Male Cheerleader in Texas Kicked Off Squad, Suspended for Gay Kiss Seen on Surveillance Camera: VIDEO
How is kissing another man different than kissing a woman? It's not, trust me. Except of course that for those of us who are gay, kissing another man can be a deeply meaningful of friendship and caring. I can't see how a kiss exchanged between two young men is anyone else's business and certainly not cause for discipline.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Remembering Ricky
I just read this article (reposted from NPR) on the Being Latino website which I recommend to everyone.
I love Ricky
- via Luis Clemens/NPR
Desi Arnaz, seen in 1955, was one of the first characters to speak Spanish on English-language television.
Desi Arnaz, seen in 1955, was one of the first characters to speak Spanish on English-language television.
I remember being wowed the first time I heard Spanish spoken on English-language television. It was a 1970s re-run of an I Love Lucy episode. I do not remember what was said. Just that Ricky Ricardo said it en español. And I remember how it made me feel — wondrous, proud, confused.
I was confused because it was disorienting to hear Spanish used on English-language television. As a Cuban-American kid growing up in Miami, I watched English and Spanish-language television but the two languages didn’t overlap on-screen. There was the local newscast and then there was el noticiero local; each in a separate tongue and each with a different worldview.
(Continue reading at NPR.)
My memory of Ricky.
As a Mexican-American kid growing up in south Texas, Ricky Ricardo legitimized my Spanish-speaking home experience. Desi's character on I Love Lucy insisted that Little Ricky would learn to speak Spanish and went so far as to explain how easy it is to learn to read Spanish because it is more phonetic than English - at least to Ricky. It was this simple suggestion that helped me teach myself to read Spanish and I will always credit Desi Arnaz for helping me to be proud of my Spanish.
I love Ricky
- via Luis Clemens/NPR
Desi Arnaz, seen in 1955, was one of the first characters to speak Spanish on English-language television.
Desi Arnaz, seen in 1955, was one of the first characters to speak Spanish on English-language television.
I remember being wowed the first time I heard Spanish spoken on English-language television. It was a 1970s re-run of an I Love Lucy episode. I do not remember what was said. Just that Ricky Ricardo said it en español. And I remember how it made me feel — wondrous, proud, confused.
I was confused because it was disorienting to hear Spanish used on English-language television. As a Cuban-American kid growing up in Miami, I watched English and Spanish-language television but the two languages didn’t overlap on-screen. There was the local newscast and then there was el noticiero local; each in a separate tongue and each with a different worldview.
(Continue reading at NPR.)
My memory of Ricky.
As a Mexican-American kid growing up in south Texas, Ricky Ricardo legitimized my Spanish-speaking home experience. Desi's character on I Love Lucy insisted that Little Ricky would learn to speak Spanish and went so far as to explain how easy it is to learn to read Spanish because it is more phonetic than English - at least to Ricky. It was this simple suggestion that helped me teach myself to read Spanish and I will always credit Desi Arnaz for helping me to be proud of my Spanish.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Bread for the Journey
Follow the link to watch a short story told at Church of the Pilgrims in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 25th, 2011 as part of the Bread for the Journey dialogue series in worship.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Rep. Jeb Hensarling: Families in Texas are Struggling
(Note: reposted from Bread Blog)
My grandfather used to say, “It’s never as easy as it looks,” prompting me to rethink a problem or look at the big picture. This is good advice for families trying to make ends meet, and surely it is good advice for Congress as well. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) is serving as co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (or Super Committee) to look at ways to reduce our nation’s deficit. The Super Committee has much latitude and can make recommendations on anything. They could raise additional taxes; make more spending cuts; cut defense spending; let tax cuts for wealthy Americans expire; or make changes to anything else in the federal budget.
Ferrell Foster of Eustace, TX, who works for the Baptist General Convention of Texas as associate director of Texas Baptists’ Advocacy/Care Center recently told me that, "the United States is not going to balance its budget by cutting the aid it provides for overseas hunger relief and poverty alleviation. These dollars are small potatoes for the U.S. budget, but they are vitally important to these international efforts. Many of these funds also have a positive impact back home in the American economy because they are often used to purchase American commodities and services.”
He also said, "Many of us are fiscal conservatives who believe that a government should live within its financial means. That conservatism, however, is mixed with a compassion for those who need help in lifting themselves out of poverty. George W. Bush called it ‘compassionate conservatism.’”
It would be easy to just make across-the-board cuts evenly across the budget so that all programs take the same size hit, but the budget is not only our blueprint for spending—it is a moral document that says who we are by what we pay for. Right now, 17.6 percent of households in Texas’s 5th congressional district struggled to put food on the table in 2010 (compared to 14.6 percent nation-wide). Also, more than one in seven people in the 5th district, including nearly one in four children (or almost 25 percent) live below the poverty line, which is $22,113 for a family of four.
We have a moral obligation to protect the most vulnerable among us. Join me in asking Rep. Hensarling to form a circle of protection around programs that help hungry and poor people in our district, throughout the country and around the world. Call Rep. Hensarling at 1-800-826-3688 .
Marco Grimaldo is a Bread for the World regional organizer who serves Texas.
Official photo of Rep. Jeb Hensarling.
My grandfather used to say, “It’s never as easy as it looks,” prompting me to rethink a problem or look at the big picture. This is good advice for families trying to make ends meet, and surely it is good advice for Congress as well. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) is serving as co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (or Super Committee) to look at ways to reduce our nation’s deficit. The Super Committee has much latitude and can make recommendations on anything. They could raise additional taxes; make more spending cuts; cut defense spending; let tax cuts for wealthy Americans expire; or make changes to anything else in the federal budget.
Ferrell Foster of Eustace, TX, who works for the Baptist General Convention of Texas as associate director of Texas Baptists’ Advocacy/Care Center recently told me that, "the United States is not going to balance its budget by cutting the aid it provides for overseas hunger relief and poverty alleviation. These dollars are small potatoes for the U.S. budget, but they are vitally important to these international efforts. Many of these funds also have a positive impact back home in the American economy because they are often used to purchase American commodities and services.”
He also said, "Many of us are fiscal conservatives who believe that a government should live within its financial means. That conservatism, however, is mixed with a compassion for those who need help in lifting themselves out of poverty. George W. Bush called it ‘compassionate conservatism.’”
It would be easy to just make across-the-board cuts evenly across the budget so that all programs take the same size hit, but the budget is not only our blueprint for spending—it is a moral document that says who we are by what we pay for. Right now, 17.6 percent of households in Texas’s 5th congressional district struggled to put food on the table in 2010 (compared to 14.6 percent nation-wide). Also, more than one in seven people in the 5th district, including nearly one in four children (or almost 25 percent) live below the poverty line, which is $22,113 for a family of four.
We have a moral obligation to protect the most vulnerable among us. Join me in asking Rep. Hensarling to form a circle of protection around programs that help hungry and poor people in our district, throughout the country and around the world. Call Rep. Hensarling at 1-800-826-3688 .
Marco Grimaldo is a Bread for the World regional organizer who serves Texas.
Official photo of Rep. Jeb Hensarling.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Remembering César Chávez
“I undertook the fast because my heart was filled with grief and pain for the sufferings of farm workers. The fast was first for me and then for all of us in the union. It was a fast for nonviolence and a call to sacrifice.”—César Chávez, March 10, 1968
César Chávez was the president and founder of the United Farm Workers Union and persists as the iconic hero of Latinos in the United States. I knew him when I was a boy and later as a college student. He was already a legend and my hero when I served as his driver/companion for a week in 1988.
César fasted several times in his life—not just to call attention to suffering, but also to do penance and atone for his own failings and to show trust in God. I fasted for one day in 1988 when other students at Texas State took turns fasting to be in solidarity with César.
Today, I am fasting (day four) as a way to live out my faith and show my trust in God, whom I believe can and will end hunger in the world. Like César, I believe God will cure my heart and touch the hearts of others so that together we can call our nation to care for hungry and poor people.
Today is César Chávez Day in communities throughout the United States, and I am proud to pay homage to my hero by continuing my fast along with thousands of Bread for the World members and others. (visit Bread’s website to learn more).
Long before President Obama made these words popular, César taught us to proclaim, Sí se puede—yes, we can. And so I say to you, Sí se puede—with God’s help, we can end hunger.
César Chávez was the president and founder of the United Farm Workers Union and persists as the iconic hero of Latinos in the United States. I knew him when I was a boy and later as a college student. He was already a legend and my hero when I served as his driver/companion for a week in 1988.
César fasted several times in his life—not just to call attention to suffering, but also to do penance and atone for his own failings and to show trust in God. I fasted for one day in 1988 when other students at Texas State took turns fasting to be in solidarity with César.
Today, I am fasting (day four) as a way to live out my faith and show my trust in God, whom I believe can and will end hunger in the world. Like César, I believe God will cure my heart and touch the hearts of others so that together we can call our nation to care for hungry and poor people.
Today is César Chávez Day in communities throughout the United States, and I am proud to pay homage to my hero by continuing my fast along with thousands of Bread for the World members and others. (visit Bread’s website to learn more).
Long before President Obama made these words popular, César taught us to proclaim, Sí se puede—yes, we can. And so I say to you, Sí se puede—with God’s help, we can end hunger.
Sunday, February 06, 2011
A very special birthday...
I confess to being far too fond of the History Channel and sitting home with the flu makes the T.V. all the more my friend. All week the History Channel has reminded me that Feb. 6th would be the 100th birthday of Ronald Regan. This is something that I would just as soon not give a second thought to, but for the lives of two important people that so shaped who I am today. My father, Pedro Grimaldo and my great aunt Amanda Villanueva Hernandez, both of who passed away some years ago and also shared Feb. 6th as their birthday.
Amanda and her sister Timotea, along with my grandmother Isabel were my caretakers throughout my childhood while my parents worked. However poor we were, I certainly didn't know it. I had every thing I ever wanted just for the asking - fresh pealed fruit, Mexican pastries, tortillas (corn and flour) made daily. Amanda was the youngest of three and in some ways, possibly the strongest. I always knew that in a jam, even in trouble with my parents, I could count on her to save me and stand between me and anything bad. As I grew older I realized that she was not especially nice to others, maybe even unyielding and sometimes mean. When my grandmother married into the family Amanda was jealous of her older brother and made things difficult for them but as I learned of this, I realized that I knew why. For Amanda it was all about loyalty and no one would stand between her and whomever she loved. I thank God that my grandmother Isabel was perhaps stronger still than Amanda because that left me with a legacy of strong, powerfully loyal women to guide my life. I can't imagine a more firm foundation.
My father would be 70 this year and I miss him very much. He was fun and often silly when he was with family. Now I try to be silly enough for my nephews and nieces so that they will know a little of Grandpa Pete.
As a kid, I always wished dad were home more. He had directed a United Methodist Community Center and at one point a large community action agency in south Texas. As I grew older I spent more time with dad at his job and saw what he was doing and why it mattered so much to him. Once I was on my own, he would occasionally try to rope me into one initiative or another or to get my help with a grant proposal he was preparing. He saw things in me that I didn't see in myself.
Dad was shaped powerfully by his grandfather and he made sure that I had the same experience with my grandparents. I can never thank him enough for this. He wanted me to learn from my mom's dad (also named Pedro)about hard work and protecting family at all costs. My father's parents were divorced and he was raised by his aunt and uncle Guadalupe and Jose Angel Hernandez, a Presbyterian minister. Dad was always somewhat undisciplined but he wanted me to learn from his parents what he lacked and so my sister and I spent more time that we might have chosen for ourselves, with our grandparents in Austin. On the other hand, I am still a Presbyterian and although it has been years since I was ordained to serve as an elder, I still try to honor my vows and serve God as best I can.
Service to others, loyalty, strength in the face of poverty and difficulties, love, honor and respect are among the things that I learned from my father, Pedro Grimaldo and my aunt, Amanda Villanueva Hernandez. May God bless them both.
Amanda and her sister Timotea, along with my grandmother Isabel were my caretakers throughout my childhood while my parents worked. However poor we were, I certainly didn't know it. I had every thing I ever wanted just for the asking - fresh pealed fruit, Mexican pastries, tortillas (corn and flour) made daily. Amanda was the youngest of three and in some ways, possibly the strongest. I always knew that in a jam, even in trouble with my parents, I could count on her to save me and stand between me and anything bad. As I grew older I realized that she was not especially nice to others, maybe even unyielding and sometimes mean. When my grandmother married into the family Amanda was jealous of her older brother and made things difficult for them but as I learned of this, I realized that I knew why. For Amanda it was all about loyalty and no one would stand between her and whomever she loved. I thank God that my grandmother Isabel was perhaps stronger still than Amanda because that left me with a legacy of strong, powerfully loyal women to guide my life. I can't imagine a more firm foundation.
My father would be 70 this year and I miss him very much. He was fun and often silly when he was with family. Now I try to be silly enough for my nephews and nieces so that they will know a little of Grandpa Pete.
As a kid, I always wished dad were home more. He had directed a United Methodist Community Center and at one point a large community action agency in south Texas. As I grew older I spent more time with dad at his job and saw what he was doing and why it mattered so much to him. Once I was on my own, he would occasionally try to rope me into one initiative or another or to get my help with a grant proposal he was preparing. He saw things in me that I didn't see in myself.
Dad was shaped powerfully by his grandfather and he made sure that I had the same experience with my grandparents. I can never thank him enough for this. He wanted me to learn from my mom's dad (also named Pedro)about hard work and protecting family at all costs. My father's parents were divorced and he was raised by his aunt and uncle Guadalupe and Jose Angel Hernandez, a Presbyterian minister. Dad was always somewhat undisciplined but he wanted me to learn from his parents what he lacked and so my sister and I spent more time that we might have chosen for ourselves, with our grandparents in Austin. On the other hand, I am still a Presbyterian and although it has been years since I was ordained to serve as an elder, I still try to honor my vows and serve God as best I can.
Service to others, loyalty, strength in the face of poverty and difficulties, love, honor and respect are among the things that I learned from my father, Pedro Grimaldo and my aunt, Amanda Villanueva Hernandez. May God bless them both.
Friday, October 09, 2009
We Are Marching...
This Sunday thousands of us - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer people will once again march on Washington and Queer people of faith will meet, worship and rally together - all in support of justice and equality,
I won't be able to join them because I will be preaching two Sunday morning services at an Episcopal church in Maryland where the pastor and congregation are committed to doing more for hungry people. I consider myself lucky that this small church called on a Queer Latino to deliver their message and that in some small way my service will stand as testimony to the day-to-day witness of queer Christians like myself who make it a priority to follow the Gospel mandate of service to others.
I shared some of these thoughts with a close colleague and friend who smiled and reminded me how great it is that we get paid to do this work of being our true selves in service to Jesus the Christ. Yes, this is the point where you the reader decide if I am just too sappy for words. If instead you see things as I do, then I urge you to do as I do. Take a stand on Sunday and be wholly your Holy-self. Be the wonderful, blessed person that God created you to be and be of Good Service to the world.
Peace be with you,
Marco A. Grimaldo
I won't be able to join them because I will be preaching two Sunday morning services at an Episcopal church in Maryland where the pastor and congregation are committed to doing more for hungry people. I consider myself lucky that this small church called on a Queer Latino to deliver their message and that in some small way my service will stand as testimony to the day-to-day witness of queer Christians like myself who make it a priority to follow the Gospel mandate of service to others.
I shared some of these thoughts with a close colleague and friend who smiled and reminded me how great it is that we get paid to do this work of being our true selves in service to Jesus the Christ. Yes, this is the point where you the reader decide if I am just too sappy for words. If instead you see things as I do, then I urge you to do as I do. Take a stand on Sunday and be wholly your Holy-self. Be the wonderful, blessed person that God created you to be and be of Good Service to the world.
Peace be with you,
Marco A. Grimaldo
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Anuncio de Prensa - Pan para el Mundo
Pan para el Mundo exhorta a legisladores hispanos
a apoyar la nueva Ley de Asistencia Internacional
Washington, DC, Julio 23, 2009– El día de hoy, Pan para el Mundo pidió a Congresistas Latinos su apoyo para aprobar la Ley “Iniciando la Reforma de Asistencia Internacional 2009” (H.R. 2139). Hasta ahora, la iniciativa de ley tiene 83 patrocinadores, incluyendo algunos miembros del Caucus Hispano del Congreso.
“Los miembros del Caucus Hispano del Congreso pueden hacer una gran diferencia en el mundo apoyando un enfoque mas inteligente en torno a la asistencia internacional,” dijo el Reverendo Lee de León, miembro de la junta directiva de Pan para el Mundo y presidente de la corporación de desarrollo comunitario Templo Calvario, en California. “Latinos desde Los Ángeles hasta Miami están exhortando a nuestros Congresistas a que tomen un primer paso y endorsen la iniciativa de ley H.R. 2139.”
El presidente del comité de Asuntos Internacionales de la Cámara de Representantes, Howard Berman (D-CA) y el Representante Mark Kirk (R-IL) introdujeron en Abril el proyecto de ley con apoyo bipartidista H.R. 2139. La iniciativa le pide al Presidente Barack Obama que desarrolle e implemente una estrategia integral para estimular el desarrollo global, mejorar la evaluación de programas de desarrollo, e incrementar la transparencia de la asistencia internacional que provee Estados Unidos a países en desarrollo.
Los programas de desarrollo mundial de los Estados Unidos están diseñados para reducir la pobreza y el hambre en países pobres, por ejemplo en Nicaragua permite que Acción Medica Cristiana entrene a pequeños agricultores sobre mejores técnicas agrícolas. A pesar de que tales programas representan únicamente la mitad del 1 por ciento del presupuesto anual, Estados Unidos sigue siendo el principal contribuyente económico de la asistencia para el desarrollo en países pobres.
Actualmente, las políticas y programas de desarrollo global se encuentran diseminadas entre 12 gabinetes ministeriales, 25 agencias y 60 oficinas gubernamentales. La asistencia internacional de Estados Unidos se mantiene regida por una ley aprobada en 1961, durante la presidencia de John F. Kennedy.
“La comunidad Latina comprende lo que significa ayudar a nuestros vecinos, sin importar si viven en la casa de a lado, en otro estado, o en otro continente,” aseveró el Reverendo de León. “Nuestros ojos y corazones están abiertos a los cientos de millones de personas que se van dormir con hambre todas las noches. Nosotros tenemos que usar nuestra inteligencia y nuestras voces para brindarle a la gente trabajadora la oportunidad de alimentar a su familia, y de encontrar el camino para salir de la pobreza.”
###
Pan para el Mundo (www.bread.org) es una voz cristiana que colectivamente pide a los líderes de nuestra nación que eliminen el hambre en este país y alrededor del mundo.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Crass...tasteless...reprehensible
How dare they take in vain the names and images of individuals who were killed in the tragedy of 9/11. Tonight's Republican Convention featured a video of the Twin Towers on fire and falling, photos and fliers of people missing or lost, and tearful rescuers and families. I lived through 9/11 in Washington, DC while the man I loved was in New York City. Like so many others, we were cut off without phone service and I had no way of contacting him as he made his way to lend a hand a ground zero. Thank God that he was safe but along with so many New Yorkers, he will never forget that day and neither will I. How dare Republicans use these tragic images to gain hollow support for their candidate.
I want to be kept safe too. I dare say that there is no American that wants to see the kind of devastation happened on September 11, 2001. But I want to hear substance, a plan, not tearful remembrances. Not a year goes by that I don't say a prayer for those who lost their lives and their families on 9/11. This year will be no different, but the next President of the United States will have to show me more if he expects my vote.
I want to be kept safe too. I dare say that there is no American that wants to see the kind of devastation happened on September 11, 2001. But I want to hear substance, a plan, not tearful remembrances. Not a year goes by that I don't say a prayer for those who lost their lives and their families on 9/11. This year will be no different, but the next President of the United States will have to show me more if he expects my vote.
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