February 6, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Veronica Vera
Phone: 312.287.9291
Email: three13pr@aol.com
Illinois RNHA Members Host Convention in Dixon – New Executive Board Is Elected
Illinois – The Illinois Republican National Hispanic Assembly’s (RNHA) bi-annual convention took place this weekend at the Loveland Community House in Dixon. The group was addressed by State Representative Robert Pritchard, State Senator Tim Bivins, Former Mayor of DeKalb Greg Sparrow, ILGOP Coalitions Team Coordinator Terri Bryant, and RNC Secretary Demetra Demonte, among others.
The previous Illinois RNHA Executive Board was replaced with a new board. The members of the newly-elected Executive Board of the Illinois RNHA are:
Chairman – Steve Orlando
1st Vice Chairman – Ric Gruber
2nd Vice Chair – Rene Hernandez
Secretary – John Aguilar
Treasurer – Mike Wyszynski
RNHA National Committeewoman Mairim Smith
RNHA National Committeeman Mark Aguilera
The convention coincided with a smaller meeting that took place at the Comfort Inn, among whom were many former executive board members. With the exception of the 2nd Vice Chairman and National Committeeman, the former executive board members were not present during the voting of the new Executive Board.
There were approximately 30 people in attendance at the conference, which included delegates from 7 of the 10 chapters representing 149 of the approximately 193 paid RNHA members in Illinois.
The new Executive Board is excited to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Efforts are already being made to join together with local GOP organizations and reach out to the Hispanic Community.
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The Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Illinois is an organization dedicated to fostering the principles of the Republican Party in the Hispanic community and to provide Hispanic Americans with a forum to play an influential role in local, state and national party activities.
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Last week Google hosted its first marketing forum dedicated to the U.S. Hispanic market. Braving the streets of New York after almost 20 inches of snow had fallen, several hundred professionals showed up, and that's because when Google talks, people listen.
"The idea was to communicate Google's commitment to this audience and to share best practices in the US Hispanic digital space," said Mark Lopez, who left Hispanic portal Terra.com last November to head up this new "specialist" team for Google. The goal of the forum was twofold: 1) to drive home the point that Hispanic audiences, especially younger Latinos, consume digital media first -- before TV and other media, and 2) that Hispanic marketers, media buyers and planners should rethink the role of digital in their media mix to reflect the reality of their audiences.
Neither concept is new; research from E-marketer, Forrester, the IAB and others has been showing this for at least a couple years now. But for people who work in the Hispanic digital space, like me, the fact that Google is now saying it will make a huge difference. Why? Because it's Google, man! If Univision and Telemundo had said this, it wouldn't matter as much. Honestly, it would be perceived as just Spanish-language media trying to expand its reach online.
But this is Google, the company that revolutionized the way we use the internet -- no matter what Facebook fans say. And this is big -- an acknowledgment of the growing importance of the Hispanic market and its youth, which is more digitally savvy than the general market.
Google's goal, of course, is to increase the overall share of marketing dollars dedicated to Hispanic digital from a measly 3% to 4% of total Hispanic ad spend to about 12%, which corresponds to the actually usage of the medium by Hispanic consumers. READ MORE
As of March 2010, 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States, virtually unchanged from a year earlier, according to new estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. This stability in 2010 follows a two-year decline from the peak of 12 million in 2007 to 11.1 million in 2009 that was the first significant reversal in a two-decade pattern of growth. Unauthorized immigrants were 3.7% of the nation's population in 2010.
The number of unauthorized immigrants in the nation's workforce, 8 million in March 2010, also did not differ from the Pew Hispanic Center estimate for 2009. As with the population total, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the labor force had decreased in 2009 from its peak of 8.4 million in 2007. They made up 5.2% of the labor force in 2010.
The number of children born to at least one unauthorized-immigrant parent in 2009 was 350,000 and they made up 8% of all U.S. births, essentially the same as a year earlier. An analysis of the year of entry of unauthorized immigrants who became parents in 2009 indicates that 61% arrived in the U.S. before 2004, 30% arrived from 2004 to 2007, and 9% arrived from 2008 to 2010. READ MORE
In February 1995, the state Commerce Department established an office of trade representation in the Mexican capital to aid small and medium-sized companies seeking to boost their exports or expand their operations into the neighboring country.
Its free services include information on the market, logistics, identification of possible distributors in Mexico and support for their participation in fairs and expos.
