If you haven’t heard of the Crafty Chica, you obviously aren’t a crafter (or Latina!). Kathy Cano-Murillo created the Crafty Chica site “to preach the gospel of cool crafts to the masses.” She now dedicates her life to crafting and all that the lifestyle entails; like writing books, talk radio interviews, TV appearances and of course enjoying it all. Did I mention her obsessive fascination with glitter? Kathy takes her pop art and spices it up with Latino inspired themes, splashes on some glitter and creates her own personal styled artwork! She is slowly building her empire, one craft project at a time! What I find extra interesting is that she was able to take a hobby and make it into a career. Crafty Chica now has it’s own product line and books!

The cool thing about Kathy, is that she writes in her own voice. She jokes and laughs in her posts which makes it so much more personal and interesting. I continue to read her blog because she seems like someone I’d love to have a chat with, probably about crafting, business, and well…maybe a story or two about accidentally inhaling too much glitter during a craft project.

I’m not sure how she finds time to do all this but Kathy has just created a new blog, Chica Writer! She was a writer long before she called herself a “crafter”, so her new blog should be pretty interesting! Currently, she is hosting a contest and celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a book giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment on her site of your favorite book and why you loved it. Go and do that now, and add her blogs to your feed!

While looking at the Austin American Statesmen I came across the article, “Oral History Project to Target Latinos“. This really peaked my interest. I have often thought about taping my grandmother talk about her past, to gather her very interesting (and sometimes juicy) stories.

Like did you know, my grandmother went on a “date” with a guy she just met, and ran off that night to a city hundreds of miles away (his home town) to marry him! See, juicy! Oh, by the way, that man was my grandpa! Or the crazy old wives tale about how someone put the devil in a jar and the glass would shatter if you said his name…so don’t say “devil”! Ack! I said it twice in one sentence! Or perhaps the story of my grandfather dying very young and my grandmother staying true and being a single mother all of her life. All of these are stories I would like to keep and listen to every once in a while. I mention my grandmother, but I would love to record my parents and other family members as well.

The newspaper article says this sis the “first initiative targeting Hispanic Americans. Historias, which means both “stories” and “histories” in Spanish, starts Sept. 24 — a tie-in with Hispanic Heritage Month”. This story gathering will be an ongoing program by a non-profit called StoryCorps. Have you heard about StoryCorps? It’s really interesting! Check out their goal for recording oral histories:

By recording the stories of our lives with the people we care about, we experience our history, hopes, and humanity. [...] Each conversation is recorded [...] and is archived for generations to come at the Library of Congress. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, creating a growing portrait of who we really are as Americans.

How cool is that?! You can even check out their website and listen to “historias”. Their goal is to collect the stories of about 700 Latinos all over the nation (including stories in Austin).

“By the close of its first year, StoryCorps Historias will likely stand as one of the largest collections of Latino voices ever gathered.”

Wow, talk about a big a deal! I really suggest checking out their site, but also, maybe spend some time with your parents or grand parents (heck even friends and spouses) and listen to their stories. There is so much to learn and so much interesting stuff to hear about!

Lately, I have been seeing several articles about Latinas. Most prominently, of course, is the news of Judge Sonia Sotomayor taking her place on the Supreme Court. Which, by the way, Latina magazine is selling these cool t-shirts, in honor of Judge Sotomayor’s appointment.

But sadly, the news has turned bleak again for Latinas. Most recently, the focus is on the dropout rate among this particular group being up 41 percent. Dropout is implied as students unable to complete high school within 4 years.
Here are links to the studies completed bythe National Women’s Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) to show this trend:

• MALDEF: Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation
• National Women’s Law Center study

“Many Latinas are influenced by family and societal expectations, often based on stereotypes of Latinas as submissive underachievers and caretakers,” the report said. “When these stereotypes are internalized, they may cause Latinas to doubt their chances for academic and career success.” – CNN Article

The report did give some recommendations to provide support to one of the largest female groups in US schools . The recommendations include (summarized on the CNN article):

• Congressional investment in Latino children through early education initiatives and child care, and outreach to Latino families.
• More outreach to Latinas in schools, including providing them with role models.
• College preparation by schools for Latinas, with funding from Congress.
• More school measures to stop discrimination in educational programs and activities.
• School use of comprehensive, age-appropriate material to teach sex education to avoid the rising pregnancy rates among teen Latinas, and additional support for those who get pregnant.

A professor at the Art Institute is working towards his PhD. He has been doing studies on Hispanic males in high school and trying to find ways to help them graduate on time. Most recently he has felt hopeless, his studies show that even intervention programs are not making much progress. They are of value, but not to the extent to make a large change. The only findings he says show actual progress is simple, parental involvement. Things like showing interest in your child’s life, helping them with their homework, reading to your child, and asking how their day went. While that does sound simple, there are realities that make it difficult. Single parents trying to balance work and home, grandparents raising grandchildren, or parents with several children. Not to mention, parents educational level not up to par as their child.

With this information the outreach recommendation stands out to me. I encourage everyone to become a Big Brother or Big Sister. Something as simple as just hanging out with a young person can make a difference. By you being there, you are not only showing support, but also giving them another perspective, another person with experiences that may be far different from their own. You are a role model, and you fill holes that you may not even realize are missing in that child’s life. To respect her privacy, I won’t post a picture of my Little Sister, but she is awesome and I love her.

While this post may be about Latinas, we can’t forget the other half. Recently, BBBS of Central Texas told me they desperately needed Big Brothers. They have to start paring Big Sisters with Little Brothers because the volunteer number in males is so low. Taking one day a month (or more) can making a difference in any child’s life (whether latino or other), believe me, you won’t regret it.

Below is a CNN video discussing the Latina dropout issue: