It's been announced that yet another "reality" show will join the airwaves next Fall, but no contrived story lines with this show. Looking more like the perennial "Cops" series, the new camera-in-your-face series set to debut on ABC is about border security and titled, what else, "Border Security USA."

Billed as the first series with not only the blessings, but cooperation of the Department of Homeland Security, the show plans to take viewers from the frontlines of the U.S.-Mexico border to the open seas in the pursuit of those who would dare breach our borders.

Producer Arnold Shapiro

The producer, Arnold Shapiro, has an extensive background in producing such reality shows — "Big Brother," "Rescue 911" and "Scared Straight" to name a few. Yet, with this show, which is modeled after the 2004 Australian series, "Border Security: Australia's Front Line," Shapiro hopes to enlighten the American public about the men and women who guard the security of the nation against possible terrorists, drug smugglers and anyone else who would try to enter or bring materials unlawfully into the country — that also means undocumented immigrants.

"You see a lot of people who are not admitted into the country, and you learn why. You will become a more knowledgeable traveler in terms of crossing the border," promises Shapiro.

Unlike most reality shows that center in one location, Shapiro says that each show will feature 10 different stories showcasing a variety of locations, law enforcement agents and crimes.

Already, without viewing the series, opinions are mixed. Mostly, people are afraid Shapiro and his crew will reveal too much that would tip off terrorists-to-be in how to slip through our borders.

Yet, Shapiro assures that won't be the case since the government asked him to not show everything that border agents do to thwart unwelcome visitors and activities.

As one blogger pointed out, Shapiro doesn't have to worry about revealing too much security tactics since the evening news already fills that gap — ouch!

If there's something good to be gained from such a show, in addition to spotlighting those men and women who really are on the frontlines of keeping the country safe, it's that everyone now has the opportunity to see the faces and hear the stories firsthand of those trying to enter the country illegally.

Ironically, maybe it will take a show like this to humanize the plights of those who are not terrorists but who want to come and work in the US, and will cross the border any way they can to achieve that goal.

The lack of diversity in fields such as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is causing a lot of concern for big companies who want a workforce that not just reflects the larger society but which is also instrumental in creating products and services that appeal to everyone.

Microsoft is so bothered that the future pool of IT workers will include less people of color and women that it is hosting a special web conference today focusing solely on diversity.

There is reason to be concerned. The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) reports that in 2006-2007, African Americans accounted for roughly 11 percent of bachelor's degree recipients in computer science, while Latinos accounted for an estimated 7 percent.

With the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting that the fastest growing occupations are computer-related jobs, well, you can do the math.

Realizing that Latinos lag behind when it comes to pursuing degrees in these specific fields, the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and the Merck Company Foundation have joined together to create the Alliance/Merck Ciencia Scholars Program.

Hispanic engineering students take part in a NASA-sponsored program.
(Source: NASA)

The Merck Company Foundation gave the program a $4 million grant to improve Hispanic student access to higher education in the pursuit of degrees in science, technology, engineering and math, known as STEM degrees.

Over the next five years, the program will provide two types of scholarships for students pursuing STEM degrees: The Ciencia National Scholarships will award 125 Latino college students across the nation with scholarships of $2,000, and the Alliance/Merck Ciencia Scholars scholarships which will identify those Latino students, who live in Brownsville, TX, Elizabeth, NJ and Los Angeles, CA, eligible to apply for one of 50 scholarships in the amount of $20,000 and an additional $22,500 in internship support.

All the recipients will receive ongoing support from program officials.

To find out more about the Alliance/Merck Ciencia Scholars Program visit the web site or text "CIENCIA" to 30644 to sign up for an online application which will become available on September 16, 2008. Application deadline is January 16, 2009 with scholarship winners announced in May 2009.

San Antonio is the gateway for Mexican music, Tejano tunes, mariachi melodies and anyone who wants to jumpstart a career in Latin music.

Of course, it's always nice if someone actually notices all these musicians and alerts the rest of us to not only their existence, but their talent. That's where Ramiro Burr comes in.

Music reporter and blogger Ramiro Burr

Ramiro is the music reporter for the San Antonio Express-News. He's also a syndicated columnist, book author, freelance writer, speaker — but all those accomplisments pale in light of his last gig as a blogger! (We may be a little biased here)

At Ramiro's blog, the latest chisme (gossip), news, record releases, concerts, etc. of your favorite Mexican or Tejano singer or group is revealed.

