The “First World” has lessons to learn about community building!

The Bajio is a region in Central Mexico which is made up of the States of Guanajuato, Queretaro, and Jalisco as well as a part of Michoacan. It is an area of extreme poverty and lack of economic opportunity. The able-bodied men of the area migrate north to the United States leaving their family members(mainly women, children and the elderly) trapped, dependent on remittances they can send back as one of the few means of support.

The Fundacion Comunitaria del Bajio(the Bajio Community Foundation) is a non-profit association that works to promote local development in the communities in the region. It seeks to help address access to basic services, infrastructure, and creation of economic opportunities at the grassroots level. The community members in partnership with field workers from the Fundacion and both public and private sector partners from Mexico, the United States, and Europe collaborate to address the needs of each particular community.

The Fundacion helps the families involved work through a process which starts with the identification of the specific challenges, needs, potentials and priorities in six(6) basic areas: economic, social, education, health, intangible heritage and preservation of natural resources.

Next, the Fundacion aids the community in setting up their own management groups, local organizations, businesses, and social activities which will over time improve the daily lives of everyone in the local community, their friends and neighbors.

The Fundacion then helps connect the communities with organizations, government agencies, corporations and individuals both in Mexico and abroad who will be able to provide expertise and funding to develop these projects for the betterment of the community.

The ultimate goal of these projects is to create a solid infrastructure which will allow the people in these communities to break the cycle of migration to the United States by creating viable enterprises in the area which not only create jobs now but create an environment which allow for longer term growth, prosperity and stability in the region. A by-product of this development is that it builds a citizenry that will have the knowledge and ability to interact with their government officials and direct normal government programs to their best use in the community also.

The Fundacion Comunitaria del Bajio has taken to heart the meaning of the old adage, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” It should serve as a model of development in Mexico as well as the rest of the developing world. While it is good to provide for immediate needs, the best way to help individuals long-term is to work with them to create an infrastructure that allows them to support themselves.

An argument can be made that it could serve as a model for use in pockets of poverty, urban and rural, in developed countries including the United States and Europe. While these countries lead the world in social programs to take care of those who are lacking, most of these solutions are more of the 'give a man a fish...' variety and have less emphasis on 'teach a man...' concept. Perhaps this is something that should be rethought by these “developed” nations.

By Being Latino Contributor, Jeffery Cassity Jeffery is a mostly socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative Anglo male who is involved in his local Hispanic community as the widower of a 1st generation Mexican-American woman and his active, some would say hyperactive, membership in the local Council of the League of Latin American Citizens(LULAC).

The student walkouts at East LA Schools – 45 years later: Have things changed?

It is a time, an event, that is lionized in the mythos of Latinos in the United States and especially among the Chicanos of East Los Angeles. The first week of March 1968 when students at Lincoln High School and several other Los Angeles schools walked out of classes to protest the discrimination they faced on a daily basis and the inadequate resources in their schools. In the days that followed, thousands more students in other California schools, as well as other schools across the country, joined by walking out of classes to protest similar conditions in their districts.

The student leadership at Lincoln High School presented a list of 39 demands to authorities. It was the beginning of a golden age for Latino education in Los Angeles and California—right? Wrong! This is where the myth runs into reality.

The reality is that at the schools where the walkouts occurred, things have not changed that much. Dropout rates are as high, if not higher, today than they were in 1968. There have been some improvements in cultural recognition and physical sites but no real substantive changes.

Luis Torres, a leader of the walkouts and a broadcast news reporter in Los Angeles for over 25 years, even wrote in a 2008 op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times commemorating the 40^th Anniversary that the results of the walkouts were more perception than reality, “The Chicano walkout was about dignity…Forty years ago, the Los Angeles school board was the Man. Today, it is an ally with the community in the effort to improve education. We have come very far in many ways, but we have a long way to go.”

Looking at the Los Angeles School District State of the Schools Report, the LAUSD Performance Meter 2011-12, there is a long way to go. Latinos have about a 57% graduation, among English Learners that figure is less than 40%.

The basic reality is that while there have been cosmetic improvements in curriculum and programs, physical facilities, and cultural respect and toleration, the main purpose and results of the Los Angeles education system—graduating Latinos who are ready for college and for leadership positions at the local, state and federal level—have not changed significantly in the 45 years since the walkouts. Some of the individuals involved went on to brighter and better things, but most did not. College attendance and the higher paying jobs, that come with higher education, is still the exception rather than the rule.

There is nothing to suggest that the intended legacy of student walkouts will be achieved anytime soon. This goes not only for Los Angeles but for every urban school district in the United States with a sizable Latino component.




By Being Latino Contributor, Jeffery Cassity. Jeffery is a mostly socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative Anglo male who is involved in his local Hispanic community as the widower of a 1st generation Mexican-American woman and his active, some would say hyperactive, membership in the local Council of the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

How Republicans in a ‘swing’ state view Latinos—A personal perspective

Let me start with a little background: I live in Kenosha, a city in Wisconsin, which everyone in the media and politics identified as one of the ‘battleground’ or ‘swing’ states in the 2012 Presidential election. I am also a Caucasian, socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative Republican male who is involved in my local Hispanic community as the widower of a first generation Mexican-American woman and my active membership in the local Council of the League of Latin American Citizens(LULAC).

I am very involved in many issues locally, especially those dealing with immigration and disparities in education and educational opportunities. Both of these issues are in the forefront of policy discussions in the Republican Party, locally and nationally. You would think that someone like myself and other Hispanics who are open to the Republican messages on these issues would be courted and welcomed at the local and state party level.

I am here to tell you this: WE ARE NOT!

Despite the rise to prominence of Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, as well as a handful of Representatives and several Governors, the attitude of Republicans in my home state remains, at best, paternalistic and, at worst, dismissive. Despite the calls from National Chairman, Reince Priebus, a fellow Kenoshan, and despite calls from internal factions such as Resurgent Republic and the Hispanic Leadership Network, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and my fellow Republicans of the 1^st Congressional District and Kenosha County(currently represented by our latest Vice Presidential candidate, Paul Ryan) turn a deaf ear to the potential strength of being a political party welcoming to Latinos and being a political party which is willing to address the concerns of Latinos.

In their December 2012 report entitled “The Hispanic Challenge and Opportunity for Republicans” Resurgent Republic and the Hispanic Leadership Network stated, ‘Years of harsh rhetoric and punitive policies will not be undone overnight. Fixing a broken immigration system is necessary but not sufficient to make Republicans competitive in the Hispanic community. But resolving those problems is imperative if Republicans hope to remain a competitive force in national politics. Numbers do not lie, and growing Hispanic influence in American life will only continue to grow…New candidates, new policies, and a new tone are all imperative.’

My experience here in Kenosha and in my contacts with the members of the Republican Party of the 1^st Congressional District and Wisconsin have been dismissive of Latinos and Latino issues. They are not willing to engage in discussion of how to address the uncounted numbers of undocumented Latinos here in the United States beyond simply saying, “They are here illegally, and they should go home!” Many local Republicans have even expressed their frustrations that the children of these undocumented Latinos have to be provided a public education at taxpayer expense.

This does not bode well for the Party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower—Republicans all who were champions of minority rights—in Wisconsin. That to me is sad and disappointing because Republicans and Latinos do share many values which would make for a great partnership which would benefit America for the 21^st Century and beyond.



By Being Latino Contributor, Jeffery Cassity.  Jeffery is a mostly socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative Anglo male who is involved in his local Hispanic community as the widower of a 1st generation Mexican-American woman and his active, some would say hyperactive, membership in the local Council of the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC).