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Bay Area boxer Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero wins title abroad

by Bernard Mendoza

Robert Guerrero, champion for second time with contender Spend Abazi.Robert Guerrero, champion for second time with contender Spend Abazi.

Bay Area native and former San Francisco Golden Gloves champion Robert Guerrero, became two-time world champion Feb. 23, after defeating Denmark’s Spend Abazi in Denmark.

According to the boxing publicist, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, knocked down Abazi, the #2 ranked contender in the third round and fifth rounds, before the Dane finally succumbed and called it quits prior to the ninth round.

“The fight went real good,” said “The Ghost” Guerrero via a conference call from his dressing room immediately after the fight to his publicist. “I totally dominated using my jab. There were some things I could have done better, but I got him out of there. Now that I’m two-time world champion, it feels good,”

Guerrero’s victory came just 5 days after the birth of his son, Robert Jr. and after having lost the IBF title to Mexico’s Orlando Salido, who was stripped of the title, because Salido tested positive in a steroid test.

Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero had not only regained the title but solidified his hold on the Feather weight division and can now look forward to more high-profile fights with fighters like Mexico’s Barrera or the Philippines’ Pacquiao. “Line em up”, insisted Guerrero. “I’m right back in the mix. Now that I have gotten my world title back I can start looking at some of those big fights.”

“The Ghost” will be representing the Bay Area on the world stage of celebrity known fighters and elite champions of the Feather weight divisions.­

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La Peña Cultural Center hosts events every night on weekend

by Desirée Aquino

Conjunto ManicatoConjunto Manicato

Live music by Manicato and Umoverde is featured on Friday, March 2. Manicato is part of The Pink Palace, a musicians’ collective in San Francisco’s Mission District. Manicato incorporates salsa, reggae, bomba, rock, cumbia, hip hop and more. Umoverde is five inner city Los Angeles Latinos fusing dance hall reggae, roots, cumbia, salsa and African rhythms. The show begins at 9 p.m. and is $10 for general admission. Seniors and students are $8

On Saturday, March 3, the sounds of the Andes returns to La Peña with the reunion of the original members of Inkuyo, performing with Bay Area musicians Pamela Darington, Jorge Tapia and Omar Sepulveda. The show, “Altipampa” also features the vocals of Lydia Mills to create an ensemble based on the traditional sounds of the Andes and neighboring regions. The show begins at 8 p.m. and is $12 in advance or $14 at the door.

Café Rumba, a community participatory event, features Afro-Cuban folkloric drums, dances and songs of rumba. Developed in rural Cuba with strong influences from African drumming and Spanish poetry and singing, rumba refers to a group of related, community-oriented musical and dance styles. The event is on Sunday, March 4 from 3:30-6 p.m.

All events take place at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. Call (510) 849-2568 or go to www.lapena.org for more information.

Art opening and benefit for Oaxacan artists

Calixto Robles artCalixto Robles art

An art exhibition curated by Calixto Robles will feature stencils and prints by revolutionary artists of Oaxaca portraying the people’s resistance against the PAN-PRI government.

An opening celebration and benefit for “Rebellious Oaxaca” will be held on March 3 from 6-10 p.m. at LIVE ART STUDIOS, 151 Potrero Ave. in San Francisco. For more information, call (415) 216-8915. The exhibition runs to March 10.

Holiday breakfast celebrating Cesar Chavez

A breakfast to celebrate the life and work of UFW co-founder César E. Chávez will be held at the Mission Language & Vocational School in the Latino Culinary Academy at 2929 19th St., San Francisco. Tickets for the breakfast on Friday, March 30 from 8-10 a.m. are $40 for individuals. Table sponsorships are also available. For more information or to RSVP, call (415) 621-2665.

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Latino gain in seven categories at the Grammys

­by Tracie Morales

Julieta VanegasJulieta Vanegas

GRAMMY AWARDS: Despite being virtually invisible at the 49th annual Grammy Awards, Latino artists were recognized in seven categories at a ceremony prior to the televised show. Mana was awarded best Latin rock album for Amar es combatir. The Latin pop album resulted in a tie between Ricardo Arjona for Adentro and Julieta Venegas for Limón y salTropical Latin album winner was Gilberto Santa Rosa for Directo al corazón. Top honor for Mexican / Mexican-American album went to Pepe Aguilar for Historias de mi tierra. Other bests: Tejano album, Chente Barrera y Taconazo for Sigue el taconazo; Norteño album, Los Tigres Del Norte for Historias que contar Banda album, Joan Sebastian for Más allá del sol. Colombian singer Shakira took the stage with Wyclef Jean to sing the Grammy-nominated single, “Hlps Don’f Lie.” The duo lost in the best pop vocal collaboration category.

BlLLBOARD LATINO: Shakira and Mana are among the nominees announced Feb. 13 for the Billboard Latin Music Awards. Other artists nominated include Daddy Yankee, Paulina Rubio and Ricky Martin. The Miamiceremony airs April 26 on Telemundo.

HIGH-PROFILE PROJECTS: Actor Jimmy Smits is working hard producing three high-profile projects that will air on the small screen. They include two television shows and an epic mini-series about U.S. immigration. The latter will reunite director Gregory Nava and Smits, who worked together in the 1995 drama My Family, Mi Familia.

MUSIC ICON: The Grammy-winning Los Tigres del Norte will be honored in a musical tribute at the 14th annual BMI Latin Awards March 23 in Las Vegas. Other honors will be presented for Latin song of the year, songwriter of the year and publisher of year.

HERO REMEMBERED: Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta died while saving the lives of his fellow Marines. Now his legacy continues in the film A Color of Honor: The Rafael Peralta Story, airing May 19 on the History Channel. In November 2004, Peralta was in Fallujah when he used his body to shield a grenade fired by insurgents, saving his comrades. Peralta was born in Mexico and received his U.S. citizenship when he enlisted in the Marine Corp.

SOUL FOOD: Legendary guitarist Carlos Santana announced he and his wife will launch three Mexican restaurants named afier his famous song María, María. The first restaurant is scheduled to open in California in April.

Hispanic Link.

 

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Woodfin workers temporarily back on the back on the job

by Desirée Aquino

Workers and advocates march in front of Woodfin Hotel.Workers and advocates march in front of Woodfin Hotel.

Twenty-one immigrant workers at the Woodfin Suites Hotel in Emeryville are back on the job for the next three months, while continuing to call for a boycott of the hotel. The workers were fired by Woodfin in response to their claims that the hotel failed to comply with Measure C, a local living wage law for hospitality workers.

The workers are seeking permanent job security, a living wage and over $160,000 in back pay. A town hall meeting was held yesterday to organize continued support for the workers by community leaders, students and residents.

Community groups reject City’s WiFi deal

A coalition of community groups and Internet professionals is calling for the cancellation of the pending Google/Earthlink WiFi deal with San Francisco, citing a report by the Budget Analyst’s Office that demonstrates the deal will create a monopoly for the companies, as well as provide San Franciscans with slower Internet access.

The coalition, Public Net San Francisco, claims that the deal fails to live up to the primary goal of providing free, fast and equal access to the Internet for all San Franciscans. The groups propose that the City use its existing high speed fiber optic network.

Sequoia Hospital, Healthcare District distribute $165,000

Alejandra García Williams presents a certificate of appreciation to Mario Gutiérrez, during the Health Week celebration at the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco.Alejandra García Williams presents a certificate of appreciation to Mario Gutiérrez, during the Health Week celebration at the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco.

­Eight local agencies have received funds from Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City and Sequoia Healthcare District to identify health needs in target populations and create programs to address those needs. Initiatives include culturally competent physical activity and nutrition programs for youth, daily meals for families in homeless shelters and wellness programs for seniors to manage their healthcare and improve their lives.

The agencies receiving grants are: Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo County, Inc., Family Service Agency of San Mateo County, Ravenswood Family Health Center, Redwood City Educational Foundation, Kennedy Middle School Community School, Samaritan House Free Clinic of Redwood City, Shelter Network and Youth and Family Enrichment Services.

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Education storm warning, two decades later

by José de la Isla

José de la IslaJosé de la Isla

(First in a two-part commentary)

HOUSTON – Twenty-one years ago, in 1986, Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone said his country had “become quite an intelligent nation, much more than the United States.”

Then he threw dynamite onto the boast by adding, “In America there are quite a few blacks, Puerto Ricans and Mexicans. On average [the level] is extremely low.”

Of course, African American and Hispanic members of Congress, among a large public, criticized the ignorant comment. But the prime minister put his foot in his mouth again by saying the United States was unable “to accomplish in education and other areas because it is a multi-racial society.” More criticisms poured in.

Ultimately, Nakasone issued an apology of sorts, saying he believed U.S. “dynamism” came from its diversity.

In 1986, accelerated global competition from free trade was virtually non-existent. And the badly stated wake-up call from Japan came out upside down, as one about the U.S.’s ethnic diversity.

The initial Nakasone gaffe confused cause and effect. Our national diversity was in no way responsible for the failure in the public schools and society. But now the inference is looming again.

A new Educational Testing Service report referencing immigration and demographics, “America’s Perfect Storm: Three Forces Changing Our Nation’s Future,” says a less literate U.S. workforce is emerging that will have significant economic consequences by 2030.

Our high school completion rates peaked at 77 percent in 1969. Then they fell to 70 percent in 1995, where they remain. The United States ranks 16th out of 21 in high school graduation rates among advanced countries. That means, while the Bush Administration talks about channeling all high school graduates toward getting at least a two-year college degree, proportionately fewer are eligible than in 1969.

Back then, people with a bachelor’s degree averaged 51 percent more income than individuals with only a high school diploma. By 2004, the difference widened to 96 percent. Obviously, to succeed economically, getting a degree matters.

In the 20 years from 1984 to 2004, reading scores for 13- to 17-year-olds have remained flat. And while math scores improved slightly among the three largest race/ethnic groups — blacks, whites and the burgeoning young Hispanic population — the wide gap between Hispanics and whites, as well as blacks and whites, has shown negligible progress.

“Demographic changes” is a fear expressed in ETS’s “Perfect Storm,” a metaphor that comes from the book title and movie by that name. Between now and 2015, the Census Bureau says international migration will be responsible for half of our nation’s population growth. By 2030, Hispanics are expected to become 20 percent of the nation’s population. So, ETS projects a decline in the United States’ economic standing attributable to Hispanics.

ETS President Kurt Landgraf warns us that inadequate literacy skills and the retirement surge of the baby-boomer generation will be contributors.

But what we are really witnessing is how the education establishment is changing the discussion from reform to a blame game. Data is being assembled in a new way to make it seem as if all of a sudden, while no one was looking, the United States became too ethnically (largely Hispanic) diverse.

ETS’s report can be a dangerous document. It misdirects attention from where it should go. The issue we must address is restructuring the education establishment and making prudent investments where they are needed.

We are getting, instead — you guessed it — “Help! The Hispanics Are Coming.”

In that sense, the ETS report lacks sophistication, just like Nakasone did two decades ago.

Maybe it’s time to reassess the destructiveness of the prime minister’s logic, recalling that it led to the resignation of Japan’s minister of education.

Next: the real culprits. [José de la Isla, a former educator, writes on social issues for Hispanic Link News Service. He is author of The Rise of Hispanic Political Power (Archer Books). E-mail ­joseisla3@yahoo.com.]

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Without the help of City Hall, the Supervisors, the police and the community, crime won’t stop

From The Editor Marvin J. Ramirez

From The Editor Marvin J. RamirezFrom The Editor Marvin J. Ramirez

Back in the early 90s, San Francisco experienced a dramatic wave of juvenile crime, when thousands of Central Americans were forced to leave their homelands, fleeing their countries’ violent wars.

Many of these families who feared for their lives had to migrate abroad in search of a better life, while others were common war criminals who found the U.S. the perfect terrain to advance their criminal careers. It was a time when many of the major and well-known gang groups were born.

Despite of a sharp reduction in recent years of what parts of the Mission became, namely war zones, the culture of violence among young people still exists, although a bit more hidden.

The victims now are innocent people of all ages who might have nothing to do with any type of gang-related crime.

Dennis Mendoza and Marvin Berroterán, two long-time friends, were almost beaten to death last Feb. 17 (see article in the front page), in front of one of the victims home. One of these two friends is expected to die as this edition goes to press, and the other is in a coma.

A call of alert should be made to the Mayor of San Francisco, the Chief of Police and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, to declare the Mission District a zone requiring special attention.

Too many crimes in the Mission District have gone unreported, because most of the area where these crimes occur, the population is Spanish-speaking, and only a minimum number of violent crimes are reported, with the exception to when a murder occurs.

No meetings have taken place between the police in charge of certain neighborhoods with high crime and the community to create a plan of action. These populations feel imprisoned in their own blocks, due to intimidation from young criminals who reign like kings with their heads drug-intoxicated, and without direction in their lives.

According to the U.S. Justice Fund, in recent years, a host of juvenile justice issues have been in the forefront of public debate and policy discussion in the United States, such as racial disparities in the justice system, prosecution of youths in an adult criminal court, and incarceration of young people in jails and prisons. Among these also are the effectiveness of prevention and treatment programs.

But what good will such policy discussions do, if there aren’t any real meetings between those who hold the power of law enforcement and those populations who are potential victims? These meetings need to happen in order to find a practical and effective solution to the lack of direction of our youth.

The intention of providing the latest innovation of police foot-patrol in the neighborhoods is a great idea.

However, without a coordinated monitoring of hot areas from a central station, on a daily basis, crimes such as the one committed against these two older men, who had no criminal associations and were law-abiding citizens, will continue to leave pain in families and possibly no prosecution of the offenders and justice for the victims and families.

It hurts, as a journalist, to have to cover these types of stories, but if I don’t, there won’t be awareness with the authorities in charge, to create budgets for crime prevention, and better education for our youth.

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PBS, Latinos still at loggerheads over Burns’s exclusion of Latinos

by Alex Meneses Miyashita

Hispanic advocates and executives from the Public Broadcasting System came to no resolution after 90 minutes of discussion and debate March 6 regarding a seven-part World War 11 documentary by Ken Burns that ignores the role of Latinos in the conflict

Neither side yielded in what was otherwise described as a cordial meeting.

Hispanic advocates are demanding that PBS suspend the program’s Sept. 23 scheduled release until it includes the Latino contribution. PBS remains firm on its intent to air the documentary intact while offering alternatives that the Latino advocates rejected out of hand.

The Latino group, led by former San Diego State University staff member Gus Chavez, has requested a formal response from PBS to its demands (listed below) by March 13.

The community advocates maintained that releasing the documentary without portraying the Latino involvement would be “an insult to our community.”  They also asked for a meeting with Burns, who has a contract with PBS until 2022. So far he has declined to respond to their invitation.

Contacted by Weekly Report, a PBS spokesperson said the company will reserve comment until it communicates with the Latino participants again.

In a statement, PBS gave the explanation, “It was never the goal of the filmmakers to create a comprehensive history of the War, thus many, many stories are left untold.

PBS said that editing the film would infringe on the filmmaker’s artistic expression.

It also stated that with the national airing of the documentary, The War, on Sept. 23, it will conduct an outreach initiative to generate local productions that add more perspectives of the conflict. During the meeting, the PBS executives said they would work to ensure that Latino participation is addressed with local additions.

Group members said that is not enough. “We’re not going to compromise, that’s the bottom line,” Chavez told Weekly Report.

Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez said, “We really have to have the Latino voice in that big documentary. Burns could not find a Latino in six years…It’s perpetuating the invisibility of Latinos.” She added it will be easier for them to exclude the community next time.

Rivas-Rodriguez is co-author of “A Legacy Greater than Words,” which showcases interviews with Hispanics in World War II.

Chávez added that the group is planning to contact corporations that provide support to PBS if it decided to air the documentary without changes.

President Bush has requested a slash of $145 million of federal PBS funding for next year’s budget, he said, adding, “This is not the time for you to be messing with this.”

The group plans to reach out to leadership at national and local levels, among other actions such as a national call-in day to protest the airing of the documentary. “This kind of omission is a national tragedy,” Chávez said. “It totally denies our experience.”

He called the meeting generally productive, saying Kerger “seemed to be shook up.” He remains optimistic that changes will be added to the documentary, he said.

PBS did change its initial Sept. 16 release date, Mexican Independence Day, to Sept. 23, following pressure from advocates.

An estimated 500,000 Latinos participated in the war, according to Chávez. American GI Forum chief operating officer Rolando Esparza told Weekly Report that Latinos earned proportionally more Medals of Honor during the last century than any other group, stressing the contribution the community had made to the country’s armed forces. Hispanic Link.

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Morales struggles to satisfy Bolivia’s left

Evo MoralesEvo Morales

BOLIVIA – Something is going on in Bolivia and it is not the nationalisation claimed by the government and reported in the foreign press. Nor is it the power clash with rightwing autonomists in the east of the country. The real development is the pressure being brought to bear on President Evo Morales from the supporters that brought him to power but are positioned to the left of him.

Disenchanted with the speed of change promised by Morales one year ago, some of the president’s more radical supporters declared a (still-born) “revolutionary” government in Cochabamba during the recent uprising; they rose up in Camiri, in the Chaco region, on 2 February to demand “real nationalisation” of the gas industry, rather than the ostensible nationalisation announced by Morales last May; and then, on 6 February, 10,000 to 15,000 cooperative miners took to the streets of La Paz to protest against a new tax on the mining industry the government was planning to introduce.

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Colombia calls for a fresh election

by the El Reportero wire services

Álvaro UribeÁlvaro Uribe

COLOMBIA – Politicians both from the opposition and the ruling coalition have called for a new legislative election following the arrest of six congressmen last week for their links to the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC). The last legislative election was held less than a year ago, in March 2006. Parties loyal to President Alvaro Uribe gained a comfortable majority in congress, with the result that Uribe was expected to exert even greater control over congress than he did in his first term. However, congress’s reputation has since been dragged through the mire. The supreme court and the public prosecutor have initiated criminal proceedings against a number of legislators over their links to paramilitaries in what has become known as the parapolitical scandal. The overwhelming majority ­of those who have been implicated belonged to the pro-Uribe parties.

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Two Mission residents fight for their lives after youth attack

by Marvin J. Ramírez

Two unseparable friends: L-R: Marvin Berroterán and Dennis Mendoza were savagely beaten in front of Berroterán's house on South Van Ness Ave. and 24th St. house by gang members for no reason.Two unseparable friends: L-R: Marvin Berroterán and Dennis Mendoza were savagely beaten in front of Berroterán’s house on South Van Ness Ave. and 24th St. house by gang members for no reason.

For approximately five years, Dennis Mendoza and Marvin Berroterán were like two inseparable brothers, both from Nicaragua, about the same age, and about the same weight size. The two best-friends hang around with other friends and shared occasional cocktails in local joints in the Mission, usually near 24th Street and South Van Ness Avenue.

The Day of the Dead Parade last November was not different, the El Reportero’s camera spotted them together watching the parade pass by just a few meters from Berroterán’s mother, where he lives with his elderly mother.

On Feb. 17, they were also together, sitting on the stairs of Berroteran’s house entrance at about 7:20 p.m., when a small group of youngsters approached them with a challenging, “what are you looking at me,” and Mendoza responding, “I am not looking at you.” The youths, according to friends close to the family, responded by spitting at Mendoza and Berroterán.

Subsequently, the group were joined by others who descended from a car, increasing their number to about 15 – armed with bats and a broken bottles, started assaulting them savagely with their weapons, leaving both, and an identified woman, critically injured on the ground.

The two men now lay on the same floor and a few beds apart from each other in the Intensive Care Unit at the San Francisco General Hospital, where both fight for their lives. The woman, who was also injured, remains hospitalized under extreme police watch, as she might be a key witness for the identification of the aggressors.

According to hospital sources, Mendoza, who worked 30 years as an engineering technician for AT&T before retiring recently, have a good chance of recuperating from the injuries suffered in the right side of the head by the eye, as well as neck injuries. Although he is considered to be in comatose status, he opens his eyes occasionally but hasn’t talked. A source told El Reportero he had contracted a lung infection.

The injuries to Berroterán, meanwhile, left him almost with little chance of survival, although a doctor at the hospital expressed remote optimism. He’s also been in comma after the assailants broke his skull with bat beating, which left him with part of his brain hanging out. His broken bone flap, which lines the inner skull and covers the brain, was removed. He is connected to an artificial respirator and fed intravenously, same as Mendoza.

At press time, El Reportero learned from non-official sources that the police- which is not talking much about the case with the media to protect the investigation – might already have knowledge of the identity of some of the suspects.

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