WebJunction

Community Leader Interview.

I met with two Spanish language community leaders and had a telephone discussion with another.

First, I spoke with Brenda Melara, Editor in Chief of El Tiempo, a spanish language publication in our area. She is also the spanish language parent/school liaison for the East Bank in Jefferson Parish. We talked for a while about some of the problems in the latin community. Prior to the hurricanes of 2005, much of the community was Honduran. Since the storm many Hondurans have moved to the area, but many Mexicans are moving here as well. Many are coming from other places in the United States and have lived in the US for some time. Most are illegal. Poverty is a huge problem. This has impacted the schools enormously. Almost all of the public schools have ESL classes in every grade. Special bussing is available for the few districts that do not have ESL classes. Transportation is a big problem as is fear of government institution. She indicated that their are different types of potential SL library users. The more affluent would benefit from Rosetta Stone and library materials, but the vast majority need programs on healthcare, English language instruction, tutoring for their children, and basic computer skill classes. These services need to be free.

The second interview was with Maria Reyes, the social worker for the school system. She talked a great deal about the poverty in the SL community. She told me that as many as seven families will live in one home. The problems are not just financial. In order to rent an apartment, buy a car, etc. one must have a social security number. He who has one is the leader in his group. She was of the opinion that the library needs to build trust in the SL community. A book mobile that visits churches would be a good start. She also said that many of the materials would likely be lost because the community is unstable and people are forced to move frequently. She thought a flier with pictures of the process of getting a library card would be useful. She also thought making SL newspapers more available would attract and service the SL population. She also suggested programs on medicaid and other social services would be useful to the SL community. She made a list of some of the community organizations that I should visit. She also invited me to attend SL parent night at some of the schools.

The thrid person with whom I spoke was Alina Sampson, the Bilingual Coordinator for Jefferson Parish Schools. She is interested in working with the library. We offered a bilingual Prime Time Family Reading Time last spring and she helped identify at risk SL families to attend the program. She was called away at the last minute before our meeting, but has indicated that she would like to reschedule.

I interviewed Hector Bojorquez. He is an education associate at the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA). Because Texas is such a huge state, we tried to address the broad interview questions in relation to South Texas.

When describing the Spanish speaking population of South Texas, Hector indicated that it is both monolithic and not monolithic. Monolithic because the majority are from Mexico; not monolithic because there are increasing numbers of individuals from Central American countries. Monolithic because we’re talking about Spanish; not monolithic because there are differences in language expression. These differences are influenced by whether they were born in the US or not, whether Spanish is/was their first language, whether Spanish is spoken at home, etc.

Hector added that Spanish speakers’ expectations of institutions – libraries included - vary. He suggested that some feel: ‘They’re going to come and get me because I have an overdue item.’ or ‘There’s no one there to help me because they can’t speak to me or they’ll look down on me.’

As far as needs, issues, and problems, Hector listed some needs as issues related to language access, in other words, availability of materials (specifically books they see themselves in; newspapers and periodicals from their home countries). He also mentioned computer literacy classes from a multi-cultural perspective taking into account a fear of computers sometimes manifested in the idea that if they break it, they’ll have to pay for it. Additionally, taking into account there are many in this population that have never touched a mouse. He also mentioned how important it is to have easy instructions or capability to change the language settings on public access computers.

Hector believes there are three major problems facing the Spanish speaking community in South Texas. One – anti-immigrant sentiment (he also feels this leaks over to anti-Spanish sentiment), Two – education, and Three – access to health care. He believes that an effective way to address these problems is through grass roots organizations already working within the Spanish speaking community.

Hector’s experience with Community Based Organizations (CBO) tells him that this is a model well suited to Texas and, for services available to Spanish speakers, he cited EFN, the Edgewood Family Network and Arise as two working examples in San Antonio. The weaknesses he identified for this type of organization lie in that they often don’t have enough money and that they tend not to address root cause or systemic issues.

Overall, Hector got me thinking and provided constructive suggestions as well as being kind enough to suggest other contacts to reach out to. I look forward to my involvement in this program and participating in the training next week.

Interview with Carlos Marentes, Director of the Border Farm Workers Center

For my password to WebJunction, I chose Guichito, an endearment term for Luis. This name was given to me by a Huichol Indian from Nayarit, Mexico in a bracero camp in Cucamonga, California many moons ago. This experience has been imbedded in my mind for many years. As I was pondering what leader to choose for my interview, the image of that poor illiterate Huichol far away from his homeland kept dancing in my head.

With this thought in the back of my mind, it was not surprising that I choose to interview someone, who following Cesar Chavez, has dedicated his life to the betterment of the farm workers in the Texas-New Mexico region.

Carlos Marinates heads the Centro de Trabajadores Agricolas Fronterizos located one block way from the Mexican border in the Segundo Barrio—the second ward in South Side El Paso. This most impoverished area of the city has an average income of less than $12,000 annually per capita. Although poor in material wealth, El Segundo Barrio is extremely rich with history. Pivotal battles of the Mexican Revolution were fought three miles across the Rio Grande from El Segundo. It was also the breeding grounds for revolutionary figures like Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco. Mariano Azuela, the famous novelist, penned his classic Los de Abajo while living in a modest apartment in Oregon Street in 1915.

This area also gave birth to one of the first proactive movement in Mexican-American librarianship in the early sixties when the Armijo Branch was involved in a controversy dealing with a mural depicted in the bookmobile. Thanks to a young librarian who rallied the grass roots troops of the Barrio, a crisis of major proportions was prevented. In subsequent years, Chicano/as with freshly minted MLS degrees created the El Paso Chapter of REFORMA and aggressively fought back efforts to close this Barrio branch. Unfortunately, the struggle for survival of library branches in predominately Mexican American areas still continues. (See lchaparro.livejournal.com.)