Since the office has been in operation, more than 1,000 companies in North Carolina have shown "interest" in the Mexican market, director Laura Camberos said.
"In most cases it is to find a representative that will take charge of the marketing and sales of products and services of the company here," she told Efe.
In 2009, total exports from North Carolina to Mexico reached $1.4 billion, according to figures from the state's office of representation in Mexico City.
For its part, Mexico in the same year bought 6.7 percent of North Carolina's total exports of food, machinery, textiles, petrochemical products, electronics and financial and banking services.
"All that has helped make Mexico the third biggest trade partner of North Carolina after Canada and China," Camberos said.
At the same time, big Mexican corporations, such as baking giant Bimbo and cement-maker CEMEX, maintain their operations in North Carolina, providing hundreds of jobs in the communities where they are established.
Mexicans make up 65 percent of North Carolina's roughly 700,000 Hispanics, who in turn represent 7 percent of the state's 9 million residents. READ MORE
Progreso Financiero, an innovative and socially minded financial institution dedicated to the economic advancement of lower-income Hispanic families, today announced that its founder and CEO, James Gutierrez, has been named to the Consumer Advisory Council. In this role, he will represent the perspective of consumers and innovators in serving the unbanked and advise the Federal Reserve Board on issues relevant to lower-income individuals and their economic advancement.
“It is an honor to be selected to serve on the Consumer Advisory Council, and it will allow me to continue to advocate for the creation of innovative and affordable ways for America’s underserved communities to join the financial mainstream,” Gutierrez said. “With more than 23 million underbanked Hispanics in the United States, it is imperative that we encourage and facilitate investment, development and access by the financial industry in these communities.”
Through Progreso Financiero, Gutierrez has been instrumental in filling a large gap in today’s financial system by helping individuals with thin or no credit files establish credit and fulfill their banking needs. Progreso Financiero offers customers responsible and affordable small-dollar loans that can be paid back in fixed installments and that emphasize a borrower’s true capacity to afford a loan. As customers pay back their loan, they establish and build their credit history, and begin to move up the economic ladder.
The typical Progreso Financiero borrower begins with no credit history, yet after three successful small loans that each average $1,000 for 10 months, they can build to a credit score of 660. This allows them to qualify for more traditional products offered by larger lenders and financial institutions. Since its founding in 2005, the company has made more than 90,000 loans, extending $100 million in capital to underserved Hispanic families through more than 50 locations across California and Texas, and helped 87 percent of customers improve their credit scores through a Progreso loan. READ MORE
"Cupid pierced us ... on the artistic side and the romantic side," Hugo Medrano, co-founder and artistic director of the GALA Hispanic Theatre, told Efe.
"We became a couple, we worked together and we realized that there was a large Latino audience in Washington that had nowhere to see theater. They didn't even do theater in Spanish so we decided to create it."
It was that can-do spirit that led the Medranos in 1976 to found GALA, which moved among different venues for 29 years until settling in its current home at the newly renovated Tivoli Theatre in the U.S. capital's Columbia Heights neighborhood.
The project initially got off the ground because many intellectuals were settling in Washington to escape the dictatorships that reigned in Latin America for decades.
"There was a very interesting, very educated audience of refugees here who filled our house," Medrano said in reference to GALA's early days, when the walls of a townhouse in Washington's Adams Morgan neighborhood were torn down to make way for a theater with seating for 80 people.
Over time, GALA has acquired a faithful following of theater-goers - roughly 40 percent of them non-Hispanic whites and 60 percent Latinos - who showed their appreciation for the Medranos by nominating them for this prestigious prize, awarded annually by the Washingtonian magazine. READ MORE
The consequences can be severe for seniors, a population known to be at high risk of serious complications from both pneumonia and influenza. Experts recommend that seniors get the seasonal flu vaccine every year and the pneumonia vaccine once after the age of 65, with a booster 5 years later if they are at particularly high risk.
"Immunizations are so important for seniors. They save lives," Amelia Haviland of the RAND Corp., in Santa Monica, California, told Reuters Health. "And any group that has a lower take-up rate of immunizations poses a public health risk, particularly for their communities, but also for everyone."
Hispanic seniors are known to be more likely than their white peers to miss immunizations. Their low vaccination and high infection rates during the 2009 H1N1 flu epidemic, and the more recent whooping cough outbreak in California, are cases in point.
But it's been several years since estimates of immunization rates have been made -- and no prior research has looked into differences in rates among different subgroups of Hispanic seniors, according to Haviland.