Tejano singer Elida tells Ramiro how she is changing Tejano music to fit the times.
(Source: Ramiro's blog)

While Ramiro (naturally) covers the concerts and happenings in South Texas because you know, that's where San Antonio is, he doesn't ignore the rest of the country when it comes to spotlighting Latino and Latina talent.

So to get your music fix, check out Ramiro's blog.

You'll be surprised at how so much is happening in the Latino music market — or not.

These days, the Mexican border town across from El Paso, Texas, Juarez is under siege by drug cartels. Every week, there are reports of new murders.

Yet, with these murders, at least it is known they are being committed by the drug cartels in their wrestle for dominance in the region, but there are still 450 murders of young women for whom no direct tie can be established.

From corrupted police officials to drug cartels to Satanic cults, since 1993 young girls in Juarez have disappeared either to never have been heard from again or to turn up murdered in such grisly fashion that it makes a normal person wonder why the Mexican government hasn't shown the proper concern in tracking down these killers who have made it a sport to prey on young girls.

The investigation, or lack of, into the killings of these girls and the ensuing treatment of the families by the local and state authorities has consistently exhibited signs of abuse, mistreatment, false accusations and generally purposeful ineptness that the real killers will never be brought to justice.

Theories as to why can only lead the rational to assume that the killers are being protected because of their public positions and/or the power they wield in the city.

However, the mothers of these dead girls and women who are outraged that the Mexican government is willing to let these murderers get away with murder, regardless of who they are, have been speaking out — and their voices are getting stronger.

When it comes to the movie industry, Latinos have arrived.

There's no better measure of the rise of Latino film talent, both in front and behind the camera, than when the European press takes notice like at the world's premier film festival — Cannes.

Now, more and more of us can take note of this budding talent with a new site that promotes Latino filmmakers from the US, Mexico and Latin America.

It's called Quepasa Cine Latino.

Drawing on the social networking that is the foundation of the Qpasa.com site, the bilingual Quepasa Cine Latino takes it a step further by creating a space where filmmakers can create their own social profiles, upload their works-in-progress, blog about their accomplishments and frustrations and interact with their peers.

The best part is that the rest of us can listen in on what life is like for filmmakers and interact with them as well, in turn, getting the scoop on who will be the next Salma Hayek or Robert Rodriguez.

One of the first Latinos in the country who broke down a barrier to show that people with accents and who come from other countries are not a threat, and can even be quite funny was the better half of the Lucy and Desi team — Desi Arnaz.

At a time in our country's history when discrimination was unabashedly rampant, the Cuban-born Desi didn't compromise his values, nor his name, to go mainstream. Rather he showed that Latinos do belong in American society and can make great contributions.

We know, that as a team, Lucy and Desi transformed the history of television. And Desi played a very important part of the evolution of the industry by "working with the legendary Karl Freund and pioneering the three-camera technique that became the standard for TV sitcoms."

So why the post about Desi and Lucy?

Well, this Memorial Day weekend, in Lucy's hometown of Jamestown, New York, the annual Lucy-Desi Days Festival will take place.

From May 23-25, over 50 activities commemorating the success of the First Couple of Comedy will be featured during the festival.

Among the highlights are:

The Lucy-Desi Museum recently installed a new exhibit. Among the items on display this season include a 1950’s Desi Arnaz portrait (on loan from Lucie Arnaz).

For Collectors: a weekend long Lucy-Desi Collectors’ Show will be offered as well as a memorabilia auction featuring vintage Lucille Ball movie posters, hard-to-find “I Love Lucy” dolls, and much more.

The festival weekend will include an opportunity to enjoy a cruise on Lake Chautauqua with someone who has been a part of CBS daytime TV for more than 20 years!

And for those who want to follow in Desi and Lucy's footsteps, there will be workshops on the "artistry of clowning."

But if you can't make it to upper state New York for the festival next weekend, the next best thing is to tune into the cable channel TVland to catch an old rerun or click over to TVLand.com to watch snippets of some of the all-time favorite episodes.

Either way, the contributions of this famous bicultural husband-wife team deserve to be celebrated and remembered.

There was a time when documentaries were considered the "nerds" of the film genre.

No more. Nowadays, documentaries are as popular as the latest action adventure films. They just don't tell a good story — they tell a true story.

