French poet Paul Valery once wrote, “The problem with our present times is that our future isn’t what it used to be.” Valery understood that our perception of present conditions is forged by how we perceive our future.

Today, our perception of our future is made uncertain by turmoil in the financial markets, an economic slowdown and rising unemployment. And because we live in a region where the financial services sector is so concentrated, it is natural for us to be less optimistic about our economic prospects than we were two years ago.

Under these circumstances it has become commonplace for analysts to question whether the Finance Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) sectors in the New York Metropolitan Area will emerge in tact after the current financial storm. Because of a number of important demographic, historical and economic reasons, we believe that the New York Metro economy and FIRE sector will prove to be more resilient than they may appear to be from today’s vantage point.

While we all have been intently focused on the turmoil in the financial markets, of greater concern are the underpinnings of the economy. Job creation is considered to be a major indicator of economic health. We need to add about 100,000 new jobs a month to keep pace with population growth. However, the US economy has lost an average of 84,000 jobs every month since December 2007.

For the 12-month period ending August 2008, private sector employment in New York City rose by 31,000, or 1.0 percent, to 3,196,100 total jobs. The manufacturing (-6,700) and financial activities (-5,300) sectors lost the most jobs over the year. Although the crises at Lehman Brothers and AIG appear to be working out so as to avoid immediate large-scale layoffs, the continued financial sector turmoil guarantees that job losses on Wall Street will climb rapidly over the next few months.

For the 12-month period ending August 2008, New Jersey private sector employment declined by 12,100 private sector jobs, to 3,455,900 total private sector jobs. The state saw its largest declines in construction (-4,800), manufacturing (-10,500) and financial services (-9,500).

What is striking about these numbers is that New York City and New Jersey employ about the same number of people (New Jersey employs about 300,000 more). An important point that we tend to overlook is the extent to which New Jersey’s and New York City’s economies – and commercial real estate markets – are intertwined.

Through the third quarter of 2008, the commercial and industrial real estate markets have appeared to show signs of weakening but not of breaking. In New York City, 2008 leasing activity reached 15.7 million square feet at the end of September, as compared to 18.3 million square feet at that time last year. The overall vacancy rate has risen during the past 12 months, to 7.4 percent from 5.7 percent. Still, the number of large deals (100,000+ square feet) through the first three quarters of 2008 was up compared to last year, from 17 to 28, and Class A rents continue to climb – up to $92.57 per square foot in Midtown.

In New Jersey, office leasing in the state’s northern and central counties totaled 6.8 million square feet at the end of the third quarter, as compared to 7.6 million square feet at that time last year. The overall vacancy rate was up, from 16.4 percent to 17.8 percent. In Northern & Central New Jersey combined, the number of large deals (100,000+ square feet) through the first three quarters of 2008 was down compared to last year, from 27 to 14. Class A rents have held steady, registering at $30.02 per square foot at the end of September 2007 and at $30.09 per square foot today.

AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES AND URBANIZATION

For 200 years, New York City has been the largest city in the U.S. and continues to outperform most cities in the world. New York is one of the few major cities in the United States with a larger population today than it had fifty years ago. And its economy remains robust.

In absolute terms, NYC’s $1.13 trillion is second only to Tokyo’s (GDP of $1.19 trillion) among all cities. There are only 14 countries in the world with bigger economies than New York City’s. And though the city has a reputation for a high cost of living, the average New Yorker can buy more than counterparts in London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

The basic concept of “agglomeration economies” is that production is facilitated when there is a clustering of economic activity. The existence of agglomeration economies is central to the explanation of how cities increase in size and population. This concentration of economic activity in urban centers is the reason for their existence.

They can persist and grow throughout time, only if their advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

The tendency of a critical mass of people to attract more people to a region is the central idea of urban economics, and nowhere is that idea more obvious than in New York. Its initial advantage as a port attracted manufacturing and services to cater to the mercantile firms and to take advantage of low shipping costs. Scale matters because it allows producers to save on the costs of supplying goods and services.