"They're a very diverse group, so this information could be really useful for targeting efforts," she added.
In the new study, Haviland and her colleagues looked at data from a Medicare survey of nearly 250,000 Hispanic and non-Hispanic seniors (aged 65 or older) across the U.S. READ MORE
Childhood obesity and depression is more common among Hispanics and African Americans than other children, experts say, and that is due to personal habits as well as cultural and economic factors.
In a public health forum this week, Richard Carmona, the former Surgeon General, urged public health officials to work with minority communities, which have the largest number of public health problems .
About 27 percent of Hispanic boys were obese, compared with about 17 percent of White boys, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Hispanic girls have a 17 percent obesity rate, while White girls have a 14.5 percent obesity rate. READ MORE
The report, "The State of Latinos and Education in Massachusetts: 2010," issued by UMass-Boston’s Mauricio Gaston Institute, faulted Massachusetts on a number of fronts for failing to properly educate Latino students.
According to the report, Latino students miss about 13 days of school a year compared to white students, who miss about nine days. In some schools districts, such as Springfield, the Latino absence rate is 17 days, said Andrew Flannery Aguilar, the institute’s education policy and research fellow and one of the report’s authors.
"This is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night," said Aguilar. "How are you supposed to succeed if you’re not in class?"
Education experts say the high absence rates are major warning signs about potential dropouts.
The report also said that the Latino four-year graduation rate was 60 percent in 2009 compared to 82 percent statewide. In addition, the report found that the out-of-school suspension rate for Latino students was 11 percent compared to 4 percent of white students. Black students had the highest out-of-school suspension rate at 13 percent. READ MORE
Although Hispanics and Latinos represent 16 percent of the U.S. population, they make up only 3 percent of the approximately 260,000 Americans who volunteer to participate in medical research each year. With the U.S. Hispanic population expected to triple by 2050, steps are needed now to achieve greater Hispanic and Latino representation in medical research.
At the forum, MMG will collaborate with community leaders and industry stakeholders, such as the NHMA, to gain a better understanding of the reasons for the disparity in clinical research participation in the U.S. Hispanic and Latino populations. The goals of the forum are to identify barriers that prevent these populations from participating in clinical research and to develop strategies to increase their access to and representation in medical research.
Dr. Rios said, "When we see Hispanic leadership involved in clinical research, we will see real change. The NHMA, along with other advocacy groups, such as the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Hispanic American Colleges and Universities, and the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health, are committed to driving strategic initiatives through this forum that increases Hispanic and Latino representation in medical research." READ MORE
‘Modern Family’ star Sofia Vergara has certainly made an impression on American TV and thinks it is about time.
The actress admits that she loves the fact that Americans have been so accepting of her as a “loud Latina woman acting crazy” on the show, states Hollyscoop (via Ocean Drive).
She is also happy to be representing her culture all while having an accent so strong, “I don’t understand half the things I say myself.”
And she thinks fans can expect more women like her in the near future because she really believes the U.S. is ready for more Latin culture to be mixed in. READ MORE
Last year, the head of marketing for Primm Valley resorts pitched his boss on an $85,000 entertainment act to fill the 6,500-seat arena at Buffalo Bill's, one of three budget hotels the company operates in Primm.
It seemed a princely sum to pay for a portly accordion player with Elvis-style sideburns and gaudy western wear who sings in Spanish — a man neither he nor his boss had ever heard of before.
Vice President of Marketing Stuart Richey was willing to wager that the accordionist, Ramon Ayala, would attract a sellout crowd of gamblers and help fill the company’s hotels on the California-Nevada border, 45 miles from Las Vegas.
Ayala, a star in his native Mexico, has made more than 100 albums over his nearly 50-year career playing a style of music called “norteño” for its origins in northern Mexico. Although still foreign to American ears, its polkalike beat has grown ubiquitous on U.S. radio stations and in cities large and small that are now home to the country’s swelling Mexican-American community.
The Oct. 16 Ayala concert, which drew 10,000 people to the three Primm casinos that weekend, was a landmark moment for Buffalo Bill’s — and a lesson for Nevada’s struggling casino industry.
“It was like New Year’s Eve, only busier,” said Richey, who previously ran the marketing department at Stratosphere before joining the Primm chain in 2009. “We realized there was pent-up demand for this kind of experience.” READ MORE
The Verizon iPhone is finally here, causing a lot of buzz and conversation around this expected news. For marketers targeting Latinos, this might be even bigger news, considering that currently 24 percent of all iPhones have been activated by Hispanics.