With truth being a high commodity these days, along with visual entertainment, documentaries are a genre whose time has come. One organization that is synonymous with documentaries is the Public Broadcasting System or PBS.

PBS has a series called POV (Point of View) which are nothing but documentaries that showcase the diversity in perspectives that exist in the USA.

Two upcoming POV documentaries: The Last Conquistador and The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez both take place along the Texas-Mexico border.

Esequiel Hernandez

Scheduled for broadcast on July 8, 2008, The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez is about the 1997 incident where 18-year-old Esequiel Hernandez was tending his family's goat herd when he was mistakenly shot by Marines who had been dispatched to patrol the border to look for drug smugglers and undocumented border crossers.

Esequiel, a US citizen, was the first American in US history to die on native soil since the infamous 1970 Kent State shootings.

Yet, the aftermath of Esequiel's death impacted beyond measure his family, community and the notion of militarizing the border.

In this day and age, as the debate renews on how best to protect the border, The Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez provides a lesson of what can happen when public policy doesn't allow for the realities of life.

The second film this summer that takes place along the Texas-Mexico border is titled The Last Conquistador and is about a sculptor who has spent the last 10 years creating the world’s tallest bronze equestrian statue for the city of El Paso, Texas.

The sculptor and his Conquistador work of art.
(Photo: Luis J. Jimenez)

He chose as his subject the Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate. The idea for choosing this conquistador was to have his symbolize the contributions of Hispanic people in the creation of the American West. Unfortunately, the sculptor didn't do his homework very well or otherwise, he would have learned that Oñate was considered a murderer by the Native Americans in the region.

Known for cutting the feet off of his prisoners and selling young Native Americans into slavery, among other barbaric practices, a statue in Oñate's honor is the last thing area Native Americans want erected — that it happens to be the world's tallest statue just pours salt into a wound that never healed throughout the generations.

Check your local listings in July to see what channel you can catch these worthwhile films.

While English is the main language of the United States, the second most widely used language is Spanish.

So it makes sense that when there is an urgent situation that needs ALL of the public's attention and help, that the information is in Spanish, as well as, English.

One of those situations is when a child is abducted.

Thanks to the nationwide Amber Alert program, many children's lives have been saved.

Since its creation, the AMBER Alert program has helped reunite more than 390 children with their families, and 14 to 20 percent of all AMBER Alert activations in the last three years have involved Hispanic children.

When wireless Amber Alerts were made available to the public, the opportunity to save even more children grew. Yet, the wireless alerts were only available in English — until now.

A new Spanish-language component of the Wireless Amber Alerts web site brings the same opportunity to save a child's life to Spanish-speakers.

At the Spanish site, like the one in English, visitors can register to receive free wireless alerts on their cell phones.

Since the first 3 hours after an abduction are critical in finding the child, the more eyeballs on the lookout for the child, the abductor, the car, etc. , the greater the chance at finding the child before too much harm is done to him/her.

During crisis situations like these, it doesn't matter what language information is relayed in — only that it is and it's understood.

Who would have thought Washington, D.C. would have the lowest stress ratings of all the major cities in the country?

They do according to a new study done for the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women movement.

The study, done by Sperling's BestPlaces, cited cities of various sizes in lists identifying the best and worst heart-healthy towns for women.

The 10 best heart-friendly metro areas with a population of 1.5 million and greater are:

1. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN
2. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC
3. San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland, CA
4. Denver-Aurora, CO
5. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA
6. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
7. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR
8. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
9. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
10. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ

The 10 worst:

1. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, TN
2. St. Louis, MO
3. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
4. Pittsburgh, PA
5. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
6. Columbus, OH
7. Cincinnati-Middletown, OH
8. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
9. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
10. Indianapolis, IN

Notice a pattern?

Cities that were the most heart-friendly were either places that were totally body conscious like Los Angeles or were meccas for outdoor sports like Denver. Likewise, the towns on the least heart-friendly list were places whose only sports were either shopping or gambling.

The study focused on the 200 largest metro areas in the country and focused on such heart-healthy factors as smoking, obesity, exercise and cardiac mortality rate. There were some interesting findings in the study. Such as:

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Boston and Phoenix reported the lowest female cardiac mortality rates in the country; Detroit, Nashville and St. Louis reported the highest.

San Francisco, Denver and Los Angeles were the thinnest mega metros; Cleveland, San Antonio and Columbus were among the most overweight.