Stock markets tend to be few in each country, often unique, and located in the largest cities. Typically, much of the economic activity relating to the stock market takes place in large cities. These facts suggest that agglomeration economies are as important in the financial markets as they are in manufacturing. In other words, productivity is enhanced for stock market workers and firms located in a large city.

The attraction of finance and business services to New York reflects the city’s advantages in facilitating interaction and in spreading information and innovation. By some estimates, transportation costs for goods have declined by as much as 95 percent over the 20th century; but there has been no comparable reduction in the cost of moving people.

Another factor that will serve to sustain New York and densely populated New Jersey is the global trend toward urbanization. This trend is as old as civilization itself but has accelerated with the industrial revolution of the 19th century and has further accelerated during the last 50 years. Within the next five years, half the population of the world will, for the first time, live in cities.

While cities can generate concentrations of poverty, crime, pollution and congestion, on balance, people lead more successful lives in cities. Cities are important not only as economic centers, but also as centers of culture, art, information and innovation. Cities prosper and grow because, on balance, their advantages outweigh their disadvantages.

At times, citizens and policy-makers in New Jersey tend to underestimate the importance of New York City to our state’s prosperity and well-being. We often view New York as a competitor. It is important that we behave as if the future of NJ is inextricably bound to that of NYC, because it is.

The good news is that with a $1.13 trillion economy, significant agglomeration economies, and critical mass, New York will thrive in the 21st Century and beyond. It behooves the region to harness the forces that have allowed New York City be a dominant actor in the world’s urban and financial stage.

It’s rare that the Chairman & CEO of JP Morgan Chase Jaime Dimon gives a public speech, but on Tuesday (July 8), he addressed the FDIC Mortgage Conference in Washington, DC. His topic was broad-based with the state of the financial markets and his overall economy as the focal points of his comments. The list of speakers at the conference was a who’s who, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

During his speech, Dimon expressed his concern about the tone in which some conservative members of Congress are addressing the immigration debate. In his speech, Dimon said, “Let’s not kill the golden goose.” He then went on to say, “I listen to some of our politicians speak, and I think they’re going to send ME back.” It was the only time he got some laughter and long applause in appreciation that some conservative members of Congress have gone too far with the immigration/deportation debate.

Dimon then added “we have to build a economy that is vibrant and healthy and some policies can destroy that . . . don’t destroy the beauty of this economy that could produce so much,” which was a message directed to those anti-immigrant members of Congress that immigrants are a source of growth for the U.S. economy.

His comments were very welcoming in my opinion as JP Morgan Chase recognizes the importance of immigration in the United States. His comments sparked a debate on CNBC, which is the official television network of Wall Street. Shortly after Dimon concluded his remarks, there was a short but clearly heated debate between CNBC contributor Charlie Gasparino and CNBC Anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. Gasparino thought that it was not a good speech by Dimon and added that he thought Dimon made a “crazy comment about immigration.” Caruso-Cabrera, feeling that Gasparino was injecting his own conservative views on immigration, cut him off to clarify and defend Dimon. It sparked an argument between Gasparino and Caruso-Cabrera. This is yet another example as to why it’s important that we have diversity in the broadcast media. Thankfully Caruso-Cabrera (who is Latina and was once named by Hispanic Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics” in the nation) set the record straight before a live national audience that Dimon’s stance on immigration is a positive one.

Even on Wall Street, the issue of immigration is a hot topic. I for one am thankful that the Chairman & CEO of the third largest banking institution in the United States understands the importance of immigration and it makes me feel proud to be a JP Morgan Chase customer. As a Wall Street financial analyst, it also gives me pleasure to see that we have anchors on CNBC such as Caruso-Cabrera who understand the positive of the immigration debate and will not allow contributors to inject their own politics into an objective economic debate.

To see some of the videos clips, visit http://www.cnbc.com/ and search “Dimon” and you will see some of the clips that I reference in this blog. Bravo to JP Morgan Chase President & CEO Jaime Dimon and bravo to CNBC Anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

There has been a lot of news in the last few weeks about rising prices for food at our grocery stores and warehouse clubs. One commodity that has seen a huge price increase has been the cost for rice. The cost of rice has doubled in the last year and there are concerns that it could rise even further over the next couple of months.

