Got me thinking...

I just picked up my new passport yesterday from the American consulate. The passport has changed a lot from the old one I got 9 years ago. As I flipped through the pages, I was positively surprised to see that the quotes on U.S. pride that adorn the tops of them did not just include those by old white men who used to wear curly wigs. Some of them do, but not all. Martin Luther King, Jr. has his words in our country’s passport, as does John F. Kennedy, and even Ronald Regan. When I first flipped through the pages, I was the most positively surprised to see the name of a Hispanic American, who I didn’t recognize at that first glance.

The quote was by Jose Antonio Navarro, a born and raised Texas of “prominent Spanish descent”, who fought for the independence of Texas from Spanish rule. I have to say that after googling him, I am not surprised that our leaders have chosen a person of Spanish decent who fought for independence from Spain. So typical. It’s like “we are using you for your obviously Spanish name, most people won’t know who you are, so you can be the cover-all-bases Hispanic American, and you fought to separate our country from the land your blood came from, which is actually in Europe.” Could they have chosen anyone, I mean ANYONE else? All respect to the very late Navarro, but seriously… so typical.

This all got me to thinking. Why was I so surprised that a Hispanic American’s quote was included? I wasn’t surprised that an African American’s words were there. Could this have to do with the fact that most would recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. as a hero of this nation, while I didn’t even know who Jose Antonio Navarro was? Perhaps to a certain degree… for as skewed and inaccurate our textbooks are, and as WASP-y our national educational programs are, I will say something, which does not pretend African Americans are given the deserved recognition in the history of our country: African Americans are present. In the screwed-up version of the life of our nation, they are present. Maybe not accounted for, but present. I was still in the single digits, a little white girl in suburban Maryland, and I knew MLK, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and I will spare you the rest of the too-short list of the “lucky” few.

Hispanic Americans, on the other hand? Um… let me see who I knew about growing up. Did Pancho Villa have anything to do with the U.S.? (I didn’t know who he was, but I knew the name.) The guy from “La Bamba”, Lou Diamond Phillips? No, that was supposed to be about Ritchie Valens. He was important because he died, right? And why did his name sound so white? I knew Scarface, but he was really an Italian American playing a Cuban immigrant drug lord, so that doesn’t really count. You get where I am going… there were no Hispanic American “heros”, nobody present, nobody accounted for. Not even the sad excuse for a place in our books like George Washington Carver, who was story-book-ized (new word) to explain to little white pre-schoolers where their peanut butter came from. None of that.


To be completely honest, I do not think Hispanic Americans are considered as “American” as they deserve to be. Mexican Americans fought in the Civil War. The original California constitution was written in both Spanish and English. This is not a matter of Hispanic Americans being the “new”addition to the country. Granted, there is an influx of immigration of Latin Americans to the U.S., but this seems to me to be all the more reason that America needs to wake up and recognize that Hispanic Americans are a part of America.
I realize that this is a way more complex issue than I can delve into right now, and I do not want to simplify it. But sometime, you gotta simplify things to get a little clarity, right? I will ponder this some more… there are countless other ethnicities of Americans who are not allowed to truly feel “American”. I wonder how, and when this will change.

Amazing Discoveries...

This morning while I was eating breakfast, I discovered something funny: the mixture of sweet, fresh pineapple chunks dipped in plain yogurt creates a aftertaste uncannily similar to that of Krispy Kreme original donuts. It does! Try it before you call me crazy… and yes, I know I'm wierd.

UPDATE:

Mr. Jinlgles has not returned in the past six weeks to his under-the-gas-burner dwelling. This is not to say he is not around, as I have found "evidence" of him. But at this point, I have gotten used to an outdoor kitchen. It requires a few rules:

1) Store ALL food items in the refrigerator, including cereal, bread, fruit, etc.

2) Keep counters extremely clean and crumb-free.

3) Store waste hanging high, in a place where ant trails will be at a good distance.

4) Wash dishes immediately after use, and keep them covered when not in use.

5) Watch out for mice, geckos, cats, spiders, mosquitos, and all the rest of the critters that want to eat you and your food.

I live on a tropical island... I have to get used to sharing my living space with nature, so I am at peace with Mr. Jingles and the rest of the animal posse. But who am I kidding... there's probably more than one mouse anyway.

Leah starts blogging, take 2!

A few weeks ago, I realized that I really wanted to begin blogging. I was really “cised”, as my sisters used to say in the mid-90’s, and I got right to it and wrote a few entries. Well something happened that caused me to doubt the things I was writing. I became overcome with a paranoia that people who might read things I was happy about would find me boastful or full of myself. Maybe the reason this got at me so is because I struggled for a long time to find real happiness with myself. I had been sad for many years. I guess an analogy could be the people who lose all the weight, but still can’t bring themselves to put on the flattering, form-fitting clothes. That’s kind of it. I know there are people who speak positively of themselves and their lives all the time, and there are many who just do it purely… not to make others think they are great, not to make others think themselves lesser, just to wave their own flags tall and proud, because they know they are worth it. I want to be able to do that, and I know I will. And besides, I have other things to write about besides myself. So here we go again. Leah (otherwise known in blog world as Manifiesta) starts blogging, take 2! I deliberately choose to share everything I am about to share, with full knowing that I cannot – and no not want to – control how anyone views me. I have nothing to lose by being misunderstood, and so much to gain by just sharing….