Our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., reported the lowest stress ratings of all the mega metros while Portland, OR reported the highest stress levels in the category.

While summer has always been a big factor in motivating women to get fit since less clothes are required during these months, this new survey points out the benefits of staying motivated to be fit all year long.

Whether it be a book tour, music tour or play tour, the bottom line is that those of us waiting for the tour to come to our town have to wait and wait and wait, and then we only get one chance to see either our favorite author, musician or actor.

Poster created by artist Nuvia Crisol Guerra

Yet, a group of very savvy Latinas have put together a whole different kind of tour that brings our favorite writers to our desktops as part of the "Women, Words & Wisdom" blog tour.

From May 19th till May 28th, ten Latina authors will participate in this fourth installment of the blog tour by posting original short stories and essays on their blogs. Readers, in essence, will tour each day to the day's designated author's blog where they not only get to read a great story but can enter into a contest to win a prize.

According to Mary Castillo, author and coordinator of the tour, in addition to elevating the profile of the authors, attracting more fans and supporting one another's literary efforts, the blog tour has another purpose too.

"We also hope that the blog tour will inspire a new writer out there to sit down and write that book that has been rattling around in her head," said Castillo.

The line-up for the blog tour starts with:

Tomorrow, across the nation, a new film opens with its three leading characters all Latinas — strong Latinas.

Lucy Gallardo, America Ferrera and Elizabeth Peña lead the cast in the new film, How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer. The film, already a multi-award festival winner, explores how three Latina women, of different generations, come to terms with their sexuality.

And when it comes to Latinas and sexuality, well, it's a well known fact that sexuality in Latinas never die, and that's what makes the film so interesting and touching at the same time.

From the 70-year-old grandmother who never really experienced true love and now finds herself flustered as she takes driving lessons from a man she finds attractive to her daughter who, as a single mom, is frustrated and lonely to her granddaughter who is at the age of discovering what all sexuality entails, the film serves as a mirror to a common theme in every Latina's life.

The film's director/writer/producer Georgina Garcia Riedel discusses direction with actress America Ferrera.

The film is the debut of writer, producer and director Georgina Garcia Riedel who was inspired to create the film because of her abuela.

How the Garcia Girls Spent their Summer is a love letter to the place where my grandmother resides, a small dusty border town called Somerton, Arizona. The film was conceived one winter when I asked my grandmother what she wanted for Christmas. She took me by surprise by saying a car. My mind began to race. What would a 70-year-old woman, who had never driven before in her entire life, do with a car and what troubles could she get into? From there, the writing began.

How the Garcia Girls Spent their Summer is definitely one of those movies that bonds Latinas of all ages. Unfortunately, it is only opening in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois and Texas but hopefully the wait won't be too long until it ends up on DVD, the Internet and cable tv.

In the meantime:

They say that everybody has at least one good story in them to write. Well, the same can be said that everyone also has one good invention in them to invent.

And when it comes to being creative and finding solutions to practical problems, women have risen to the challenge time and time again.

Now, it's time to be rewarded.

The annual "Mother of Invention" contest sponsored by Whirlpool is underway. This year, a new category has been added — the "Green" category. For the Green inventions, inventors "must meet one of the following criteria: minimize the impact on environmental resources, use recycled/natural materials or are an environmentally friendly product/service."

In total, five prizes will be awarded. The winner of the Overall Grand Prize will receive a $20,000 grant, Duet® Steam or Cabrio® washer and steam dryer pair, a Whirlpool® dishwasher and a $3,000 stipend for a new home office.

And all of the prizewinners will attend a two-day business boot camp led by Whirlpool experts covering areas such as product development, business strategy, innovation and technology, legal, accounting and marketing.

Entries must be postmarked by July 31, 2008. Contest details and application form are available at the web site.

Last year, the Grand Prize Winner invented a very simple thing — baby bottle nipples that fit over juice and water bottles.

What's your idea?

The Latino independent filmmakers talent pool is growing everyday. Unfortunately, there's never been enough outlets or appreciation of Latino talent to get the word out to the greater community or for the community to support this budding independent filmmaking talent — until now.

Caachi Films is a new website that not only wants to promote independent (indie) filmmakers but help them earn a little bit of money for all their efforts.

Caachi distributes the independent films for download on its website. In turn, the independent filmmakers sell their films directly to their fans and retain 75% of the sales revenue. Film fans download the films in DVD resolution and can watch them on the computer, TV, video iPod/iPhone, and other personal media devices.

