LatinaLista — With only her 12-string guitar accompanying her, Lydia Mendoza “Lark of the Border” recorded over 1,000 songs in a 70-year career where she reigned as the ‘first lady of Tejano music.’ Though she died in 2007 at the age of 91, her legacy lives on as the first musician honored in the Postal Service’s new Music Icons series.

Today, in San Antonio, Texas at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, Mendoza’s stamp was unveiled in front of an audience that included postal service dignitaries, old friends, fellow musicians and surviving family members.

“Mendoza was a true American pioneer, whose unique voice and style of singing, paved the way for a whole new generation of Latino performers,” said Marie Therese Dominguez, vice president, Government Relations and Public Policy. “Her impact on music guarantees her place in American music history, and today her legacy continues on 30 million postage stamps.”

In announcing the new Forever Stamp, the U.S. Postal Service shared the biography of Lydia Mendoza and the chosen design of the stamp, underscoring the reasons why Lydia Mendoza deserves to be remembered “forever.”

Known as La Alondra de la Frontera, the Lark of the Border, Mendoza performed the Spanish-language music of the Texas-Mexico borderlands and beyond.

Best known for her solo performances, Mendoza, with her soulful voice accompanied only by the playing of her 12-string guitar, recorded more than a thousand songs in an enduring career that spanned seven decades. Through her music, she gave a voice not only to the poor and working-class people North and South of the border, but also to Latinos throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Her enormous repertoire of canciones, boleros, corridos, danzas, and tangos included ballads about historic figures and songs about hard work, lost love, and the joys of everyday life.

Mendoza was born in May 1916 in Houston, Texas. She grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, and in towns along the border. She was born into a musical family; both her mother and maternal grandmother played the guitar. Mendoza began to emulate them when she was four years old, nailing rubber bands to a piece of wood to create her own instrument.

She learned to sing and play the guitar from her mother, her greatest musical influence. Mendoza also learned to play the violin and mandolin, but it was the 12-string guitar that would become her signature instrument.

In the early 1930s, the Mendozas moved to San Antonio and began performing in the city’s famous Plaza del Zacate. Lydia’s big break came when she won a singing contest on the radio, which led to her family signing a contract with Bluebird Records in 1934.

The producers asked Lydia to record some solo cuts. Among them was “Mal Hombre” or “Evil Man,” a song about a coldhearted man who breaks his lover’s heart. Years before, Lydia had learned the lyrics, which were printed on a gum wrapper. “Mal Hombre” soon became a hit. The Mendozas moved up in the musical world, performing in new venues such as clubs and theaters. By the time World War II broke out, Lydia had recorded more than 200 songs.

The war temporarily slowed Mendoza’s career. In the late 1940s, now married and with children of her own, she returned to recording and performing. Non-Spanish-speaking audiences started discovering Mendoza’s music in the 1970s.

As her fame spread, she began to be recognized as an American folk icon and was invited to sing at new venues, such as folk festivals and college campuses. In 1977, Mendoza sang at Jimmy Carter’s inaugural celebration. She continued to tour and record in the 1980s.

In 1982, Mendoza received a National Heritage Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Increasingly recognized as a national treasure, she was inducted into the Tejano Music Hall of Fame.

Mendoza retired from music in 1988 after suffering a stroke. In 1999, she was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by President Clinton. In his speech, Clinton remarked, “Her legacy is as wide and deep as the Rio Grande Valley.”

Lydia Mendoza died in San Antonio, TX, Dec. 20, 2007, at the age of 91. Her recordings continue to be collected and played on the radio.

Today, Mendoza is remembered as a musical pioneer who not only popularized Mexican-American music, but also carved out a career that was unique for a woman of her time, thereby breaking down barriers for the next generation.

The artwork for the Lydia Mendoza stamp features an undated, black-and-white publicity photo of Mendoza taken for Ideal Records in the 1950s. The flag of Texas is superimposed over the singer’s image, with its vertical blue bar and single white star covering the left half of the photo and its horizontal red stripe embellishing the bottom right corner.

The square stamp captures the look of a 45-rpm record sleeve. The stamp pane evokes the appearance of a 45-rpm single peeking out of a record sleeve above the stamps themselves.