Ironically, the rise in cost for rice has prompted customers to buy even more rice in big bulks fearing that prices will continue to rise. In an unusual move, warehouse clubs Sam’s Club and Costco announced that they will limit the amount of rice that their customers can buy due to the low supply and the high demand for bulk-level rice.

This is something that needs attention primarily in the Latino, Asian, and immigrant communities. According to the California Rice Exchange, the average American eats about 20 pounds of rice per year but the average Asian eats about 150 pounds of rice per year. While the California Rice Exchange used Asians in their data, traditional Latino and Caribbean families also has a rice-heavy diet and could be comparable to the Asian diet when it comes to rice consumption.

The shortage of rice should be of particular concern for our community and may need attention from our elected officials. Latinos and Asians are being most impacted by the rise in prices for rice and the supply shortage for the 20- to 25-pound bags of rice that many Latino families buy for use in their everyday meals. This is most concerning for Latinos on fixed income such as senior citizens, whose cost-of-living adjustments may not reflect the rising cost of food, in particular rice.

Talking about rice shortages may not be the most glamorous topic among political circles, but if you talk to any Latino family that puts rice on their table every day, this is increasingly a serious issue. I think this challenge must be monitored very closely especially since there appears to be a disconnect between what is happening with rice supplies at the grocery stores, warehouse clubs, and bodegas versus what is being said in the media the by the USA Rice Federation when they’re claiming that there is no rice shortage in the U.S. today.

How often do you think about your career? Not your job, your role, what you do day to day at the office but your career? How is it progressing? Are you where you want to be? Thought you would be? I must confess I am intrigued by people who have their career mapped out years in advance. I have mentors who know exactly where they want to be 5, 10 years from now. Their plan is detailed, mapped out. They review it regularly with their mentors, managers and sponsors.

Frankly, I love talking about career development. It’s so much fun! I love strategizing and planning who I will learn from, what competencies I want to develop, what scenarios I deliberately put myself in so I can grow. It’s even more fun when you’ve got a manager or mentor to strategize with. As a Latina in Corporate America, I strongly believe it’s absolutely crucial to have regular career development discussions with your mentors AND your manager. By regular I mean at LEAST once a quarter. (I have a career development item on the agenda for my monthly meetings with my manager.) Believe me, your colleagues are having these conversations much more often than this.

Years ago a former mentor told me he spends half his working time in career or mentoring discussions. This absolutely floored and challenged me to the core. This man was a Director at Microsoft. And he chose to spend his time this way. Truly the importance of career development cannot be overstated. And as a result of that conversation I spend more time thinking about my career and direction.

Frankly, I worry about our young Latinas graduating from college and entering the workforce. Will they ask for and get the support they need to be successful? Will they be taken advantage of because they have yet to learn the art of negotiation? Will they work so hard and burn out and wonder is it worth it? The answer is yes to all the above! This is the learning process of Corporate America. My hope and prayer, however, is that they do not go at it alone. Let me tell you, it’s one thing to talk to your girlfriends or boyfriends about what’s happening at work. It is all together another conversation to talk to a mentor about what’s happening at work AND develop a plan of action.

So where do you see yourself 5, 10 years from now? What’s your vision for your life and your career? I encourage every Latina who reads this to have these conversations regularly. Create a plan and ask people you respect and admire for input on a regular basis. Be deliberate about your career! I guarantee you won’t regret it and you will have a lot more fun along the way.

On March 8, 1908, more than 15,000 women marched through the streets of Manhattan in the first ever international Women’s Day celebration. They marched to demand shorter working hours, an end to sweatshop working conditions, better pay, an end to child labor, and the right to vote. They were immigrant women mostly from eastern European countries; immigrants much like those today who had come to American looking to build the American Dream, yet had to struggle everyday to make that dream a reality.

One hundred years later, the struggle to keep the American Dream alive continues. Workers everywhere, especially women workers, have seen how building the American dream has become more difficult everyday. Women in the workplace today still face discrimination. A new report by the ITUC, the Global Gender Pay Gap, demonstrated that women throughout the world are paid 16% less than their male counterparts. According to the US Census Bureau, the gap is even wider in the US; in 2007 women were paid only 77 cents for every dollar a man is paid. These figures are even worse for women of color: African-American women earn only 68 cents and Latinas 57 cents for every dollar a man earns. Pay inequality is less severe for White women than for women as a whole, but they still earn only 88 cents for every dollar that men earned in 2000.

This wage discrimination has an impact on the economic viability not only on women, but on the entire family. Today more women than ever work for a living. According to the US Department of Labor, in 2003 nearly four in every five mothers with school age children were in the paid workforce. Wage discrimination, stagnant wages combined with the lack of good health care and pension benefits in the majority of jobs, makes it difficult for women to accumulate enough wealth during their working years.

It is no wonder then that for most working women, achieving the American Dream has become more difficult everyday. According to a poll by Celinda Lake, nearly three out of four voters believe that it is becoming harder to achieve the American Dream. Women are working harder everyday and earning less; they are losing benefits and are concerned about the lack of opportunities for their children to receive good childcare and a good education. For the 2008 presidential elections, key economic issues like good jobs with health care benefits and a pension have overtaken the war as the dominant issue for the 2008 presidential elections.

One hundred years of struggle by women has brought at least some changes. Women are able to vote their pocketbook issues and they are demanding that candidates put forth clear proposals on health care and education, and in some states forcing legislators to adopt Paid Family Leave (like NJ) and Wage Adjustments programs in more than 12 states including Iowa. Women voters today are the backbone of the Democratic Party, voting in greater numbers than any other group and demanding that their concerns are part of any presidential candidate’s platform. Although having a woman run for president is history in itself, the fact that both candidates (Clinton and Obama) have been forced to debate issues like health care demonstrates that women’s pocketbook issues cannot be ignored.

One hundred years later, on the anniversary of the first-ever Women’s Day march, we can once again celebrate the gains that women working together have brought forth in our society. Those immigrant women who marched on the streets of Manhattan 100 hundred years ago gave us the right to vote. And today we are voting because we want to make sure we keep building the American Dream for our families and our future generations.

¡Que Viva el Día Internacional de Las Mujeres! ¡Que Vivan las Mujeres!

With less than two months left in my Peace Corps service I have entered the phase that begs an answer to the question: What happens when I go home?

Currently, I have two choices. I can either go to graduate school or to go to work. Right now, the prospects of looking for a job are scary. The “R” word is springing up in every economic article I read and job hunting from another country is challenging in itself. But regardless, I have to carry on.

This past week I’ve completed a few online job applications. Filling a job application seems like a foreign concept to me now. For example, I was taken aback by one application that asked for my ethnicity and to check one of the following: Asian – Bangladesh, Asian – Chinese, Asian – Japanese, Asian – Indian, Asian – Korean, Asian – Other, Asian – Pakistan, Black – African, Black – Caribbean, Black – Other, Hispanic – Other, Hispanic – White, Native American/Alaskan, Other (Minority), Pacific Island/Hawaiian, White, or Decline Comment.

That’s a total of seventeen choices. Seventeen! I can’t think of one good reason why a company would list sixteen different “ethnicities”. I am not even going to list any potential reasons because I’m just shocked (you could blame my time being away from America, but regardless I am still shocked). And personally, I am debating between two choices because I feel comfortable with either one of them.

Now, the interesting point here is the division that is being made between “Hispanic – White” and “Hispanic – other”. I guess I would be “Hispanic – Other”. Could I live being called an “Other”? I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to see.

I know this isn’t something new. But in this blog entry I want to ask you: What do you think of this?

So I’m gonna end this with a few questions: When did the labeling of Latinos start? Is this right? What’s the difference between “Hispanic – Other” and “Hispanic – White”? And finally, is this legal? And if so, should it be?

Please comment on one or more of these questions. I am looking forward to your comments.

Ever since I was a young, I have always looked forward to the month of February. The reason is that it has such a cultural and historical significance for me. As a Dominican American and an Afro-Latino, I embrace the month of February as both Black History Month and Dominican Heritage Month. February is Black History Month due to the expansion in 1976 of Negro Heritage Week into a month-long celebration of Black History. February is Dominican Heritage Month because Dominicans Independence Day is on February 27 and the celebration has since expanded into a month-long celebration of Dominican heritage.

