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The 2005
winners of the Anna Maria Arias Memorial
Business Fund Awards |
I know I am not alone in my disbelief and sadness at
the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. So many
lives ravaged by a storm. For someone who has lived
most of his life in earthquake country, I am quite
familiar with major disasters, but hurricanes
followed by floods are difficult to understand.
Texas and the Gulf Coast faced another disaster with
Hurricane Rita. What’s next? One thing is for sure:
Rebuilding property will take a long time;
rebuilding lives will take even longer. I urge you
to give generously to the organizations that are
helping the refugees; visit the American Red Cross
online at
www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html
Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations are taking
place all over the country. For us here in D.C.,
this is a time when we get to see old friends, as
Latinas and Latinos from every corner of the country
come join the celebrations. In our “His View” column,
Juan Gutierrez, one of the pioneers of the Hispanic
empowerment movement here in D.C., reflects on how
things have changed since we first began to
celebrate our Hispanic heritage in the city. We
encourage you to respond to his column at
editor@latinastyle.com.
I continue to marvel at the accomplishments of
Latinas. Excelling everywhere you look, they are our
true engine for economic empowerment in our
community. A perfect example is our cover story. The
Latinas working with the President and First Lady in the White House are a distinguished group of women.
They are demonstrating that our Latinas can do
anything they put their minds to. On that note, we
were proud to recognize in Milwaukee at the U.S.
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s (USHCC) National
Convention the recipients of the 2005 Anna Maria
Arias Memorial Business Fund Awards, a collaboration
between the USHCC, Wells Fargo and LATINA Style. You
can read more about these 10 amazing Latinas in this
issue.
Supreme Court hearings have dominated the political
news. Following the proceedings closely, we waited
on the edge of our seats for “our” nomination. Mr.
President, Hispanics across the country were
counting on your vision to nominate the first
Hispanic to the highest court in the land. Attorney
General Alberto Gonzalez was the name we heard of
the most; he certainly has served you and our
country with distinction. But if you believed that a
woman was the right person for the job, you could
have nominated the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor. First
nominated by President George H. W. Bush, she was
confirmed in 1992 by the U.S. Senate to serve as a
federal judge for the U.S. District Court, Southern
District of New York. Only six years later, she was
nominated by President William J. Clinton and was
confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit. A woman, a Hispanic, confirmed twice
by the U.S. Senate—she surely has what it takes. How
much longer for the Supreme Court to become
representative of the citizenship it serves?
On a lighter note, we are pleased to announce the
launching of the LATINA Style credit card. Created
in partnership with U.S. Bank, the card is unique in
that a percentage of every dollar spent on it will
go toward funding Latina scholarships across the
nation. Go to our website to learn how to apply and
how the card can benefit your organization.
Finally, do not forget that our troops are still in
Iraq, Afghanistan and other faraway places. Let’s
make sure we keep them in our prayers.
Robert E. Bard |