We all know that Hispanics are very mobile and are always on the go. For these reasons, cell phones are becoming a very powerful tool for them to stay connected to their social world. The use of cellular phones alone rose 26 percent from 2006 to 2010 among Latinos, compared to 18 percent of the general population. This notable increase shows that Hispanics are catching up: cellular phone penetration among Latinos has reached 82 percent, which is almost even with 84 percent of the overall population.
This is consistent with the growing trend of Hispanics cutting landlines and switching to mobile phones as their main source of communication. Some experts attribute this to the recession. But actually, when we take a deeper look at how Latinos use their mobile phones, there are many other reasons beyond the economy that are driving this behavior.
There are three key attributes driving the mobile Hispanic:
1. Social connectivity: Mobile applications have changed the role and landscape of marketing - and Latinos are all over it.
2. Fun experience: For Latinos, mobile is not about efficiency and multitasking, but about ubiquity and expanding their experiences.
3. Open to innovation: Contrary to many marketers' beliefs, Latinos are more receptive to new ways of using their mobile phones. READ MORE
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez made history when she was sworn in New Year's Day as the nation's first Latina governor.
But the rising GOP star's momentous victory for the Hispanic community earned her little recognition in the national media.
Several mainstream news outlets like the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune -- even FoxNews.com -- neglected to mention her Hispanic heritage, while others such as the New York Times failed to cover the events as she took the oath during a chilly outdoor ceremony on the Santa Fe Plaza.
The apparent oversight prompted some media analysts to question why Martinez – as well as a handful of conservative Hispanics – has been left largely out of the national news spotlight.
"The media is not paying sufficient attention to the number of Hispanic conservatives who are elected to statewide offices and to Congress, especially in the western states," said Mike Gonzalez, vice president of communication at the Heritage Foundation and a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
"It goes against the narrative" of the "liberal media," he said, adding that the news industry has long classified Hispanics as "another liberal group."
Martinez’s story is an impressive one. The 51-year-old former district attorney, from middle class roots in El Paso, graduated near the top of her high school class before attending the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Oklahoma College of Law. In 1996, Martinez was elected district attorney of the state’s 3rd Judicial District, which covers heavily-Democratic Doña Ana County. Touting herself as a no-nonsense prosecutor during the 2010 gubernatorial election, Martinez defeated the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor, Diane Denish.
But the Republican’s rise to statewide office garnered little attention in the national spotlight overall.
The Associated Press made note of Martinez's historic inauguration in a news wire Jan. 1, acknowledging her as the first female governor of the state, while omitting her Hispanic heritage. That story was picked up by several media outlets including the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune websites. FoxNews.com also ran the AP story that day, but Fox News Latino had covered Martinez's candidacy and victory in a series of election articles beginning in October. READ MORE
A young Latino man is being hailed as a hero who helped saved Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' life.
Daniel Hernandez Jr., 20, a political science student from the University of Arizona, was a new intern in her office. He rushed towards Giffords and the gunshots, held her hand and applied pressure to the wound. He held her head up to keep her from choking on her own blood.
"When I heard gunshots, my first instinct was to head toward the congresswoman to make sure that she was okay," Hernandez said in an interview Sunday with ABC's Christiane Amanpour. "Once I saw that she was down, and there were more than one victim, I went ahead and started doing the limited triage that I could with what I had."
Hernandez also is a member of the City of Tucson Commission on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues.
In a state where Latinos and immigrants have faced a barrage of attacks from the anti-immigration law SB1070 to plans to end Mexican-American studies programs, it's good news to see a Latino celebrated for his heroic act.
Can you imagine the outrage had the shooter not been a white male but a Latino immigrant? READ MORE
When the personal computer revolution began decades ago, Latinos and blacks were much less likely to use one of the marvelous new machines. Then, when the Internet began to change life as we know it, these groups had less access to the Web and slower online connections — placing them on the wrong side of the "digital divide."
Today, as mobile technology puts computers in our pockets, Latinos and blacks are more likely than the general population to access the Web by cellular phones, and they use their phones more often to do more things.
But now some see a new "digital divide" emerging — with Latinos and blacks being challenged by more, not less, access to technology. It's tough to fill out a job application on a cellphone, for example. Researchers have noticed signs of segregation online that perpetuate divisions in the physical world. And blacks and Latinos may be using their increased Web access more for entertainment than empowerment.
