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Felicidades, Spring Semester News y Mas----

2012-02-05T18:05:26Z

First-- Felicidades to our Ethnic Studies Graduate T.A., Leslie Martinez. She received a Graduate Studies Honorable Mention this past week for the excellent work in Ethnic Studies she does. Leslie has been working with us and we've been so pleased to have her contributions to the Ethnic Studies curriculum and especially to the students who benefit for her expertise. Gracias Leslie!

Leslie Martinez y Amelia M.L. Montes at Graduate Studies Award Reception

Second: I am teaching a fabulous group of graduate and undergraduate students in my American Novels class. We are already deep into discussions of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Dreiser's An American Tragedy, and Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. In teaching, two theorists of critical pedagogy I follow are educators bell hooks and Paulo Freire who write:

"Engaged pedagogy does not seek simply to empower students. Any classroom that employs a holistic model of learning will also be a place where teachers grow, and are empowered by the process." --bell hooks

"Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world."

--Paulo Freire

Book list for American Novels class

I look forward to a full and rich semester of discussion! And in addition to these novels (picture above) students will also be presenting on over 20 other American novels. Much to consider for this semester!

Third: A temperate Nebraska January gave way to a February that presented us with the first significant snowstorm of the season--gifting us with a foot of snow. I took the picture below early as the snow was falling an inch an hour (about 6:30a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4).

And then later in the day-- the job of digging out:

And now today (Sunday, Feb. 5) --we have brilliant sun and the sound of melting snow . . .

I am wishing all of you an excellent second week in February---

More soon . . .

New Year News----Music and Literary Creations!

2012-01-05T22:23:48Z

Here's hoping that all of you dear readers had lovely holidays and a felicitous, peaceful, and smooth entry into the beginnings of 2012. During this time of year, I often hear from students who have either graduated recently or long ago and who I now call friends. Two friends who I mention here are former students from our English Department at The University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Lenna Pierce is a gifted musician and singer and Emily Danforth is a gifted writer whose first novel comes out in February.

I had coffee with Lenna Pierce last week. She had just returned from her cross-country one-woman concert tour: from Lincoln, Nebraska to New York. It was intriguing listening to her road stories. She recounted experiences in bars, dives, and very nice concert venues. Most interesting to me were her descriptions of the music she heard along the way, the musicians she met--alternative, experimental. Lenna is in a world far and away from popular culture. The kind of music she creates with her cello, voice and words, transcends anything that is on the radio or I-Pods right now. I find it literary, creatively multi-layered, so complex in its lightness. Before Lenna went solo, she performed with Rachel West (who accompanied Lenna's cello with an accordian) and they called their duo, "Das Hoboerotica." They played various venues here in Lincoln, Nebraska until Rachel decided to pursue other interests. Now Lenna has broadened her concert card to a number of states between here and New York (inclusive of NY). You don't meet many alternative cello playing singers. Lenna says the cello, "just feels so right. You know, it's big and warm but it's dark too. It's not a simple instrument, but it is a beautiful one." Lenna's music reminds me of the Argentine singer, Juana Molina. Juana sings in what I call "Rioplatense Spanish transcendency." Rioplatense is the regional Spanish she chooses to use in the writing of her songs. Listen to her here: (CLICK) and also here: (CLICK). She is in a kind of trance, repeating words, verses, shifting chords that shift the listener, move us into another space. Sometimes I imagine Lenna Pierce playing with Juana Molina. What a collaboration that would be!

If you're in Lincoln, Nebraska tomorrow (Friday, January 6th) you can hear Lenna Pierce at Meadowlark Coffee House at 8p.m. (1624 South Street).

Emily Danforth received her PhD in creative writing just last May 2011 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is now an Assistant Professor at Rhode Island College in Providence.

Her soon-to-be-published book, The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a coming of age novel and it is riveting, told in gorgeous descriptive prose.

When I read Emily's words, I am literally there lying on the Montana fields watching those slow moving clouds above me. She carries you from there to heartbreaking and bittersweet first love, loss, and maturity. The book is already a "starred review" from Kirkus Reviews: "Rich with detail and emotion, a sophisticated read for teens and adults alike." Booklist also starred it: "[An] ambitious literary novel, a multidimensional coming-of-age." It will be released February 7th. You can also pre-order from your local bookstore!

Lately, book publishers have been marketing their books with youtube mini-films. It's brilliant. Emily's publisher, Balzer and Bray have come

out with a sweet, lovely "trailer" so to speak, to whet your appetite. Here it is: CLICK HERE.

I always wish for our students to find what makes their hearts leap, to pursue a passion-- not to pursue what someone else thinks they should be doing. I hope for students to dig deep inside themselves and find their true gifts to develop. Lenna and Emily are passionate about their work. It shows. It delights. We are lucky to have them share their gifts with us.

And on that note, today I read a wonderful article in the New York Times regarding professors who are taking their lectures "to the bar" or to concert hall venues, or main stages of clubs-- giving lectures for free-- trying out their ideas in public. This is wonderful. Here's the article about it entitled: "Continuing Education, at the Bar." These are people who wish to reach a different audience from the 8a.m. class. It's a way to spread the love of learning.

Reading Steve Jobs: Reflections

2011-12-12T02:18:04Z

During breaks between my work, I've been reading Walter Isaacson's biography, Steve Jobs, and am surprised that I cannot put it down. It reminds me of Carolyn See's memoir, Dreaming: Hard Luck and Good Times in America despite the difference in genre (one is a biography and See's book is memoir). Yet both capture not only a life. Both deftly capture the vastly multilayered complexity of lives which are affecting and affected by their specific moment in history. Regarding See-- some of the years she recorded in this memoir were years I knew her. I was her student in the late 1970s and was deeply influenced by her inspirational and motivated courses which were not just about writing, but about life. In See's class, there was an expectation of being at "attention"-- an attention to all cultural, political, environmental events surrounding our moment in writing. And these she records in her book along with the very personal struggles in her family. She was also demanding like Jobs was demanding. She would tell us to write 40 pages in two days. And when we'd meet, bleary-eyed but awake enough to be excited about our 40 pages, she would kick the trash can around the room and direct us to throw away the 30 pages from the 40. "You have to distill the best out of those 40 pages. The rest is just shit." Jobs said the same thing. In fact, when I think about Carolyn See's memoir title-- one could think about Steve Jobs. There he was, an abandoned infant (hard luck) who ends up being adopted but lives the rest of his life struggling with this primary event of abandonment. As well there is the issue of diet and health.

