Author: Becca Cramer

Julie, a Veteran, was externally referred to our Veteran Outreach Program to receive services. She was without stable housing. In response, our Veteran Outreach Specialist worked quickly to assess Julie’s immediate and intermediate needs. By the end of that single intake session, Julie was registered for an E-Benefits account, which permitted her to possess a Service Letter and use the Proof of Service card. Julia was also registered for Military Sexual Trauma counseling and later placed in the Hammond Home Shelter. She is currently seeking stable housing through the Homeless Management Information Center’s Coordinated Entry for All.

* Name has been changed to protect program participant’s identity and privacy.

Last week, the King County Superior Court celebrated LatinX Heritage Month. Their inspiring program featured two students and keynote speaker Jeremy Taiwo who were recognized for embodying this year’s theme. The theme was Rising to the Challenge. It is important to acknowledge that youth can persevere in the face of struggle and challenges, and ultimately serve their communities in leadership roles. 

Cielo Martinez (left) and Gonzalo Cruz (right) were recognized at the event for succeeding in spite of obstacles and struggles out of their control.

Cielo Martinez
Cielo serves on the Board of Directors at El Centro de la Raza as a student representative. Throughout her life, she has mastered the skill of adapting to her environment. Her love for continuous learning and passion for helping others make her a compassionate Latina. In the near future, she sees herself assisting recently arrived immigrants with assimilating in the States.

Gonzalo Cruz
Gonzalo was homeless while he was in high school. He turned his housing and familial situations around by making the most of his time protesting DACA and gun reform. In high school, he was captain of the wrestling team and qualified twice for State. He is the first in his family to pass sophomore year and will be attending college to study mechanical engineering.

Keynote speaker Jeremy Taiwo of Nigerian and Colombian descent also shared his story on his way to becoming an Olympic decathlete. Jeremy was offered a track scholarship at Stanford, where he tried out for the team. However, the Stanford track coach told Jeremy that he was worth only 25% of the scholarship offer. That was when Jeremy decided to attend the University of Washington. In 2016, Jeremy competed in the Olympics where he placed 11th in the Decathlon. At last week’s Latino Heritage Celebration event, Jeremy closed with this inspirational, “The only person that sets limits is yourself. Don’t let others dictate your limits.”

Unidos in Finance has partnered with the Bank of America through United US; they are eager to hire applicants to start a career with infinite opportunities for professional development and growth. At this time, we are recruiting qualified candidates for our next cohort to obtain a job or career in the financial service sector. Banks are especially eager to hire bilingual folks, and we are excited to create a pipeline of emerging bank personnel from El Centro de la Raza directly into jobs within the finance sector.

Applicants must have a high level of English fluency (bilingual in any language is a plus), be 18 years or older, possess a high school diploma or GED, six months of customer service experience, be authorized to work in the United States, and hold a record without any adult criminal activity. The cohort’s term starts on January 14 through March 6. Cohort members meet weekly on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 9 AM to 12 PM. For more information, please contact Cecilia Acosta at 209-957-4624 or cacosta@elcentrodelraza.org.

To submit a request for more information, please click here.

Estamos reclutando candidatos para participar en nuestro programa Unidos en Finanzas! El objetivo de nuestro programa es capacitar a personas que desean obtener un trabajo como cajero(a) de banco y desarrollar una carrera en el sector financiero. Los bancos están ansiosos por contratar personas bilingües!

El curso de 8 semanas incluye entrenamiento en habilidades de preparación para el trabajo, finanzas personales, servicio al cliente y la capacitación para convertirse en cajero(a) de banco. Nos hemos asociando con el Banco de America por Unidos US; ellos están ansiosos por contratar a candidatos bilingues para empezar una carrera con infinitas oportunidades de desarrollo professional y crecimiento.

Los requisitos para participar son: hablar inglés, tener 18 años o más, haver obtenido el diploma de secundaria /GED, 6 meses de experiencia en servicio al cliente, tener autorización para trabajar en los Estados Unidos y no tener antecedentes penales. El próximo curso empieza el 14 de enero y termina el 6 de marzo. Para obtener más información, comuniquese con Cecilia Acosta (206) 957-4624 o cacosta@elcentrodelaraza.org.

First, the Trump Administration went after undocumented communities by implementing the practice of forced family separation. Now, the Administration is going after legal immigrants. Earlier this year, there was a trickle of speculation about the Trump Administration penalizing legal residents from using government benefits. The DHS Secretary confirmed this week that the Trump Administration is expanding the concept of a public charge by adding more inadmissibility determinations.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services defines a “public charge” as an individual who is likely to become ‘primarily dependent on the government for subsistence, as demonstrated by either the receipt of public cash assistance for income maintenance or institutionalization for long-term care at government expense. Multiple factors, including financial resources, health, education, skills, family status, and age, are taken into account to determine whether an individual is considered a public charge.

