A Latino Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste
By Victor Escalante, NewsTaco
San Antonio’s Mayor Julian Castro is bullish on education and the advancement of Latinos in the city and the country. Seen as a rising star, syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrtte, coined the word Latinobama in 2009. In today’s political climate that may be a derogatory term, but back then, the Obama Brand was new and shiny. It is no wonder that Democrats made history by selecting Mr. Castro, the first Latino Keynote speaker at the Democratic National convention in 2012.
Julian and his twin brother congressional candidate Joaquin Castro, are third generation descendents on one side of the family, of immigrants from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. They grew up deep in the barrio of San Antonio, but their mother made the necessary sacrifice to make sure they eventually went to a better school to enter into Standford and Harvard both graduating with a doctorate degree in jurisprudence.
Both twin brothers serve on boards, agencies, and commissions too long to list for the advancement of education. A Latino mind is too good to waste, like these two rising Latino Astros, as well as many other generation X’ers and Millennials now in the public and private sector.
Last week Mayor Castro won a unanimous vote from city council to add a referendum in the November election, so voters can decide the use of a small percentage of the city’s sales tax to educate some 4,000 pre-K students. This was a slam dunk to get it on the ballot with the support of a coalition of educators, key business, and seven former mayors. The battle lines have already been drawn with some sectors crying foul to a tax increase of $7.81 per household to invest in this initiative.
Julian as I have said before is an example of the new breed of Latinos 3.0., that are educated and know firsthand the challenges Latinos face and are using leadership and their political and intellectual capital to pull others up the ladder. You make us proud Mr. Castro, and we will be cheering for you.
[Photo by Victor Escalante]In photo Mayor Julian Castro speaking with Felipe a Dream Act activist, at the first community meal after their months long fast ended.
