¡PRESENTE!

by digby

Blogger and regular reader Nezua alerted me to this new organization that sounds very interesting. He writes:

OVER AND OVER we hear about The Hispanic Vote™ and The Latino/a Vote® and it is a real thing we are talking about in all of this. Our people—nuestra gente—have long been a force in this land, be it under the golden sun harvesting the corn that has for thousands of years fed our antepasados (ancestors) or away from the sun and working hard in US places of business or doing so much to build strong familias together, as las mujeres—the women—among us are known for historically. We are a beautiful and long enduring people, and responsible for so much creation here that sustains us today: Art, Literature, Food, Clothing, Song.

And yet, our voices have yet to be utilized and enjoined in a way that can efficiently organize around the issues that affect our communities. Don’t mistake what I say: the Latina/o (or “Hispanic”) community is famous for its ability to organize on the local level, and we are proud of this. And that is why it is time to continue to tie this ability and history together and bring it to an even higher level.

It’s true that while so much joins us, we do come from many different backgrounds and hold varying views on the issues that affect us. We will not always agree, nor should we. What we can agree on, though, is that we should have a way to centralize and engage the politics that affect us on so many levels.

I am involved in launching a site, Presente.Org, that is determined to achieve this very goal. Please stop over and check it out. If what I have written above interests you, please sign up.

Hasta luego!

After listening to the fatuous gasbags opine all day about how women and Hispanics have illegitimate claims to be on the high court and represent some odd, fringe groups who can’t possibly be “the best one for the job,” I can’t help but get a little strident on this. It’s pretty clear that we have quite a way to go before our society has truly repudiated white, male privilege.

Many people marched for social justice today, by the way, not that the mainstream media noticed. You can read about it here. Sample tweet:

Hoy fui ha marchar porque quiero seguir estudiando y trabajando y que mi familia pueda trabajar tanbien. (Today I marched because I want to continue to study and work and I want my family to be able to work too).

How dare they want the American dream?