Caachi has over 30 categories of films, both free and with a minimal price tag: documentaries, comedy, science fiction, women's programming, animation, action adventure and the list goes on. There is also a Latino category featuring films such as:

Rapping at Fear — In Andrés Tabares’ barrio in Colombia, “social cleansing” groups wage war. When this thirteen-year-old raps against violence, people listen.

Perros Sin Amor — A beautiful woman lugging around a window frame around the country and city. We'll let you come to your own conclusions.

Gordo — 2007 Audience Award for Best Short Film at Cinequest film festival and 2007 Best International Short at Beverly Hills Hi-Def film festival. "Gordo" is a delightful culinary tale of an immigrant's journey from Mexico to the US and how Gordo's delicious creations have unintended effects. Gordo is a hard-working, gifted taco maker from Mexico who travels to America to make a better life for his family. Gordo arrives in Watsonville, CA where his only option to work is at Cinco de Taco, a national fast food chain. Appalled at how the chain makes tacos, Gordo sneaks his own ingredients into the fast food restaurant and prepares tacos the way he did in Mexico. Gordo's culinary gift gets him recognition, but does he want this recognition?

Latinas comprise 48% of the Hispanic adult population in the United States. While Latinas are unique, as a collective whole, we share similarities with other women but also do retain certain distinctions, for good or bad.

Between 1980 and 2000, the Hispanic share of meat-processing workers increased from under 10 percent to almost 30 percent.

The Pew Hispanic Center recently released a very in-depth report on Latinas. From education to labor force participation, this report tallies the progress, or more like the lack of it, Latinas are making.

While most of the findings are discouraging, they do serve as a starting point to address issues that need to change to ensure the health and future prosperity of the greater Latino community.

Some of the "highlights" of the report:

The majority (55%) of all Hispanic women report that they speak only English in their home or that they speak English very well.

The labor force participation rate of Hispanic women (59%) is similar to the
participation rate for non-Hispanic women (61%). Native-born Hispanic women
(64%) have a higher participation rate.

Hispanic women are less educated than non-Hispanic women.

The marital status of Hispanic women is similar to that of non- Hispanic women. Equal shares of Hispanic and non-Hispanic women are married (54%).

Native-born Hispanic women who gave birth were more likely than immigrant Hispanic women to be unmarried. Half (50%) of all births to native-born Hispanic women in the previous year were to single mothers compared with 35% of immigrant Hispanic women.

Hispanic women are nearly three times as likely as non- Hispanic women to be uninsured, 36% versus 13%.

Median weekly earnings for Hispanic women who are employed full-time are $460 per week. The median weekly earnings of non-Hispanic women, $615, are 34% higher.

Hispanic women are much more likely than non- Hispanic women to live in a lower-income household
53% compared with 34%.

Hispanic women account for 12% of the employed female population in the United States. However, they account for 42% of women employed in farming, fishing and forestry occupations, 37% of women in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations; and 23% of women in production occupations.

Hispanic women are more likely than non-Hispanic women to work in the following industries: eating, drinking and lodging services (11% versus 6%); personal and laundry services/private household services (6% versus 3%); and nondurable goods manufacturing (5% versus 3%).

More Hispanic women work in the wholesale/retail trade industry than any other industry. One-in-seven (15%) Hispanic women work in the wholesale/retail trade industry, a similar share as for non-Hispanic women (14%).

Being a madre is a hard enough job these days without having to worry that the place a mom calls home may not be the best home for her or her child.

In honor of Mother's Day this weekend, the Save the Children organization has released their report card of the best countries to live to be a mom.

The Mother's Day Report Card top 10 and bottom 10 countries to be a mom.

The Mother's Day Report Card finds that the worst countries to be a mom are the usual suspects when it comes to poor quality of life — basically subSahara Africa.

The top countries to be a mom are in Europe, the South Pacific and Iceland. The United States ranked 27.

The report has some interesting findings:

Peru, of all the countries examined, has the highest survival gap between poor and wealthy children. What that means is that the poorest Peruvian children are 7.4 times more likely to die than the richest Peruvian children.

An alarming number of countries are failing to provide the most basic health care that would save children’s lives. In each of 55 developing countries – which together account for 83 percent of child deaths – more than 30 percent of children do not get basic health care when they need it. Nearly 200 million children under 5 in these countries are missing out on lifesaving interventions such as prenatal care,skilled
assistance during birth, immunizations,and treatment for diarrhea and pneumonia.