On the reverse side, the pane includes a larger version of the photograph featured on the stamp art as well as the logo for the Music Icons series. Neal Ashby and Patrick Donohue designed the stamp, working with art director Antonio Alcalá.

By Daniel Ward
Language Magazine

Last month, the Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education announced the appointment of a new Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education — Clay Pell, the grandson of former senator Claiborne Pell, after whom the Pell Grant program is named.

Pell comes from the White House, where he served as director for strategic planning on the National Security Staff and helped advance President Obama’s key national security priorities.

He brings critical experience from a breadth of departments and agencies including the White House, State Department, and CIA, and he has a personal commitment to foreign language study as a speaker of Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic.

Pell studied law in Argentina and China, earned his JD from Georgetown University Law Center, and graduated from Harvard College with high honors in social studies and a citation in Modern Standard Arabic.

He also has military expertise as a reserve officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, including nearly four years on active duty and legal experience as appellate government counsel for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Before Pell had a chance to get his feet under the desk, Language Magazine editor, Daniel Ward, asked him some key questions:

Clay Pell: Let me just say how thrilled I am to be here, and thank you for reaching out in my first couple of days at the Department of Education. I am so excited to join Secretary Duncan and to continue to serve President Obama in advancing America’s global competitiveness. We are laser-focused on doing everything we can to make sure our country and next generation of students are fully prepared to lead and thrive in the 21st century, including with critical foreign language and international skills.

LM: What languages do you speak, how did you learn them, and how have they improved your professional and personal lives?

CP: Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic. I studied Spanish first in elementary school, then both Spanish and Chinese as an exchange student in high school. I began studying Arabic in college and have continued each ever since.
Without a doubt, foreign languages opened up the world to me. They exposed me to the people and places beyond our borders and gave me the skills to work on international issues — with the military, State Department, law firms overseas, and most recently on President Obama’s National Security Staff.
So you can imagine what an enormous privilege and thrill it is for me to come full circle and work with Secretary Duncan and President Obama to equip the next generation of American students with the foreign language and international skills they will need to lead and thrive in the global economy.

LM: Why do you believe it is important to speak more than one language?

CP: At a strategic level, the United States represents about 5% of the global population and a quarter of the global economy. Our growth and competitiveness demand that we find new ways to connect with, work with, and take advantage of opportunities in the rest of the world. Foreign language and international expertise are critical skills to bridge that divide and proactively reach opportunities and cultures around the globe.
Of course, there are many other benefits that come from learning another language — and probably everyone who has built fluency in another language can speak in their own way to how it has enriched their life. Certainly, learning a second language has been shown to improve cognitive development and learning outcomes across the board. And some of the findings I’m most excited about show how study-abroad experience can help close the achievement gap between minority college students and their majority peers.

LM: What role do you see for the Department of Education in promoting language education across the states in the light of budget cuts? Does technology have a role?

CP: The Department of Education has a critical leadership role in promoting 21st-century skills in our nation’s schools, institutions of higher education, and beyond. We are encouraging state and local institutions to weave global competencies into common academic core subjects, into college-and-career-ready standards, and into expected learning outcomes. Personally, I’m really looking forward to meeting and working with everyone in the days and months ahead — students and schools, partners in government and private sector, and the foreign language and education communities as a whole. My message is that foreign language is a critical skill for the 21st century and there are a lot of innovative ways we can work together to make sure our students develop foreign language skills all the way through from school to career.
Certainly, technology is an important part of this, as are partnerships across the board. And the federal government will continue to play an important role, including the Title VI and Fulbright Hays programs that we administer and other international education programs at the Departments of State and Defense, among others. These programs support foreign language, area, and international studies and infrastructure building at U.S. colleges and universities. And they ensure a supply of graduates with expertise in less commonly taught languages, world areas, global issues, and transnational trends — all critical for America’s students, businesses, and workforce as a whole.

LM: Do you have any specific goals in terms of improving language education in the U.S.?

