Annotations for Subject-headings: Poverty

In Los Angeles, the Latino community suffered heavily and has still not recovered from the effects of the disturbances of April of last year. Latinos are half of those who live in the areas most affected by the disturbances. A third of those who lost their lives in the violence were Latino. Hispanic men made up more than half of those arrested and 40% of the businesses damaged in the riots were Latino owned. Reporter Alberto Aguilar recently visited one of the hardest hit Latino neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles. He prepared this report.

In Los Angeles, the Latino community suffered heavily and has still not recovered from the effects of the disturbances of April of last year. Latinos are half of those who live in the areas most affected by the disturbances. A third of those who lost their lives in the violence were Latino. Hispanic men made up more than half of those arrested and 40% of the businesses damaged in the riots were Latino owned. Reporter Alberto Aguilar recently visited one of the hardest hit Latino neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles. He prepared this report.

[Faint voice in the background]

[Faint voice in the background]

Very little has changed in Pico-Union, west of downtown Los Angeles in the last year, since hundreds of small and large businesses were looted. Here at the swap meet, the radio may be playing happy rhythms, but to the residents of the mostly Latino neighborhood, the road to recovery has been anything but happy.

Very little has changed in Pico-Union, west of downtown Los Angeles in the last year, since hundreds of small and large businesses were looted. Here at the swap meet, the radio may be playing happy rhythms, but to the residents of the mostly Latino neighborhood, the road to recovery has been anything but happy.

Nosotros perdimos todos los negocios que teníamos. Teníamos tres negocios en la Union y todo fue perdido…[transition to English dub] We lost all our business. We have three little shops here and everything was lost, and we haven't really been able to recover anything.

Nosotros perdimos todos los negocios que teníamos. Teníamos tres negocios en la Union y todo fue perdido…[transition to English dub] We lost all our business. We have three little shops here and everything was lost, and we haven't really been able to recover anything.

María Elena Mejia sold children's clothes at the swap meet. The single mother of two teenage girls lost her life savings when the old theater, that housed dozens of swap meet stalls, was set on fire.

María Elena Mejia sold children's clothes at the swap meet. The single mother of two teenage girls lost her life savings when the old theater, that housed dozens of swap meet stalls, was set on fire.

Lo que a nosotros nos ayudaron de parte del gobierno de la ciudad solamente fueron tres meses de renta. Lo que nos quedó a nosotros de eso solo fueron como… [transition to English dub] What the city government helped out with was three months’ rent, and after that, all we had left of our investment of five years was something like 14 or 10 dollars. I don't even remember now. We suffered so much because you know, being without work in this country is hard, and we were left without work and without anything… [transition to original audio] trabajo, porque nos habíamos quedado sin trabajo y sin nada.

Lo que a nosotros nos ayudaron de parte del gobierno de la ciudad solamente fueron tres meses de renta. Lo que nos quedó a nosotros de eso solo fueron como… [transition to English dub] What the city government helped out with was three months’ rent, and after that, all we had left of our investment of five years was something like 14 or 10 dollars. I don't even remember now. We suffered so much because you know, being without work in this country is hard, and we were left without work and without anything… [transition to original audio] trabajo, porque nos habíamos quedado sin trabajo y sin nada.

This was a gift by a student, but it's called The Day that Los Angeles Cried, and you have an angel trying to turn off the fires and slow down the riots and above the Angel…

This was a gift by a student, but it's called The Day that Los Angeles Cried, and you have an angel trying to turn off the fires and slow down the riots and above the Angel…

Mike Hernandez is a member of the city council. His district includes Pico-Union, the area hardest hit by the riots of '92.

Mike Hernandez is a member of the city council. His district includes Pico-Union, the area hardest hit by the riots of '92.

Pico and Alvarado, for example… it’s one corner where we had the four corners demolished by fire. And so, in terms of intensity, it was the hardest hit area in the city.

Pico and Alvarado, for example… it’s one corner where we had the four corners demolished by fire. And so, in terms of intensity, it was the hardest hit area in the city.

What has happened since then? And a lot of people are now saying that perhaps the City does not have the leadership to bring the city of Los Angeles to where most people want it to go?

What has happened since then? And a lot of people are now saying that perhaps the City does not have the leadership to bring the city of Los Angeles to where most people want it to go?

I think if you talk about community leaders, if you talk about the organization leadership, they very much want to bring the city together and start improving. If you talk about the political leadership, I think the political leadership hasn't displayed that well. They're out of touch with what's really going on in the city. See, the city of Los Angeles is not just the buildings. A lot of the buildings destroyed were empty. What the city of Los Angeles is, it's people from all over the world, and what we got away from is building people.

I think if you talk about community leaders, if you talk about the organization leadership, they very much want to bring the city together and start improving. If you talk about the political leadership, I think the political leadership hasn't displayed that well. They're out of touch with what's really going on in the city. See, the city of Los Angeles is not just the buildings. A lot of the buildings destroyed were empty. What the city of Los Angeles is, it's people from all over the world, and what we got away from is building people.

The building involves encouraging people to become citizens. Hernandez estimates this process can take as long as 10 to 15 years. He also says the City has to improve the educational level of city residents.

The building involves encouraging people to become citizens. Hernandez estimates this process can take as long as 10 to 15 years. He also says the City has to improve the educational level of city residents.

Over the age of 25, we have 2.1 million people. 900,000 cannot claim a high school diploma, and of the 900,000; 600,000 cannot claim a ninth-grade education. So that's 150% of the entire student body of the LA Unified School District. So, we have a tremendous amount of building of people to do.

Over the age of 25, we have 2.1 million people. 900,000 cannot claim a high school diploma, and of the 900,000; 600,000 cannot claim a ninth-grade education. So that's 150% of the entire student body of the LA Unified School District. So, we have a tremendous amount of building of people to do.

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[Transitional sounds]

Those who work with the residents of Pico-Union agree with Hernandez about the work that remains undone.

Those who work with the residents of Pico-Union agree with Hernandez about the work that remains undone.

We're seeing families with multitude of problems… economic, social, relationship problems…

We're seeing families with multitude of problems… economic, social, relationship problems…

Sandra Cuevas works with battered Central American women in South Central Los Angeles. She has seen a decrease in the social services available to people in the area's hardest hit by the destruction. Despite all the publicized good intentions, little action and little resources are being allocated to the solution of the root causes of poverty and unemployment.

Sandra Cuevas works with battered Central American women in South Central Los Angeles. She has seen a decrease in the social services available to people in the area's hardest hit by the destruction. Despite all the publicized good intentions, little action and little resources are being allocated to the solution of the root causes of poverty and unemployment.

There seems to have been a lot of lip service. Little committees forming coalitions, but when you look at Rebuild LA, you have people that are coming from outside the community, very removed from the reality of Los Angeles and particularly of South Central and Pico-Union, that have excluded Latinos, by and large.

There seems to have been a lot of lip service. Little committees forming coalitions, but when you look at Rebuild LA, you have people that are coming from outside the community, very removed from the reality of Los Angeles and particularly of South Central and Pico-Union, that have excluded Latinos, by and large.

Cuevas is not the only Angelino critical of Mayor Tom Bradley's effort to bring back the city from massive destruction. His Rebuild LA has been described as a misguided effort to create job opportunities according to county supervisor Gloria Molina.

Cuevas is not the only Angelino critical of Mayor Tom Bradley's effort to bring back the city from massive destruction. His Rebuild LA has been described as a misguided effort to create job opportunities according to county supervisor Gloria Molina.