Earlier this week, the Trump Administration revealed its proposal to expand the definition of a public charge. The proposal applies to anyone seeking to come to the US on various visas, as well as those who already live in the U.S. who are trying to become permanent legal residents or renewing their status. Consequently, many scenarios could happen. Immigrants who pay taxes and are considered legal residents may not be able to obtain a visa for their family member, ineligible to receive a green card for themselves, or face entry barriers if they try to enter the U.S.

The other consequences are equally as grave. Immigrants are already wary about enrolling for health care benefits for fear of deportation or denial of a visa extension or green card. Therefore, this rule could result in residents who qualify for benefits to withdraw from welfare programs. Over time, we could expect to see an increased prevalence of obesity and malnutrition, a delay in seeking medical care until the last resort (the emergency room), lower vaccination rates leading to more diseases, and higher levels of poverty and uncertain housing.

Again, this rule is still a proposal. However, you can take action by submitting your comment after the Federal Register publishes the draft regulation. We will notify you when the comment period opens so that you can express your opposition to this proposal.

Voting is one of the most important activities we can do to affect change in our communities and hold our elected officials accountable. We are doubling down this election cycle by recruiting volunteers to help us register and engage voters. Anyone may register eligible voters. Below is a list of events where you can register voters. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Veronica Gallardo by phone at (206) 957-4605 or via email at vgallardo@elcentrodelaraza.org.

Saturday, September 22 – Annual Gala from 5 PM to 8 PM at Washington State Convention Center (located at 705 Pike Street – Seattle, WA 98101).

Tuesday, September 25 – National Registration Day at El Centro de la Raza (located at 2524 16th Ave S – Seattle, WA 98144). Time TBD.

Friday, October 5 – 500 Years Movie from 6 PM to 8 PM at Centilia Cultural Center (located at 1660 Roberto Maestas Festival Street – Seattle, WA 98144).

Friday, October 12 – Singing Our Way to Freedom Documentary at Centilia Cultural Center (located at 1660 Roberto Maestas Festival Street – Seattle, WA 98144).

Friday, November 2 – Get Out The Vote from 5 PM to 8 PM at El Centro de la Raza’s Dia de los Muertos (located at 2524 16th Ave S – Seattle, WA 98144).

Monserrat Padilla has been organizing LGBTQ, immigrant and communities of color on the ground for over ten years to build collective movement power. She was a co-founder of the Washington Dream Coalition and has led national and statewide campaigns, including the victory on the Washington State Dream Act to expand eligibility for state aid in higher education to undocumented students.

Monserrat worked as the National Program Coordinator for the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, a program of United We Dream, where she worked across the country building a national network of LGBTQ immigrant community leaders, advocates, and organizers to develop policies and advocate addressing the needs of LGBTQ immigrant communities. Now she is the statewide coordinator for the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, a powerful network of 100+ organizations fighting to protect immigrant and refugee communities in our state.

Monserrat was born in Jalisco, Mexico. At the age of 2, she migrated to the U.S. with her mother and two older siblings. She grew up in East Los Angeles, CA where she became part of the 11 million undocumented families living in the U.S. At the age of 15 she moved to Seattle, Washington, graduating from Chief Sealth International High School in 2010 and attending the University of Washington in Seattle.

The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network is the largest immigrant-led coalition in the state and is a powerful network made up of over 100 organizational members. There are currently over 500 Rapid Response verifiers across the state to respond to ICE attacks. WAISN provides an ICE reporting hotline (1-844-724-3737), a text message alert system (text “JOIN” to 253-201-2833), and resources in multiple languages. WAISN’s mission is to protect and advance the power of immigrant and refugee communities through a multiracial, multilingual, and multi-faith coalition, an organizing strategy that educates and mobilizes statewide to uphold and defend the rights and dignity of all immigrants and refugees, centering the voices of impacted communities. You can find out more about WAISN online at www.waisn.org.

Biography

Shankar Narayan is Technology and Liberty Project Director at the ACLU of Washington. He advocates, organizes, and litigates to protect civil liberties in a world transformed by technology. Shankar works to bring community values of fairness, transparency, and accountability to powerful surveillance and machine learning technologies, and to lift the voices of groups disproportionately impacted by such technologies, including communities of color, immigrants, religious and gender minorities, organizers and protesters, and others. Shankar has helped pass multiple landmark technology transparency and accountability laws, and continues to campaign for technology corporations to act in ethical and community-centric ways.

For the previous eight years, Shankar was Legislative Director at the ACLU of Washington. His program’s achievements include legislation to achieve marriage equality, restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated people, enforce non-discrimination laws in schools, improve police accountability, defeat punitive gang legislation, and protect privacy, among others.

