L ls‘
S eptember 2 5 , 1996 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age C 4
Through Our Own Eyes
Por Nuestros Proprios Ojos
Photo by Jesus Bravo
A photograph by 15-year old Jesus
Bravo o f Ontario, a recent graduate
o f Straight Shooting— the Youth
Photo Project, was selected for this
edition's T h ro u gh O u r O w n Eyes
feature.
Straight Shooting is a highly suc­
cessful program administered by the
Oregon Commission on Children &
Fam ilies which strives to redirect the
lives o f A t-R isk youth by teaching
them photography, self esteem and
professional skills.
Each spring for the past four years,
Straight Shooting has provided a
dents aged 12-19 from Baker, Clacka­
mas, Malheur, Marion, Multnomah
and Washington Counties. Students
are trained and gain experience as
photographers. Mentor relationships
serve to break through stereotypes
and long-lasting bonds may develop.
Some students were feeling trusted
for the very first time in their lives.”
The program’s goals include in-
creasingcommunity awareness of the
issues facing youth.
Fo r inform ation, contact Je ff
Nunn, Project Coordinator, at (503)
373-1283.
small group o f young people with
photographer mentors , camera
equipment, and instruction in com­
position and darkroom technology.
D uring the course o f instruction,
Straight Shooting allows them to
explore and find expression through
the use o f the camera. Some o f the
students become very astute with a
camera, as this series w ill show.
“ Straight Shooting is working in
six counties currently,” said April
Severeson o f the Oregon Com m is­
sion on Children & Families. “This
year, the program involved 32 stu­
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What is Hispanic
Heritage?
Continued from page C l
That is the u n d e rlyin g p ersp ec­
tive o f H isp a n ics o f m estizo an­
cestry.
A n A m e rican H isp a n ic can
rig h tfu lly cla im a relatio n sh ip
to present-day U .S . so il that
goes back to the dawn o f time.
1848 is the watershed year
P rio r to 1848, m uch o f the
A m e rica n W est w as part o f
M exico , and had been occupied
by H isp a n ics for hundreds o f
years. The U nited States made
war with M e xico in 1848 and
w on, s e iz in g C a lif o r n ia and
what became the Southw estern
United States. The agreem ent
won at sw ordpoint know n as the
Treaty o f G uad alu p e H id a lg o
ceded vast portions o f M exico
to the U nited States in that year.
Su d d e n ly, M e xican A m e ri­
cans became a m in o rity and d is ­
enfranchised population. “ W ith ­
in a decade, a new so cie ty, g o v ­
ernment, re lig io n , and way o f
life replaced the H isp a n o -M e x -
ican veneer that had been laid
over (N a tive A m e rica n ) fo u n ­
dations for o ver three centu­
rie s.”
“ M ost (N a tiv e A m e ric a n s )
had resisted incorporation into
Spanish and M exican so ciety by
p h ysica l means, or by virtue o f
distances and d iffic u ltie s E u ro ­
peans had in co n tro llin g them.
W hen A m e ric a n s to o k o ve r
M exican lands, (N a tiv e A m e ri­
cans) faced a more fo rm idab le
enemy, for A m e rican s did not
try to ch ristia n ize , acculturate,
or interm arry w ith (th e m )....
(and) In the eyes o f m any A m e r­
icans, M exican A m e rican s were
hardly different from In d ia n s.”
Anglo Americans also brought
with them different attitudes about
Blacks. In Hispanic culture, while
so ciety “ was not a racia l
democracy...certain religious, social,
and cultural attitudes softened rac­
ism and offered considerable mobil­
ity to all groups. A ll o f this changed
after 1848
“ A m o ng the many m in o ritie s
in the S o u th w e s t, M e x ic a n
A m ericans underwent a p artic­
u larly d iffic u lt experience. The
p ro xim ity o f M exico rem inded
everyone that they were rem­
n a n ts-^ o f
a
d e fe a te d
n a tio n ....(a n d ) most M exican
Am ericans became isolated from
the so cia l and p o litica l m ain­
stream o f A m erican life. M any
A n g lo A m e rican s acted fa irly ,
but most treated M exican A m e r­
icans as a conquered people.
“ The new society in the West
was m odeled on that o f the east­
ern seaboard. For the most part
p o litics w asdom inated by A n glo
Am ericans. T h e ir law s, in stitu ­
tions and custom s favored them
over m in o rity groups. S e g re g a ­
tion in housing, education, and
so cial and re lig io u s life became
common.
“ H isto ry has concentrated on
the m a te r ia l and c u lt u r a l
progress associated'w ith A n g lo
A m e rica and has given little at­
tention to the cultural ach ie ve ­
ments o f m in o rity g ro u p s.” T h is
statement is also true o f the
media. And it is this perspective
o f h is to ry c o u p le d w ith an
Anglo-dom inated media that has
shaped m ost p opular p ercep­
tions o f H isp a n ics.
There is no simple answer, you
see, to the question “ Who are we
Hispanics?” It is far easier to state
what we are not. We are not Speedy
Gonzalez, or the Frito Bandito. We
do not segment our days with a
siesta. And to say that someone is
a wetback is to misunderstand his­
tory, hunger, and the migration o f
the poor.