Very frankly, I don't want to be critical. I think they're doing their own thing, but I think that the mayor missed the boat in the beginning. I think he could have called many of us together to sort things out because it isn't just in South Central, it's throughout the community. And it isn't just a corporate effort and isn't about giving. It's about putting together a lot of institutions that have been unjust to minority segments of our community. And it isn't going to happen by a corporation coming together and putting together programs. It's about making the system much more responsive to the needs of people in this community.

Very frankly, I don't want to be critical. I think they're doing their own thing, but I think that the mayor missed the boat in the beginning. I think he could have called many of us together to sort things out because it isn't just in South Central, it's throughout the community. And it isn't just a corporate effort and isn't about giving. It's about putting together a lot of institutions that have been unjust to minority segments of our community. And it isn't going to happen by a corporation coming together and putting together programs. It's about making the system much more responsive to the needs of people in this community.

I’m a member of the board, but it's hard among 80 people. A lot of those are corporate people and I’m… I guess, the only immigrant, it's really hard sometimes.

I’m a member of the board, but it's hard among 80 people. A lot of those are corporate people and I’m… I guess, the only immigrant, it's really hard sometimes.

Carlos Vaquerano is one of a handful of Latinos on Rebuild LA's board.

Carlos Vaquerano is one of a handful of Latinos on Rebuild LA's board.

We need to not only to rebuild LA physically, but to rebuild the soul of the city, the soul of people here. We need to make changes in terms of our morality, political changes, because that's one of the main issues in the city. Not only the city, but in the country.

We need to not only to rebuild LA physically, but to rebuild the soul of the city, the soul of people here. We need to make changes in terms of our morality, political changes, because that's one of the main issues in the city. Not only the city, but in the country.

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[Transitional sounds]

Police helicopters assist uniformed officers on the ground in the search for gang members in the Pico-Union district. Longtime resident, Raúl González has been in this blue-collar neighborhood for 20 years.

Police helicopters assist uniformed officers on the ground in the search for gang members in the Pico-Union district. Longtime resident, Raúl González has been in this blue-collar neighborhood for 20 years.

It's kind of scary going out lately. Plus what you hear on the news and people… after the rioters start getting guns and bigger guns and you know what's going to happen in the street. Now you have to carry your own gun for protection… and you have to be careful lately…you know. And it's terrible, it is terrible because we are not supposed to be like this.

It's kind of scary going out lately. Plus what you hear on the news and people… after the rioters start getting guns and bigger guns and you know what's going to happen in the street. Now you have to carry your own gun for protection… and you have to be careful lately…you know. And it's terrible, it is terrible because we are not supposed to be like this.

Um…but if everybody's armed and everybody's afraid…um…. what are you going to do?

Um…but if everybody's armed and everybody's afraid…um…. what are you going to do?

Well, you know…to tell you the truth, if you're carrying a weapon, you have to know how to use it and when to take it out.

Well, you know…to tell you the truth, if you're carrying a weapon, you have to know how to use it and when to take it out.

In Los Angeles, I'm Alberto Aguilar, reporting for Latino USA.

In Los Angeles, I'm Alberto Aguilar, reporting for Latino USA.

[Transitional Music]

[Transitional Music]

May I present Gloria Romero: She played a vital role in the police reform movement in Los Angeles in the wake of the Rodney King beating. The title of her talk is Todavia Ando Sangrando: A Chicana's Perspective on the Fires This Time…Gloria.

May I present Gloria Romero: She played a vital role in the police reform movement in Los Angeles in the wake of the Rodney King beating. The title of her talk is Todavia Ando Sangrando: A Chicana's Perspective on the Fires This Time…Gloria.

[Clapping sounds]

[Clapping sounds]

April 29th, 1992, less than three hours after the verdicts were released, I stood at the intersection of Adams and Hobart in South Central LA. In reality, I stood at much more than the intersection of Adams and Hobart. I stood at but one of many intersections of race, class, and gender in America. Breathing in all I saw, even as light dimmed on America, the reaction in my guts at the intersection of life in America in the shadow of lies of an afterlife as light faded out on America, felt like the full velocity of the bricks hurled through the pane of that liquor store, which on an hourly basis, markets pain to Black and brown men and women in south central LA. Addiction, alcoholism, unemployment, a 50% dropout rate, incarceration, but a chance to win the lotto.

April 29th, 1992, less than three hours after the verdicts were released, I stood at the intersection of Adams and Hobart in South Central LA. In reality, I stood at much more than the intersection of Adams and Hobart. I stood at but one of many intersections of race, class, and gender in America. Breathing in all I saw, even as light dimmed on America, the reaction in my guts at the intersection of life in America in the shadow of lies of an afterlife as light faded out on America, felt like the full velocity of the bricks hurled through the pane of that liquor store, which on an hourly basis, markets pain to Black and brown men and women in south central LA. Addiction, alcoholism, unemployment, a 50% dropout rate, incarceration, but a chance to win the lotto.

We stood at the intersection on April 29th in an America that has bled for too long, from too many unjust verdicts that Simi Valley merely symbolized, any one of which could have sparked fires at any intersection in America. And I believe a riot takes place on a day-to-day basis in LA, but nobody notices. Todavia ando sangrando, even as our trial continues.

We stood at the intersection on April 29th in an America that has bled for too long, from too many unjust verdicts that Simi Valley merely symbolized, any one of which could have sparked fires at any intersection in America. And I believe a riot takes place on a day-to-day basis in LA, but nobody notices. Todavia ando sangrando, even as our trial continues.

The word mentor is derived from the ancient Greek from the name of the man who spent 10 years teaching the son of the poet Homer. In ancient Greece, young people often studied in apprenticeship programs. Today, some Latino students are learning a variety of skills, from chess to chemistry, in a mentorship program taking place in New Mexico. Debra Beagle prepared this report.

Here, I'm thinking of placing my knight on D5. It attacks his queen.

Now, had I scanned a little better, I would've seen that the knight would've come to that square…see, and I would not have put my queen where it is, because now I need to move that queen…

Thirteen-year-old Miguel Atencio of Chama, New Mexico, beats his father in chess almost every game. He began playing when he was nine. Two years later, he joined the high-school chess team. That's when someone from Celebrate Youth, a six-year-old mentorship program in New Mexico, spotted the talented youngster and invited him to work more seriously on his game. This year, Miguel won the state middle-school chess championship.

In math, it's helped me. I can like work out problems in my head and all that. It's helped me like to remember like what the things I read and all that, because you have to remember things. You have to remember positions and all that. So, I've been getting a little bit better at that.

Miguel Atencio is both highly motivated and very talented. These are the characteristics Celebrate Youth director, Paquita Hernández, looks for in students. She also pursues teenagers who are equally talented but living in what Hernández describes as economic and social poverty.

A child who is economically poor but is matched with a mentor who is an artist or is a physicist or is a chemist or is a great writer, offers challenging conversations, exciting questions, um…different opportunities to look…through which to experience the world…I think that they flourish in ways that are magnificent.

The adult mentor meets with the student once a week for six months. Each student develops a project, perhaps a dance, a piece of sculpture, a science or math project, an essay or poem, or a piece of music.

[Person playing the piano]

Okay, now do the last two lines, and make a difference between your…your forte in the top line and your fortissimo in your bottom line.

[Person playing the piano]

Ninth grader Alyssa Montoya works with Mary Agnes Anderson of Española as her mentor. Anderson has mentored three students so far.