CP: Yes! I really want to hear from the community about all the many ways we can work together. But some areas where I am looking forward to working together include:
Building bridges — Making sure that we are building bridges at all levels so that our students and workforce develop, retain, and leverage foreign language skills from school through employment.
Inclusion — Continuing to expand the participation of underrepresented groups in foreign language and international education.
Technology — Leveraging advances in technology to connect students with cutting-edge language-learning materials, as well as their peers around the world.
Strategic regions — Continuing to support less commonly taught languages, including in strategic regions of the Asia-Pacific and Africa where the President has elevated focus across the U.S. government.

LM: What are your views on bilingual and dual-language education programs?

CP: We support both bilingual education and dual-language programs (dual language being the one of the models by which students with limited English proficiency can learn English and simultaneously maintain their native language). The general support both for bilingual education and dual-language programs comes from Secretary Duncan and President Obama’s emphasis on language as an important skill for the 21st century.

LM: What do you think we can do to improve retention of heritage languages and preserve this valuable national resource?

CP: Heritage languages are a really powerful resource, both for individuals and the country as a whole. One of the most important things we can do is encourage parents and families to continue to use both their heritage language and English with their children. At the federal level, we have funded projects through our Title VI portfolio that support heritage language programs, and I look forward to strategizing with the language community about other ways where we can play a role.

LM: How can we encourage more American students to study in non-English-speaking countries?

CP: I’m really excited to help get out the word to students about the relevance of study abroad and to continue to work to make sure these programs are as accessible as possible. The Department’s emphasis on advancing global competencies for all students is important in this regard, as are opportunities that we support through our overseas programs in Fulbright-Hays and Title VI. I look forward to working hard to make sure more students and institutions know what’s available and are finding new ways to partner together.

LatinaLista — Frida Kahlo is perhaps the most recognizable name among Latin American women artists who ever lived — but she is far from the only one. Rather than be seen as the definitive Latin American woman artist, a special exhibit in 1995 highlighted a range of such female artists spanning the years 1915-1995.

“Latin American Women Artists 1915-1995″ was an extensive exhibit showcased by the Milwaukee Art Museum in 1995. As an accompaniment to their exhibit, the museum commissioned a twenty-five minute long film about the featured artists and their works. The featured video is a short introduction to that film.

Featuring the work of important artists of the recent past, like Brazil’s Tarsila do Amaral and Mexico’s María Izquierdo and Frida Kahlo, and including recent interviews with living artists such as Colombian painter Fanny Sanin, Chilean multi-media artist Soledad Salame, Venezuelan sculptor Elba Damast and Cuban multi-media artist María Campos Pons, “Latin American Women Artists 1915-1995″ gives a comprehensive history of art made by women working in “La América Latina” throughout the twentieth century.

Latin America has produced some of the most innovative, exciting and relevant artists in the contemporary art world. The need for a film that focuses on the critical and influential role of women in Latin American art in the twentieth century has never been greater.

LatinaLista — There’s a reason that nonLatinos think every Latino in the United States is from Mexico.

It’s because there are 34 million Latinos of Mexican origin living in the United States, and according to the Pew Hispanic Center, that is 64 percent of the overall Latino population.

It’s a huge chunk of the Latino population that nowadays is growing not because of immigration but because of being born in the U.S.

Before the 1980s, growth in the nation’s Mexican-origin population came mostly from Hispanics of Mexican origin born in the U.S. However, from 1980 to 2000, more growth in the Mexican-origin population in the U.S. could be attributed to the arrival of Mexican immigrants. That pattern reversed from 2000 to 2010 as births surpassed immigration as the main driver of population growth.

It makes sense that the U.S. would be the first choice for Mexican immigrants. After all, the U.S. is the only country on Mexico’s borders whose economy is doing fairly well, and free, for the most part, from systemic political and law enforcement corruption that cheats, intimidates and physically harms people who cross their paths.

The Pew Hispanic Center reports:

Internationally, the U.S. is far and away the top destination for immigrants from Mexico. Fully 96% of Mexicans who leave Mexico migrate to the U.S. Worldwide, nine percent of people born in Mexico live in the U.S. In addition, the U.S. has more immigrants from Mexico alone than any other country has immigrants.