In these pages, the Observador
will attempt to offer a much more
accurate picture of who we H ispanics
are than one can possibly have ac­
quired from the media or by studying
Anglo history books in school. The
richness and variety o f Hispanic cul­
ture will astonish you, and it is our
earnest goal that you will never see us
again in the same light. Viva la Raza'
Tex! in quotations appeared in
“Viva La Raza! "by Julian Sava, D.
Van S o stra n d Com pany, Sew
York, 1973.
Chavez
M irac le Theater’s “Chavez” opens
Friday”Chavez” , a play based on the
life and work o f Cesar Chavez, will
be presented by the award-winning
M iracle Theatre, starting Friday Sep­
tember 27. Chavez was a famous
civ il rights leader who founded, or­
ganized and led the United Farm
Workers through a successful na­
tionwide strike for better working
and living conditions.
Written by Martin Milagro and
directed by Jose Gonzalez, the play
w ill run through October 26
The Miracle Theater is located at
525 S E Stark Street. For ticket and
event information, call 236-7253.
“ / wish God had made people blind. Then a touch
of the hand, a word of the mouth, would be all
they would need to know their neighbor. People
now judge each other by how they look, not by
how they are. If God can perform miracles why
can't He make people blind? Why can't we have
perceptions like radar antenna to judge with? Our
eyes betray U S.” — Eduardo Pérez, a community
le a d e r in the barrios of East Los Angeles.
Edward James Olmos:
Hispanic role model
Edward James Olmos, award-win­
ning actor and film director, is per­
haps the most w idely recognizable
o f Hispanics today, but it is in his
roles outside o f acting that he hopes
he w ill be remembered
O lm os is an active humanitarian
who donates his time, presence, en­
ergy and resources to numerous caus­
es and foundations. He is the U .S.
G oodw ill Am bassador for U N IC E F ,
and the national spokesman for V o t­
er Registration, the Juvenile D iabe­
tes Foundation, and the A ID S Aware­
ness Foundation.
He sits on the board o f more
than a dozen p u b lic se rvice , edu­
ca tio n a l and health care o rg a n i­
za tio n s and has been awarded
h on o rary doctorate degrees from
fiv e in stitu tio n s.
On average, O lm os speaks at 250
schools, charities and juvenile insti­
tutions a year and was instrumental
in the clean-up efforts follow ing the
Lo s Angeles riots, Northridge earth­
quake and Hurricane Andrew in Flor­
ida.
Recently, he joined the lead cast
o f the upcom ing biograph ical drama
“ Selena” , along with Jon Seceda.
O lm os w ill portray Selena’s father,
Abraham Quitantilla Jr., who en­
couraged his chi Idren to form a band
and nurtured their growth from a
ragtag group o f amateurs playing in
their parents’ garage to an interna­
tional sensation who backed lead
singer Selena before crowds o f thou­
sands. Secada w ill play C h ris Perez,
a rebellious guitar player who falls
in love with and eventually marries
Selena.
O lm os came to national attention
for his performance in the musical
“ Zoot Suit” , which won him a Tony
Award nomination. Am onghism any
film features are “ The Ballad o f
G regorio Cortez” , and “ Stand and
D elive r” , in which he played Jaime
Escalante, the L A . math teacher who
motivated his entire class to pass the
Advanced Calculus test.
O lm os recently served as Execu ­
tive Producer for “ L iv e s in Hazard” ,
an award-winning documentary that
addressed gang prevention Olm os
previo u sly worked with director
G regory Nava in “ M y Fam ily/M i
F a in ilia " and w ith p io d u c c is
M o cte su m a E s p a r z a and B o b
K a tz on the recently completed
“ Lo rca ” with Andy G arcia and Esai
Morales.
Am ong O lm os’ acting honors are
an Academ y Award nomination for
his role in “Stand and D eliver;” a
Golden Globe Award and Emmy
Aw ard nominations for “The Burn­
ing Season,” the biographical drama
about C h ico Mendes; and Em my
and Golden Globe Aw ards for his
supporting work on the hit series
“ M iam i V ice .”
Hispanic
economic power
exploding
Across the United States, the His­
panic population is surging in a wave
o f cultural and business expansion
that is expected to accelerate well
into the 2 1 st century. Currently rep­
resenting more than 10 per cent of
the nation’s population, Hispanics
will become the nation’s largest mi­
nority in less than fifteen years
The number o f businesses owned
by Hispanics have tripled in just
eight years, growing from 250,000
nationwide in 1987 to 720,000 in
1995. Hispanic consumer purchas­
ing power is $220 billion dollars at
present, and is expected to double
in only six years.
Th is explosion o f economic
power is not due only to sheer
numbers.
While many Hispanics are hand­
icapped in this country by an in­
ability to communicate in English,
many have the advantage o f being
both bilingual and bicultural
(
OREGON ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
Business Finance Programs: to assist Oregon business to
locate and expand
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ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT LO AN FUND
OREGON BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FUND
CAPITAL ACCESS PROGRAM
CREDIT ENHANCEMENT FUND
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT REVENUE BONDS
For more information, contact 50 3-98 6-0 61 0 or write
BUSINESS FINANCE
OREGON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
775 Summer St. N.E.
Salem, Oregon 9 7 3 1 0
Fax: 5 03 -5 8 1-51 1 5
Phone: 5 0 3 -9 8 6 -0 1 6 0
Oregon
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