Robert miranda's Blog
Robert Miranda is a national award winning columnist, Latino community activist and Editor-in-Chief of the Milwaukee Spanish Journal. Email at: rmiranda@wi.rr.com
Colón had no problem waltzing over to Georgia Pabst of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to ballyhoo his desire to see me terminated from my position as Executive Director of Esperanza Unida. At the end of the article Georgia Pabst wrote: "Miranda said he was inviting Colón to join him in a town hall meeting to discuss Esperanza Unida 'so he could hear what I have to say'".
I sent the following letter to Colón:
July 18, 2008
State Representative Pedro A. Colón
W State Capitol Bldg 104N
Madison, WI 53702-0001
Ref: Invitation to a public debate
Dear State Representative Colón:
You recently contacted Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Georgia Pabst to express your desire to ask the Board of Directors of Esperanza Unida to fire me for "poor job performance" as Executive Director of Esperanza Unida.
The Board of Directors of Esperanza Unida never received any correspondence from you prior to you contacting the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, so it appears your action is politically motivated.
Nevertheless, I'm inviting you to a town hall meeting to discuss your concerns and present to the public my plans for rebuilding Esperanza Unida.
I am making arrangements to have our community room at 611 West National Ave. host the town hall meeting. I propose that this town hall meeting be held on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 6:00PM. If you are unable to attend because of a schedule conflict, please provide me with a date and time and I will be happy to accommodate.
I hope you will accept this invitation to discuss your concerns and to hear my plans for our future. This public debate will give many in our community an opportunity to see what we have been doing to rebuild this very important agency. It will also give you an opportunity to present your case.
I look forward to your prompt response.
Sincerely,
Robert Miranda
Executive Director
----------------------------------------------
COLON'S RECORD IN MADISON IS NOT ONLY WEAK; IT SEEMS HIS BACKBONE IS FEEBLE ALSO...
WAITING FOR OUR DEBATE.
ROBERT MIRANDA
I sent the following letter to Colón:
July 18, 2008
State Representative Pedro A. Colón
W State Capitol Bldg 104N
Madison, WI 53702-0001
Ref: Invitation to a public debate
Dear State Representative Colón:
You recently contacted Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Georgia Pabst to express your desire to ask the Board of Directors of Esperanza Unida to fire me for "poor job performance" as Executive Director of Esperanza Unida.
The Board of Directors of Esperanza Unida never received any correspondence from you prior to you contacting the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, so it appears your action is politically motivated.
Nevertheless, I'm inviting you to a town hall meeting to discuss your concerns and present to the public my plans for rebuilding Esperanza Unida.
I am making arrangements to have our community room at 611 West National Ave. host the town hall meeting. I propose that this town hall meeting be held on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 6:00PM. If you are unable to attend because of a schedule conflict, please provide me with a date and time and I will be happy to accommodate.
I hope you will accept this invitation to discuss your concerns and to hear my plans for our future. This public debate will give many in our community an opportunity to see what we have been doing to rebuild this very important agency. It will also give you an opportunity to present your case.
I look forward to your prompt response.
Sincerely,
Robert Miranda
Executive Director
----------------------------------------------
COLON'S RECORD IN MADISON IS NOT ONLY WEAK; IT SEEMS HIS BACKBONE IS FEEBLE ALSO...
WAITING FOR OUR DEBATE.
ROBERT MIRANDA
Milwaukee - Rep. Pedro Colon survived an extensive challenge of his nomination papers by one of his opponents this week.
The state Government Accountability Board out of Madison voted to place Colon on the ballot after reviewing the challenges to his papers made by Milwaukee Democrat Laura L. Manríquez.
The Government Accountability Board is charged with ensuring that state statutes and rules governing nomination papers submitted by individuals seeking public office are completed and submitted according to the Laws of Wisconsin and the rules of the Government Accountability Board.
In the end, Colon squeaked by with 243 of the 200 he needed to be placed on the ballot for the 8th Assembly district primary on September 9, 2008. Colon had submitted over 275 signatures. The Government Accountability Board initially discounted numerous signatures. Read More »
The state Government Accountability Board out of Madison voted to place Colon on the ballot after reviewing the challenges to his papers made by Milwaukee Democrat Laura L. Manríquez.
The Government Accountability Board is charged with ensuring that state statutes and rules governing nomination papers submitted by individuals seeking public office are completed and submitted according to the Laws of Wisconsin and the rules of the Government Accountability Board.
In the end, Colon squeaked by with 243 of the 200 he needed to be placed on the ballot for the 8th Assembly district primary on September 9, 2008. Colon had submitted over 275 signatures. The Government Accountability Board initially discounted numerous signatures. Read More »
Hispanic and Black separatists have been spearheading national debate on the issue of Black and Brown coalitions. The debate has become intense now that Barack Obama has become the democratic front runner for President of the United States.
As the election season continues, separatists will develop more reasons for creating divisions between African-Americans and Latinos, and it will be fueled by each side's elementary point of view of the other. We compete against each other in the oppression Olympics in order to position ourselves at the place on the table where we think the biggest crumb will go.
Hispanics claim that Blacks are one-upping them if Obama wins the presidency and Blacks charge that Hispanics are getting more than their fair share. Such Tomfoolery only perpetuates division and continues segregation between the groups, who by and large, have no real political or economic power in this country.
