I hi P oru
a n i )
O bsi
rvi r
• N ovember
P agi
20, 1996
Through our own eyes
Por nuestros propri os ojos
Alexandra Lopez, youth photographer from Forest Grove High School. "I feel like a different person
when I 'm taking pictures-a little more experienced.
“ In a time where life seems in
creasingly fragile, it is d ifficu lt for
anyone to stand tall. We w ill all be
knocked down. G row ing up in such
real and underprivileged w orlds, it is
inconceivable to imagine finding the
strength that these young adults find
each and every day. The young pho
tographers in straight shooting face
their world with a sensitivity that, at
many times, seems too perceptive.
They are co nscio usly aware o f the
failures o f our society.
"F lo o d in g our darkroom s with
clearly seen photographs o f m agical
and beautifully truthful images, these
students remind us o f the power o f
photography as an art. It is an art o f
looking at our world. W hile anyone
can take a picture, only these young
adults could have made these photo
graphs.
O nly these young adults could have
evoked these dream like scenes o f
oppression, or their undying love for
fam ily in a single image. We are all
privileged to learn from their work.
“ A ll o f us involved, the students
and the mentors, had to reach out
towards each other’s worlds. The
understanding and strength gained is
in e x p lic a b le .
T h e re latio n sh ip s
formed and photographs created in
this program are testament to the
extreme value o f our society w orking
together ” Adam O g ilv ie , Mentor
and Coordinator.
Each spring. S tra igh t Shooting provides,a small group o f voting people from six counties w ith an o pp ortu uitv to learn photographic skills and
develop selfesteem, allow ing them to explore and find expression through the use o f a camera. C ontact: J e ff Nunn. Project C o o rd in a to r. Oregon
Commission on C hildren and Families in Salem (5(13) 373-1283.
In our own words
En nuestras proprias palabras
bv
S tekanie
F llV I lS
I was born in Fresno, C alifo rnia,
w hich is located in the San Joaquin
V a lle y. M y parents both came from
the States. M y mom, M aggig pardo,
was born in E l Paso, Texas, and my
dad, V ir g il Pardo, was born in San
Jose, C alifo rn ia.
M y grandparents all came from
M e xico . M y m o m ’ s parents are
Genardo and Gregoria Magdaleno.
They had eight kids, including my
mom. A ll were born in M exico except
for the two youngest, who happen to be
my mom and T ia (aunt) Sicorrio.
M y d ad ’ s parents, M oses and
A n gela Pardo, had four kids o f their
own together. M oses (who is the
oldest), Phil, V ir g il (m y dad), and the
youngest, M arisha. A ll have c h il
dren o f their own.
M> parentsgrew up know ing noth
ing other than w orking in the fields.
I am very grateful for not having to
grow up w orking in the fields. M y
parents had someth ing greater in m ind
planned for us in our future. They
wanted us to grow up like any other
Am erican kid s, to have the same
chances and advantages o fan y other.
Therefore, they brought us up with
only what they knew best and what
they were taught.
I often think to m yse lf how lucky
I am to be liv in g in the States, with all
the advanced technology and educa
tion given in schools today. Because
in M exico today its not like it is here.
Not all kids ge, to go to school. I f you
do. you are considered lucky.
Most kidsjust end up working in the
fields, starting at a very young age. My
Stefanie Fuentes
grandma Angela never attended school
until her fifth grade year because she
had to work in the fields, helping her
fam ily make a living.
Often time I forget where I come
from and all the advantages I have
that m y parents never had and I end
up taking advantage o f them. Not
because I ’m ungrateful, but because
I forget how lucky I am to be liv in g in
the United States. I see young teen
agers w alkin g around like they have
so many problems and worries around
them, but in reality they don’t.
I bet if they were to take a trip to
Juadis, M exico, and saw how the
H ispanic teens live, they would be so
grateful for what they have that their
whole attitude would change, espe
c ia lly the way they look at life. I think
they would appreciate their parents
more.