Many other Dominican Americans share the same sentiment as I do of the importance of celebrating both our Dominican heritage as well as our African heritage in February. According to Dominican census data, 84% of the population in the Dominican Republic has African ancestry. Virtually every major Latin American country has African history and African influence in its culture. This make February an important month for the millions of Afro-Latinos who live in the U.S.

When I think of the month of February, I think of my father, Dr. James A. Wilson, who graduated from La Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo Medical School (a.k.a. “La UASD”) in 1956. In November 2006, my mother and I accompanied my father to Santo Domingo for his 50th Year Class Reunion of La UASD Medical School graduating class of 1956. I felt compelled to join him because I admire and celebrate my father’s amazing story of growing up dirt poor in the Batey Central of Barahona, Dominican Republic under a racist dictator Rafael Trujillo. Despite the overwhelming adversities that my father had to overcome, he graduated as the only Black Dominican medical student from La UASD in that graduating class.

When my father immigrated to the U.S. to do his medical residency work in 1957, he found himself experiencing and witnessing the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. He told me of his stories of racial discrimination both in the U.S. and in the Dominican Republic towards Blacks and how he would not let that get in the way of his goals and dreams of becoming a medical doctor. My father’s experiences are ones that are familiar to many Afro-Latinos in the United States . . . double discrimination, because you are Black and because you are a Latino.

Today, my father still shows me his La UASD class photo as a reminder to never forget that I am Dominican American and that my heritage traces back to Africa. It’s obviously not hard for anyone to figure out who in that 1956 class photo is my dad.

My father would eventually go on to have a successful career as a community physician in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, where I was born. He practiced medicine for 40 years in Washington Heights and only in the last few years did he retire. He became a role model for many Dominican physicians who would later follow my dad and immigrate to the U.S. and start their own medical practices.

But my father is role model for me for a different reason . . . because he is a proud Afro-Latino and is not shy to embrace his African roots as well as his Dominican heritage. Watching and listening to him taught me as a young boy growing up in the very culturally and racially diverse community of Bergen County that February was a double blessing for me. I got to celebrate Black History Month and Dominican Heritage Month at the same time.

My family raised me very Dominican. I embraced bachata, merengue, and especially Perico ripiao because of its African influence in the music. Waking up Saturday mornings to mangú con queso or arroz con leche was very customary for my family. Having arroz con habichúelas (o gandules) con pollo y plátanos (maduros o fritos) for dinner was normal. While having dinner, I was always reminded by my father that I must work twice as hard as my Caucasian counterparts because I was Dominican, Latino, and Black. Nothing was going to be handed to me. I would have to excel to achieve my dreams and goals. When I told him that my dream was to work on Wall Street and be a positive political influence in my community, he said “Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do and don’t be afraid to be a stand-out leader”.

It seemed so appropriate when Black Enterprise Magazine did a story in February 2004 titled “The Afro-Latino Connection.” That was the issue where I shared the cover page with Hollywood actress Gina Torres. The timing of the magazine article was so appropriate because it happened in the month of February. It’s amazing to me that almost four years later, I still get pulled aside from people who remember me from the B.E. cover, expressing positive feedback for that article because it raised the awareness that there are millions of Afro-Latino who celebrate both our Latino and African heritage.

Today, I continue to follow in my father’s footsteps. I am Life Member of the NAACP and a President’s Council member of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). I was the National President of the Dominican American National Roundtable (DANR) in Washington, DC and I’m a founding boardmember of Dominicans On Wall Street (DOWS). When I was in college, I was the only student to mentor both African-American and Latino students as an upper classman at The Ohio State University. I marched in the Million Man March on October 16, 1995 with my NAACP colleagues and I marched on April 10, 2006 at Liberty State Park for the National Day of Action For Immigrant Justice with my Latino brothers and sisters. I believe that my success is rooted in the fact that I grew up celebrating my rich Latino and African heritage, especially in February.

So as we continue to progress through the culturally-significant month of February, I urge all Latinos to participate in the many activities that help raise the awareness of the rich history of African influence in our Latino culture. I, for one, am blessed and thankful to my African and Latino ancestors who overcame so many challenges so that I could get the opportunity to achieve my dream of working on Wall Street and eventually proving to the skeptics that a Black Latino could be a #1 ranked Wall Street financial analyst and still find time to give back to our community professionally, culturally, and personally. When the day comes that I have children, I will pass along to them the rich Afro-Latino values that my parents instilled in me.

I wish everyone a very blessed February.

Columbus and his mangy crew may have brought bacalao (salted codfish) to the New World but Carmen Robles perfected it in her bacalao y berenjena (eggplant) dish. This dish does not take long to prepare and is delicious. Give it a try!

Berenjena y Bacalao

Ingredients

2 pounds dried salted codfish (bacalao)
2 medium berenjena (eggplants)
3 large cloves of garlic or one tablespoon pure garlic powder
Manteca de achiote or 1½ packs of Sazon con achiote
Half can tomato sauce
One medium onion
Dash of pepper

One baking dish
One heavy duty large pan

Cut eggplant lengthwise and bake face down with a small bit of water at 350 degrees for about half hour or until tender. Peel eggplant and remove as many seeds as possible then cut into bite size pieces. Place to side.

Boil codfish 2 times to get rid of most of the salt. The first time, drop in codfish after water boils for 10 minutes. Then boil it again with fresh water for 20-25 minutes. This should remove most of the salt.

Break up codfish into small bite-size pieces and place in bowl with eggplant.

In hot pan place 2 tablespoons of manteca de achiote or, if this is not available, coat bottom of pan with olive oil and add a pack and a half Sazon Goya with achiote. Then add crushed garlic and chopped onion; cook until onion is translucent. Stir in eggplant and codfish and tomato sauce; mix well. Cook for about 10-15 minutes and serve with white rice.

In Latino cultures especially Puerto Rican we sometimes talk about being enbacalao. We are having a bad day or bad luck. Things just aren’t smelling right. That’s what I am blogging about this time; a bad mojo between people with disabilities and those who temporarily don’t have a disability. Let’s break down another barrier in hopes of creating a better world to live in.

You ever get the feeling that people are uncomfortable around you? That what you do and say makes them feel uneasy and sometimes embarrassed? We have all been there at one time or another — whether crossing that racial divide or meeting someone new. So how do you feel if you think you’re making people uncomfortable a great deal of the time?

I know I make my mother Carmen uncomfortable when I drive and she is my passenger. Here is a little glimpse into my drive with Carmen.

I wheel into my lift and push the buttons on it “up and in.” Once in the van I roll my wheelchair right in front of the steering wheel. My chair auto locks to the floor and I work the digital control pad to start and shift.

No sooner do I start my car than I hear Carmen, “Padre nuestro que estas en los cielos …” This praying goes on for a good 10 minutes at which point I begin to think: She does not seem too comfortable. She never gets very comfortable.

During Turnpike drives she likes to gently tap me. Why? “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t sleeping.” Holy crap! Why the heck would I be sleeping and driving?

If I listen to NPR she says, “Que es esa porqueria? Don’t you have Spanish stations?”

Honestly, no matter what you hear my driving is not that bad.

I know I make some people uncomfortable. More importantly I have come to believe that a little discomfort by someone else does not bother me a bit. In fact, it can be used as a “learning tool” for the “socially challenged.”

Why do I think I make people uncomfortable? you ask.

For readers of this blog who don’t know me, my presence can be a bit daunting at first. I am a hefty Puerto Rican in a motorized wheelchair and most of the time I travel with my service dog, Janus (to learn more about service dogs go to www.cci.org).

Needless to say many people who see me for the first time think one of a few things such as:

God this guy is so courageous.
Mira Juan, this guy in a wheelchair has a full-time job and you can’t even get a bagging job at Twin City.
Believe and you will walk again!
Holy crap shouldn’t this guy be home in a hospital bed?

