The Recovering Cholo

A little levity in the midst of tough economic times......

I was thinking this morning about culture and what I identify with.  Am I Mexican?  Am I Hispanic? Am I Latino or Chicano?  I finally realized at my core, I am a recovering cholo!  This was a bold discovery to finally come to grips with my identity!  I have been struggling with this for years!  Here are some of the indicators to help you embrace your inner cholo:

Terms of Endearment:  I have always been criticized for not being incredibly affectionate, especially through words.  Most people refer to their significant others as "honey", "sweetheart" or "dear".  My querida wife has always been referred to as "homes."

Salutation:  Most people greet each other by saying "hello" or "how are you" or "good to see you."  The recovering cholo cannot get passed:  "orale homie" or "q-vole vato!"  These salutations bleed out like a verbal reflex that cannot be controlled.

References to Inanimate Objects:  References to cars as "ramflas" or  calling a chair a "share" or calling your favorite song a "rolla" help to define your inner cholo. 

Ring tones:  The recovering cholo does not like ringtones from contemporary artists.  If you hear "I'm your puppet" as someone's phone rings, you are in the presence of a true cholo!  

Fashion:  The recovering cholo still thinks hush puppies or "shopos" look good with a suit.  

So, onward my fellow cholos!  Embrace your identities! Que viva los cholos! 

Joe's Kids Need an Education

The latest diversion on the campaign trail these days is Joe the Plumber, otherwise known as Jose el plomero here in the southwest.  Another empty attempt at diverting from one of the most critical issues of our time.......our nation's education crisis.  The stock market roller coaster ride we have been on for the last month (maybe this is not a good metaphor since roller coasters do go up) has prompted us to veer off the path of education reform that is needed to make America competitive in the global market.

Education and our economy are linked tighter than George and Weezie or Bush and failed policies.  Without a competitive education system, the disparities between those prospering and those living in poverty will continue to grow.  On the campaign trail, the candidates have feigned the issue for the most part.  Sen. Barack Obama has been the more vocal of the two, focusing on parental involvement, rewarding good teachers and the growth and expansion of the charter school movement.  Sen. McCain glances over this issue speaking primarily about what has been done in Washington D.C. with vouchers.  First of all, as a macro-level strategy, vouchers will invariably create a problem of supply vs. demand.  

In our current context, most of our nations schools-- particularly inner city schools-- are underperforming under the guise of No Child Left Behind. These schools often times are also the most densely populated.  So, if young people attending these schools decide to transfer to a higher performing school, we face a challenge of bandwidth since higher performing schools will probably not have the capacity to take on increased numbers of students.  Thus, vouchers at best can be a small part of the solution.  

We have to take action on education reform by setting higher standards for our students.  We also have to look at this issue holistically by focusing on empowering families; engaging students using multiple intelligences approaches; making teaching a valued profession in American culture; creating smaller learning communities where students have more individualized attention from teachers; and extending the learning day whereby students can participate in engaging educational opportunities before and after school. 

Joe the Plumber may not have anyone to pass the family business on to if his children are not prepared for an evolving global economy.   

My Friends, A Change is Gonna Come

"My friends," the endorsements for Sen. Barack Obama are piling on like Tampa Bay Rays at the pitchers mound after their victory over the Boston Red Sox.  Recent endorsements by General Colin Powell, The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune (no big surprise here) signal a societal shift in how Americans are yearning for a fresh, new direction.  

The Washington Post endorsement states: "Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building.  Gen. Colin Powell added:  "Sen. Obama is a 'transformational leader' that is needed during this difficult times." 

These recent endorsements fortify the argument that paternalistic individualism is not the type of leadership we need in these difficult times.  Good communication skills, a global vision, conciliation and consensus-building should not be perceived as weaknesses as the GOP suggests. 

These shifts in governmental leadership values hopefully will begin to reverberate in other institutions----like corporate America.  