And this is what has not been thoroughly discussed regarding Jobs' biography: the psychological and the constitution (or physical wellness) of this man's life. Yes he was very difficult to work with-- an abusive, demanding, selfish brilliant man who had temper tantrums, crying fits, and was a manic workaholic who demanded the same work ethic from his staff. His eating habits were erratic: one week he would fast, another week he was a vegan, and yet the next, Jobs would be binging on a fruit-only diet. The doctor, more than once in the biography, notes his yellow skin (due to eating an overwhelming amount of carrots). While I read these sections, I kept thinking about how I would have wanted a map of his glucose counts during these years in which he was obviously overworking his pancreas. This is what is of interest to me: how a brilliant man can function when his body is so badly unaligned and/or physically unbalanced. Fasting, fruit binges, overeating on carrots may have been touted as healthy, but these particular diets burden the pancreas, exhaust the pancreas, negatively affect the pancreas which is the workhorse for one's endocrine system. An imbalance of the endocrine system can make one look like a bad drunk (yet cognizant and functioning) with a nasty temper. And this is what Jobs exhibits quite often. I find this fascinating.

This is not to say that Job's dietary habits directly link to cancer. Pancreatic cancer is caused by a number of factors still not completely understood. Some of the causes have been traced to inherited gene mutations, smoking, age, race, and gender. However, Diabetes can be a symptom of this kind of cancer and Diabetes type II increases the chance of a cancer diagnosis.

But despite Jobs' passionate attention to detail, to research-- he never really took the time to investigate his health apart from seeing fruit diets and fasting as somehow connected to an eclectic buddhist/new age-type, zen existence (whatever that meant for Jobs-- it was never clear). The word eclectic is important here because in college, he refused to follow a curriculum that would allow for in-depth knowledge of one certain area (which a "major" would offer). Instead, he took classes from various areas of study that seemed interesting to him. The positive outcome is that the Macintosh computer evolved in part from his eclectic education. Regarding his diet and physical wellbeing-- that did not fare so well.

This book is a fascinating journey of an individual's health. No one has been talking about this.

Chicanas Making Art, Making Story

2011-11-13T16:49:59Z

This blog may also be read at: "La Bloga"

Reporting from two places this week: San Antonio, Tejas and Lincoln, Nebraska. This past week-- in San Antonio, Tejas, I was very lucky to spend a late afternoon/early evening in Chicana writer, Dr. Norma Cantu's graduate seminar at The University of Texas, San Antonio (UTSA). What an animated, smart, passionate group of graduate students. Orale! We were all quite involved with the discussion on Cherrie Moraga's new book, A Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousness.

A Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousness

While various ideas and perspectives were expressed, my eyes kept focusing on the swift-moving hand gestures to the right of the table (note the picture below). Those hands are Rita Urquijo-Ruiz's hands: knitting!

Dr. Norma Elia Cantú (Chicana author of Canícula and countless edited

books) leads her graduate seminar at UTSA. Notice Rita Urquijo-Ruiz's

quick knitting hands on the right-hand side of the table.

Chicana academic and performance artist, Rita Urquijo-Ruiz was knitting a gorgeous brown winter scarf during the entire graduate seminar while also contributing brilliantly to the discussion. She, like me, was a guest that night. I had brought my writing materials. She brought her knitting loom and yarn. I kept watching Rita's fingers move up and down the loom while students quoted, argued with, questioned Moraga's words. Moraga writes: "The language of the Xicana story--if it were to be real--is fragmented, it is the stutter, the garbled utterance caught in the silence between tongues, tongues literally ripped from mouths. It resides in the taboo languages of the body: the vulva pressed unashamedly against a bed of dirt or the body of another woman in the effort to remember what got lost somewhere. It is a paling Oadami descendent speaking through the body of Xicana performance" (45).

Rita knitting (photo by Dino Foxx -- gracias Dino!)

knitting loom

Moraga's words kept me thinking about Rita "speaking" with her hands. Later, I learned that Rita was also "performing" her tia Rita's art form in the making of this scarf that she completed by the end of class and then gave to me (lucky me-- see picture below).

Rita y yo: I am on the left wearing Rita's lovely winter scarf she began and completed in Dr. Cantú's class and she is on the right wearing a beautiful gray scarf her mother created.

Watching Rita reminded me of another Chicana writer, Belinda Acosta--who knits to create story. And then there is also Chicana performance artist, writer, jewelry maker and painter, Anel Flores, who believes that every art medium she uses is telling story. These three Chicana writers-artists create art in various mediums to bring together "fragmented" language/memories (prompted by Moraga's words) in order to speak and remember art, story, who we are.

Rita Urquijo-Ruiz who, as I described, loves using the knitting loom to create lovely long, warm scarves, is an Associate Professor at Trinity University in San Antonio. She is co-editor of Global Mexican Cultural Productions with Rosana Blanco-Cano (see book below) and her single author book, Wild Tongues: Transnational Mexican Popular Culture, will be coming out next summer.

One of Rita's co-edited books, Global Mexican Cultural Productions

Growing up in Hermosillo, Mexico, Rita learned to knit when she was 12 from her tia Rita (her mother's only sister). When Rita moved to the U.S., she soon forgot about knitting--until years later when she met up with Dino Foxx and Billy Muñoz, founders of "The Yarn Dawgz." These Chicano brothers taught Rita all about knit graffiti and yarn bombing. "A gay man and two straight men who do knitting," Rita tells me. She says they are passionate about bringing color and art to urban spaces. Passionate indeed because a simple "google search" on "The Yarn Dawgz" will lead you to multiple hits on Facebook and also a website/blog that announces their next creative project: a documentary about the yarn graffiti movement and their own work as "Fiber Artists."

The Yarn Dawgz: Manuel Cros Esquivel, Dino Foxx, and Billy Muñoz

Rita is grateful that Dino Foxx and Billy Muñoz encouraged her to return to knitting. "For me," Rita says, "There is something about knitting that is very comforting and it helps me concentrate better. It lowers my heart rate when I'm frustrated with work, with academia. Even if I just do it for 15 minutes, it then helps me return to my work with much more clarity. And the fact that it's handmade--people seem to take to that over more materialistic gifts. It's really neat to have something to relieve my stress and when all is said and done, there is a product to give as gifts. I also connect with the maternal side of my family while it makes people smile. It is just a gift from the universe--handmade. And my aunt gave me this gift." Rita has been very productive with her academic writing and she attributes her success in good part to the many scarves she's created. "I'm on my 25th scarf and they've all been given to wonderful friends. Each scarf is different."

The "Rita" scarf I'm wearing in the picture (above picture with Rita) is the one she began and finished in Norma Cantú's class! My scarf has a literary creation story!

Anel Flores is a writer, performance artist, painter, and jewelry maker. She is the author of Empanada: a lesbiana story en probaditas and she has also staged and performed scenes from the book.

Empanada: a lesbiana story en probaditas by Anel I. Flores

Anel I. Flores, performing scenes from Empanada

She says, "My painting and jewelry making inform my writing because I bring the story of my grandmother and other women's stories into each art medium." Anel's story: Her grandmother lost almost all of her possessions in a fire. One of the only items that survived was a small box containing her grandmother's lace. This lace appears on the cover of her Empanada book, on her paintings, and she has created imprints of the lace on the rings, earrings, and necklaces she makes.

Anel's grandmother's lace

"I weave everything together." Indeed-- Anel's work braids together all of these artistic mediums to create a pattern of stories and the struggles, the pain, the understanding and love in familia and relationships.

Anel's beautiful "corazon" jewelry

Belinda Acosta, author of the two quinceañera novels, Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz and Sisters, Strangers, and Starting Over also knits. She is a Chicana, born and raised (who learned to knit) on the great plains of Nebraska. Currently, she lives in Austin, Tejas while making regular visits al norte to visit familia in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Chicana author, Belinda Acosta

Belinda Acosta's two novels: Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz

and Sisters, Strangers, and Starting Over

"It helps to encourage creativity," she says. Belinda learned to knit, "in Home Ec (home economics) when they used to have such a class in Jr. High." She remembers learning the various structures: weft and warp knitting, knit and purl stitches, flat knitting vs. circular knitting. Like Rita, after leaving the class, she stopped knitting. It wasn't until a few years ago, after her father became ill that suddenly she had a strange feeling that her body was telling her to head for the yarn store and begin knitting. "I was surprised that I picked it up fairly quickly. My body knew how to do that and because of my body's reaction, I kept being surprised at how fast I picked it up-- that my body knew and hadn't forgotten."

I asked Belinda if knitting or other art mediums also inform her writing as Rita and Anel have noted. "Knitting is very rhythmic. It is something similar to praying the rosary or meditating. It is an activity that settles you, calms you because you are creating rhythmic motions over and over. Often when i'm writing or in the middle of a writing project and I get stuck, I'll either take a nap or get to my knitting. Knitting allows you to take a break from the problem and because you're involved in this physical activity, it gives you a chance to relax your brain and then you return to the writing with much more clarity." Here are various pictures of Belinda's knitting methods and here is a scarf she made for me.

Belinda Acosta "in action"

I am wearing Belinda's scarf in Nebraska (at the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Ethnic Studies Program offices)

Belinda also knits because, as she says, "I can be a stress eater. I can't eat when I'm knitting. At the same time, I get to massage a different part of my brain where there may be a knot. I free it. Plus-- I like to make things for people."

Rita, Anel, Belinda-- all making art that tells a story and that is an offering to others. In Norma Cantú's book, Canícula, there is a section entitled, "Cowgirl."

Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera by Norma Elia Cantú

Cantú writes: "My brand-new, black patent shoes, bought with the money Mami made selling dresses she sewed on Bueli's Singer, remain hidden by the long, full skirt of the red gingham dress, also one of Mami's creations" (33). Then later in the chapter entitled "China Poblana One," there is a picture of a young girl in a China Poblana outfit. "Mami has braided my shoulder-long hair, adding volume and length with yarn--green, white, and red-- verde blanco y colorado la bandera del soldado. The dazzlingly white blouse embroidered with bright silk to shape flowers like the ones that grow in our yard--roses, hibiscus, geraniums, and even some that look like the tiny blossoms of the moss roses remind me of summer, although it's a warm February day" (38).

Reading this description of dress-making and hair braiding (with yarn!) reveals a narrative of immigration, of two cultures (Bueli's Singer, black patent shoes, and embroidered silk), of seeking to place on the page a remembrance of what Mami created in a land where the month of February is warm, where hibiscus, roses, geraniums grow, where individuals are discovering and reconfiguring their identities.

As for the history of knitting: It is too long of a story so I will be brief. Historians trace the origins of knitting to the Middle east, specifically Egypt. The Spaniards learned the art from Muslim knitters. The Spaniards then brought knitting arts to Mexico. There are also paintings of knitters throughout history. The fifteenth-century German gothic painter, Bertram of Minden painted the Madonna knitting (see below). Even though Chicana artist Yolanda Lopez's "Our Lady of Guadalupe" has la Virgen at the sewing machine, not knitting-- it still reminds me of the creation and shaping (new perspectives!) of art (in this case, la virgen working on her blue estrella-laden mantle).

Bertram of Minden's painting of the Virgen knitting (1500s)

"Our Lady of Guadalupe" by Yolanda Lopez

It was a pleasure talking and spending time with Norma, Anel, and Rita. Now here in Nebraska, Belinda has given me this beautiful red scarf that she made.

I am wearing Belinda's scarf next to Chicana artist

Patssi Valdez' acrylic painting entitled, "Saturday" (1997)

How lucky can I be: two scarves, a gorgeous heart necklace, and their important words on the page. It's important to place a focus on these writers'/academics' knitting, jewelry making, painting. They are mostly known for their serious and poignant writing which is indeed a gift to us. How they illustrate "story" in other mediums also gives us additional information and stimulates our own aesthetic sensibilities. And stretching oneself creatively is indeed healthy as well.

Thank you all and happy knitting/art making. Vamos a tejer! Let's go unknot our brains!

Dia de Los Muertos y la loqueria de dulce (the sweetness dilemma)

2011-10-30T19:39:29Z

What to do with all the candy that you receive tomorrow and that you have left over? It's a yearly dilemma. For me, I have been having a difficult time deciding what to do when my doorbell rings and lovely ghosts, angels, zombies, ballerinas come to my door asking for candy. How can I, an individual with type 2 diabetes, hand out candy to a young population facing a health crisis of epidemic proportions: child-onset diabetes.

In 2008, the U.S. News and World Report published, "10 Things the Food Industry Doesn't Want You to Know." The first five "things" on the list are:

(1) Junk food makers spend billions advertising unhealthy foods to kids

(2) The studies that food producers support tend to minimize health concerns associated with their products

(3) Junk food makers donate large sums of money to professional nutrition associations

(4) More processing means more profits, but typically make the food less healthy

(5) Less processed foods are generally more satiating than their highly processed counterparts

How can you counter the onslaught of the food industry cajoling you to give them money so you can place their product in your child's hands, which in turn will make your child very sick? I asked a number of friends and colleagues for imaginative alternatives and the best answers I received were suggestions to go to the dollar store or craft store where I could either buy or put together a little gift bag of erasers, pens/pencils, small pads of paper, etc.