People with disabilities are either heroes, non-believers, or sickly. It is our job to make categories and neat boxes we can fit groups of people into. In some cases these categories are developed by long-standing cultural beliefs and traditions, many which are alive and well in many of our countries.

I am here to crush your neat boxes and to kick your misconceptions right were it hurts. I want to rip traditions which claim that it is better to pity the cripple than empower the citizen with a disability. Traditions which thrive on a caste system of social inequality so damaging to the psyche, that many cannot bear the burden they have become. I am not only talking of Latinos but also of the “mainstream,” which profess ideological superiority on issues of equality, but fall short in practice.

Are you thinking Javier is being a little harsh? What’s he complaining about? He has handicapped parking.

I supposed it is a frustration that develops from the day one acquires a disability. It slowly builds and builds and builds then one day you either scream out the window or write this blog. There is a serious need to reevaluate the significance and value of people with disabilities. Not how they make us feel when they miraculously walk out of their wheelchair but how they make us feel when we know they will always be in a wheelchair. I am not discouraging hope, prayer or a belief in a higher power. What I am saying is that the first steps to improving our relationship with people with disabilities are acceptance and power sharing.

Acceptance of the person’s disability seems simple but it carries implications that challenge our traditional misconceptions. The ones no one knows about. The fear to approach someone with a disability, to talk with them and to offer friendship. Worse still, the fact that I am one car accident away from having a disability. Acceptance comes only when one forgets everything you never knew you learned.

So what about power-sharing? My hermanos y hermanas, we in the Latino/a community are only beginning to understand the importance of having a stake in this country’s future. Across the board it is our responsibility to offer every member of the community a portion of our progress. In reality, for people with disabilities it starts with access and ends with jobs. There is too little of either to go around. Moreover, when people such as myself do have access and jobs, we must contend with discrimination from all sectors top to bottom. Do not be fooled — success still has a price. While women have managed to some extent to break through the “glass ceiling,” people with disabilities who are working are buried under a “concrete ramp” pointed straight down. Insuring that Latinos with disabilities are part of our economic and political fabric strengthens us. It allows for growth and power-sharing.

Many of us understand what it’s like to feel like outsiders right within our own communities. That’s what it’s like every day for people with disabilities in this country. To be overlooked and undervalued causes a strong feeling of worthlessness. I — like many other people with disabilities — refuse to be put in a box and labeled for the convenience of others. Family members and friends of people with disabilities are the first line of education about the abilities and contributions that people with disabilities have and will continue to make.

In order to be inclusive we must re-examine ourselves and organizations as they relate to disability inclusion. Many of our leaders feel that it’s okay not to have a ramp, accessible bathrooms, or an inclusive attitude. However, empowerment and power-sharing begin at the basest level and sometimes that means getting people with disabilities into your front door. People with disabilities should not just be viewed as consumers or clients; they should be on their boards and making decisions.

No one wants to be enbacalao. Therefore, treat everyone as you would want to be treated

On Friday, February 15, Nielsen Media Research released its study identifying the impact of the digital conversion that will take place one year from now — February 17, 2009. At that time, full-power broadcast stations will stop broadcasting an analog signal and transmit only a digital signal. Homes that get their television programming over an antenna and do not have a digital TV set will not be able to get a picture unless they purchase a special converter box. According to Nielsen, 13 million households in the U.S. receive television programming over the air on non-digital TV sets. Another 6 million households contain at least one television that is non-digital. Due to the mandatory conversion imposed by the federal government on the broadcast stations, millions will need converter boxes within a year or else face a complete blackout of television programming. Residents with cable or satellite television do not have to worry about the conversion because their cable or satellite company will convert the signal.

Latinos are nearly twice as likely to be adversely impacted by the mandatory conversion as other segments of our population. Based on Nielsen’s study, 10.1% of all households would have no access to television signals if the transition occurred today. Broken down by race, this translates to 8.8% of whites; 11.7% of Asians; 12.4% of blacks; and 17.3% of Latinos.

The fact that nearly one in five Latinos will lose their television signal unless they convert should be of grave concern. For many in our community who do not use computers or own vehicles with radios, the only source of information is the television set, especially for Latinos who rely on Univision and Telemundo for their news. In the event of an emergency, one in five Latinos will not be informed.