Building Future Latino Leadership

In 2007, Gov. Bill Richardson gave us our first glimpse of a Latino presidential candidate in his bid for the White House.  We also have witnessed the meteoric rise of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as a prominent leader in America's second largest city, giving hope to young Latinos everywhere that they can aspire to equal heights.  There are other promising examples of Latinos achieving prominence in entertainment, sports and industry.  However, significant work needs to be done to ensure that young Latinos are given the opportunity to develop the leadership skills required in a global, 21st century economy.

In my last post, I illuminated a troubling condition in America's corporate sector:  Only 1% of corporate executives and only 2% of corporate board members are Latino.  Current data suggests that Latinos in the U.S. constitute about 14% of the total U.S. population.  Clearly, you can see that the numbers just don't add up.  Which leads to the obvious question: Why are Latinos so underrepresented in leadership positions in the corporate sector?   

One of the answers points to cultural differences in values.  Generally speaking, Americans are thought to be individualistic, focusing heavily on individual pursuits like building wealth, job advancement and personal achievement. Latinos, whether they be foreign born or native to the United States are thought to be much more collectivistic—meaning that achievement and success in their cultural context is measured more broadly by the successes of the “group.” Some researchers have argued that acculturation to the dominant culture, in this case American culture, creates a stronger connection to a more individualistic identity. For instance, a second generation Latino born in the United States with loose ties to their family's homeland generally would be perceived as more acculturated to U.S. culture than a recent immigrant. However, in general terms, individualism is commonly viewed as a social moré in Latino culture. The Spanish expression ser humilde, which loosely translates to “be humble” is a perfect example of how Latinos value humility and frown upon self-promotion.  This is why Latinos often times struggle in settings like job interviews.    

Corporate America values and even promotes bold individualism, which in some ways is antithetical to Latinos.  However, with the lessons learned from the recent stock market fiasco and the troubling mismanagement of our housing market, it is clear that some of the greed and corruption that is associated with bold individualism calls for a shift in leadership values.  

Looking at the underrepresentation of Latinos in corporate leadership positions strictly as an individualism vs. collectivism issue would be incredibly naive.  There are obviously some structural issues in our institutions that have somehow marginalized people that don't fit the corporate profile.  Part of the problem does require a shift in thinking about individualistic values towards global values--like building relationships, fostering consensus, building community and looking at the greater good for the greatest amount of people. 

Back to cultural values.  Given general tendencies for Latinos to be family and group oriented, how do you promote leadership development that is culturally relevant?  A natural starting point for building young Latino leadership is to look at cultivating interpersonal competencies, that correlate well with core Latino values.  Promoting teamwork and collaboration where Latino youth can measure success based on the collective efforts of the group makes leadership development culturally relevant. For example, working hand-in-hand with the community on a service project facilitates teamwork and collaboration, builds self-confidence, promotes communication and critical thinking and provides a greater good to the community.  The group activities will also promote the individual leadership skills required in a 21st Century economy.  

Our increased understanding around multiple intelligences has shifted the way we assess knowledge and skills.  In the same way, we must look at the emotional intelligences as a comprehensive way to develop a new wave of young, aware Latino leaders.  Whether or not corporate America is ready for this shift is another story.  

Will Race Determine the Race?

And black has become a beautiful color--not because it is loved

but because it is feared.

-Author James Baldwin--The Fire Next Time

Will race play a role in this presidential election?  According to a recent survey by Stanford University, with the Associated Press and Yahoo, Sen. Obama's support would be about six percentage points higher if he were white.  That is pretty significant knowing that the upcoming election could be incredibly close.  We know that racism is institutional and structural.  It is embedded in our everyday lives whether we want to admit it or not.  Look at corporate America for instance:  Less than 1% of corporate executives in the private sector are Latino.  Even further, less than 2% of corporate board members are Latino.  You look at our educational institutions and the stark differences in achievement between whites and non-whites.  Poverty rates and health disparities between whites and non-whites provide further evidence that the playing field in America is not close to being level or equitable.  