Fifty-one percent of Hispanics and 46% of blacks use their phones to access the Internet, compared with 33% of whites, according to a July 2010 Pew poll. Forty-seven percent of Latinos and 41% of blacks use their phones for e-mail, compared with 30% of whites. The figures for using social media like Facebook via phone were 36% for Latinos, 33% for blacks and 19% for whites.
A greater percentage of whites than blacks and Latinos still have broadband access at home, but laptop ownership is now about even for all these groups, after black laptop ownership jumped from 34% in 2009 to 51% in 2010, according to Pew. READ MORE
Telemundo Chicago, the fastest growing Spanish Language station among Adults 18-34, welcomes Meteorologist Maricela Vazquez, Reporter Yolanda Vasquez and Political Editor Alejandro Escalona as contributors to its 5pm and 10pm newscast. Telemundo Chicago is fortifying its award winning news team with individuals adding vast experience, tenure and news savvy.
Maricela Vazquez, an Emmy Ward Winner in 2005, is the first Latina Meteorologist in Chicago. Ms. Vazquez’s resume extends to general assignment reporter, covering politics, crime, education, immigration and other stories. Ms. Vazquez has covered President Bush’s visit to Chicago in 2006 and Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s visit in 2008. Ms. Vazquez has presented weekly women’s segment, “Para Ti Mujer” from 2003-2010. Presented two-part special series on tornadoes in Chicago (July, 2008). Ms. Vazquez will be the Meteorologist M-F at 5pm and 10pm news.
Yolanda Vasquez, comes to Chicago by way of New York, NY where she held the position of News Producer and reporter for Telemundo, N.Y. In her tenure Vasquez has held various international and national positions, including Press Advisor, Correspondent, News Producer and Anchor. Notable accomplishments include coverage of the death of Pope John Paul, the death Celia Cruz and The Staton Island Ferry Crash in 2010, Ms. Vazquez was a back fill for national correspondence. Yolanda will focus her reporting on M-F at 5pm and 10pm news.
Also joining Telemundo Chicago as Consulting Political Editor, is veteran Chicago journalist Alejandro Escalona. Mr. Escalona is the Latino Affairs Columnist for the Chicago Suntimes, where he writes a weekly column focused on the Latino Community in Chicago. Mr. Escalona will be providing in depth analysis in the political arena, specifically the Chicago Mayor Candidates and their election platforms. Escalona is the former editor of Hoy Chicago, the Tribune Company’s Spanish language daily. During his tenure the publication won numerous awards for coverage and design. During his distinguished career, Mr. Escalona has interviewed numerous leaders, including Mexican President Vicente Fox, Cuban President Fidel Castro, Chilean President Patricio Alwyn and Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu. His articles and interviews have been published in leading publications and has consistently appeared on Television as a political news commentator.
All members join Telemundo Chicago at a time of major accomplishments for the station. . “Noticiero Telemundo Chicago at 5pm” continued a steady growth trend in the November Sweeps 2010. The newscast achieved a +46% increase from September 2010 among Adults18-34 and +42% among Adults18-49. In addition, Telemundo Chicago increased the share of Spanish Prime time viewer ship to 25% in the November Sweeps 2010, an increase of 8% compared year over year.
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Source: Nielsen Media Research - Chicago NSI Live +3 data
"As Latino demographics are forever evolving, we are thrilled that more of them, men and women, are watching our targeted cable channels," said Hernan Lopez, President and COO of FOX International Channels (FIC), who oversees both FOX Deportes and Utilisima. "Whether your interests lie in exclusive sporting events, or household lifestyle programming, we feel well-positioned to address the unique needs of our Hispanic consumer landscape."
FOX Deportes' exclusive rights to the biggest sports events that matter most to U.S. Hispanics drove its ratings to new heights in 2010. FOX Deportes reigned as the #1 Hispanic cable sports network in primetime in 2010, finishing #1 in prime time 33 out of 52 weeks.
FOX Deportes also delivered the #1 Spanish cable program for the year with its exclusive rights of Copa Libertadores soccer. The Copa Libertadores Internacional vs. Chivas 2010 Final delivered a 9.26 HH coverage area rating and 876k total viewers.
In fact, FOX Deportes aired 1.6 times more original soccer game hours than all U.S. Spanish Broadcast networks combined (Univision, Telemundo, and Azteca America), as well as more original soccer game hours than all U.S. Spanish Cable networks combined (ESPN Deportes, GolTV, and Galavision).