As with any large group of immigrants to a country, there is good news and not-so-good news:

Mexican-origin Hispanics are younger than both the U.S. population and Hispanics overall. The median age of Mexicans is 25; the median ages of the U.S. population and all Hispanics are 37 and 27, respectively. U.S.-born Mexicans are considerably younger than their foreign-born counterparts. The median age of native-born Mexicans is 17, compared with 38 of the foreign born. — Good news since the population of the United States, like that of Western Europe, is getting grayer and the country needs a young generation to carry it forward.

Among those ages 15 and older, Mexican immigrants are more likely than native-born Mexicans to be married—58% vs. 34% respectively. As a group, Mexican-origin Hispanics ages 15 and older are slightly more likely (45%) to be married than Hispanics overall (43%). Good news considering all the research that has shown that children born into a two-parent family have better outcomes in life.

Mexicans born in the U.S. are almost three times more likely to have earned a bachelor’s degree than those born in Mexico—15% vs. 6% respectively. About six-in-ten Mexican immigrants have not earned a high school diploma (59%), compared with 21% of Mexicans born in the U.S. Bad news that so few Mexican immigrants have even a high school diploma. It doesn’t just impact their level of skills to perform work in an era of technology but the lack of schooling can also impact family attitudes towards higher education.

More than half (57%) of Mexican immigrants are uninsured, compared with 20% of those born in the U.S. Bad news. The expectation that it’s ok to let undocumented immigrants suffer with medical conditions rather than enabling them to access health coverage is inhumane and ends up costing U.S. society more through lost productivity, whether they’re on the books or not, and higher hospital costs, since hospitals pass along their losses when treating uninsured patients. By the time the uninsured can’t stand the suffering anymore, they most always end up racking up more expensive treatments because they have waited until they need acute care.

There’s a simple remedy to end these disparities but it’s no longer leadership that will make a difference on this issue — but having a conscience to do what is right.

LatinaLista — The potential influence and buying power of the Latino consumer is increasingly being appreciated by businesses of all sizes. In fact, it’s already gotten to the point where Latinos should feel pretty special because some are already fighting over our growing market.

In February of this year, we reported on the launch of the new bilingual health website Vida Vibrante.

We were impressed with the site not only because, as we wrote:

Geared to Latino readers, articles incorporate Latino health habits and culture.

But also because a non-Latino founded the site. A man by the name of Lonnie Jones, who was described as being a founder of another multicultural health site called BlackDoctor.org.

There’s a good faith assumption on the part of journalists that write-ups of new ventures will be accurate and have the facts. So, imagine our surprise when we received an email from BlackDoctor.org with a very clear “cease and desist” tone:

As a reputable and successful company and brand, BlackDoctor.org has a responsibility to make sure that its presence in the media remain representative of factual information. It has been brought to our attention that Lonnie Jones has been highlighted in your publication stating that he helped create and/or founded BlackDoctor.org. This is not only false, but takes away from the continuous and well respected work of the real founder and creator Reginald Ware. Lonnie Jones time here at BlackDoctor.org was short (6.5 months), but very much appreciated. During his employment here he in no way had a role in the creation of BlackDoctor.org. Lonnie was the National Advertising Director, which is a role within the sales team. The implication that Lonnie had an Executive/Founding/Creator Role is an exaggeration and by far not indicative of the key aspects of his position. As it stands BlackDoctor.org has made its legal team aware of the issue that currently is still not addressed. If proper action isn’t taken immediately, we will take the necessary legal steps to make sure it is. Moving forward we are requesting that ALL retractions be made, proof be given, and that all future PR releases done on Lonnie or Vida Vibrante not include Blackdoctor.org or any of its affiliations.

To get to the bottom of the matter, we called BlackDoctor.org and spoke to Erika, the executive assistant to the CEO. She explained that they were contacting all the media outlets who had published the news crediting Lonnie Jones for helping to create BlackDoctor.org. In a very serious voice, she asked that I retract the offending paragraph and email them when I did.

Then she said something interesting. She said that BlackDoctor.org had launched their own Latino health site in February (2013) called LatinoDr.org and it had been a project in the works for a while.

