Frank Rubio
Today, Uber and the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (FSHCC) announced the appointment of Cesar Fernandez, Senior Public Policy Associate for Uber in Florida, to the FSHCC’s Board of Governors. Continue reading Uber’s Cesar Fernandez Appointed to Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors
Having played bit parts for too long in campaigns and seeing the nation’s electorate become increasingly diversified, a group of political consultants said Tuesday it’s time for a greater diversity in their ranks. Continue reading New Group Will Push Campaigns to Hire More Diverse Political Consultants
Today, CMD-IT announced the recipient of the 2017 Richard A. Tapia Achievement Award for Scientific Scholarship, Civic Science and Diversifying Computing is Manuel Perez Quinones, Associate Dean, College of Computing and Informatics and Professor, Department of Software and Information Systems, University of North Carolina, Charlotte. The Richard A. Tapia Award is awarded annually to an individual who demonstrates significant leadership, commitment and contributions to diversifying computing. Continue reading CMD-IT Announces 2017 Richard A. Tapia Award Winner Manuel Perez Quinones
Today’s Google Doodle honors the life of activist Richard Oakes, on what would have been his 75th birthday. During much of the ’60s and ’70s, Oakes peacefully protested for the rights and independence of Native Americans.
The Doodle depicts Oakes in the foreground with the Pit River, the Akwesasne reservation, and Alcatraz Island — three significant locations in Oakes’s life — behind him. Oakes was born in Akwesasne, a Mohawk Indian reservation that encompasses land in both New York and Canada. He went on to attend San Francisco State University, which is where, according to the Google Doodle blog, he came up with the idea to create one of the country’s earliest American Indian education programs.
But Oakes is probably best known for his leadership in the Alcatraz takeover and the Pit River resistance. In 1969, Oakes and dozens of young indigenous college students occupied Alcatraz Island for a period of 19 months. Their protest had two goals: To create a cultural community center and make the government recognize the Sioux Treaty of 1868, which gave American Indians the power to claim unused federal land.
Continue onto Refinery29 to read the complete article.
The first Latina elected to Congress, Republican Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, has announced that she will be retiring after more than three decades in elected office — potentially paving the way for Democrats to take her congressional seat in 2018. Continue reading Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, First Latina Woman Elected to Congress, Announces Retirement
The LGBT Asylum Project is non-profit organization exclusively dedicated to providing pro-bono legal representation for LGBT immigrants who are fleeing persecution and seeking asylum in the United States. Continue reading The LGBT Asylum Project
In response to President Donald Trump’s proposal to defund the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-09) led two bipartisan letters to the House Appropriations Committee imploring Congress to fund the MBDA in the FY2018 appropriations, and recommending that MBDA provide an annual policy report to Congress to address gaps in equity between minority and non-minority owned firms. Continue reading Rep. McNerney Leads Bipartisan Effort to Save the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
More than 50 years after Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, his words continue to resonate with communities of color. As a leader in the civil rights movement, we often discuss the integral role he played in advancing the causes of African Americans. But what we don’t often discuss is how he also inspired and mobilized Latinos across the United States.
As Raul Yzaguirre, the former president of the National Council of La Raza, told the Associated Press, MLK’s speech pushed him to advocate for more than just Latinos. “Although the focus was on the African-American community at the time, I think his thoughts, his sense of justice resonated with those of us who had perhaps a broader sense of inclusion, who wanted Latinos and Native Americans and other minorities to be an integral part of a civil rights movement,” he said.
And two years after the March on Washington – which showed many the effects of organizing on a large scale – the 1965 voting rights marches in Selma further showed them the power of grass-roots organizing. And reflecting on King’s legacy 10 years after his death, Chavez wrote in Maryknoll Magazine that the civil rights leader led the way through his nonviolence, which inspired the United Farm Workers’ philosophy.
“It has been our experience that few men or women ever have the opportunity to know the true satisfaction that comes with giving one’s life totally in the nonviolent struggle for justice,” he wrote. “Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of these unique servants and from him we learned many of the lessons that have guided us. For these lessons and for his sacrifice for the poor and oppressed, Dr. King’s memory will be cherished in the hearts of the farm workers forever.”
Continue onto Remezcla to read about how Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for the Latino community.
Ochoa, who grew up in La Mesa, CA and attended San Diego State University, will be inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in May, according to the organization.
Continue reading Ellen Ochoa, First Latina in Space, to be Inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame