According to an article in today’s BusinessWeek, Mexico’s economy is showing strong signs of recovery, with Mexican economists predicting an expansion of 3.87% in 2010. And this past December, retail sales increased for the first time in 16 months. 

This is great news for Mexico, considering the hit it took due to the U.S. recession:

"Latin America’s second-biggest economy is recovering on increasing exports and improving domestic demand after it contracted 6.5 percent in 2010, the worst annual slump since 1932. The recession in the U.S., which buys about 80 percent of Mexico’s exports, crippled the $1.09 trillion economy last year as a decline in exports led to job losses and falling production...

The central bank said in a Feb. 19 statement that manufacturing was recovering “with greater strength” and improving industrial activity was helping boost domestic demand."

This news also is promising for the U.S. economy as a whole, since our two economies are so interdependent. We’re on the road to recovery.

It is widely known that Hollywood celebrities such and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Geroge Clooney, and other big names donated substantial amounts of money to relief efforts in the wake of the disastrous hurricane that struck Haiti on January 12.

What is not as widely known, at least in the U.S., is that Mexico has also jumped in to lend a hand to the ailing nation. Carlos Slim, a Mexican businessman and the reported third richest person in the world has stepped in big.

According to the People's Daily News:

Over 120,000 Mexicans donated a total of 32.8 million Mexican pesos (2.5 million U.S. dollars) to earthquake victims in Haiti through the Carlos Slim Foundation, said the foundation on Wednesday.

The foundation, run by Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim, doubled the figure as it has promised to give out another peso for each donated peso from Mexican citizens.

The money collected will be used to assist the reconstruction and modernization of Haiti, said the foundation,

Immediately after the earthquake, Mexico sent 13.8 tons of humanitarian aid, including food, vegetables, clean water, power generators and satellite telephones to Haiti.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that "Slim’s foundation said it would match donations for Haiti made by customers of his Telefonos de Mexico company."

I came across this very interesting piece from the Southern Poverty Law Center.  The "Latino Civil Rights Timeline, 1903 to present", documents important civil rights events affecting the U.S. Latino community. It’s a nice resource, easy to read, with nice historical snapshots. 

A short explanation from the site is as follows:

When reading this timeline, it’s important to remember that the fight for civil rights doesn’t happen in a vacuum. In many cases, the events listed below have fueled – and have been fueled by – other social justice movements, like the African American Civil Rights Movement and the fight for equal employment and education among Chinese and Japanese immigrants.

The Latino civil rights struggle did not begin in 1903 and will not end in September 2006. Watch the news and listen to politicians, and you will see the fight for equal rights for ALL people is not over.

I first heard about Fuerza Unida two years ago when my stepmother Kathy Sosa was working with them to make beautiful one-of-a-kind purses. She told me the story about how the organization empowered women in San Antonio to earn a living by putting their sewing talent to work.

Eager to learn more I came across the following description and video:

Twenty years ago one of Texas’s Levis Strauss factories closed leaving behind hundreds of workers, mostly women, without their livelihood. To many, it was the only job they ever had. From their loss, a support group was born. A group that later became a center to empower women in San Antonio, Texas through education, social work and community activism: "Fuerza Unida".

Fuerza Unida has given these women, the majority of whom are Latina immigrants, the chance to shine doing what they do best. According to the web site:

Fuerza Unida’s mission is to empower women workers and their families to achieve social, economic and environmental justice through education, organizing and advocacy.  The Fuerza Unida’s vision is for workers and their families to actively participate in society by voicing their opinions and concers while keeping their cultural traditions and values.

Besides offering a variety of quality garments, purses, and other woven goods, the organization also takes custom orders. 

Immigration has in many ways become overly-politicized in America, with the heated arguments overshadowing the fact that immigrants are people too, whether they came to America legally or not.  For this reason, I’m always looking for positive stories to share, those that show the individual tales of strength, perseverance, and optimism that have always drawn people to this country.

The Immigrant Archive Project is dedicated to telling the stories of Latino immigrants, recording interviews and sharing them via multimedia.

Here’s a description from the site:

The Immigrant Archive Project is an independent national initiative dedicated to preserving the life stories of America’s Latino immigrant population. We accomplish this by recording, in their own words, the intimate stories of Latino immigrants of all nations. The content of these interviews will be shared with listeners via radio, internet, and traveling educational as well as art installations.

Through this initiative we hope to preserve the struggles, dreams and accomplishments of America’s vast and diverse Latino immigrant population so that future generations may learn from their collective experience.

You can even submit your own story or sign up to volunteer.

A great project, indeed.