Looking at both sites, they look eerily similar but by checking the page no one could tell either site was created by nonLatinos. Articles are Latino-focused; editors and contributors are Latinos for the most part. LatinoDr.org even sports the logo MiGente.com – no mention of BlackDoctor.org.

Vida Vibrante appears totally Latino-created until you click on the design team — an all African-American female company (kudos to them btw).

We’re sharing this behind-the-scenes drama not because we begrudge Vida Vibrante or LatinoDr.org for recognizing the potential that exists in the Latino market and their intention to capitalize on it but because accomplished Latinos within our own community are not moving fast enough, if at all, to create the kinds of business opportunities servicing the Latino population that nonLatinos readily see — and are or will be profiting from in the future.

All of which will leave most Latinos to wonder how they missed such opportunities in the first place.

LatinaLista — A 2011 Pew study found that there were more Latinas serving in the military than Latinos. It’s a trend that will only continue since some undocumented Latina teens waiting for immigration reform have declared their intent to enlist in the military when they’re cleared to do so.

Now, a new bilingual children’s book — the first illustrated showing a Latina mamá in U.S. military uniform — could spark that patriotic fervor at even earlier ages.

“Good Night Captain Mama / Buenas Noches Capitán Mamá” written by Graciela Tiscareño-Sato, an award-winning Air Force aviator turned entrepreneur and book author, is about a young boy who on his way to bed passes by his mother’s bedroom and sees her olive-green Air Force-issued flight suit. Curious about the patches, he asks his mother what each of the patches mean. As she explains, she teaches him not only the meaning behind the patches but also why women also serve in the military.

The 850-word bilingual book was inspired by a chat the author had with her preschool son the night before a Veteran’s Day event at his school. It was then she realized that there just weren’t any children’s titles featuring Latinas, the military and bilingual text in the same book.

Considering her book a gift to all children, Tiscareño-Sato was shocked to receive critical comments from a few parents who saw a Facebook picture of her reading her story to a class of third graders in both languages.

With comments like: “I think it’s great what you’re doing but if you’re reading in schools in America…you should read in English only!!” or “My forefathers learned English so will the our grand children its the American way,” Tiscareño-Sato politely thanked each commenter but stuck to her proverbial guns in extolling the benefits of bilingual literature for children.

These days, Tiscareño-Sato continues to promote the value of bilingual literature while sharing the message that women can reach great heights serving in the military. Currently, the accomplished author is on a virtual book tour hosted by Latina Lista BlogBeat Partner Condor Musings.

“Good Night Captain Mama” is illustrated by Linda Lens and published by Gracefully Global Group, LLC, a publishing company owned by Tiscareño-Sato .

Sales of the book benefit Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE), a training program operated by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, whose mission is to educate and mentor veteran women through entrepreneurship to pursue self-employment as a post-service career.

The book is available for pre-ordering.

By Insight Tr3s

In our last two posts, we’ve highlighted how Hispanic young adults have been affected by the difficult economy and how they’re behaving differently as a result. Jobs can be tough to come by — and many entry-level positions don’t pay well. As Hispanic young adults seek more solid financial footing, they’re putting off the traditional rites of passage into adulthood like getting married. In the meantime, while focusing on career and money goals, they’re content to continue living at home with Mom and Dad.

Today, 45% of Hispanics 18 to 34 live with their parents, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. They are 18% more likely than non-Hispanic whites 18 to 34 to reside in a multi-generational household. The numbers are even more dramatic among younger, bicultural Hispanic adults 18 to 29: 6 in 10 live with their parents.

One of the key objectives of Tr3s’s 2012 research study, “Hispanic 18-34s Living the ‘Next Normal, ’” was to uncover new insights about what life is like for Hispanic families with adult children in the household. In her April 30th presentation at the AHAA 2013 Conference in Miami, Nancy Tellet, Senior Vice President of Tr3s Research and Insights, will reveal key findings on this subject. The following are some of Tr3s’s insights about young Latinos who have stayed home into adulthood:

Lack of money and fear of potential catastrophe keeps Hispanic adult children from moving out. For many, leaving home isn’t an option because they can’t afford to. Others have money saved, but anxiety about “something happening” looms large enough to keep them in place.

