Ruckus at the caucus

Am I the first person to cry at a caucus meeting? Picture a very prego lady who parked illegally 1/2 mile away from the door of the school building and arrived to her caucus meeting a little flushed but determined to do her duty as a citizen. Cuz that was me on March 15, 2012 and I may have looked ready to pop, but for me, being there to vote was so right. At least until they asked for delegate nominees and I got that tap-on-the-shoulder impression that it was my turn to stand up and yes, nominate myself. 

My speech was heartfelt, I talked of PTA advocacy and being on graffiti watch in my neighborhood but I felt very strongly that I should tell the small gathering just exactly where the Republican party was heading vote-wise with the Latino college-aged kids. I related to them an article in the Salt Lake Trib's weekly Spanish paper where they interviewed youth at the University of Utah and they kids expressed that the Republican party held nothing for them. They claimed that their needs were being ignored. And I concluded, in the spirit of transparency, by telling everyone that my husband would become a citizen in April. The looks in the faces at my neighborhood caucus meeting told me that they were not prepared for this kind of a talk, I had lost them.

Long story short, the group could only vote in 3 of the delegates and out of the 4 nominees I was the one not voted in. I stood up in my chair as my already flushed face turned blotchy and tried to make my way out the door. Two men seemed to want to intervene, to say that I made some good points but whaddya know, their condolences only opened the floodgates. 

My point is this, we can all guess that the big issue for Latinos is immigration. A survey referenced in a December article of that same weekly Spanish newspaper also named the economy and jobs as factors for the presidential vote among Latinos. But the Republican party has chosen a hard line on the immigration subject and, in so doing, has cast aside the opportunity of rallying this untapped market."Republicanos en aprietos para ganar el voto hispano.", AhoraUtah 

Do I necessarily think that the Republican party is the end all, be all of our democratic system? Uh no. But I feel like the party that aimed to appeal to married, religious voters had a huge gap in foresight in ignoring the Latino demographic."Religion, marriage and the GOP's demographic challenge brought to the fore by 2012 election", Deseret News

Unleashing the blogger in me

Two years and yet another man-child later, I am reminiscing on the good 'ole days when I not only led bilingual storytime at the library every week (I called it Spanish playgroup) but miraculously lived to tell about it on my blog. Times may have changed (that's three kids now!) but I am again drawn back to the blogosphere. The thing is this time I come with a platform. I am still a momma to my boys, never fear, and my husband is my greatest ally and friend. I still count my lucky stars that I have my faith to help pick me up when I fall, and to give life it's savor. I would be nothing without it.

And here's the kicker: I'm not the only one!

To my Latino friends and all else who will carry the same banner. Let faith, family and holy matrimony be the standard we bear. So let it be written, so let it be done. I hope you'll join in the discussion and follow the issues with me. And by the way, I'm not gonna undo what I've already done with this blog. So feel free to browse archives if you have a hankering for homemade drum crafts and contextualized immersion. Or not :)

A part of the Latin community

Whew! Two years and another baby later, I think I now know exactly what I want to share in this blog.

I have realized just exactly how far I'll go to teach my kids Spanish, and to be frank it may be a little too far when you decide you have to teach all of your child's friends the language too.

But that's exactly where I'm at right now. And today I had the epiphany that for me, them knowing the language is not enough. I need to figure out how to prepare them to be a part of the Latin community as well.

And how do I do that? Good question. Please tell! I am only today exploring the options.