T o d ay as I look around at other
ethnic fam ilies, I realize something
unusual, that w e’re all alike in some
w ays, yet w e’re all different in many
other ways, such as our beliefs, ho l
idays, birthdays, and many other
ways. For instance, when holidays
come around our whole fam ily gets
together in one house and makes
enchiladas, tacos, mole, tamales and
all sorts ofother foods. We sit around
together, adults in one room and the
kids in another, just having fun and
talking away.
I grew up know ing nothing other
than this lifestyle stated in this arti
cle. I was brought up in a sm all town
in Northern C alifo rn ia. We ended up
m oving because our neighborhood
got so bad that there was a k illin g ju st
behind my house. Soon after that it
started getting worse as the days
passed by. So my parents had no
other choice but to move the fam ily
to another town.
We all piled in a car and moved to
San Jose, C alifo rn ia. It was weird
having to move to a whole new city
and probably 10 times as big as Fres
no. W e all started school within the
first week we moved and my dad had
to find a job . M y mom had to stay at
home not w orking because o fso little
jo b opportunities.
We d id n ’t last too long in San
Jose, either. A gain our neighborhood
was getting bad. It got so bad that my
parents w ouldn't let my little sisters
play outside. Not to mention our rent
was so high we barely had enough
money to buy food with and with my
dad the only one w orking it made
things even harder, so we had to
move (to O regon).
When we moved this time it was
different from all the rest, because
my dad w asn’t able to come along
with the fam ily W hile we were all in
Portland liv in g with my I io (uncle)
M oy, my dad was stuck in San Jose
saving money for us so we could live
in a house o f our own. When we
moved, I was just starting my sev
enth grade year at O ck le y Green
M iddle Scho o l, and my dad d id n ’t
come to live with us until the m iddle
o f my seventh grade year. It was
wierd not having him around for so
long, and with only having a chance
to talk to him for a couple o f minutes
once a week. But once we were all a
fam ily again liv in g in our own house
it was like we had never been apart.
I think that me liv in g as a H isp an
ic-A m erican I make it out as to how
I want to live and be known as. B e
cause, most people, ifyou think high
ly o f yourself, that’s what y o u 'll be
and so on. I appreciate the things I
have and the things I don't have.
I don't w ish that I had them be
cause I know that I don't have them
for a reason, and that reason must be
a pretty good one, too.
In O u r O w n W o rd s (E n
Nuestras P roprias Palabras)
w ill be a regu la r feat u re o i l lie
P ortland O bservador, o ffe rin g
to H ispanic youth the o p p o r
tun its Ioexpress th e ir thoughts
and feelings— and to describe
th e ir experiences— as a L a tin o
in a p re do m in an t!) Anglo en
viro nm e nt. The O bservador
encourages o u r voting readers
to subm it th e ir own w ritin g
and a photograph and we w ill
trv to fin d space in o u r pages
fo r you.
OCHA Conference promotes solutions
Continued from B I
▲
was set to launch a Spanish-language
version o f the w eekly as a result o f
the unparalleled success o f their
“ Selena’’ issue, w hich outsold every
edition in the history o f People mag-
ezine.
She predicted that the new period
ic a l would not lack for cosmetic adver
tisements.
Olmos
5 The highlight o f the da y’s events
w as the appearance o f Edw ard James
b lm o s as the noontim e keynote
speaker Mr. O lm o s arrived to a
packed house as the luncheon was
getting under way. having just fin
ished shooting the m ovie “ Selena" in
fle x a sa t 3:00 a m earlier in the day,
and he left im m ediately after his 40-
iwinute talk to fly to A rizon a, where
Several thousand people were w ait
in g to hear him speak.
i The theme o f Mr O lm o s’ speech
ivas a call to recognize our similarities
as diverse people, and to find solutions
through education and in forging com
mitments to work together.
L o n g active in anti-gang efforts,
Mr. O lm o s stated that “ V io le n ce is a
health problem, not a ju d ic ia l prob
lem ,” echoing the words o f Portland
P o lice Bureau C h ie f C harles Moose,
as was reported in the September 25
edition o f The Portland Observador.
He urged the audience to find so lu
tions to violence in strengthening
com m unities.