What is even scarier is that racism now manifests itself as a reflexive fear of the unknown--an unconscious bias based on how we have been conditioned socially.  So, when you hear Gov. Sarah Palin on the campaign trail referring to Sen. Obama as someone that is "not one of us," essentially what she is doing is eliciting a collective fear of the unknown.  Is it overt racism? Certainly not.  However, it's even more dangerous because it is veiled in campaign rhetoric aimed at scaring you to death about the Democratic candidate--skin color included.  

We saw this earlier in the election when strategists were trying to connect Sen. Obama--primarily because of his name--to Muslim extremists, even though he has continually professed his belief in Christianity.  Just this week, Sen. Obama appeared on a New York county ballot as "Osama." A simple key stroke mistake perhaps? Well, the presidential ballot is not overly weighted with candidates.  So, I don't think proofreading would be that difficult.  Maybe, its just me.....

The idealist in all of us would like to think that we would be voting in November based on the issues:  The candidates' plans to rescue our failing economy; providing health care for all; strengthening entitlements for baby boomers; ending the war in Iraq; and bringing diplomacy to heal the global wounds of the current administration.  Let's just hope that skin color is not one of the issues we are basing our decisions on.

  

   

The Charter School Solution

Usher out large scale, custodial care and usher in smaller learning communities for students.  In an article in Sunday's Albuquerque Journal, Think New Mexico--A New Mexico think tank published a report that recommends that the state cease the building of what they call "dropout factories" and start looking at smaller learning communities as a way to improve dropout rates.  

The report states that 27 percent of the state's public high schools qualify as "dropout factories," with less than 60 percent of 9th graders making it to graduation.  That's an alarming dropout rate of nearly 40%!  

The "warehouse approach" to building large schools where students get lost in anonymity is an outdated strategy that really promoted custodial care.  It's like the Wal-Mart model to education.  Fit as many products (in this case students) as you can in one space and offer everything at a discount.  The problem is your students' "discount" is their unrealized academic and social potential.  

Charter schools address this issue by providing smaller learning environments, where students actually know their teachers and administrators by name.  There has been a lot of debate about the "quality" of instruction and ancillary services provided by charter schools.  Also, people tend to get caught-up in misleading performance measures like schools meeting Annually Yearly Progress (AYP).  However, there is empirical evidence that supports young people perform better in smaller learning communities than they do in larger "dropout factories."  

So, the solution is right in front of us.  Stop building these "Wal-Mart schools" and start investing in smaller, charter schools that can meet the targeted socioeconomic and academic needs of our students.  

Health Care Coverage for All

Heard the theory that small businesses are not willing to pay for health insurance for their employees?  Think again.  According to a report in today's Albuquerque Journal, the State Coverage Insurance program, which provides federally subsidized medical insurance to low-income workers and small businesses has closed enrollment due to overwhelming demand.  

According to the report, over 40,000 workers and small business owners have enrolled in the program, which has created a logjam for enrollment.  The state has had to close enrollment and are only allowing new enrollees when members drop out.

The reverberations for health care reform, both federally and locally are sending clear signals to policy makers of the need to provide quality, affordable health care to everyone--including children!  For the uninsured children, we need to look at effective ways to deliver low-cost, no cost health care that is accessible.  One way to accomplish this is to consider expanding funding for New Mexico's School Based Health Centers (SBHC) that provide quality health care to low-income children on school campuses.  Being school based, these health centers address the primary, behavioral and social emotional issues that are directly tied to academic performance. Furthermore, Students are able to access health care on campus, which allows young people to stay at school and not miss valuable class time.  

Over the last few years, Gov. Bill Richardson's administration doubled the number of SBHCs in the state.  However, these SBHCs are running far below capacity and are woefully underfunded.

Aside from government funding, it is critical to look at private commercial insurance reimbursement as a potential strategy to sustain and expand school-based health care over the long-haul.