It gives them courage to be different, a reason not to be like everyone else, to have faith in themself. Watching this happen is my basic reward on it.

Other mentors have seen more impressive changes as a result of the program. Paquita Hernández tells the story of one talented teenager who is likely to follow two older brothers into drugs and depression. After delving into a science research project for two years in the Celebrate Youth program, he entered college and now plans to become a doctor. Success stories like these, Hernández says, are less likely to happen within the current school system.

I think there's a vacuum in the schools, not only in New Mexico but in the whole nation. I think the schools need to change, and I think they need to change radically because they are not reaching the majority of young people. I think those kids who don't drop out of school physically actually drop out often, even though they're sitting in the classroom with the books in front of them.

Those involved in Celebrate Youth say the goal is to promote excellence over mediocrity. Achievement is measured against one's own abilities rather than in competition with others. This is the attitude Miguel Atencio takes.

All right, and here's the last move, and I'm going to checkmate in one move. I'm going to move Queen on E7 to B7. Checkmate.

That's the end of the game.

These days, Miguel is sharpening his chess skills to prepare for the annual Celebrate Youth Festival in June. Nearly 400 students, including 30 chess players like Miguel, will gather for three days at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, which co-sponsors the program. There, they'll perform their dances, hang their paintings, and display their research projects that demonstrate the skills they've worked so hard to develop.

[Person playing the piano]

The Wild Rider. The Wild Rider. Everyone has trouble with the Wild Rider. He's a hard-bucking horse.

For Latino USA, this is Debra Beagle in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico.

When he died, César Chávez vacated the post he had held for over 20 years as president of the United Farm Workers. Towards the end of his tenure, though, the organization was faced with much criticism over the handling of the last grape boycott and a decreasing membership of farmworkers. In naming a new president, the UFW could have chosen Dolores Huerta, the co-founder of the organization. She said it would've been symbolic but, in fact, that the Farm Workers Union needed to move forward. So last week, the torch was passed to the younger generation. Arturo Rodríguez, Chávez's son-in-law is the new UFW president. The future of the UFW was on the minds of many who gathered at the memorial service for the longtime union leader. From Delano, Alberto Aguilar reports.

[Transitional corrido music]

This retired farmworker brought his accordion to Delano to remember César Chávez. Old-timers like him have been through a lot in the last 30 years, ever since César Chávez began organizing in the fields. The corridos tell the story of the struggle to improve the lot of the most impoverished of American workers. With the passing of their leader, unionized farmworkers now turn their heads to the future. While some may say these are unsettled times for the UFW, others see it as a rebirth. Organizer Humberto Gómez said Chávez's crusade won battles on the strength of our conviction of justice in the fields and that justice is still worth fighting for.

See, what happened is, like César used to say, the UFW is not only a union; it's a social movement. We belong to the community, and the community belongs to us. So we are part of the community, and that way, we will never die. You know, it is like me…you know, I start when I was 15 years old. I got my family here marching with me, and then more farmworker kids are going to be coming, and they're going to be getting involved in this. So we will never be shrinking, we will never die because this is a good movement. This is the best movement.

Another UFW organizer says he's not concerned at the passing of Chávez or the death of the union. Bobby de la Cruz, whose father was killed in an early union-organizing drive, said Chávez prepared them for his departure.

When I went and seen his coffin, you could see his face. I mean, he died peacefully, but you could tell that the work that he wants us to do is there. And he knows that, and we know, that the commitment is even stronger now. And I think this summer, you'll see the fruit of his labor really producing because it has inspired us to say that the union is alive, the leadership that it has. I mean, we come from that school. We've been at it for 20…25 years, and we're young, we're moving ahead and moving the movement forward to where he wants us.

For a time in the '70s, farmworkers had political clout in California. They even got the governor Jerry Brown, Jr., to sign a landmark legislation establishing the Agricultural Labor Relations Board. But through two successive Republican administrations, the tide started to turn against the farmworkers. California political consultant, Richie Ross.

I think César came to conclusion, and I think the correct one, that this movement has to win on the strength of average people and not be dependent on politicians.

Was that evident to you, and how?

He hasn't had any serious communication with any politicians in a long time. They haven't done anything. I mean, he tried everything. He supported them. He did it with money, he did it with people. He's done it every way you're supposed to play. He played the game the way everyone says you're supposed to play the game. He played the game. He got the law passed. He continued to support them all. And when push came to shove, all that he could do was no match for the money of the agricultural interests in the state. And uhh…I think he came to the conclusion when he started the grape boycott the second time several years ago that they're going to have to do it the old-fashioned way.

The union has also been weakened by internal strife and dissension within the ranks. But in the wake of César Chávez's death, the disaffected and the estranged have come back. Like California Senator Art Torres, many are talking about a renewal of the UFW.

It's a healing process for all of us. And now we realize that we still have a lot of work to do, and I think his death gives us all a rebirth of where we have to recommit ourselves even stronger now to erase some of these injustices which continue in one of the richest states in the world.

The newly appointed successor to César Chávez, Arturo Rodríguez, started as a union organizer in the '70s. The Chávez lieutenant will have to deal with difficult issues like the grape boycott, the legal challenges by the growers, and the ban on toxic pesticides in the fields. Rodríguez will need the determination and daring Chávez taught his organizers. For Latino USA, this is Alberto Aguilar, reporting from Delano, California.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. According to the United Nations, US Latinos and African Americans enjoy a lower quality of life than people in many developing countries. Franc Contreras reports.

The report from the United Nations studied quality of life for people living in 137 countries around the globe. It's called the Quality of Life Index and it examines life expectancy, education, and purchasing power. The report found that, as a group, US Latinos fall way behind the US as a whole. The report says the non-minority population in the US has the best standard of living in the world, but Latinos ranked 35th worldwide. Life for Latinos in the US compares to people living in the former Soviet republics of Latvia and Estonia. And according to the report, US Latinos do just a little better than people living in Russia. The number one country in the world, according to the report, is Japan, but that country drops to number 17 when the treatment of Japanese women is taken into consideration. For Latino USA, I'm Franc Contreras in Washington.

This is Maria Hinojosa. The memory of farm worker leader Cesar Chavez continues to be honored throughout the country. In Los Angeles, there's talk of naming a boulevard after him and a bill has been introduced in the state of California to make his birthday a statewide holiday. Recently, in another state, in El Paso, Texas, the city and county government declared a Cesar Chavez Day when a local supermarket chain announced it would honor the boycott of table grapes advocated by the United Farm Workers. Cesar Chavez Day in El Paso was also commemorated with a march attended by farm workers and farm worker advocates. It was an occasion, as an Angelica Luevano reports, to focus on the plight of the farm workers who picked chile in the fields of West Texas and Southern New Mexico.

Close to 3,000 gathered to pay tribute to the late Cesar Chavez, the farm labor leader who fought to better working conditions in the picking fields. And it's here near the border with Mexico, in the chile fields, where the worst working conditions prevailed, according to Carlos Marentes, president of the Border Farm Workers Union.

Farm workers in this area are still receiving wages way below the federal minimum wage. They are working on their unhealthy and unsafe working conditions, and they continue to be treated in an inhuman way by the agri business and the food industry.

Marentes indicates that the average annual income for a farm worker in this area is just over $5,000, well below the poverty line. At the same time, the chile industry has become the most prosperous in the region. In 1992, picante sauce or salsa surpassed ketchup as the most popular condiment in the US. And for the state of New Mexico, chile is the most lucrative crop. Mark Schneider, a lawyer with Texas Rural Legal Aid says that the Department of Labor for years has ignored the enforcement of minimal labor laws for the farm workers.