Additionally, for the year, FOX Deportes aired the most sports events on an exclusive basis versus any other Spanish Broadcast or Cable network, including Copa Libertadores soccer, UEFA Champions League soccer, Italian Serie A soccer, Copa Sudamericana soccer, Major League Baseball Playoffs & World Series, and Formula 1 Racing.
"As the exclusive rights holder for the biggest sports events that matter most to U.S. Hispanics, FOX Deportes is the new face of Hispanic media," said Vincent Cordero, Executive Vice President and General Manager, FOX Deportes. "We are uniquely positioned to best engage the multi-lingual and multi-generational U.S. Hispanic community - whether U.S. born or foreign born, English dominant, Spanish dominant or bilingual. Our viewers trust us to exclusively provide the very best in live-sports, period."
Since its U.S. launch in July 2010, the Utilisima network, which covers a wide variety of genres, from cooking, arts and crafts, health and beauty, parenting, and home improvement, has quickly attracted the highest concentration of adult women of any Spanish-language network, holding a 66% per viewing household over its nearest competitor during total day (8a-2a). Utilisima's audience continues to grow, with viewership increasing an impressive 39% during December 2010 for the 8A-3P daypart with the W25+ demo. Utilisima has already emerged as the #3 Spanish-language cable network during total day (based on Coverage Area ratings), following only Galavision and Discovery en Espanol. READ MORE
Linda Alvarado personifies the American Dream. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico to a poor immigrant family, she was able to go to college and found a successful construction company that went from pouring concrete sidewalks to building multi-million dollar airports, convention centers and stadiums.
“The American dream is also the Hispanic American dream,” says Alvarado. “America is a country that has a lot of diversity and it enables people in ways that perhaps in other countries may not be as easy.”
Alvarado, who is Mexican American, calls her veer into construction “one of those great unplanned careers.” She was attending Pomona College in Claremont, California on an academic scholarship, majoring in economics, and needed a job, she says. “I didn’t want to work in the library or food service, so I got a referral to work grounds-keeping.”
Her soon-to-be-boss tried to dissuade her, telling her she’d have to do heavy lifting and wouldn’t be able to wear nice shoes. But something about the experience really spoke to Alvarado. “I said to myself, ‘Let me get this right. I don’t have to go the gym, I will get a tan and will work with all this single men—and you’ll pay me to do this,’” she jokes. That job was followed by one at a development company where, Alvarado says, “I dreamed of getting into construction and building high rises.”
“Sometimes, while people plan on what they are doing, opportunities may come our way,” she says. “We need to be careful that we don’t eliminate ourselves and run when in fact there are opportunities even in very non-traditional careers.” READ MORE
Juan Rangel, co-chairman of Rahm Emanuel's mayoral bid and head of the influential United Neighborhood Organization, stood at the front of the room. Before him, he saw the next generation of Chicago's political leaders, corporate chieftains and cultural tastemakers.
As the city gears up to elect its first new mayor in 21 years, Rangel said Latinos are at a crossroads and, with his UNO colleagues, is preparing up-and-coming professionals for a place at the table, no matter who replaces Richard Daley.
"It's not about being altruistic; put that aside," Rangel, 45, told the 36 smartly dressed men and women who had gathered for a lesson in political hardball through UNO's Metropolitan Leadership Institute. "If you don't have power, you'll never get to first base."
The message lies at the core of MLI, a modern vehicle for Latino clout in Chicago that goes beyond the legacy of curbside protests in the 1970s and the traditional patronage system mastered by the Hispanic Democratic Organization in the '90s.
Rangel's vision of a new day for Latinos resonates in his decision to join Emanuel's front-running campaign, despite the presence of three Latino candidates, and represents a clear break from the days when ethnic communities stuck to their own.
UNO's 9-year-old leadership academy — binding together politicians, bankers, real estate agents, City Hall staffers and attorneys much like an Ivy League Club — has become an essential stop for ambitious Chicago-area Latinos.
In the process, MLI's broadening network of influence — among its 206 graduates are CTA President Richard Rodriguez, Ald. Proco "Joe" Moreno, 1st, and state Commerce Commission Chairman Manny Flores — makes UNO an even greater political force in Chicago.
"You can never get to the point of addressing issues in our neighborhoods if we don't have power," said Rangel, echoing an UNO mantra that stretches back 25 years. Rangel regularly casts U.S.-born Latinos as the 21st century equivalent of the Irish offspring who have been at the city's helm for decades. READ MORE