Most aren’t planning to leave anytime soon. Two-thirds say they might move out more than a year from now — or that they don’t know and will move “when they’re ready.”

They like the closeness, but more privacy would be nice. 4 out of 10 like the togetherness and bonding best about living with their families, and 3 in 10 dislike the disagreements and lack of freedom and privacy the most.

They expect to stay local when they eventually move out. When asked how far away they would like to go when they’re ready to get their own place, the median distance from their parents’ house was 18 minutes. Hispanic young adults are half as likely as non-Hispanics to say they hope to move more than an hour away (16% vs. 30%).

Respect is the key to family harmony. Hispanic multi-generational households with young adult children make it work through respect, which to them means being polite to each other, recognizing it’s a two-way street, and striving for peace and unity.

When they do move out, it’s often to live with a romantic partner. Hispanic young adults are slightly more likely than non-Hispanics to move out of their parents to live with a boyfriend or girlfriend (49% Hispanic, 44% non-Hispanic).

Source: Tr3s 2012 “Hispanic 18-34s Living the ‘Next Normal’”

LatinaLista — One national trend that is getting scant attention in the media is the rise in number of Latino children in the U.S. The impact of this rising demographic hasn’t been fully explored as to what it will mean for educators, book publishers and toy and game makers when it comes to preserving/teaching the Spanish language among these children.

Scene from new bilingual app Wubbzy Space Adventure

As it is, the majority of Latino families have children younger than 18. The US Census reports that 75 percent of Latinos speak Spanish at home.

Combine that with the fact that Latinos are the second largest group who intermarry with other cultures and that leads to a whole other statistic of mixed Latino families, with children whose lone Latino parent is also looking for ways to pass along appreciation of the Hispanic culture or Spanish language in their homes.

While there has always been a push to preserve Spanish speaking skills among Spanish-speaking children, more products are being introduced to not only reinforce those efforts but to introduce and build children’s Spanish language skills for those who don’t know Spanish.

Recently, two such products, different from one another in platform but with the same end goal to get children reading and speaking Spanish, were introduced.

Wubbzy’s Space Adventure is billing itself as the first Spanish/English app targeting families whose parents want their children to learn Spanish or maintain the Spanish they’re hearing at home. Based on the animated Nick,Jr. character WUBBZY, the app, co-produced by a husband/wife team, affords children the opportunity to switch from English to Spanish when listening to stories or playing the games.

“My wife is Hispanic and we had the idea that an app available in English and Spanish might be a good way to get my son excited about the language,” said Brad Powers, chairman of Cupcake Digital, the technology company that made the app. “When I was searching for Spanish language apps for him, I found there was very limited to no availability for the kinds of apps he would like. We recognized a need, and felt it was a choice we wanted to give consumers.”

With the app, children and their parents can also listen to the bilingual stories in one of three modes, play mini-games within the story, sing along with original music videos that are taken from the series and even electronically color scenes from the series, learning their colors in Spanish along the way. The app is available on iTunes and retails for $1.99.

Parents wanting to pass on Spanish speaking skills to their children via reading isn’t new. In 2008, Latina Lista interviewed Nicaragua-born Christianne Meneses Jacobs who was on a mission to keep Spanish alive for her children. Jacobs felt strongly that her daughters not ignore their Latina roots.

“As the parent of two bilingual, bicultural, biracial children, I feel strongly that I must expose my daughters to the beauty of the Spanish language and the richness of Latin American culture,” said Christianne Meneses Jacobs.

Jacobs went on to found Iguana Magazine, one of the first original Spanish-language publications of high-quality Spanish literature specifically for children. Her magazine garnered awards over the years and favorable comparisons to another high-quality children’s publication, the English-language magazine Cricket.

Last year, Cricket acquired Iguana Magazine in a business strategy that testifies to the fact that some are noticing the unique wants of Latino parents for their children, not to mention new business opportunities.

In addition to Iguana, the Cricket group wants to start with even younger potential Spanish-language readers and is launching in May a Spanish version of their 24-page, durable Babybug magazine, for ages 6 months to 3 years.