I'm not naive to believe that tossing in the red, white and blue will bring us together as a people, so professing that we are Americans and that we should simply move forward as Americans in the best interest of America would only put the elephant in the room out of sight. In fact, White America continues to treat Black America differently, so the notion of a united America can be argued is a myth as well. If we are truly dedicated to stabilizing our communities and doing, as Barack Obama professes, and that is to change America, why then promote gender and racial differences?
White liberal democrat and former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, a former member of Sen. Hillary Clinton's finance committee, recently exposed her racist sentiments when she boomed for the public to hear that Obama is only where he's at because he's Black. Not because the guy is brilliant. Not because he has leadership traits that make him a formidable presidential candidate. He's winning because he's Black is what Ferraro wants the general public to believe.
Such talk coming from a leader of the dominate culture in this society resonates with the uneducated masses and separatists' movements that continue to deteriorate the ideals of liberty and principles of justice this nation should uphold.
But those ideas and principles become lost when individuals like Ferraro open up their mouths to espouse profound words of ignorance. Obviously, these words are then taken as proof positive by many under-educated people in the public as truth.
Hispanics tend to gravitate to these kinds of messages. Just like Blacks tend to gravitate to the idea that Hispanics are taking their jobs. The reality for Black and Brown people is that we have no control of this country's financial institutions nor do we have any real power in Wall Street or the federal government. As consumers we have some leverage, but not even there do we get respect from Corporate America, which dumps inferior products into our communities.
Obama's candidacy is being pointed to as an example of the myth of Black and Brown coalitions. In fact, I have yet to see any real organizing taking place across the country to build a Black and Brown coalition in support of Obama.
So, if there is no Black and Brown coalition being organized, then how is it that it can be argued that such a coalition is a myth? This is not to say that we should organize around any issue, indeed, we should come together around issues that benefit both communities--working with those who are recognized community leaders.
Obama won the Hispanic vote in his home state of Illinois, albeit by a small margin. There was no Black and Brown coalition established to make that happen. It happened because Obama was fairly known in the Latino community of Illinois.
The vote for Obama could have been better, but as Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez pointed out, Obama's campaign lacked cohesion in reaching the Hispanic voters in Illinois.
Without outreach and organizing, there will never be cohesion in building a Black and Brown coalition; but then again, that's probably what the separatists and nationalists on both sides leading the debate today would prefer. If so, will this lack of cohesion help build a united America, or continue down the path of self-destruction?
As the election season continues, separatists will develop more reasons for creating divisions between African-Americans and Latinos, and it will be fueled by each side's elementary point of view of the other. We compete against each other in the oppression Olympics in order to position ourselves at the place on the table where we think the biggest crumb will go.
Hispanics claim that Blacks are one-upping them if Obama wins the presidency and Blacks charge that Hispanics are getting more than their fair share. Such Tomfoolery only perpetuates division and continues segregation between the groups, who by and large, have no real political or economic power in this country.
I'm not naive to believe that tossing in the red, white and blue will bring us together as a people, so professing that we are Americans and that we should simply move forward as Americans in the best interest of America would only put the elephant in the room out of sight. In fact, White America continues to treat Black America differently, so the notion of a united America can be argued is a myth as well. If we are truly dedicated to stabilizing our communities and doing, as Barack Obama professes, and that is to change America, why then promote gender and racial differences?
White liberal democrat and former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, a former member of Sen. Hillary Clinton's finance committee, recently exposed her racist sentiments when she boomed for the public to hear that Obama is only where he's at because he's Black. Not because the guy is brilliant. Not because he has leadership traits that make him a formidable presidential candidate. He's winning because he's Black is what Ferraro wants the general public to believe.
Such talk coming from a leader of the dominate culture in this society resonates with the uneducated masses and separatists' movements that continue to deteriorate the ideals of liberty and principles of justice this nation should uphold.
But those ideas and principles become lost when individuals like Ferraro open up their mouths to espouse profound words of ignorance. Obviously, these words are then taken as proof positive by many under-educated people in the public as truth.
Hispanics tend to gravitate to these kinds of messages. Just like Blacks tend to gravitate to the idea that Hispanics are taking their jobs. The reality for Black and Brown people is that we have no control of this country's financial institutions nor do we have any real power in Wall Street or the federal government. As consumers we have some leverage, but not even there do we get respect from Corporate America, which dumps inferior products into our communities.
Obama's candidacy is being pointed to as an example of the myth of Black and Brown coalitions. In fact, I have yet to see any real organizing taking place across the country to build a Black and Brown coalition in support of Obama.
So, if there is no Black and Brown coalition being organized, then how is it that it can be argued that such a coalition is a myth? This is not to say that we should organize around any issue, indeed, we should come together around issues that benefit both communities--working with those who are recognized community leaders.
Obama won the Hispanic vote in his home state of Illinois, albeit by a small margin. There was no Black and Brown coalition established to make that happen. It happened because Obama was fairly known in the Latino community of Illinois.
The vote for Obama could have been better, but as Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez pointed out, Obama's campaign lacked cohesion in reaching the Hispanic voters in Illinois.
Without outreach and organizing, there will never be cohesion in building a Black and Brown coalition; but then again, that's probably what the separatists and nationalists on both sides leading the debate today would prefer. If so, will this lack of cohesion help build a united America, or continue down the path of self-destruction?
Posts By Month
PostsHighestRated Posts