Latinos make up 15 percent of the U.S. population, and the number of Latinos living in the U.S. is expected to nearly triple by 2050. With numbers like these, they are a group that cannot be ignored, pushed aside, unfairly blamed or forgotten.

Yesterday, CNN debuted ¨Latino in America¨, a two-night primetime event that tells the stories of Latinos from an array of backgrounds, from the newly-arrived immigrant struggling to learn English to get a better-paying job, to teens trying to graduate, to second and third generation Hispanics in search of the American dream. Host Soledad O’Brien, herself the daughter of a Cuban Latina, also talks to celebrities such as Eva Longoria Parker, a Corpus Christi, Texas native, about their experiences.

Today, several related stories are popping up on the network´s web site:

One article reports a disturbing trend of increasing violence against Latinos, citing that ¨FBI statistics show that anti-Latino crimes are on the rise. There were 595 anti-Latino crimes in 2007, up almost 40 percent from the 426 crimes in 2003; the Latino population in America grew only 14 percent during that time.¨ The story focuses primarily on the brutal 2008 murder of Luis Ramirez, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, who was assaulted by a group of white teenage football players while walking down the stre et in the small town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. It also talks about how ¨hate is part of our culture¨ and examines what motivates some seemingly picture-perfect people to commit such horrible crimes.

Another commentary by Raquel Cepeda examines what it means to be a Latino, saying that while ¨the census tries to categorize people by ethnicity and race...the reality is Latinos have very varied, complex backgrounds¨ and ¨many people resist being classified by simple labels.¨

I found both these articles very interesting, but I´m still waiting to see more positive stories of Latinos succeeding and thriving in the U.S. Will keep checking back...

TELL US:

1) Did you watch ¨Latino in America¨ last night? Do you think it focused too much on the negative, or did a good job sharing the positive success stories that we all need to hear so desperately?

Read CNN´s ¨share your reactions¨ page here.

2) If you are a Latino in the United States, what challenges have you experienced and how have you succeeded in maneuvering through them? What can we do to help overcome our obstacles so we can truly prosper together?

This Halloween, as you shop Amazon.com or browse the witches, ghosts, and Obama ensembles at Walgreens, you may just bump into an entirely different costume-- the "illegal alien".

According to CNN.com, 

The "Illegal Alien Adult Costume," manufactured by Forum novelties, includes an orange jumpsuit, similar to prison garb, with "Illegal Alien" stamped in black across the chest; a space alien mask; and a fake Green Card. The "Illegal Alien Mask with Hat" also includes a space alien mask, this time with a dark handlebar mustache and a baseball cap.

Needless to say, many advocacy organizations have reacted with shock and outrage over the mass-marketing of what they consider an insensitive and racist costume. In fact, the United Farmworkers are even circulating a petition urging retailers to stop carrying it. They state on their web site that "These costumes perpetuate racism and discrimination in an already hostile environment and during a period of time when the debate on immigration reform is increasingly hateful and divisive."

Take a look for yourself here:

TELL US: Do you find the "illegal alien" costume offensive or humorous? Why?

      MATT, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of San Antonio,  is proud to announce a revolutionary new program that will offer people the opportunity to learn English for free over the radio. This past Saturday, October 10, we gathered at the Mexican American Catholic College in San Antonio to celebrate  MATTś Maestro en Casa (Teacher at Home), which is designed to help Spanish speakers integrate into American society through practical and simple English-language courses. 

      Beginning on October 20, radio stations in the Texas cities of San Antonio, Dallas, Midland will transmit the MATT Maestro en Casa pilot project; later, it will be expanded to include other key states with high-density Latino populations.  While the radio lessons are the foundation of MATT Maestro en Casa,  MATT will also  provide supplemental materials, to be distributed by community organizations, faith-based organizations and other entities willing to assist with the outreach effort.

      We were honored to be joined at the launch announcement by Texas Secretary of State Esperanza “Hope” Andrade; The Most Rev. Archbishop Jose Gomez, MATT Board of Directors member, Dr. Arturo Chavez, President/CEO of MACC , and Julie Gonzalez Revilla, Board Member of Instituto Panameno de Educacion por Radio, and Texas Represenative Charlie Gonzalez.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Archbishop Jose Gomez, Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade, and MATT Executive Director Aracely-Garcia Granado

Representative Charlie A. Gonzalez (D-TX) and Maestro en Casa director Liliza Lopez-Bravo

Representatve Gonzalez , Aracely Garcia-Granados, and MATT board member Virgilio Elizondo

The MATT team and Representatve Gonzalez celebrate the launch

Visit  www.mattmaestroencasa.org for program schedules and details, or for more information email liliza@themattfoundation.org.