Bety Hernandez walks horses by day at the Saratoga Race Course and watches over them by night. She has worked behind the scenes for nine summers at the track, sending money home to Mexico to support her mother in Guadalajara. Tuesday, Hernandez was the center of attention when she received the "best of show" award for a photograph she entered in the exhibit, "Vision, A Look at Life Behind the Scenes."
When she accepted the award, Hernandez said in Spanish, "It's very important for people to see
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is experimenting with a new Latino-themed warehouse store as it hunts for U.S. growth, despite a mixed history at ethnic forays by other retailers.
The Más Club, which opened in Houston on Thursday, aims to satisfy the yearnings of recent immigrants for the familiar foods of home -- in American-style bulk sizes. The Sam's Club spinoff is part of a broader effort by the retailer to target the nation's fast-growing Latino population with dedicated stores.
It also comes as W
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If you think it's embarrassing for an African-American to have to identify himself to the police while in his own house, imagine how humiliating it is for U.S.-born Latinos to have to prove their citizenship in their own country.
With racial profiling in the news lately, it's worth noting that America's largest minority has to endure the practice, too — but with a twist. Not only, according to several studies, do Latinos get pulled over by police and have their cars searched at a higher rate th
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The health care needs of an estimated 6.8 million undocumented and uninsured immigrants "has become the third rail in the debate over health-care reform," The Chicago Tribune reports. Some health care advocates have proposed broadening the proposals before Congress to include this population, but "fierce opposition has kept the idea off the table."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has "emphasized that illegal immigrants would not be covered under the current proposals." And the Congressional Hispanic
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During his recent HBO special, "Tall, Dark and Chicano," comedian George Lopez tore a hole in the Big Tent. Incensed that 31 Senate Republicans had voted against Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Lopez informed the GOP that it would never again get the votes of Latinos. In fact, he said, given changing demographics, Republicans might as well get used to losing in the years to come because "you won't win a ... pie-eating contest."
That's harsh, but fair. Republicans know not wha
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Violent and racist e-mail jokes alluding to the assassination of President Barack Obama, the killing of Latinos and violence against black people were forwarded by Atwater City Councilman Gary Frago during the last six months, according to more than 200 new e-mails obtained by the Sun-Star from the city of Atwater.
The councilman, who forwarded the newly obtained e-mails to city staff and a county supervisor, among others, has been under public pressure to resign since it was learned in July t
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Locked in a healthcare debate that is claiming much of his energy, President Obama acknowledged that a push to overhaul the nation's immigration system will have to wait until 2010 and even then will prove a major political test.
Obama suggested it would be too ambitious to aim for passage of new immigration laws before the end of the year, at a time when he will be confronting "a pretty big stack of bills." READ FULL STORYRead more…
A day after President Obama announced that legislation to overhaul immigration laws would have to wait until next year, the secretary of homeland security played down the need for change in a speech here and took a tough stance on enforcing current immigration laws.
The secretary, Janet Napolitano, defended the administration’s assertive strategy against illegal immigrants and companies that employ them, relying largely on programs started under President George W. Bush.
That strategy has dra
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Perched at the edge of an exam table, Delmira Maravilla is anxious for a check-up — and for a timeline on the president's promise of health care for all Americans.
She's paying out of pocket for the exam, and like one-third of Hispanics, the mother of nine doesn't have health insurance.
Latinos like this immigrant from El Salvador have much to gain if the legislation taking shape in Washington passes. Among the major ethnic groups, they are the least likely to have health coverage through wor
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A Washington think tank says Nevada had the highest unemployment rate among Hispanics in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2009.
The Economic Policy Institute, a labor-leaning economic think tank, says in a report that the state's unemployment rate among Hispanics was 16.4 percent. California came in second at 15.7 percent.
The report says the rate is due in part to a large number of job losses in the construction industry.
The overall Nevada unemployment rate in the quarter was 11.3 percent.
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Senate Republicans have lined up in staunch opposition to the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, rejecting concerns about alienating the growing Hispanic vote.
Even before debate began Tuesday night, almost three-fourths of the Senate Republican Conference had already announced opposition to the first Latina ever nominated to the nation's highest court. The party's 2008 standard bearer, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), joined the chorus of opposition this week, and no likely conte
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Hispanics who move to the United States are 40 percent more likely to develop certain cancers than those who remain in their native countries, according to a study from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine that was conducted in Florida, a state with a diverse Hispanic population.
Researchers speculate that one reason for the increase in cancer risk is that immigrants quickly adopt new, less healthy dietary and lifestyle habits, such as increased alcohol consumption, after moving to
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Aimed at improving the lives of Austin Latinos, FuturoFund Austin is accepting applications from nonprofits for its first grant cycle, which will invest $50,000 via grants to the local community.
Founded last year by a group of young Hispanic professionals, FuturoFund was formed to support nonprofits that assist and serve Latinos, and to provide leadership training. The fund’s giving priorities are: arts and culture, community development, education, health and human services and social justice
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Google's grants program favors nonprofits run by whites and Asians, in effect is raising ad prices for African-American and Hispanic nonprofits, a new report says.
Over the past three years, Google has given away $300 million worth of free advertising on its site, says the report from TechMission, an association of Black and Latino-led nonprofits addressing the digital divide.
That $300 million in advertising grants is used by recipient nonprofits to bid on specific search terms related to th
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Republicans U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry are walking a tightrope heading into their primary, where the winner will emerge the front-runner for the governor’s race in this decidedly red state.
On one side are Hispanic voters – a growing and influential bloc willing to listen to the GOP titans and one the candidates may need in the general election. On the other is a group that Hutchison and Perry cannot afford to anger: the Republican base of religious, largely white and c
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A legal advocacy group launched an education and awareness campaign Wednesday encouraging Latinos in 11 Midwest states to participate in the 2010 Census.
The campaign by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Chicago — including fliers in Spanish and English and door-to-door visits — is one among several advocacy groups nationwide working to ensure minorities are accurately counted.
"This is one of the most important civil rights issues," said Elisa Alfonso, a director of t
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An immigration policy group says Latinos and Asians in Colorado have a buying power of nearly $26 billion and their businesses employ more than 53,000 people.
The Washington-based Immigration Policy Center said in a report Wednesday that the Latinos and Asians, who make about 22.6 percent of Colorado's population, will be an important part of the state's economic recovery.
The report was based on U.S. Census figures and data from other research groups. READ FULL STORYRead more…
The KPMG Foundation is marking the 15th anniversary of its Minority Accounting Doctoral Scholarship program by announcing today it has awarded a total of $390,000 in scholarships to 39 minority doctoral scholars for the 2009 - 2010 academic year. Of the awards, eight are to new recipients scheduled to begin their accounting doctoral program this fall, three are to new recipients who have already begun programs, and 28 are renewals of scholarships previously awarded.
Each of the scholarships is
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Edinson Volquez ate lots of fast food while working his way from the Dominican Republic to Major League Baseball, and not just because he had little money.
"In the minor leagues we always went to McDonald's, Subway," the Reds right-hander said. "You point at the number for what you want. You try to talk, but you're scared because somebody may be laughing at you."
Volquez, like most Latin Americans in the major leagues, arrived in the United States speaking little or no English. The language a
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The Latino/a population in the United States is expected to triple by 2050, according to projections from the U.S. Census Bureau. And along with that growth, says University of Illinois professor Lydia Buki, will come a rise in the number of individuals from that population who are diagnosed with cancer.
In particular, based on current statistics, Buki expects that diagnoses of breast and cervical cancers among Latinas will increase significantly. READ FULL STORYRead more…