GIFT BAG IDEAS: note little leggos, pencils, items that encourage creativity!

Now here is where we could all come up with amazing and imaginative alternatives than feeding these children sugar which will keep them sleepless, grumpy, colic, even depressed. This does not mean giving up cultural traditions such as having sugar skulls on Dia de Los Muertos Altares-- just don't eat the skulls! Take pictures with them instead!

These are just a few ideas leading to alternative "safe" and easy items to give trick or treaters. You are refusing to fund the corporate food giant in this country!

Sending you all safe and healthy energies para esta semana!

A longer version of this post is on "La Bloga." I post with La Bloga every other Sunday. Here is the link: http://labloga.blogspot.com/2011/10/spending-dia-de-los-muertos-con-occupy.html

Celebrating African American & African Studies Since 1971 at The University of Nebraska-Lincoln

2011-10-19T04:56:14Z

This week at The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), the African American and African Studies Program is celebrating its 40th birthday. In 1971, "Black Studies" arrived at UNL and has since evolved into a national and transnational program of study. This week presentations and panels will focus on how far we have come, where we are at this moment in history (that some want to call "post-racial"), and the triumphs, burdens, commitments we carry into the 21st century.

If you're in the Lincoln, Nebraska area-- please come and join us!

African American and African Studies 40^th Anniversary Events

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

11:30am

Where: Dudley Bailey Library (UNL)

What: Showing of film and discussion on, "Wounded Knee"

Who: Dr. Tom Gannon, English and Ethnic Studies Professor

3:30-6p.m.

Day of Service

Two community-based service projects at

Where:

1. Clyde Malone Center

2. F Street Community Center

Who: Dr. Jeannette Jones has organized these events

3:30p.m.

Where: International Quilt Studies Center (33^rd St. & Holdredge St.)

Who: Dr. Pearlie Johnson, Visiting Professor of Black Studies

University of Missouri-Kansas City

Title of talk: "African American Quilts: Teaching the Past

Through Quilting"

6p.m.

Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center (UNL)

Who: Dr. Kwakiutl Dreher presents--"Reel Clips: Contemporary

Glimpses From the Classroom"

Series of short films on black cinema created by Dr. Dreher's students

Thursday, October 20, 2011

11:30a.m.

Where: Southeast Community College

Who: Dr. Michael Honey, Fred T. and Dorothy G. Haley Professor of the Humanities

at the University of Washington-Tacoma

will be speaking on African-American civil rights and labor history

3:30p.m.

Panel Title: "Critical Black Studies in a Globalized World"

Who: Dr. Lisa B. Thompson (SUNY Albany, English); Dr. Michael Combs (UNL, Political Science); Gerise Herndon (Nebraska Wesleyan); Chantal Kalisa (UNL, Modern Languages)

Moderators: Dr. Alice Kang (UNL Political Science and Ethnic Studies) and

Dr. Jeannette Jones (UNL History and Ethnic Studies)

Where: Dudley Bailey Library, Andrews Hall (UNL)

7:00p.m. (FIRST KEYNOTE)

Where: UNL City Union, Auditorium

Who: Acclaimed activist/author, Mark Mathabane delivers keynote

Mark Mathabane is famed author of _Kaffir Boy _

Title: "Our Common Humanity and the Importance of Education"

--book signing after lecture

Friday, October 21, 2011

3:30p.m. (SECOND KEYNOTE)

Where: Dudley Bailey Library, Andrews Hall (UNL)

Who: Dr. Lisa B. Thompson, Associate Professor of English

University of Albany, SUNY, (literary critic and playwright), author of _Beyond the Black Lady _

Title: "Black Studies in the Age of Post-Blackness" (Dr. Thompson examines the challenges facing Black Studies in an age that some critics has pronounced as post-racial and considers the ways contemporary black theater challenges the notion of post-blackness)

--book Signing after lecture

7:00p.m.

What: One-woman show, "In a Smoke-Filled Room"

Who: Dr. Kwakiutl Dreher, Associate Professor of English and Ethnic Studies

Where: Ted Sorensen Theater, Lincoln High School (2229 J Street)

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Theme of Day: "Civil Rights Legacies"

Where: UNL City Campus Union--Heritage Room

8:30-9:00a.m., registration and refreshments

What: "African Heritage in Latino Culture"

When: 9:15-10:30a.m.

Where: Heritage Room--UNL City Campus Union

Who: Dr. Sergio Wals, UNL Political Science and Ethnic Studies; Dr. James Garza, UNL History and Ethnic Studies; Dr. Amelia M.L. Montes, UNL English and Ethnic Studies

10:30-10:45a.m. Refreshment BREAK

What: "Rainbow Justice: LGBTQ Individuals of Color and Civil Rights"

When: 10:45-noon

Where: Heritage Room--UNL City Campus Union

Who: Reverend Karla Cooper, Quinn Chapel AME Church; Dr. Amelia Montes, Associate Professor of English and Director, The Institute for Ethnic Studies at UNL; Sindu Sathiyaseelan, UNL Graduate Student in the Department of English at UNL; Andrew Lim, International Student

LUNCH BREAK: noon - 1:15p.m.

THIRD KEYNOTE

Who: Dr. Michael Honey, Fred T. and Dorothy G. Haley Professor of the Humanities

at the University of Washington-Tacoma

Title of Keynote: "Martin Luther King: Labor and the Long Civil Rights Movement."

When: 1:30-3:00p.m.

Where: Heritage Room--UNL City Campus Union

3:00-3:30p.m. Refreshment BREAK

FINAL KEYNOTE

Who: Martha Prescod Norman Noonan, civil rights veteran, community organizer, history teacher specializing in the civil rights movement

When: 3:30-5p.m.

Where: Heritage Room--UNL City Campus Union

Book signing all day Saturday, October 22^nd at the City Campus Union Heritage Room

Wangari Maathai PRESENTE!!

2011-09-26T05:43:23Z

Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, 1940-2011

We have lost one of the most important voices of our time. The loss is great at this critical moment in history. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist was the first East and Central African to receive a doctorate. Her degrees are in biology and anatomy.