The sad thing is, here in El Paso, in southern New Mexico, even the minimal laws are not complied with and they're broken more than they're complied with.

Is the situation here for the farm workers worse than in any part of the country or what is the situation?

I think it's probably the worst of any place in the country because of our day hall system and that means that people are recruited one day at a time, they spend four to five hours a day in old dangerous school buses going a hundred to 120 miles away to work, picking chile in 100, 110-degree heat on a piece rate. They don't even make minimum wage for time in the fields, let alone for travel time, and the workers are made homeless. These are people who maybe have homes, but they have to sleep in the streets of El Paso so they can get a job every day.

Even the Catholic diocese of El Paso has joined in the call for better working conditions. Bishop Raymundo Peña honored Cesar Chavez and the struggle of the farm workers.

We are consciously aware of the fact that we must carry on his work. That much remains to be done in order to bring about the necessary legal and social changes that may ensure just wages for the farm worker, fair treatment in the workplace, and a life of dignity and respect that results when civil and human rights are protected.

Three years ago, over 100 workers went on strike against one of the largest chile farms in New Mexico, and as a result, a collective bargaining agreement was signed. That contract has not been renewed. Still, labor leader Carlos Marentes says the farm workers' movement is alive and as time goes on, more attention continues to be focused on the plight of the chile workers. For Latino USA, I'm Angelica Luevano in El Paso, Texas.

Friday night I was hanging with my boys. We were chilling at this guy, Chino's house, drinking forties while he took care of his kid. I hadn't hung out in a while, so I didn't mind babysitting. But the rest of the guys seemed restless. When I finally asked what was up, they told me that they were expecting a delivery of skis, also known as cocaine. [hip hop music background]

John Guardo, who came to New York City when he was 12 years old, was a member of a crew for most of his teenage life. Crews are what gangs are called in New York City. Now Guardo is trying to leave that life behind. [hip hop music background]

It's hard for me to admit how much drugs have become a part of my life, but they have, and in a big way. The lyrics and the music I hear speak of drugs as a way to become popular or even rich. That idea is reinforced by how drugs are glamorized in the movies. Bad guys living large, selling cocaine, with women around them and money to burn. As a little kid, I fantasized about someday living like them. Walking home from school, I saw that crime did pay. Just like in the movies, the neighborhood dealers had cars, girls, money, and respect. Things I wanted. [hip hop music background]

Time passed by, though, and a pattern became visible. I watched yesterday's big shot dealers become the day's victim, whether they got shot or went to jail. It was always constant. I saw those who came around to buy drugs, deteriorate, transforming from regular people to beggars and criminals with each purchase. In the end, I realized everybody was a victim, that it wasn't worth it, because even if you ain't got nothing to do with drugs you can still be mugged by a crack head or catch a bullet from a dealer's gun. No one will ever really be safe unless this problem is solved. Until then, the only protection there is is to be educated. People like to sell or do drugs because they don't realize what harm they're inflicting on themselves or others. Not knowing leaves a void for curiosity to fill.

Anyway, that Friday, as my friends got high, I chose to ignore what they were doing, numbing myself to their actions. I felt compelled to talk to them, but was afraid they'd start dissing me. Feeling out of place, I went home, got to bed, and fell asleep with a bad feeling. The next day, I woke up to a phone call. One of the guys I was with the night before had OD’ed on cocaine and died of a heart attack. He was 21 years old, and also my friend. I'm John Guardo, speaking for the street.

Esperanza, or hope. It's said, that's one thing young people living in this day and age, often lack. But in San Antonio, Texas, a group of teenagers is creating theater that expresses a measure of hope for the future. Even amidst a reality of drugs, gangs, identity questions, and homelessness. Along with Lucy Edwards Latino USA's, Maria Martin prepared this report.

[Natural sounds, theater] Grupo Animo

It's the Friday afternoon at Fox Technical High School in San Antonio. The young members of the acting troupe El Grupo Animo, ages 13 to 18, have come together to start rehearsing their new production. The group's name derives from the Spanish word meaning spirit, energy, and a desire to inspire and the drama they're preparing is written and performed by the kids themselves.

[Natural sounds, theater] All the young women in the piece, over here.

Identity. [Natural sounds, theater]

The drama in production is called, "I Have Hopes, Hopes I Keep Sacred in My Soul." It's a series of vignettes, tales of young people, much like the members of El Grupo Animo, facing life's challenges and learning to cope.

It's about a young girl who gets pregnant and she has to tell her parents because both of us know so many girls who have already gotten pregnant and it's not looking better or anything.

I'm 17 years old, and I wrote about the homeless. So much we can learn from our people. They've gone through rough times, and by that, a lot of them are on the streets, and we don't even care about them.

I decided to bring up the issue of teenage homosexuality, because Hispanic, Mexican American families, it's harder for them to deal with it. There's a lot of tradition, and a lot of the tradition is built around the male role model and female role model, you know?

14-year-old Michaela Diaz, along with Guadalupe Covera and Victoria Rivera, are among the nine playwrights who make up El Grupo Animo. 16 year old Priscilla Valle wrote about a young gang member.

He's dealing with the pressures of being tied to his gang, but then wanting to get out and be free and lead the life that he wants to lead, that the gang doesn't allow him to.

You don't understand, what if they come after me? Babe, they know where I live.

They're tearing you apart. They mess around with people's lives like it's nothing. You can't be afraid to be who you are. Don't keep it down forever. I hate them!

It's really a lot of what's going on in their minds and in their lives, but they never have a place to talk about it.

Director George Emilio Sanchez of New York is working with the young playwrights and actors of El Grupo Animo.

It takes a lot of courage to be a young person. It takes a hell of a lot of courage to say, "Yeah, I'm young. I don't know everything, and I want to be alive." Boom. That to me is like heroic. I think individually, if you read the things they write, no, I don't think they have a lot of hope.

But still, say the kids, their stories do express hope as the title of their collective work indicates.

Even though we are, we're sad and depressed about it. I think there's always that bright side and that hope that we have, and that's just what the whole play is about.

That's why I think that the name of it, "I Have Hopes, Hopes I Keep Sacred in My Soul", is what we're using. They're not all happy plays with happy endings, but we're not trying to say that the whole world is terrible. You know, that everything's terrible, that there's no hope for anything. Even though we know what reality is, we still feel that there can be a change, that there will be a change, and if anybody, we'll be the ones who will do that. And that's our message, basically.

El Grupo Animo’s production of "I Have Hopes, Hopes I Keep Sacred in My Soul," runs through July 17th at San Antonio's Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. The Center's theater director, Jorge Pina, calls the troupe the next generation of Chicano Teatristas.For Latino USA with Lucy Edwards in San Antonio, I'm Maria Martin.

My friends, today, on the 25th anniversary of our birth, I pledge to you that the National Council of La Raza will carry on the struggle.

That's Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest community-based Hispanic organization. At its recent national conference in Detroit, NCLR celebrated its 25th anniversary, and as Latino USA's Vidal Guzman reports, "While many of its members believe great strides have been made for Latinos over the past 25 years, they also see challenges and struggles ahead."

The 25th annual conference of the National Council of La Raza opened with a retrospective hosted by actor Edward James Olmos.