We are all different,
but we are all alike
“ It’s the fact that w e’re all different
that makes us all the same," Mr. O lm os
said. T o illustrate his point, he de
scribed him self and his brown skin as
the product o f an evolutionary m ixing
o f all the races, red or indigenous,
white or Anglo, yellow or Asian, black
or African “ I am a brown-skinned
m an , born o f tw o M e x ic a n
parents.. .Part o f me is white, which
goes back 500 years to the arrival o f
the Spanish; part o f me is red, is indig
enous, w hich go es b ack 40,000
years.... Before that 1 was ye I Io w, when
we migrated from A sia, and before
that I was Black, when we migrated
out o f A frica.”
Senor O lm os asked for a show o f
hands o f all who had attended ele
mentary school and high school in
the United States and had received
more than one h a lf hour o f education
about M eso-Am erica over the course
o f their schooling. A m ong the thou
sand people in the room, only three
or four hands went up. Mr. O lm os
asked two o f them to describe how
much education on the subject they
had received.
A man said "one hour” ; and. in one
o f the many humorous moments of
Mr. O lm o s’ talk, a woman in the dis
tant back o f the room who had held her
hand up said that she actually hadn't
received any such sch oo ling, but
couldn’t resist the opportunity to ex
press her affection and appreciation
for Mr. Olm os, which she proceeded
to do.
Be “smart selfish"
In clo sin g, Mr. O lm os said that
“ Everyone in this room is selfish.
We are all selfish. I ’m selfish, too.
But there are two kinds o f selfish
people,” he said. “ There is a foolish
selfish person and a smart selfish
person. The foolish selfish person
makes sure that everyone in his house
is safe at night and then goes to bed.
The smart selfish person first looks
out o f the window and makes sure
that the neighbor on his left is safe,
and then checks on the neighbors on
the right and across the street. Then
he goes to bed, know ing that his
neighborhood is safe, and his home
and fam ily secure.”
M r O lm o s urged each o f us to be
more like that “smart selfish person,”
and with that made his way slow ly to
the exits besieged by admirers
O C H A may be contacted at (503)
228-4131.
B3
Christmas Toy Drive
needs sponsors
People can help a ch ild enjoy
and celebrate this Christm as by do
nating to Jefferson H igh Scho o l
C lu b H is p a n o ’ s T h ir d A n n u a l
Christm as T o y D rive.
T h is com m unity project w ill en
compass H ispanic parents, children
and high school students who live
near and around Jefferson H igh &
O ck le y Green M iddle Scho o l lo
cated in N .E . Portland.
B y participating in the toy drive,
you would be helping underprivi
leged children, but more important
ly reinforcing the sense o f g iv in g
and sharing that we try to convey to
y o u n g p eo ple. Je ffe rs o n C lu b
H is p a n o m e m b e rs had th e ir
fundraiser in September and raised
$86.00. The money w ill be used to
buy toys bu, it is not enough to buy
sufficient toys for the c lu b ’s annual
toy drive.
W e need sponsors for Jefferson
H igh School C lu b H isp an o ’s T o y
D rive We are requesting financial
assistance o f $50.00 so the group
can buy toys priced around $5.00.
The toy drive is scheduled from
N ov. 10 to Dec. 10, 1996. W e w ill
have a Fiesta N avidena on Dec. 10,
1996 at O c k le y G reen M id d le
Scho o l One o f our members w ill
dress up as Santa C la u s and deliver
toys to the children
Fo r information call 916-5180.
We are more than happy to come to
your o ffice to discuss this great en
deavor. The members an xio u sly
await your response.
Coordinadora’ 96
an awakening
B y M ary Ann Prado
On October 12, a coalition o f
citizens and prospective citizens, o f
labor unions, com m unity and c iv il
righ ts o rgan izatio n s, im m igrant
rights and human rights group con
vened in W ashington, D C . for the
Latino and Immigrant Rights March.
Thecoalition , Coordinadora’ 96,
demanded a program c a llin g for
human rights for all. equal opportu
nities, free public education, access
to health care, citizen police review
boards, labor law reform, a $7.00
minimum wage, citizensh ip rights
and amnesty for all
A s part o f the Latin Am erica/
A s ia P a c if ic Y o u t h P ro g ra m
( L A A P ) o f Am erican Friends Ser
vice Com m ittee, four youths jo u r
neyed from Portland to W ashing-
ton, D C . and participated in this
landmark m obilization o f Latinos,
imm igrants and others to show so l
idarity and to let “ young voices be
heard!"