Two of Maathai's books I've read, Unbowed: A Memoir (2007) and Repleneshing the Earth: Spiritual Values for Healing Ourselves and the World (2010) describe a passionate, brilliant woman who disobeyed the law in order to make significant changes in the environment and significant changes in society for women. And she gives us such innovative and powerful suggestions to replenish the earth, to heal ourselves. In 2010, she was in Mexico for the UN Climate Summit and said the following:

"[G]overnments must do what they have promised: take concrete action to reduce their emissions; deliver finance and work together to make low-carbon development a reality; and protect those least able to cope with the impact of climate change . . .

If we truly want to tackle climate change, poverty, and conflict, we need to think holistically. We need to, as Ban Ki-moon said at the launch of the UN global sustainability panel, "think big, connecting the dots between poverty, energy, food, water, environmental pressure and climate change."

During the UN''s 3rd global women's conference in Nairobi in 1985, Maathai introduced her organization, The Green Belt Movement and this connection greatly aided her efforts in setting up countless programs in various countries (including Mexico) to combat deforestation, water crises, rural hunger. May her efforts continue even though she is no longer with us! Que Viva The Green Belt Movimiento!! Que Viva la Profesora Wangari Maathai!

There is a wonderful award-winning documentary about Professor Maathai's life and environmental work. It is entitled, Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai. I strongly recommend seeing it! And you can order it from The Green Belt Movement website (just click on the title above).

Gracias Profesora Maathai, for your courage, your tireless work, your constant smile in the face of adversity, your willingness to stand up and question, to stand up and disobey. Dissent! Gracias. Your efforts will not be forgotten. Wangari Maathai: PRESENTE!

Energy, Community, and Diabetes

2011-09-18T03:44:09Z

I write for La Bloga every other Sunday. On September 18, 2011, my piece on ire'ne lara silva will be featured. ire'ne is a Chicana poet who lives in Austin, Texas. ire'ne's most recent publication is her collection of poetry, furia which received an honorable mention at the 2011 International Latino Book Awards in Poetry. Currently, she is writing a novel, Naci, and is also writing another poetry collection she is calling, blood/sugar/canto.

In La Bloga, I posted a Q&A regarding ire'ne's new poems in blood/sugar/canto which as she says, "look at diabetes from many different angles:" nutritional connections to diabetes, ire'ne's own personal history and experiences with the disease. She talks about fear, the need for education, and hopes that the newly diagnosed will learn to forgive themselves. "What's important is to work on your health from this point on." And I agree. No need to criticize and blame yourself (although this was indeed my own reaction when first diagnosed). Shame is another unnecessary impulse.

How can we avoid feelings of blame and shame when people ask, "How did you get it? What did you do?" In my case, they remark that I'm not overweight, I don't smoke, and they've never seen me eat a whole tub of ice cream. How can I have diabetes? Such questions do not help. If you are reading this entry, it means that you have some kind of access to computers and computer searching. I encourage you to read David Mendosa's massive and comprehensive website on Diabetes. I dare say that if not all-- most questions you have will be answered there!

In my Q&A with ire'ne, I ask how she felt when she was first diagnosed. She said: "I was incredibly depressed. It isn't an exaggeration to say that I wanted to die. It's not that I thought it was an automatic death sentence--after all, my father was diabetic for 24 years before he passed away in 2010. I think it was more that I didn't have the capacity at the time to handle the news or process what it meant for me. When the diagnosis came, I was working two jobs, taking care of my brother who is also dealing with diabetes, and was experiencing a lot of pain on a daily basis--I was overwhelmed. Since then, I've had time to come to terms with being diabetic--at turns fighting it, denying it, accepting it, working around it . . . now trying to work with it."

It took me (as it does most people with Diabetes) a long time to accept I had it. We go through all the stages of grief not just once but over and over again. We'll be doing well and suddenly we catch a cold, miss just one day of exercise, experience sudden stress, jet lag, have a sleepless night, or for some reason we miss a meal or eat a little too much, and the glucose numbers either jump or creep up and we have to begin again all the while knowing that uncontrolled numbers are red flags for possible complications down the road.

It's all a mind game. Support groups, internet chat groups, blogs really help with maintaining sanity and realizing you are not alone. Ever since I've "come out" on diabetes on the internet and in the community with my Diabetes Support Book Group, people I've known for years have either quietly and tentatively or very enthusiastically approached me about their chronic disease when all this time I never knew! People are afraid to talk about their struggle with diabetes for many reasons. Admitting you have diabetes-- especially if you grew up watching parents, cousins, aunts, and uncles, go blind, lose limbs, die early and painful deaths is very difficult. Also, this chronic disease moves differently within each body because our chemical make-up is so very individual and this causes much frustration making people want to just turn off and pretend it doesn't exist.

Those of us with Diabetes have a real opportunity to make changes in everyone's diet because even individuals who do not have this chronic disease suffer effects from an overabundance of carbohydrates in the North American diet. Case in point is a student who walked into my office one day wondering if I could help him improve his concentration skills. He told me he was suffering from headaches, fatigue, even sometimes depression. As he spoke, I noticed he was carrying a 12 oz. can of Mountain Dew. I immediately asked him, "Tell me how many carbohydrates are in that can of soda-- look at the "nutritional facts" label and tell me." He seemed confused at my response to his question, but he dutifully put his backpack down and looked for the information on the can. "46 carbohydrates," he said.

46 carbohydrates is a huge dose of sugar in ones' system. All the physical symptoms he was describing sounded very much like someone with hyperglycemia. I showed him how to look at a nutritional facts label by ignoring the "sugar" content and instead noticing the "carbohydrate" number. I said, "I'm not a doctor--but try this: No sodas for two weeks. Try some kind of exercise at least four times a week. Drink a lot of water-- just water. See what happens and come back and let me know."

About a month later he didn't just walk into my office, he bounded in all smiley and energetic. He said he did what I suggested and he was amazed at the difference. He didn't have any more headaches, he could sleep better, he could concentrate, he was finally getting his work done and had so much energy!

Mountain Dew is one of countless soda companies who profit from making us sick. If you take a look at their website, they are marketing to children and young adults-- cool, slick formats (and they have a Facebook page as well) that even include dates for their "Mountain Dew Tour" with flashy pictures of popular singers and athletes. When you walk into any grocery store, don't you feel overwhelmed with food product marketing? When you look carefully at these products, most contain high amounts of carbohydrates.