The year is 1968, and it is a year of tragedy. First, Martin Luther King, then Bobby Kennedy are killed by assassin's bullets. For those neither black nor white, but brown. It is a momentous year. In that year, a great organization is born in Phoenix, Arizona. It was then called the Southwest County...

As I look back, and I saw the photos of the marches we were doing, we were fighting discrimination.

Ed Pastor, a founding member, went on to become the first Latino congressman from the state of Arizona.

I look back, there's a lot of stories of success that people have empowered themselves and there has been movement forward, but the irony of the whole thing is that we have a long way to go.

This was made clear with a release during the conference of a report called the State of Hispanic America. According to the survey, Latinos are more likely to be among the working poor than other Americans. In 1991, one third of Latino families living below the poverty line had at least one full-time worker. The authors say this challenges the stereotype of poor Latinos, as well for recipients. Another study released at the conference focuses on Latinos in the Midwest; up to now, a largely invisible population. John Fierro, one of the authors of the report is Director of Community Affairs at the Guadalupe Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Well, I think overall what we've seen was Hispanics in the Midwest resemble the national scene as far as educational attainment. Both areas suffer from high dropout rates. Poverty is high, the income is basically similar, but a couple things that stand out to me is definitely the labor force participation among Hispanic females, that when you look nationally, Hispanic females rank third among blacks, whites and Hispanics. Whereas in the Midwest, they're leaders.

Everyone in attendance at this 25-year retrospective agreed great accomplishments and great strides have been achieved. However, they also felt that many of the original problems that the council began to tackle in the sixties have still not disappeared, but they left the conference feeling the 90s will provide many opportunities for continued progress. NCRL president Raul Yzaguirre, echoed that sentiment.

We will win because our issues are America's issues, because ending poverty and discrimination is not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do.

For Latino USA, covering the National Council of La Raza's 25th anniversary in Detroit, Michigan, I'm Vidal Guzman.

More than 30 years ago after the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 and the failed US backed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, the United States government imposed an economic embargo of that island. Trade and travel to Cuba were prohibited under most circumstances. Under the Trading With the Enemies Act, that policy has softened and then heartened over the years. Most recently, it was tightened under legislation sponsored by Representative Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, the Cuban Democracy Act. Now that policy is being challenged by a group led by several religious leaders. It's an effort known as Pastors for Peace.

I'm Sandra Levinson. I'm from New York, but I started on the Duluth route.

Joe Callahan from Minneapolis.

I’m Henry Garcia from Chicago.

Latino USA caught up with a group Pastors for Peace in Austin a few days before they defied US government policy by taking medicines, food, and other aid to the economically strapped island of Cuba.

We're taking such dangerous things as tons of powdered milk. We are taking pharmaceuticals because they are actually distilling their own pharmaceuticals out of the herbs and plants in the fields. I've seen that with my own eyes just in April. They don't even have sutures to close surgical wounds.

Like the Reverend George Hill, pastor of First Baptist Church in downtown Los Angeles. Every one of the approximately 300 people involved in the motley caravan of school buses, vans, and trucks that make up the Pastors for Peace eight caravan opposes the US economic embargo of Cuba. So much so that they refuse to obtain the license the Custom Bureau requires in order to ship anything to that island.

We refuse to ask for a license. We refuse to accept the license if the government extends one to us. Our license is really our command from God to feed the hungry, to give clothes to those who are naked, to visit those in prison, to give a cup of cold water. We must do this to the least and even to those with whom we may have differences.

The Reverend Lucius Walker of the Salvation Baptist Church in Brooklyn is the founder of Pastors for Peace. His stand on Cuba has not made him very popular among those opposed to the government of Fidel Castro. And he says he's received a number of threats.

Telephone calls to my office, threatening to come over with a pistol and take care of me.

Still. Walker insists he is not engaging in politics, only in the highest tradition of religious principles and civil disobedience.

Of Jesus Christ, of Martin Luther King, of Gandhi, and all of those who are the good examples of what it takes to make social progress in a world that if left to its own devices could be a very ugly place to live.

[Music] About 30 members of the Pastors for Peace Group sit around a television three days before they're set to rendezvous with more caravan members to cross the border at Laredo. They're watching a video about how the animosity between the governments of Cuba and this country have separated families for as long as 30 years.

No quiero vivir allá, no me gusta vivir allá. Pero me gusta vivir aquí, pero quiero ver a mi hermana, y a mis sobrinos que nacieron allá. Que son familia, que son sangre. [Translation: I don’t want to live there, I don’t like living there. I like living here, but I want to see my sister, and my nephews that were born over there. They are family, they are blood.]

I grew up myself with my family always saying, you know, that the only way to get out is to go to US to have a better life, to live like normal people, to wear jeans, to eat gum, chew gum. It's like very idiotic things to think of when I live here now, and you know, I have to learn the language.

Elisa Ruiz Zamora was born in Cuba. She came to this country with her family when she was 18. She's now a young mother and student making her life here in the States. But when she heard about the caravan of aid to Cuba, she brought her family down to meet with a group. Her mother, brother, and grandfather are still on the island and she hopes some of the caravan's aid gets to them. It's amazing, she says, to see Americans get together to help another nation, one their government has told them is a dangerous enemy.

Tell the opposite to their government. The government's like to me, it's like they want to be the judges of the world. Say, what should happen here? What shouldn't happen, how Cubans should live their lives. And we have a mind of our own and we always have. There's...

The Clinton administration has so far given little indication that it's ready to lift the blockade on Cuba. During his election campaign, Mr. Clinton received considerable support from anti-Castro organizations like the Cuban American National Foundation, but with the easing of telephone communications with the island, some now believe there might be a small window of possible change on other fronts. Sandra Levinson is the director of the Center for Cuban Studies in New York.

They are looking, I think, in Washington for a way to change policy, which does not really give anything to Cuba. Of course, we will never do that, but will ease the tension somewhat, perhaps make it possible for more people to travel legally to Cuba. Make it possible for AT&T to put down some new telephone lines and perhaps give some of the 80 million dollars in escrow, which is accrued for Cuba to the nation, which so desperately needs that money. They don't care how much they have to pay for a telephone call. They want to talk to their mama.

As this program went to air, most of the Pastors for Peace caravan had been able to get across the border, except for two school buses and a few other vehicles. Among the drivers of those vehicles was the delegation leader, the Reverend Lucius Walker, who in the non-violent tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, began a hunger strike in protest. For Latino USA, I'm Maria Martin reporting.

The great flood of 1993 has left millions of acres of Midwest farmland underwater and thousands of farm workers with no work. Many of those unemployed migrants are now returning early to their homes in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Attorney Ray Gill is with the United Farm Workers in San Juan.

Many of the people are going to be without unemployment insurance. They're going to be without the wages that they would have earned, that would protect them during the winter, because, typically, the migrant farm workers come back here, hopefully after a good summer of work cashed up to where they have enough money to be able to live at least for a while, buy shoes for the children and clothes for the children and the family, and fix up the family car and maybe fix up the family home. Hopefully, to collect unemployment during the winter to be able to, again, have enough money in May to get the family car together, to buy some gas to go back up North.

Resources to help the expected flood of returning farm workers are scarce in the Valley, says Gill, and many may not be eligible for emergency unemployment insurance.

For all the people that were going someplace in hopes of finding work, but didn't have a solid job that they were going to, but had heard there's there's corn detasseling around the Davenport area in Iowa, there are sugar beets in a particular area in North Dakota, who were going there in the hopes of finding work but didn't have anything solid or substantial ahead of them. Those people may not be eligible for this federal insurance. It's the typical syndrome. People will come back, they'll get on welfare program, aid the family with dependent children, or food stamps, and hopefully find a little bit of work here and there in the Valley, but that's highly unlikely given the 26 or 27% unemployment rate that's here in the best of times. You have a very disasterful situation.

