The following blog is by “Jude Soto,” who will occasionally be contributing pieces on educational policy and politics in New York. Jude Soto has been a teacher in a low-income public high school in New York City since 2004. A native New Yorker, Soto has an M.A. in history from Brooklyn College. Outside of the [...]

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Yesterday California gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman debated in Fresno for Univision, which has since been translated into Spanish so for their viewers. This debate came after a contentious week where Meg Whitman had to address her undocumented housekeeper situation. The undocumented housekeeper issues is one that has plagued candidates from both the [...]

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Arizona’s primary is tomorrow, and while many people are focusing on the John McCain and J.D. Hayworth race on the GOP side, there is an up and coming Latino candidate on the Democratic side, Randy Parraz. Randy Parraz entered the Democratic race in late April challenging the establishment candidate Rodney Glassman right after SB 1070 [...]

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By “Michaelr” On August 14, 2010, at the Los Angeles Trade Tech College in room 221, I engaged with the 25th U.S. Secretary of Labor, the former U.S. Congressional Representative of California’s 31st District, Hilda Solis.  Although our conversation was interrupted by an irate middle-aged woman seeking amends for some incident that hardly seemed public, [...]

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Yesterday I had the opportunity to see one of the more revered and respected Latinas in public office, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis at a small event at Los Angeles Trade-Tech College. The Secretary appeared after Mayor Villaraigosa and Senator Boxer addressed a classroom sized gathering of organizers and activists. The event was sponsored by [...]

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For many May Day is known as International Worker’s Day, and in the US, it has turned into a day where many advocate for immigration reform. After all, one of the main issues driving immigration to the United States involves labor. Yesterday, there were May Day rallies and marches throughout the US, and fortunately Pablo [...]

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Once upon a time, the United Farm Workers was more of an idealist union, especially under the leadership of Cesar Chavez. In the last 17 years, the UFW (United Farm Workers) has digressed and struggled to find focus as it now advocates for immigration reform and works to represent undocumented farm workers, whereas Cesar Chavez [...]

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The following is another guest blog by David Molina, who serves on the Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs: On January 28, 2010, huddled inside a Mexican grocery store & panaderia in Gresham, Oregon, Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian and I hosted a Labor & Employment Forum to educate Oregonian workers of their rights as workers, the [...]

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