Every minute,a woman meets her death during pregnancy or childbirth.

Yet, this report card just isn't a doom-and-gloom report with no hope offered. The authors of the report do offer practical solutions.

It's just up to the governments of those countries to realize that they can do something to improve the lives of children and mothers in their countries — if they want to.

Yesterday may have been the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy but the whole month of May is dedicated to increasing awareness of the topic.

From what we've seen, when it comes to young Latinas, that kind of awareness has to be reinforced on a daily basis.

As a result of yesterday's post Latina Teen Pregnancy Rate Deserves Recognition as National Crisis, college student and professional rapper ManAce shared with Latina Lista a music video titled "Hard Times" that he created this past semester.

"The song is about hard times in life in general but the story is specifically about a teenage girl who makes the mistake of young pregnancy and her parents dealing with it," said ManAce.

Latina Lista applauds ManAce for tackling a hard topic with such a socially conscious video and rap song.

Long before mainstream media first took note of the curvaceous booty of Jennifer Lopez, Latinas everywhere have had to wrestle with clothes that just don't do the figures of Latinas justice.

A common Latina complaint is that most jeans fit mannequin booties better than Latina bodies. Yet, a new blue jean line is intent on changing how Latinas feel about their jeans.

The only way to get clothes that actually curve and bend with Latina figure lines is if a Latina is designing them. Well, a new blue jean line called Fiorana has exactly that — a Latina designer.

Based now in Fort Worth, Texas, after moving from Medellin, Colombia, the Fiorana line of jeans is designed by Colombian native Juliana Ramirez.

With product copy that reads: "elongates the leg, lifts the tush and slenderizes hips and thighs," it's obvious from the start that these jeans speak to Latinas' unique body needs. Especially good news is that it's stretch denim!

However Ramirez and her partner Mike Braden don't want non-Latinas to think the jeans aren't for them.

"Our collection is not about the "rear", it's about the fit and attitude," Ramirez says. "Every confident woman looks great in our jeans."

Prices range from the low $80s to mid $90s. There's also capri pants and a denim mini skirt in the collection.

For now, the clothes can only be bought online at the bilingual Fiorana store site but the young entrepreneurs are working hard to spread the news that Latinas want clothes that fit right, especially Fiorana jeans.

An interesting story from Texas' Rio Grande Valley surfaced today. It seems that in 1931 there was an ordinance created in Edcouch, Texas that divided the city into two sides: the American side and the Spanish side.

Border town, Edcouch, Texas' water tower at sunset.
(Source: kenanderson.net)

For anyone of Mexican or Spanish descent who wanted to work as a domestic servant, the ordinance was written to clarify who could cross into the American side from the Spanish side — keep in mind that the Spanish side was still within US boundaries and where Mexican-Americans lived.

The ordinance said: It shall be a misdemeanor for any such person (of Mexican or Spanish descent) to occupy any building on the American side either as a business or a dwelling except as a servant or a maid in the home and any person violating this would be fined no less than $1 and no more than $100.

Longtime residents of Edcouch attest to growing up in a segregated town until 1968 when the town's high school students marched out of school to protest discrimination. From that time on, things changed in the border town — except that people forgot about the ordinance, until on Cinco de Mayo.

Finally, 77 years after it was first put on the books in Edcouch, the ordinance dividing the town was repealed. Though it was more of a symbolic gesture than anything, the repeal was significant because it put an official end to such racial practices.

To James Loewen, Edcouch fits into what he terms "Sundown Towns," towns that divided, and some which still divide, their residents along racial differences.

According to Loewen, university scholar and author of Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism, these towns still exist.

These are towns or suburbs where people of color are made to feel unwelcome, and even experience racist violence in the form of property vandalism or worse.

Whereas before, this "domestic racism" has been able to thrive below the radar and in very subtle ways, the candidacy of Barack Obama in this election is forcing the race issue in bedroom communities across the nation that have never had to deal with it before.

Loewen is continuing his research into Sundown Towns and is appealing for help in his research and a start to holding towns accountable for their racist agendas through legal actions.

Sundown Towns, like the Edcouch ordinance, deserve to be relics of the past — not of the present.

From March 19, 2003 through April 5, 2008, there were a total of 429 Latino soldiers, across all military branches, killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom — overall, 4,005 soldiers were killed during this time frame.