Attorney Ray Gill is with the United Farm Workers in San Juan, Texas. I'm Maria Martin with news from Latino USA.

This is Latino USA. Recent polls show Americans are split on support for President Clinton's budget plan, but some analysts believe the bill's provisions may benefit many in the Latino community. Patricia Guadalupe attended the bill signing ceremony and she prepared this report.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

At the bills signing, the president declared the budget passage, a mandate from the people. Although the plan barely squeaked by in both the house and the Senate, many in Congress voted against it, citing constituent resentment towards the package. But presidential pollster, Stan Greenberg says his studies indicate many Americans, including most Latinos, widely supported the President's plan.

They're much more supportive, broadly supportive of the plan. Though the Hispanic community is very diverse, as you know and national samples aren't quite large enough to represent all of the diversity, but overall supportive of the plan and in general more supportive of the plan than other voters.

Analysts that the National Council of La Raza say the plan will greatly benefit the Hispanic community, particularly the earned income tax credit, which is designed to help lower income families. Democratic representative Henry B. Gonzalez of Texas says this provision will help Latinos in his district who disproportionately hold jobs that pay poorly.

This program will mean that there are over 58,000 families that qualify there. They're sub marginally employed. They're earning on that level less than 27,000, but still trying to maintain a family. And this targeted tax assistance program they call it, will be of immense help.

President Clinton's plan increases the earned income credit salary cap from $21,000 to $27,000 a year. Other parts of the plan, which enjoyed wide support in the Hispanic community and which were signed into law as part of the package were increased monies for urban development and vaccinations for children. For Latino USA I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

You're listening to Latino USA.

On August 24th of last year, Hurricane Andrew ripped through South Florida, wreaking devastation. When the rains and winds had died down, 150,000 people were left homeless. One year later, many communities hard hit by Andrew have generally recovered, but that's not the case in the mostly agricultural region of South Dade County, where construction and repairs are still in progress. Many farms remain closed or are operating at half capacity. Reporter Emilio San Pedro was in the Florida City homestead area of South Florida on the anniversary of Hurricane Andrew. He reports that life is only very slowly returning to normal in this primarily farmworker community.

The Centro Campesino in Florida City is a farm worker support organization that serves as the unofficial town center for many of South Dade's migrant and year-round farm workers. Housing counselor Leslie Guerra says that every day, the staff at the Centro sees indications that the damages caused by Hurricane Andrew are still affecting the area's farmworkers.

In the long run, or the long term, the farmworker was affected because now there aren’t any- there's not as much work. There used to be a lot of farm laboring work done on lime groves, in plant nurseries, and stuff like that. And, as you know, everybody lost their trees in their backyard or their front yard, so you can imagine how the plant nursery industry did. And the farmworker, especially the farmworker who's here year-round, does lots of work in that particular industry, and that was almost completely wiped out.

One year after the eye of Hurricane Andrew passed over the agricultural region of South Dade, many farms remain closed or are operating at half capacity. The cost of housing has risen sharply, due to the destruction of many of the trailer parks, apartments and homes that house agricultural workers.

Last night I was watching a special program about the hurricane, and it was sad. It made me sad because I'm thinking-

Terry Adellano is a dance teacher at the Centro Campesino. She has seen her life, and the lives of the farmworkers she works with, transformed.

Our spirits really were blown away with the hurricane because our school was completely torn. I mean, our costumes flew away, our shoes. Along with a lot of our students that had to relocate to West Palm Beach, some to Texas, some stayed here, but most of them had to relocate because they didn't have nowhere else to live.

One of her students is Raul. His family stayed, even though their house was damaged, and his parents lost their business.

I learned not to give up by helping my parents after the hurricane, going out, making a little money by cleaning up other people's yards after I cleaned up my yard. My parents were just starting to pick up on a restaurant, and on the same day that the hurricane hit, the insurance man was supposed to come and approve it. But Hurricane Andrew beat him to it.

I'm going to ask Governor Chiles to say a few-

Today, on the eve of the anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, Terry Adellano and others at the Centro Campesino are hosting Florida's governor, Lawton Chiles, and other dignitaries who are paying visits to many of South Dade's hardest-hit regions.

I want to say how surprised I was when I came in here to see not only repairs being made to the homes that were here, but to see all the new homes being constructed. By golly, I'm delighted to see that the tent city is no longer there.

This is one of the houses that was rebuilt. This house was here during the hurricane. In fact, this house was used for-

Outside the office of the Centro Campesino is a housing development called Centro Villas. The more than 60 homes are owned by farmworkers that have participated in the Centro's sweat equity program. Antonia Torres lives in one of the houses and is the president of the Centro Villas Homeowners Association.

No, me falta terminar la cocina…[transition to English dub] I still need to redo the kitchen, and the kitchen cabinets haven't been replaced. Also, the tool shed was destroyed, and my fence has not been repaired [transition to original audio]…todavía.

Today, Antonia brought her husband and two boys to the Centro Campesino to hear what the governor had to say.

Que bueno que nos visitó el gobernador, que bueno…[transition to English dub] It's great that the governor came here, and hopefully it won't be just a visit. Hopefully it will result in assistance for all that need it. Sometimes it happens that way. They visit, look around, say they're going to help, and in the end, they don't do nothing [transition to original audio]…ojalá que esta vez sí ayuden.

Housing Counselor Leslie Guerra points out that houses like those in Centro Campesino are the exception for farmworkers, and that the majority of farmworkers are finding it difficult to make ends meet after Andrew, due to the shortage of affordable housing. She adds that the post-hurricane assistance offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, was in many cases inadequate.

I think that FEMA has helped with maybe their personal property and personal belongings and things like that, but that is not long-term help. When someone replaces their furniture, it doesn't really get them back into the shape that they were in before. Helping them get a better job, helping them get better housing, that's what FEMA really should have done instead of giving them $8,000 or $9,000 and say, "Hey, buy new furniture with it." Is that really helping somebody put them back to where they were, or even helping them put their life back together psychologically and emotionally?

Hurricane Andrew caused over $1 billion in damages to South Dade's agriculture industry, and left thousands of acres of farmland barren. But today, many of the businesses on US 1 are back in operation, and some of the larger agricultural companies are in full swing. But many farmworkers have not yet fully recovered from the loss of housing and employment opportunities. For Latino USA, I'm Emilio San Pedro In Florida City.

Summer may be drawing to a close, but for as long as the warm weather lasts, Latinos in one area of New York City make their summer getaway to Orchard Beach. Located in the Bronx, Orchard Beach is the hottest spot every weekend for free outdoor salsa and merengue shows, and for Latino politicians to campaign for votes. Mainly, though, it's a place where Latino New Yorkers can just relax. Mandalit del Barco prepared this sound portrait of Orchard Beach.

Yo, this is Orchard Beach in the boogie-down Bronx, the Puerto Rican Riviera.

If you can't get out of the city on vacation, this is the place to go. This is our version of Cancun, our version of Puerto Rico.

Tell you about this beach. It's blacks, whites, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Indians, Iranians, you name it. [Laughter] But uh-

This beach is full of culture you know. This beach, you got all kind of Latin Americans. Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Cubans. Get all kind of heritage walking around and having a good time, dancing. There's music bands over there.