I say let's change and challenge the nutritional status quo of fast food, processed meals, and the idea that "fat" is bad and non-fat eating (meaning high carbs, low fat content) is best. Energize your life with delicious and amazing recipes! Here are two:

1. For those of you who love mashed potatoes: try Mashed Cauliflower!

a. cut up raw cauliflower

b. steam until "al dente" (you don't want it soupy)

c. place in food processor and add a pinch of salt or even a TBLSP of cream or soymilk.

2. Here is a delicious recipe for a cold evening-- "Celeriac Soup"

Celeriac is celery root. It is not very starchy and therefore is a low carb root vegetable.

a. peel two heads of celeriac and then chop into squares

b. chop two or three shallots (shallots have much less carbs than an onion)

c. chop two cloves of garlic (or more if you like garlic)

d. heat the shallots and garlic in 2 TBLSP's of olive oil

e. add in 1 TBLSP (or more--depending on your taste) of curry powder

f. add in 1 tsp of cumin

g. a pinch of salt and pepper

h. cook the celeriac in the sauce for a few minutes

i. add 6 cups of either chicken or vegetable stock (try making your own stock without carrots because store-bought veggie stock can have a high carb content due to the carrots)

j. cook for 20 minutes

k. Puree it all in a food processor when the celeriac is soft

l. reheat and add either one cup of cream or unsweetened soymilk

m. add cilantro and/or parsley or basil

DELICIOUS!!!

Enjoy and share! Have a great week everyone! I also want to thank ire'ne lara silva for her words and her courage. Check out La Bloga and also check out ire'ne's website:

La Bloga (Click Here)

ire'ne's information:

http://www.irenelarasilva.webs.com

www.irenelarasilva.wordpress.com

How Mexicans are Made Diabetic---

2011-08-29T04:15:26Z

Genetics is not the answer to "why" people develop Diabetes and yet literature on Diabetes (even pamphlets in doctor's offices) will point to biology. Mexicans, Mexican Americans, American Indians, have a greater biological propensity for this disease. I've often heard, "It's in our blood" from my Mexican family members, from doctors. But is it?

Michael Montoya's journey into the maze of the genome Diabetes project is an excellent response to this myth. His book, Making the Mexican Diabetic: Race, Science, and the Genetics of Inequality uncovers the contradictions inherent in placing race on biology without taking into consideration social, political, and historical constructions that are key to the "making" of a society afflicted with this disease.

"Indian ancestry," writes Montoya, "is a central ideological feature of the diabetes enterprise. Evidence of beliefs about blood-based heredity was easily elicited from field office staff when commenting upon the causes of diabetes. But so too were notions of social etiologies of diabetes. When explaining the causes of diabetes, staff members explain that genes and life conditions together explain diabetes . . . 'Genes are passed from one generation to another, but basically it's our way of eating'" (98). And how can populations of Mexican descent along the border or in working class neighborhoods take the time to exercise or have the means to maintain a healthy diet when a half dozen tacos or a hamburger with fries and a coke is half the price of a pound of organic spinach?

T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell's book The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health supports Montoya's findings. In this book, Campbell and Campbell look at how our fast food industry is slowly making us seriously ill. But the genome project and the contradictory findings don't help clarify the problem of Diabetes. It is not enough to simply say, "It's in the blood."

"Genes do not cause chronic disease," Montoya writes. "Genes in certain bodies under certain conditions contribute to disease susceptibility" (187). This may explain why in a family of 3 children, two have diabetes and one will not develop the disease. It is not simply about blood but about a number of other factors (diet, exercise, living conditions, etc.) having to do with societal and political constructions.

Montoya's book which was just published (University of California Press) is an excellent study in how our society is creating a population highly susceptible to chronic disease-- whether or not you are of Mexican or Indian descent!

Growing Stevia--a natural sweetener

2011-08-06T20:07:29Z

This is Stevia or "stevia rebaudiana" or maybe you've heard of it as "sweetleaf," or "sugarleaf." Take a bit of a leaf from the plant and taste it. Your mouth will be filled with an intense sweetness but without the aftertaste of other types of artificial sweeteners. And it is much safer than the processed artificial chemical sweeteners.

Stevia is an herb that is native to South America and can grow in any subtropical and tropical region from western North American as well as South America.

You can grow it in a pot (as seen above -- and look at how tall the plant gets) or you can also plant it in your vegetable garden. Stevia plants prefer, since they are subtropical, full sun and heat. This is why in Nebraska, they do so well during the summer months but must be taken indoors during the winter. By fall, it is good to harvest the leaves and dry them on a screen in full sun for about an hour. Then you can place the dried leaves in a coffee grinder or food processor to be used throughout the year as a sweetener. You can also eat the leaves fresh if you so wish--placing them in drinks or in yogurt or salads. Just remember that a small amount is all you need. These leaves have about 40 times the sweetness of processed sugar. Just take a taste of a leaf, and you'll see!

Stevia is a perfect natural low-sugar food alternative. It has no effect on blood glucose levels and therefore is an excellent food for those with Diabetes or anyone who is counting their carbohydrate intake.

You can also purchase already processed stevia liquid or powder at your local co-op/health food store.

The "SweetLeaf" company has created a number of stevia products with natural flavoring. Above is the Vanilla Creme. I personally like the cinnamon.

But how much more fun to grow your own organic stevia during the summer months and have it for the rest of the year! I encourage you to grow your own stevia and have fun doing it! In the picture below I'm holding the Stevia and below the plant you can see what looks like daisies but they are not daisies--they are echinacea -- another excellent herb to use for tea and, like stevia, it is also a healing herb.

Some history: The Guarani tribe of Paraguay included Stevia in their diet. They called it ka'a he'e ("sweet herb"). They used stevia in their "yerba mate" and other medicinal teas. Of late, stevia is being recommended to individuals with hypertension as well as diabetes.

One of my chapters in my book, _The Diabetes Chronicles_ is devoted to organic farming (urban farming!), focusing on foods to grow that are excellent nutrition for individuals with diabetes.

The act of growing your own herbs (medicinal, etc.) is so enjoyable, healing, and good for the earth. I wish you much enjoyment with your time in the garden and in your kitchen creating new and exciting, health-filled dishes! Wising you good health and much cooking pleasure!

Macondo Writer's Workshop & tips to keep writing---

2011-08-01T19:59:18Z

First I want to thank and also send props to our Macondo Writing Workshop participants: Barbara Renaud, Charles Rice-Gonzalez, Veronica Reyes, Juan Guzman, Gabriela Lemmons, Laurie Ann Guerrero, Rene Colato Lainez and the best co-teacher I could ever have, Pat Alderete! and thanks also to Anel Flores (chuparosa for the week) who came to visit for two sessions. Orale Anel! You all RAWK!

With every writing workshop, participants often ask, "How can we continue writing?" or they worry about going back to their routines where for them it is a struggle to carve out time to write. Maybe you are in that same situation.

If you are, I am posting here a link to Laurie Halse Anderson's site: "Write Fifteen Minutes a Day Challenge." That's all--just fifteen minutes. Leslea Newman wrote in to Anderson's site and said she's going to use this challenge to write a poem every day for the month of August. Andale!

Here are some other writing tips that I have found helpful: Macondista Beatriz Terrazas and I discussed how we like writing first thing in the morning. Another Macondista, Joy Castro, does the same thing. You wake up and have your writing journal, computer, paper right next to your bed or you immediately get to your writing space and take the first hour, two or three to write. No interruptions--no excuses. First thing. As Beatriz says--"then you've got it out and you have the entire day ahead of you and you feel good. You have success right away!"

I have been taking the morning to write and then the afternoon/evening to edit. But everyone is different. Some of you may not be morning writers. You may be better equipped after the 9 or 10p.m. hour. Well--do the same, just in reverse! Orale.

It's August 1st-- think positive! Lots of great writing ahead. This blog is dedicated to my fabulous Macondista writers! I'm cheering you on Gabriela, Veronica, Laurie Ann, Anel, Barbara, Charles, Juan-Luis, Rene, y Pata! And all of you writers out there who I do not know--I wish you good writing energies as well.

Women's Diabetes Support Book Group! Come Join Us!

2011-05-31T03:22:38Z

Thank you to Kate Janulewicz at Indigo Bridge Books who has been so supportive in helping me create a Women's Diabetes Support Book Group! This group is a community social support program for women who are interested in a new dietary way to live. You don't need to be a woman living with diabetes to join. This women's group is about: support, education, sharing of experiences with diabetes, better balance of life with diabetes, helping loved ones with diabetes.

Most of all, we will all discuss literature!

Our first meeting at Indigo Bridge will be Monday, June 13th from 7-8p.m. We'll begin with Introductions and books, of course! Indigo Bridge has ordered (just for our group) two books that will be good foundational texts from which to begin. The first book, Reflections On a Life With Diabetes: a memoir in many voices (eds. Diane M. Parker and Ruth Mark) will provide us with a wide range of reflections on individuals with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Writers describe their initial reactions when they were first diagnosed, and how they are balancing their lives. Poetry, prose, story-telling are all in this volume. I am coupling this book with a reference/handbook that I have found excellent for both beginners and veterans: Diabetes for Dummies (Alan L. Rubin, M.D.). Rubin's books has excellent information regarding Pre-Diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

Amazing Discovery Regarding Diabetes, Diet, and Allergies

2011-05-09T03:05:23Z

Imagine being able to diminish the miserable symptoms that come with allergies: the sneezing, the sinus infections, the runny nose, the itchy eyes and throat.

For the very first time this spring, I can attest to being allergy free and I am attributing this miracle to something not so magical: it's simply about my food choices.

Since I was diagnosed with Diabetes, I've dramatically changed my eating habits. I have cut out all grains and instead have daily portions of almonds, pecans, some walnuts and Brazil nuts (these particular nuts are low in carbohydrates as opposed to nuts like cashews). Soymilk (unsweetened), tofu, lots of garlic, egg whites are included in my daily diet as well as lots of vegetables (kale, spinach, arugula, chard, asparagus, red bell pepper, jalapeños).

For snacks, I eat half to a whole apple, berries (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries), a half of a not-so-ripe banana.

The amount of sugar/carbohydrates I eat is about 100 to 110 carbohydrates a day. I end the day with 3 TBLSP's of apple cider vinegar to avoid the "Dawn Phenomenon" which is known among those with Diabetes as a high glucose blood count in the morning. My friend, David Mendosa, who is a freelance journalist and consultant specializing in Diabetes has written about this (click here for his article) and I can attest to the power of vinegar! (A look through David's website will also inform you on so many aspects regarding Diabetes. David is also quite strict on carbohydrate daily counts. He will tell you my 100-110 carbohydrate count can stand for further trimming. I'm working on that).

Gentle Reader--I'm writing you about this because I'm completely amazed that for the first time EVER-- I am not experiencing any kind of hay fever allergies right now. Between the beginning of April and the beginning of June--I have horrible allergies here in Lincoln, Nebraska. Some years it's been so bad, I've developed a sinus infection that took two weeks to clear up with antibiotics (and you know how antibiotics wreak havoc in the body as a side effect).

But this spring, lo and behold, I am allergy free. I am doing the unimaginable: riding my bike, walking outside at this time of year when every year prior to this one, I have kept myself indoors, been on all kinds of drugs, etc. What we choose to eat is vital to our health in so many ways!! I so wish I had been eating like this years ago.

My discoveries continually encourage me to question our national diet, our continual penchant for processed foods which contain such high amounts of carbohydrates and processed grains. Fructose is now in every processed food we buy.

I also wanted to send you an article that coincides with what I have discovered:

this article (click here) discusses the connections between food and allergies.

Carbohydrates (sugar, fructose, glucose, etc.) are so very dangerous. But food corporations will continue to sell us processed foods, will continue to work toward manipulating your palate so that your body craves more sugar all the time. And once they have you craving carbohydrates, it's hard to stop. And then you get sick and then your money is going toward medicines, doctor bills. They want us to be sick.

Fight it. I say read David Mendosa's website whether you have Diabetes or not. Diabetes is genetic (that's why I have it) but Diabetes is now becoming an epidemic. People are developing Diabetes without the genetic inclination for it. Why? Because we are exhausting our pancreas with the overwhelming amount of carbohydrates embedded in every processed food you buy at the store.

Unless you have stopped buying prepared food and are cooking your own food, you are eating too many carbohydrates.

It's tough to stop eating processed foods. It's a huge commitment to learn to cook in a much more healthy way. But it's worth it. It gets easier and your sense of taste is more alive.

I send you good wishes for much more healthy eating!

Diabetes and Cultural Sensitivity---

2011-04-01T02:28:41Z

At the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) Conference today, Professor Luz Calvo (Cal State East Bay); Professor Catriona Rueda Esquibel (San Francisco State University); and McNair Scholar, Alberto Valdivia (Cal State East Bay) all spoke on the connections between health and food.

The title of the panel: "Decolonize Your Diet: From Theory to Practice." At the panel, an audience member said that her nutritionist could not understand the importance of beans in the audience member's diet.