A s expressed by Le n g B ouasy-
keo, a student from P .S .U . and
Jonathan Frio lo , “ O ctober 12th was
a day o f unity and justice."
Other youth participants includ
ed C e c ilia G iron and Ramon Najera.
In essays submitted to the Portland
O b se rvad o r, C e c ilia , L e n g and
Jonathan shared their personal e x
periences at the March and their
feelings as im m igrants. For more
information contact Latin Am erica/
A s ia P a c if ic Y o u t h P ro g ra m
( L A A P ) , 2249 E. Burnside. Port
land, O regon 97232 (5 0 3 ) 230-
9427.
Are You At Risk?
Diabetes is a very serious d is
ease, e specially for H isp anics. One
our o f 10 H isp an ics has it. Even
worse, diabetes affects one out o f
10 H isp an ics over age 45.
Diabetes is a quiet k ille r and can
cause serious problem s like blin d
ness, heart disease and amputations.
H a lf o f the people who have diabe
tes do not know they have it. So far
there is no cure. But there is good
news: Y o u can control diabetes
through diet, exercise and m edica
tion. Y o u can im prove your health
and the quality o f your life.
Ask About DAR
Th e Am erican Diabetes A s s o c i
ation has a special program for H is
panics called D A R . D A R stands for
Diabetes Assistance & Resources
and com es from the Spanish word
for “to g iv e ” or “ to provide.” And
g iv in g is at the heart o f the program
Through D A R . we can give help
and inform ation (in Spanish and
E n g lish ) to you and your fam ily.
We can answer your questions about
diabetes or show you where to find
A
better
the answers.
The most excitin g part o f D A R is
the Diabetes Hom e Health Party.
Volunteers host sm all, inform al
parties in your area for fam ily,
friends and neighbors. Y o u eat great
food that is healthy for people with
diabetes. A trained Diabetes L a y
Cou nselo r tells the group about d i
abetes and where you can get help.
It’s a fun way for you to learn more
about diabetes from people in your
own comm unity.
Join Us
The Am erican Diabetes A s so c i
ation is your best source o f diabetes
information. W e are the leading
organization dedicated to the pre
vention and cure o f diabetes.
C a ll us and we w ill give you free
information about diabetes. We can
help you and your fam ily manage
the disease.
D o n ’tw ait. Diabetes is a danger
ous disease. But D A R provides fun
and useful w ays to help you beat it.
C a ll your local Am erican Diabetes
Association o ffice today.
'Cite (SJditdr
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
To the editor:
We applaud your recent articles focusing on farm w ork issues and your
editorial endorsement o f the consum er boycott our organization has
pressed against N O R P A C Foods and W holesom e & Hearty Foods. We
agree that all consumers have a responsibility to care about and take action
on farm w orker issues. Y o u r editorial w hich makes that very point is tim ely
and welcome.
We also appreciate the Portland O bserver’s decision to expand cover
age to focus on the gro w in g Latino population in North and Northeast
Portland. T h is addition demonstrates the O bserver’s commitment to
serving the com m unity and its e vo lv in g needs and populations.
—L a rr y K leln m a n , Secreta ry Treasu rer
Pin ero s y Ca m pesin o s I'n id o s del Noroeste
Northw est Treeplanlers and Fa rm w o rkers United
To the editor:
It was truly an honor for Latina Style to take part o f this year’s O C H A
conference M aria Elena H aw kins and other O C H A members did a
tremendous jo b o rgan izin g a quality conference.
Th e speakers, panelists and attendees were im pressive. Latina Style
looks forward to gro w in g our relationship with the O C H A members and
other H isp anics in the Portland area.
—A n n a M aria A ria s, p u b lish e r o f L a tin a Style M agazine
Call now to advertise in
IP©IRTILAI»
©®8ERVAE>©R
(503) 2M-0033