Whether it’s bilingual apps, Spanish-language books or bilingual cartoons and children’s shows, the rise of the Latino child is a statistic that will be increasingly hard to ignore by all in the future.

By Insight Tr3s

Today, the state of the economy is shaping Hispanic young adults’ lives more than anything else. Just as they were entering or approaching adulthood, the global economy went sour, forcing them to behave differently than people of earlier generations as they started their adult lives.

College was supposed to lead to dream jobs – but for many, work of any kind can be hard to come by. As we noted in last week’s blog, young Latinos have had it particularly hard: Hispanics 18 to 34 are 25% more likely to be unemployed than non-Hispanic whites, and one in seven Hispanics 18 to 24 is looking for a job but can’t find one.

Finding out how the poor economy has affected young Hispanics — and how their choices differ from earlier generations of Hispanics and non-Hispanic young adults as a result — was one of the goals of Tr3s’s latest research study, “Hispanic 18-34s Living the ‘Next Normal. ’”

On April 30th, Nancy Tellet, Senior Vice President of Tr3s Research and Insights, will reveal key findings from this report at the AHAA 2013 Conference in Miami. The following are a few insights relating to young Hispanics and the economy that she will cover in her presentation – and that we’ll also be providing more detail on in future blog posts:

Young Hispanics are more risk-averse. Life choices, big and small, are subject to conscious and sub-conscious risk evaluation. They are carefully weighing the cost and benefits of everything from their living situations, marriage, and purchasing decisions of everyday and big-ticket items.

More are living with their parents – but not unhappily. Today, 45% of Hispanics 18 to 34 are still at Mom and Dad’s house – and many find happiness in the comfort and support of family relationships. Living at home well into their twenties and thirties is also causing them to reinterpret the meaning of “adulthood.”

Marriage can wait until they have more financial stability. Since marriage is a big risk both economically and emotionally, Hispanic young adults are not entering it lightly. Having enough money and meeting career goals first are important.

When shopping, they search long and hard for deals. Hispanic young adults are smart “recessionistas,” finding excitement in using high-tech resources to get the best prices. They’re not sacrificing good looks for practicality, however – they want style and a good price (especially Latinas, who are bigger “fashionistas” than non-Hispanic females). And as we reported last week, saving money is cool and ostentatious purchases are not — bling is for Xers and Boomers.

Source: Tr3s 2012 “Hispanic 18-34s Living the ‘Next Normal’”

LatinaLista — The reality of a National Museum of the American Latino is still only a dream. Though the recent introduction of the bipartisan Smithsonian American Latino Museum Act was a positive sign in getting Congress to establish a national museum for Latinos, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

The work to drum up more support for the museum falls on the shoulders of the Friends of the American Latino Museum. A group of hard-working men and women who sit on the museum’s board. Each year, this is only the second year, the FRIENDS create a national campaign to raise awareness about the museum and its purpose.

A big part of the campaigns is the image illustrating it. As they did last year, the FRIENDS sent out a national call to artists to submit an image in a contest where the winning drawing would be the design for the 2013 campaign. Their call netted them some fantastic drawings by talented artists and it was up to the FRIENDS to whittle down the submissions to only five.

Now, the FRIENDS are saying it’s up to the Latino community to choose which design will be the image of this year’s campaign. Until April 25, readers are invited to vote for one of the five finalist drawings.

The winning artist will receive a trip to Washington, D.C. for an unveiling ceremony along with national exposure for their work, and an important role in the historic campaign to build a National American Latino Museum in our nation’s capital.

In a press release, a little background was featured on each of the finalists:

• Gene Jimenez of Orange, CA. Gene is a faculty member of the University of Redlands art department.
• Elizabeth Sass of Annandale, VA. Elizabeth is a recent graduate of Virginia Tech who does graphic design and screenprinting in her spare time.
• Ana Maria Villegas of Coral Gables, FL. Ana Maria is a portrait artist who also enjoys sculpture and design.
• Jaime Flores of Alexandria, VA. Jaime is a Nuyorican poet, D.J., and communications guru.
• Brittany Alfonzo and Justin Hannis of Bellflower, CA. Together, they are Pixelevel, a graphic design firm.