From March 19, 2003 through April 5, 2008, there were 1,924 Latino soldiers who returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom, across all military branches, wounded in action — overall, 29,676 soldiers returned from war wounded in action during this time frame.

As we know, "wounded in action" doesn't mean that their injuries can be healed with a band-aid and they are sent on their ways. Too, too often these soldiers have lost a limb or endured some other injury that not only is life-changing for them but impacts their families as well.

The smallest and most vulnerable victims of these situations are always the children. It is estimated that there are as many as 700,000 children under the age of five who has a parent in the military.

The children are the ones who miss their parents, don't quite know how to deal with a parent who returns not looking the same as he/she left and wrestles with the fear that their parent will have to go away again.

Rosita and Elmo help children of military parents make sense of what is happening to their families.
(Source: Sesame Workshop)

Trying to reassure these children is a monumental task for anyone. So, to help military families make the family transitions easier on the children, Sesame Street has released the second installment of a bilingual outreach project especially for military families called Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings, Changes.

The main focus of the outreach project is a series of videos showing the lovable and familiar Sesame Street character Elmo and his friend Rosita, among others, dealing with the changes in their families due to a parent being in the military.

One of six videos created to help children in military families cope with family transitions.
(Source: Sesame Workshop)

Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings, Changes seeks to:

Reduce the level of anxiety children may experience during homecomings after multiple deployments.
Help parents with ways to cope with multiple deployments.
Help young children gain an age-appropriate understanding of a parent.s injury by including them and the entire family in the rehabilitation process.
Reassure children that they are loved and secure and that together with their families, they can learn new ways of being there for one another and having hope for the future.

The Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings, Changes program is available in a kit with DVDs, print materials and special American Greetings postcards featuring Sesame Street characters for children and parents to stay connected while separated.

In fact, "Sesame Workshop will produce and distribute 500,000 kits at no cost to individual families, schools, child care programs, family support programs, hospitals and rehabilitation centers and other organizations serving the needs of military families. Special emphasis will be made to reach families of the Reserves and National Guard."

However, the whole program is available online in both English and Spanish — even the streaming videos of Elmo and his family and friends and downloadable songs.

It is a great way to get started on trying to make sense of a traumatic situation for children who may feel a little better in knowing that if Elmo and his friends can be OK then they will be too.

There is one book that always outdoes the competition when it comes to setting world records in the readership category.

You got it — the Bible.

Though the Bible has always had a Spanish printed version, it now has an audio version. The American Bible Society has released La Palabra Eterna, Reina-Valera 1960, a dramatized recording in Spanish of the New Testament in both CD and MP3 formats.

What's cool about this recording is that it's not some monotone voice reading familiar Scripture but a very polished delivery complete with music, sound effects, and native Spanish speakers. It was produced and directed by Grammy award winner David Rapkin whose past audio books have been recognized by Publisher's Weekly as among the best selling audio books on the market.

So if you have someone on your Mother's Day list for whom you just have no clue as to what to buy her, check this out.

A gift like this may get you those good graces you need.

Puerto Rican artist, Lourdes Perez, is described as a "recording artist, songwriter, composer, arranger, poet, vocalist and guitarist." Yet, she is also only one of a handful of female decimistas.

Décima is a specialized form of Spanish poetry. Lourdes has become world renown for her treatment and performance of the genre and is considered to be “among the great Latin American female vocalists."

Another admirable thing Lourdes does is promote human rights and dignity around the world. From holding a concert at a Palestinian refugee camp in Bethlehem to writing a song for the people of Sierra Blanca, Texas as part of a campaign against converting their low-income border community into nuclear waste dumping grounds, Lourdes sings to ease the plights and raise awareness of what is happening to the people in the world who have been rendered voiceless.

Unfortunately, not enough people in the Latino community (and outside) know of Lourdes and her fantastic singing abilities and human rights accomplishments. To get the word out to mas gente about Lourdes and her music, an unique film series has been created to highlight artists such as Lourdes.

The project is called Encounter: USA Fellows and is a collaboration between United States Artists and the Los Angeles-based film company City Projects. In total, 14 short videos (available online) featuring different artists from around the United States comprise this part of a global project which attempts to introduce artists to a wider audience and provide a peek into their creative processes.

The videos are high-quality and are a convenient way to become acquainted with artists like Lourdes whom we all should take the time to know and appreciate.