Latest news with #Hispano
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Homeland Security arrests 11 people, Bus driver speaks out on safety issues, Warm weather returns, Mixed-income housing project, ‘La Chicanita' honored
City of Albuquerque fines Comcast over incomplete jobs and exposed wires Grindstone Lake restocked with rainbow trout New Mexico man found guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy Teen charged in Albuquerque bicyclist's death will stay in custody Two Albuquerque restaurants make Yelp's 'Top 50 Cheap Eats' list Lavender in the Village Festival moving to new space in 2025 [1] Homeland Security: 11 people arrested at New Mexico dairy were 'undocumented' – The United States Department of Homeland Security Investigations arrested 11 undocumented workers after executing a search warrant at a New Mexico dairy farm. HSI said the migrants working at the Outlook Dairy Farm in Lovington had counterfeit green cards and used them to illegally obtain work. [2] Albuquerque bus driver speaks out on her experience of safety issues on Central route – While ABQ Ride said it has improved security on city buses, some drivers are saying they are still dealing with safety hazards at work. Denise Muniz Archibeque has driven a bus for the past year, mainly on Central Ave. She said drivers endure verbal abuse, threats, and frequent physical assaults. She called for a change to the city's Zero Fares Program, which allows anyone to ride the bus for free. City Councilor Nichole Rogers rejected the idea. ABQ Ride declined an interview but said that within the past year, they've invested in protective barriers around bus drivers and tightened rules for rider behavior. [3] Storm system moves out of New Mexico, warm temperatures return – Muggy conditions are still present in the wake of Wednesday's widespread thunderstorms with lingering rainfall across far-Southeast New Mexico, as well as parts of the Four Corners, with somewhat-gusty winds. Near-freezing temperatures are confined to the higher peaks of the Northern Mountains, while elsewhere, is mostly starting off in the upper 40s, 50s, and 60s. [4] New mixed-income housing project underway in Albuquerque – Construction is underway on a new mixed-income apartment complex in Albuquerque. Wednesday, Sol Housing and city officials broke ground on the complex located at Central Ave. and Alcazar St., just east of Louisiana. They say it is designed to provide affordable housing for older adults and those with accessibility needs. [5] Famed singer and lawyer Debbie 'La Chicanita' Martinez honored with historic marker – A program that shares the stories of remarkable women in New Mexico's history is honoring a late singer hailed as a trailblazer in the New Mexico music scene. Debbie 'La Chicanita' Martinez was a household name for Hispano families in the southwest and a star of the unique Nuevo Mexico sound of the 50s. The late singer is now being honored with a historic marker at EXPO New Mexico for her legacy in transforming New Mexican music and breaking into a male-dominated mariachi scene. After losing her hearing in her early 20s, Martinez earned degrees in business and law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Humanities in Trouble
Humanities Councils play an important role in reaching underserved audiences, poet Darryl Lorenzo Wellington writes. (Getty Images) In early April, state humanities councils in all 50 states received a letter from the infamous DOGE. It read 'Your grant no longer effectuates the agency's needs and priorities and conditions of the Grant Agreement and is subject to termination' It meant — simply put — their funding was axed. Many councils had probably foreseen this coming, given prior moves that undermined integrity at the Kennedy Center and the National Endowment of the Arts. Councils have been in a tailspin since. It's a cultural domino effect. The federal money humanities councils received would otherwise have been divvied out in smaller grants to libraries, historical societies and museums. Checking online websites, I see councils across the nation posting heartfelt apologies, alongside lists of programs they will no longer support. That's bad enough. New Mexico Humanities Council Director Brandon Johnson, however, offers the most dire prognosis: He expects the NM Humanities will have to shut down. Gone. Utterly gone — lock, stock and barrel — ending its mission to support relevant work. Which is? It's work related to history, philosophy, literature, ethics, media and cultural studies. It's helping a local art museum fund a special exhibition, exploring Hispano traditions. It's funding the library to sponsor a special speaker who has just published a book preserving Native American stories. It could be be funds for a public exhibition in which you or your children could participate. It's providing free access to a lecture on that small piece of history that you feel hasn't been done justice. Because that's what the humanities by definition is: the intellectual study of human culture. The job of councils, on the other hand, is to make these studies available to the general public, regardless of location, and without cost. I have been a beneficiary of the New Mexico Humanities Council, both as someone seated in the audience, and as an artist/historian. The NM Humanities Speakers Bureau programs sends writers, and artists of various disciplines, to public institutions across the state. I have traveled extensively, delivering lectures on Black American history, especially the Black presence in New Mexico. It's a subject many New Mexican have never devoted attention to, given the state's small Black population. I love watching audiences, who have come to hear me with obvious curiosity, as their eyes light up, exploring new vistas. A Q&A follows every lecture. This is the part that is truly in the Socratic tradition. Knowledge isn't simply delivered on a silver platter. It's probed. It's investigated. It's put to the test. However, looking back, the most memorable incident in my lecturing career occurred in a private encounter with an audience member. It was a question from a very young man who said he was college student. He approached me after I finished my talk with an earnest, but worried look. I could tell he had serious intentions. He was very somber, though his question was quite naive. 'I …uh… wanted to ask you something…' Go ahead, I signaled with a nod. 'Ummm… how do you read books, and enjoy them?' I was flabbergasted because this wasn't a question about my subject matter. He asked me about the roots of studiousness. I asked: Was he having trouble in school? Was he overwhelmed by books? He said he was a freshman who until recently had never been required to read so much — or so extensively. And he was fascinated by his college subjects. And he was simultaneously feeling overwhelmed. I finally answered that all an ideal reader needed to have was passion. I believed he had this. He was young, with a genuine desire to become a better reader. His commitment wasn't feigned. He was beginning a lifetime's worth of scholarship. Stick with it, I said. I feel proud, looking back, believing my lecture awakened an earnestness inside him, or stirred his desire to read and read and read. I believe in tens of thousands of New Mexicans out there —especially from underserved backgrounds — waiting to be stirred, provoked or inspired in the same way. Reaching them is a mission that must be restored, by reinvesting in humanities councils, or else we will give the phrase 'the closing of the American mind 'a new meaning.