Shankar was previously Policy Director at OneAmerica, where he worked on the frontlines of the immigrant rights struggle. Shankar also practiced technology law at K&L Gates. Shankar has served in leadership roles on Seattle’s Immigrant and Refugee Advisory Board, the Detention Watch Network, the South Asian Bar Association of Washington, the Asian Bar Association of Washington, and the Ethnic Diversity in the Legal Profession Committee. He graduated from Bates College, Yale Law School, and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Shankar was named King County Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer in 2010.

An immigrant, Shankar grew up in the Soviet Union, U.S., Maldives, India, Yugoslavia, Thailand, and Russia before coming to America for college. He enjoys the outdoors, travel, motorcycling, and Anatolian shepherds. A poet, he is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and a recipient of fellowships and prizes from Kundiman, Hugo House, Flyway, Paper Nautilus, and 4Culture.

Work

Shankar’s work aims to protect civil rights and civil liberties in the face of game-changing surveillance and automated decision-making technologies, particularly for the vulnerable communities most impacted by them. Companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and myriad other vendors are inventing and implementing new technologies faster than ever, but those technologies often built in a “black box” without community impacts or values in mind. And on the public side, government entities often adopt automated systems without adequate public input or oversight.

All this matters because these unaccountable, data-driven tools impact every critical decision about a person’s life—whether they will able to get hired for a job, admitted to college, rent a house, get credit, or obtain affordable insurance and health care. These tools influence how people are treated by police, whether they are labeled dangerous, whether they are arrested, whether they’re released or sit behind bars while their cases are pending, whether or not they’re convicted, and the length of their sentence. Frequently deployed without the public knowing about them, these tools often contain significant biases that are impossible to fix.

In the face of these challenges, Shankar’s work aims to both push back on the building of a surveillance infrastructure, and to ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness in both public and private sector technology deployments. With the leadership of a strong, statewide, multi-sector, diverse coalition of organizations, Shankar has helped pass landmark privacy laws at the state level (such as the first law nationwide to protect automotive data) and the local level (such as Seattle laws on transparency and accountability for surveillance technology, and protecting data collected by smart meters). Most recently, the coalition has taken public action to pressure Amazon to stop selling face surveillance technology to governments, sparking a worldwide movement to place limits on this technology; and has facilitated dialogue between tech companies and leaders from impacted communities on how to build technology in a more community-centric way.

Intiman Theatre takes on race, privilege, and gardening with NATIVE GARDENS by Karen Zacarías (top right), one of the most produced Latina playwrights in the nation. Intiman’s production of NATIVE GARDENS, its third mainstage production of its 2018 WILD, WICKED, WOKE Season, will be directed by Seattle-based director Arlene Martínez-Vázquez (bottom right) and will play at The Jones Playhouse from September 6th through 30th.

NATIVE GARDENS is a full-length, 90-minute play with no intermission. Single tickets range from $28-$38. They are on sale now via intiman.org/nativegardens, Facebook, or through the Intiman Box Office at (206) 315-5838. Intiman Theatre is generously offering discounted ticket prices for the El Centro de la Raza community. Use the following discount to save 42% off and pay $22 only: Intifam

On June 26, program staff, teachers, and families gathered to celebrate and honor 75 youth graduates from José Martí Child Development Center that completed the school year and are graduating to Kindergarten. All year long, the children worked hard to make outstanding progress in all areas of development (social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language), and they are now ready for their next step: Kindergarten!

The ceremony was held at the Centilia Cultural Center with a potluck dinner provided by our kitchen and parents. For the 11th year in a row, José Martí CDC partnered with the Seattle Public Library to promote literacy and bi-literacy goals through the Raising a Reader Program. Cikeithia Pugh recognized the children for their participation and announced that each child would receive with a book bag and certificate for their year of dedicated reading!

After enjoying dinner and receiving gifts from Cikeithia, children of the Viento class shared the song “Que Canten Los Niños” (“Let the Children Sing”) to raise their voices in solidarity for the children separated from their families. Afterward, Native American artist and storyteller, Roger Fernandez, shared his beautiful story about Ant and Bear and their contest over light and darkness. We were honored to hear his story.

To close out the celebration, each class shared their talents through cultural presentations for their families. The children from Arcoiris recited the poem “I Am Graduating,” La Lluvia danced “Jesucita en Chihuahua,” Cristal sang “All I Really Need,” De Colores danced to “Un Poco Loco,” and El Viento danced “El Tilingo Lingo.” We then recognized the youth graduates for their hard work, highlighted their accomplishments, and presented them with certificates.

We would like to give a big thank you to the ECEAP and Step Ahead programs for making it possible for many of our students to attend preschool. We also want to thank Roger Fernandez for sharing his story with the children. Also, many thanks to all of our parents for supporting their children’s educations and getting involved in the program. Last but not least, a BIG congratulations to our graduates on their great year. We are so proud of all of our students and wish you the best of luck in Kindergarten!