And this is my entry today: about diet and understanding individual cultures when re-thinking one's eating habits in the face of disease (specifically diabetes) which has everything to do with diet.

I grew up with beans (primarily pinto beans--sometimes black beans) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (even snacking)! Beans are a staple in Mexican and Chican@ diets. So how does one adjust to a low carbohydrate diet and still enjoy beans? A cup of pinto beans is 42.5 grams of carbohydrates. This is high but when you take into consideration the 14 grams of dietary fiber in pinto beans, the "net" carb (digestible carbohydrates) lowers the number to 28.5 grams of carbs. So if you have 1/2 cup of beans (about 14 carbs) it seems more manageable especially when your carb limit is 30 grams for each meal of the day (15 carb limit for a snack). Black beans are worse. One cup of black beans is 40.8 carbs and only 4 grams of dietary fiber which makes for a 36.8 gram serving--much higher carb count than one should have in one sitting.

ENTER the TEPARY BEAN!!-- Phaseolus (genus) acutifolius (species) literally means "wild bean" or "twining bean." It's a beautiful name for a bean that has been around much before the conquest. And it is a bean that can be of so much use to us now--especially those of us who suffer from diabetes and cancer. The tepary bean is native to the Southwest and is one of the most drought resistant beans. A cup of tepary beans is 31 grams of carbs and when you subtract the 9 grams of fiber--it makes for a much lower carb serving at 22 than pinto (28.5) and black beans (36.8). And it's chock full of potassium, protein, calcium, and iron!

I purchase the tepary bean from a farm in Idaho: Purcell Mountain Farms. They grow the old variety of tepary, excavated in the 1900's from the Los Muertos prehistoric site in Arizona.

The bean itself is smaller and has a nutty flavor. I've cooked it in a stew (minus potatoes and carrots of course), with kale, broccoli, green bell peppers, shallots, and lots of garlic. Delicious!

Eating the tepary bean is indeed "decolonizing your diet" on various levels. And it's delicious. Mother Earth News magazine has a wonderful article about the tepary and it's hardiness and Seeds of Change also offers the bean (for planting) and has an excellent article about it as well.

I thank Professors Luz Calvo, Catriona Esquibel and McNair Scholar Alberto Valdivia for making sure there is conversation, debate, much needed sharing about what we are placing inside our bodies. It is only after being diagnosed with Diabetes, have I come to a profound understanding of the fragility of our chemical balancing--how processed food is destroying us on so many levels. Case in point: just yesterday the Center of Science in the Public Interest announced the dangers of food additives (processed foods!) and how these additives are causing havoc in children's bodies.

Now that I am following a careful diet counting carbohydrates and eating local foods, preparing my own food -- I see a huge difference. We need to look deeper/in a more historical way at our own culture and the foods we eat. Nutritionists have a lot of work to do!

A bonus: Article on research regarding the tepary bean!

What is _The Diabetes Chronicles_?

2010-09-28T03:16:07Z

The Diabetes Chronicles is a multi-genre creative memoir I have been writing. Its main theme is "inheritance" -- inheritance within the cellular, genetic level; inheritance within a family, society, nation; inheritance within what we choose to accept from the past; inheritance within what we offer the present and future. The underlying thread is, as the title indicates, Diabetes, and my struggle to come to terms with this chronic disease.

I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes in the fall of 2008 and this past August 2010, I was diagnosed as having the chronic disease. My body does not produce enough insulin to break down the glucose in my body (Type 2 Diabetes is what this is called). If not controlled, too much glucose in ones body can damage the nerve systems as well as the retina of the eye and the vascular areas of the body. Endocrinologists note these three areas as "diabetic neuropathy, retinopathy, and nephropathy." The trick is to learn to regulate, through diet, exercise (and medication if necessary), the amount of glucose in ones system in order to avoid complications.

Regulation of glucose within the body is such a balancing act. Individuals with diabetes become quite aware of how certain foods suddenly spike glucose levels. You may think we just need to stay away from the dessert table. But it's more complicated than that. Potatoes are a well-known culprit as are corn, grains and even vegetables such as beets and carrots. Stress, illness, and trauma also raise glucose levels. Glucose imbalance affects moods (individuals with diabetes have a propensity for depression), mental acuity, physical wellbeing. Those of us with diabetes have no choice but to jump into a daily routine of seeking "balance" in order to avoid complications.

I began writing The Diabetes Chronicles much before I was diagnosed. I have been interested in this disease for a number of reasons. On a personal level, I saw how my father, aunts, and uncles were challenged to enter a daily awareness of balance. I noticed how what they ate and how often they ate could so profoundly affect them and those around them. On a broader level, I seek to continue to study the disease because it remains a serious health problem among Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Yet, within the non-Latino population, the numbers are rising as well because of the increased fructose and sucrose products being added to our food: specifically corn by-products.

I have "inherited" Diabetes but many people today are developing the disease because of our national diet. Our children are inheriting a national diet that is wreaking havoc on delicately balanced bodies.

By chronicling Diabetes in my family, I am chronicling a fascinating "inheritance" of genetics, colonial history, and familial struggle and courage. I include "colonial history" because of what I have found in my research. An article in the International Journal of Epidemiology traces the ancestral origin of diabetes from the Spaniards to their arrival into Mexico.

This past August when I was diagnosed, I could not have written this entry. In fact, as you notice dear readers, I have been quite silent. In one of the books I've been reading entitled, The First Year--Type 2 Diabetes: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed, there is a section on "denial" and "acceptance." "If you're like most people, you're probably in a state of shock," writes Gretchen Becker (author of The First Year). She ends the chapter by writing: "But for now, just remember this . . . Your diabetes is not your fault." For me, writing this entry now has me at the "acceptance" stage. I'm still at times angry and frustrated but I'm spending more time doing something about it, active in my commitment to avoid complications. Maybe you have been diagnosed recently? Or maybe you've been in "the club" for a while now. I'd love to hear from you.

I leave you with more photos of some of the books I've been reading. Take care of yourselves. And a shout out "thank you" to Joy Castro for initiating the prompt "What is _The Diabetes Chronicles_?" and helping me break out of my "denial" and "silent" stage. Admitting you have diabetes is just another "coming out." I'm in "the club" as David Mendosa told me. David Mendosa is a freelance medical writer and consultant specializing in diabetes. Check out his most wonderful website: http://www.mendosa.com/

My discussion with David Mendosa will be shared with you soon. Be well.