The reality is that the reason so many Latinos are at risk of losing their television signal is because of the high cost of a digital TV and the rising cost of cable television. Many immigrant and working-class Latinos have to prioritize their expenses to pay for things such as rent, food, and other key living necessities. While in my opinion a television is a necessity, many working-class Latinos do not have the luxury of paying for cable television or purchasing a high definition television. Now this segment of our community is at risk of being left out of communication unless the government does more to help prepare for the digital conversion.

The National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA), a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, needs to do more to raise the awareness of this conversion. Converter boxes are available at most electronic stores for about $60, but the government offers coupons worth $40 that can be used towards the purchase. However, the NTIA admits on its own website that there is not enough funding to give everyone who needs a converter box a coupon, which means that either Congress will have to increase funding for the program or the coupon program will run out and leave our community without television service.

To request a coupon, consumers can apply online at https://www.dtv2009.gov or call the 24-hour hotline, 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009). We need to raise the awareness of this potential hidden crisis that could impact Latinos the most. As we get closer to the February 17, 2009 deadline, we need to be watchful of how much funding is left for the coupon program. If we begin to hear that the NTIA is running out of funding, we will need to urge Congress and the next President of the United States that they need to do more to keep members of our community from losing their television signal.

As you can see from my last entry, it has been a while since I last wrote on this blog. You can say I have been having a little bit of writer’s block, which I have concluded happened because I just couldn’t put the right kind of words together to express the feelings of “electoral frustration ” I am having with the presidential campaigns. Since Iowa, then New Hampshire, Nevada and now South Carolina, I have watched how real issues are becoming second place to “race and gender” spins calculated by the Clinton campaign and propagated by the media.

But a story last night on CNN spoke about the reality: Black women voters in South Carolina are more concerned about the issues that impact them (i.e., the economy, health care) than about the race or gender of the candidate. At last, I said, somebody is talking to real voters … are Clinton and Obama listening?

While President Bush and Congress try to put together an economic package to jumpstart the economy, the two main presidential candidates are engaged in a tug of war as to who is really making history, a woman or a black candidate. Meanwhile, the only candidate with a real plan to change the economy for middle-class Americans, John Edwards (the not so historic candidate because he is a white Anglo-Saxon male), barely gets an opportunity to highlight how his plan would really jumpstart opportunities for working people and end the health care crisis of this country.

And we do have a crisis in health care! Just here in our Garden State, we have more than 1 million residents who are uninsured (almost 48 million people nationally) and more and more hospitals everyday are closing because they cannot get reimbursements for all the charity care they have to provide to poor working Americans. The closings of the two hospitals in Newark highlight a growing trend in our state: Hospitals who serve poor people in working class neighborhoods cannot afford to provide health care to citizens anymore.

What is the solution? What are cities like Newark to do when hospitals close? No one really has an answer…those should be the real type of issues candidates should be addressing when they visit our state. Or, in this case, those should be the right kind of questions we voters should be asking of them every time they show up in our backyard claiming to be the real candidates for change.

Latinos, just like African-American women in South Carolina, do care about the issues more than they care about the race and gender of the candidate. But while Clinton can depend on her popularity (and that of her husband) to get the majority of the Hispanic vote, her actions in Nevada demonstrated that she cannot ignore our issues because Hispanics are also listening to Obama, and some to Edwards. In Las Vegas, she went to war with the Culinary Union when the union decided to start talking to its mostly immigrants members about Obama’s record for working families. And yet, Obama has a lot to learn about putting together a national campaign to reach out to Latino voters.

We have a lot of time left to keep demanding answers from our candidates. In that regard, I decided my frustration should be turned into action to get voters to vote on our primary day on February 5th. At the end of the day, it does not matter who we individually vote for because by voting our conscious we will remind Clinton, Obama, Edwards and the Republican candidates that our issues matter, not just our race or gender.

And if you do get a call from any of the candidates to remind you to vote on Tuesday, Feb 5th, PLEASE do ask them what they plan to do about our health care crisis. Let’s make that the issue to debate in this presidential campaign!