[Highlight--Music--Cuban music]

I love it here because you don't see your brother, your sister, for 20 years. Hey brother, remember me? Oh, remember, I was your wife a long time ago? [Laughter]

This is the only place that we come here to forget, and not be- right, enjoy the summer. Because it's good being here, you know away from things, away from problems, away from home.

What do you try to forget about when you're here?

Stress.

Stress. Stress. Problems. Stress.

Work, accounting. Living in the ghetto, which is the most toughest part.

Right. When you come here, everything is different. When you go back home, you're back to the same old thing, same old-

Mostly we're all in projects. You know bad neighborhood, worrying about looking over our shoulders. So, this is a place where we just get away. Everybody's just being themselves, hanging out. We don't have to worry about someone coming behind us and trying to do something. This is relaxing. That's why we come here.

Everybody's trying to get away from that bad environment out there. You know what I'm saying? The shooting and the drugs and all that. Over here, it's not a bad environment. I'm saying, you don't see too many fights over here. I haven't seen a fight broke out yet. If anything, everybody likes trying to help each other. I come here to try have a nice time with my family. Have a few beers, smoke a blunt. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Really. Forget about everyday work and get out of the hot steamy streets, dirty filthy streets and stuff.

Do you ever go into the water?

Not really. I don't like going in that water, cause it's filthy. That's the truth. Where's everybody at? Look, the sand. Very few in the water. And if they're in the water, they're only in up to their knees. That's about it.

I just got to say, the water is very polluted.

Look what happened to his face. It's all red. Jellyfish got in his face.

Yeah, it hurts. It hurts a lot.

I saw there was lot of suckers in there. I wouldn't get in the pool now. I wouldn't put my finger on the pool.

It's not about going in the water. The water's no good. It's just about hanging out on the boardwalk and meeting people.

That's America. You know what I mean? Turn loose. That's what it's all about. You could be you, here in Orchard Beach. It's a symbol of all cultures exposing and expressing what America's about in one little corner of the world. [Laughter]

[Highlight--Music--Cuban music]

Our summertime audio snapshot of Orchard Beach, the Bronx, was produced by Mandalit del Barco.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. US Latinos are three times more likely to live in poverty than most Americans. According to a new census report, almost a third of Hispanics live below the poverty line. They make up 18% of the nation's poor, and only 9% of the population. Sonia Perez heads The Poverty Project at the National Council of La Raza.

The poverty level in the Latino community has increased over the past year, and we were expecting that, given the recession last year and the effect that that's had on the employment of a lot of people. So, the poverty issue is a big concern because we see that the community is working, and yet the poverty is high, so they constitute a large proportion of the working poor.

Almost half of poor Latinos are children under the age of 18.

[Guitar music, transition] I'm Maria Hinojosa. 75,000 people descended on the nation's capital on a train August Saturday to commemorate a historic civil rights march, which took place on another hot August day 30 years ago.

[Archival sound] Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and all hill of Mississippi.

Although some things have changed for the better in the three decades since Dr. King articulated his vision for equality and justice, this year's march found many people, including many Latinos, seeking to improve their situation in this country. Latino USA's Patricia Guadalupe was at the march and filed this report.

When Martin Luther King Jr. stood on these steps 30 years ago today, he challenged people of goodwill across our nation to rise up and live out the true meaning of his creed.

Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., addressed a much smaller crowd in that which heard her husband 30 years ago. She spoke of the same things he did, the need for more jobs and into prejudice and a more peaceful world. Many at the recent march acknowledged that progress had been made in those areas, but they said much remains to be done, especially in improving the lives of Latinos. Carmen Gonzalez of New York City said she came to the march to fight for more jobs.

Things are not going too well for many people. There are too many unemployed. They're not jobs. There's nothing out there really. There's a lot of college grads who are looking for jobs. They can't find anything.

Do you think that this march is going to change things?

We're trying. We're trying to enforce something by being united. We're trying to see, we're trying to foresee if the President will do something for us.

According to the Joint Center for Political Studies in Washington, living conditions have gotten worse for Hispanics in the last 30 years. Since 1963, there has been a 10% increase in Hispanic poverty levels, particularly in urban areas where figures show 60% unemployment among Hispanics.

Almost 10% more Hispanics and Asians live in poverty today than did in 1963. More poor whites drop out before high school graduations.

Young people were strong presence at the march, and while most of them marched for the same things as their older counterparts, a young Latina from Rhode Island took it one step further. Ana Rodriguez said she came to make a statement about Puerto Rico.

Since the plebiscite is going on in Puerto Rico now and they're going to decide the statehood of Commonwealth. And Puerto Rico has been oppressed for 500 years, first by the Spaniards and now by the Americans and everybody else. And the Puerto Ricans here in the United States see the worst part of it.

[Natural sounds of march] Even though a majority of the marchers declared that little has changed in the 30 years since the first march, there was a feeling of optimism for the future in the air. Henry Cisneros, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said his optimism comes from faith that this administration will help out those who have been in need for so long.

For children who grow up in a development where they have no prospects or jobs or hope, for young people who get drawn to the only life around them which is drugs, you could only say that things were worse. But what we have to do is capture the momentum of what is possible and luckily, we have a president. We have an administration that is willing to go out on a limb and I think today is an important reminder of the job ahead.

Most Latinos at the march were as hopeful for the future as Secretary Cisneros, but some expressed disappointment that President Clinton was not there and that Latino participation in the march was relatively small. For Latino USA, I'm Patricia Guadalupe in Washington.

The total number of Latinos in the US workforce has been doubling every 10 years since the 1950s. But while Latino employment has expanded, the average quality of their jobs has declined. Latino USA's Maria Martin has more.

Just a short while ago, the Census Bureau issued a report saying Hispanics are disproportionately represented among the nation’s poor and make up a large part of the working poor. This finding came as no surprise to a group of sociologists and political scientists who studied Latinos in the American labor market. According to economist Raul Hinojosa Ojeda, one of the authors of the study, Latinos in a changing US economy, the study's most important finding was the dramatic downturn in economic opportunity for Latinos beginning after the mid 1970s.

Whereas the gap in earnings was closing throughout the most of the post-war era until about the mid 1970s, that gap has been increasing very rapidly. And in fact, that gap is very large part of the explanation of the increasing inequality in the United States.

The study's authors say downsizing of government programs during the 80s along with a lack of higher educational achievement by Latinos are among the factors which contribute to a decline in their economic situation. Perhaps the biggest factor, however, has to do with the restructuring of the US economy, from manufacturing to a greater focus on the service sector. Again, Raul Hinojosa.

So what was going on is just when Latinos were beginning to move into the capacity to take advantage of good-paying union jobs, these jobs became more and more scarce as the ability of the United States to compete in world markets and maintain the growth in those jobs begins and begins to erode.

Some of the study's authors say they were surprised to find that immigration had not played a significant role in the downturn in the relative income of US Latinos. Native born and immigrant Hispanics they say, generally compete for very different jobs. In a few cases, recent Hispanic immigrants and new native born job seekers do compete, but this is not a major factor in determining the overall income level for US Latinos. Sociologist Frank Bonilla is the executive director of the Inter-University Program on Latino research.

Whether or not immigration in itself is promoting more inequality, the reality is that both immigrant and native-born Latinos of all nationalities are facing new conditions of low wages. And that the number of working poor, that is people who have jobs but who receive the salaries that are below the poverty standard, are very much concentrated among the immigrant population and in some parts of the countries such as Los Angeles, principally among Mexican-Americans and new Mexican immigrants, particularly women.