In an hour-long conversation conducted in Spanish on September 17, 2007, Marentes in essence, gave me an individual lesson on the role of migrant farmworker in the multimillion agricultural industry in the United States. He touched upon the deplorable working conditions and low salaries of these workers. He described in passionate language the impoverish lives of the people who pick the fruit and vegetables for our dinner table and yet are almost dying from hunger. Quite a contraction in this, the wealthiest of all nations! He discussed the advent of mechanization in the agricultural industry that has as its goal the efficient production of crops with minimum intervention by human hands.

On the topic of technology in the agricultural field, Carlos related a fascinated story of a prototype of a huge tractor-like machine he saw at New Mexico State University last year. This machine with its mechanized arms and computer driven system can displace up to 80 workers! Modern technology is, in effect, minimizing, if not eliminating, the need for human participation in the cultivation of numerous crops. Thus, employment opportunities are decreasing at a rapid rate in the agricultural sector. This trend, in Marentes' view, creates the need to train current farm workers to seek employment opportunities outside the agricultural field. More on this later.

As has been depicted by most of the participants in this training, this Center and its approximately 6,000 low income persons it serves each year, shares with the rest of the Mexican-American population numerous needs such as adequate access to health care, education, and basic human needs ( a roof above their shoulders and food on the table).
They are struggling to survive at the lowest scale in Maslow Hierarchy of Needs. Therefore, any talk regarding library services and access to the latest technology, is met with skepticism and distrust. If you spent 10 long hours under the harsh sun of the desert picking onions, how can you dedicate a couple of hours a day to read or to learn how to use computers? This is indeed a though challenge.

Carlos Marentes discussed his views on technology and the how computers can be used to improve the lives of the poor campesinos. The conversation with Carlos on this topic can be summarized in one word: EDUCATION.

Marentes sees education both in the short and long-range term as the only viable solution.
For the years ahead, Carlos can visualize educating the farm workers to become operators of the harvesting machines of the future. In other words, promote the hands who toils the soil to drive the harvester that reaps the crops. Another short-term use for computers is to use them to track the workers who pass thru the Center following the crops up north. Frequently there is a need to communicate with them in case of emergency. The Center can keep up a register and give migrant workers a quick lesson on how to stroke a few keys to communicate electronically with the Center. In theory, they could go to any library in any part of this country and use the computers to communicate with their love ones. Again, the huge challenge of education comes to mind. We need to not only train the farm workers in basic computers skills, but also educate the library staff in public libraries all over the migrant routes to welcome them and offer a helping hand. Education that reaches two different groups: the computer illiterate who is afraid to enter a public library and to the learned library professional who might not have the cultural competencies to deal with (and welcome) such a unique patron.

Finally, his vision for the long term includes collaborating with public libraries, community colleges, work force agencies and non-profit organizations to create a program to transition agricultural workers to other sections of the local economy.

In El Paso, this initiative can be undertaken by creating partnerships with El Paso Community College, the Upper Rio Grande at Work and Sin Fronteras, a non-profit organization and El Paso Public Library. Carlos envisions a long-term comprehensive program that would include training in basic computer skills, GED and citizenship classes and the creation of a job bank to match local farmers’ employment needs with the farm workers’ availability.

Finally, Carlos welcomed WebJunction as a potential partner and expressed his hope that WebJunction’s participation can advance the realization of this dream.

I interviewed Dennis Bangs, who runs a Spanish language school in town called It's Spanish Time. Dennis always tries to recruit as many native Spanish-speaking teachers as possible and is very involved socially with the Spanish-speaking community.

Like the other community members I interviewed, Dennis referred to the fact that Missoula's Spanish-speaking community is not centralized and from many different countries. The population has increased over the last ten years, especially the Mexican population. Many people come to the area for transitional construction or migrant labor jobs and end up staying.

Translation is a major need, especially for people in jail as there are few Spanish speakers on the police force. Translation is also needed for people to navigate their everyday lives and get the services they need. Entertainment, such as movies and music, are also a need as there is no cultural center for the Spanish-speaking population.

Dennis suggested the library should consider popular films and television shows from Telemundo and Univision and mentioned that there is a demand for Spanish-language materials for kids, whether the parents are Spanish speakers or not.

Dennis gave me a great list of additional contacts, but unfortunately none of the people on the list have returned my phone calls, so I have hit a bit of a dead end for right now.

Dear Cheryl Carpenter:
Your recent posted interview was a real eye-opener. One of my leaders (Dr. Pablo Davis, head of Latino Memphis) also spoke to me at length concerning the impact of the climate of mistrust that surrounds so many interactions between Anglos and all "Hispanic-looking" people because of immigration issues. (I hadn't considered the impact of 9/11 before!) Your interview emphasizes Dr. Davis' points for me.

What I like best about your posting is how you captured the sense of urgency of this group of people's need. Even though we're "just librarians" and haven't dedicated all of our waking hours to the issue like Yuri has, we can still be of use.

Thank you for getting my day started off right! I appreciate this.

I doubt I will ever cease to be amazed as to some of the people that I meet conducting the Community Leader Interviews. Lucy Taylor had been a board member of the Bedford County Library in Tennessee. She is a third generation Mexican American. Bedford County has the 4th largest Hispanic population in the US. It is agricultural with the main focus on Walking Horses. I didn't think that I would find that much was being done for the Hispanic population there.

Several years ago the mayor, Geneva Smith, started an organization called El Centro Latino where she started with the white community to start getting to know their Hispanic neighbors. It started with food preparation, dances, kid's programs and Christmas trees of different cultures. It brought the whole community together and has relieved misinformation and hostility. While Ms. Smith is no longer mayor her vision lives on.