When looking at the various Latino communities, the authors found regional differences. For instance, Miami did not experience the loss of manufacturing jobs that New York did. Still says political scientist, Maria Torres, it's hard to say that no Latino group remains unaffected by the trends in the American economy.

When we look within communities within these regions, there are no clear winners and no clear losers. It depends on the industries. For instance, in Chicago, Mexican-Americans do relatively well in comparison to Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and even South Americans when you're talking about manufacturing and public administration. When you're talking about the high services, Cuban-American males do very well. When you're talking about retail, Cuban-American women do very poorly. So I think that one of the lessons that we are learning in this study is that there really is a need to look at a joint community-based agenda that emphasizes Latino workers, because if there is and across the board lesson for all Latino workers is that there is an impoverishment of Latino workers in every community and throughout the United States. And that even when we compare Latinos to African Americans and to Anglos, Latinos are at the bottom of the pail when we look at all workers.

Dr. Maria Torres of DePaul University, one of those participating in the study on Latinos in a changing US economy. For Latino USA, I'm Maria Martin.

This is news from Latino USA. I'm Maria Martin. New census figures say the number of Americans living in poverty has reached its highest level in 30 years, especially among Latinos. Barrie Lynn Tapia reports.

There were over 36 million poor Americans last year. According to the US Census Bureau that accounted for over 14% of the total population. The Hispanic community was especially hard hit with 29 out of every 100 Latinos living in poverty and over half of Hispanic children were among the poor. According to the Census Bureau, Black and Hispanic Americans were about three times more likely to be poor than whites. There were more than 6 million Latinos living in poverty last year than in 1991. The Bureau also found that poor Hispanics were more likely to be without health insurance than whites or blacks. For Latino USA, this is Barrie Lynn Tapia in Washington.

What does it mean to you to be in a gang? Why are you in a gang?

Why am I in a gang?

Yes ma'am.

Cause well, ever since I was little, I've always been on my own. Ever since I was young, my parents-

Where are your parents?

They're in jail. My parents are in jail. My mom was 14 when she had me and my dad was 18. And they're in jail right now. They're doing life.

[Chicano Rap Beat]

In Los Angeles, an organization known as the Mexican Mafia is being given credit for an apparent decrease in the number of gang related drive-by shootings. Reportedly, members of that group, which had its origins in California's prisons have been meeting with Latino gangs throughout the city, calling for a halt to the violence, which has killed a growing number of innocent bystanders in Los Angeles. Some, including law enforcement officials, have criticized the involvement of the Mexican mafia, also known as La eMe. But community activist Javier Rodriguez, whose life has been personally touched by gang violence, says that before this effort is condemned, one should understand what it says about our society.

Skeptics have quickly dismissed this radical move by the Mexican mafia. The reputed prison spawned organization from California, also known as La eMe Spanish phonetic for ‘M’. They point out possible ulterior criminal motives. They may be right. Paradoxically however, the move has struck a positive cord among many community people who see the intervention as a ray of light in a seemingly endless tunnel of fear and violence. That our community may see this development with favor, should not surprise anyone. The move with all its limitations addresses the most immediate fear of those who live in terror in our community. The fear of the reckless killing of innocent bystanders, children and the elderly by wanting reckless gangsters who make our barrios their battle war zones. La eMe is only filling a void in leadership that has been unable to halt the rapidly rising spiral of gang shootings. Any move to reject La eMe's call or its benefits are irresponsible and places our community in a catch 22. Especially when the move appears to be affecting a significant portion of the Latino gangs in Southern California.

There appears to be a dramatic reduction in drive-by shootings in the eastern part of the County of Los Angeles. There is also evidence that because of La eMe's efforts, gang members are safely crossing through other gang turfs without fear of retaliation. La eMe is using a message of appealing to the pride and respect for La Raza, the Mexican people. However, it is also combined with a threat of reprisal to all those that violate the truths. It is yes, a limited call to halt the violence, denouncing drive-bys as a cowardly act of battle. It doesn't call for the end of killings or of gangs and their principles. However, that may be the source of its success. If the effort fails, it may not be because of its own limitations or because it came from the wrong elements. It will be because we as a society failed. In the end, La eMe's efforts and others like it will fail unless we begin to address the root causes of crime, gang banging and drive-bys. That is poverty, racism, and injustice. After all, let's not forget that gang proliferation and drive-bys have been concurring with [unintelligible] and its opposite. The concentration of wealth in the hands of the few during all these years of neoliberal economic policies.

[Chile sin carne--Flor de caña]

Javier Rodriguez is a community activist and media consultant in Los Angeles. His son was killed in a gang-related incident.

23 years ago, Luis Aguilar was a homeless, undocumented immigrant, wandering the streets of Los Angeles after being picked up by the US Immigration Service. Today, Luis Aguilar manages two successful restaurants in Lamont, California, but he's never forgotten his humble beginnings. And that's why three times a year this once undocumented immigrant opens his doors to feed the homeless. Jose Gaspar reports from Bakersfield, California.

One of the best-known Mexican restaurants in Kern County, California, is El Pueblo Restaurant, located in the small farming town of Lamont, just 20 minutes south of Bakersfield. As usual, the restaurant today is filled to capacity, but today the clients are the homeless people of Kern County. They've been invited here by Luis Aguilar. The owner of El Pueblo.

It comes from my heart that I like to share this with these wonderful people that they really need it, because I went through this a long time ago, and I know how it feels to be on the streets and without a job, and no place to live.

Luis Aguilar came to this country 23 years ago as an illegal immigrant from Michoacán, Mexico. After being picked up by the Immigration Service in Los Angeles, he was deported to Tijuana but made his way back. He was homeless until a married couple took him in and helped him find a job. Today, Luis Aguilar feeds the largest group of homeless people three times a year. And that means a lot to people. Such as 25 year old Joyce Humble, who's been homeless for the past two years.

It feels to me that they're reaching out and helping us on the ones who can't really get out and afford a lunch like this. And it feels great to know that somebody cares.

27-year-old Roger Barton from Los Angeles also came to eat here today. He hasn't eaten in a restaurant in several years.

Well, a lot of these people probably haven't eaten in a restaurant in maybe five years. And what it does, it adds a little bit of, makes them feel a little bit human. Instead of eating on a soup line, day after day after day, they come to a restaurant, sit down, they're served and adds a little hope to them.

More and more people come for the free meal each time. Unemployment in the Central Valley County is one of the highest anywhere in California, especially for farm workers. It's taken a heavy toll on many farm workers such as 52 year old Fidel Luna.

[inaudible] como tres meses sin casa y eso que se debio porque no pago la renta… [English dub]

I've been without work for three months, he says. "There's no more work for me in Los Angeles. There's no money to pay the rent, and it's much more difficult to survive as an undocumented immigrant when we don't have papers.

Porque el que tienen papeles pos [inaudible] y hay le dan para el [inaudible] Yo no tengo nada.

The person who has papers at least can get food stamps. I don't have anything," says Fidel Luna. You can't help but noticing the number of women and children who, along with the men, join the ranks of the homeless. While he's glad to feed the homeless. Luis Aguilar is also sad to see the growing number of people who need his help.

We got children from two years and up, families of seven to eight members in the family. It just makes me upset, see this, all these children without a place to live and I just feel bad and I want to do more for them if I can.

For Latino USA, I'm Jose Gaspar in Bakersfield, California.