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We begin our 12th year of publication with great
expectations and equally great concerns. I believe
2006 will be a landmark year in many respects. The
challenges confronting us are some of the greatest
we have faced in a long time. At the top of the list
are education, health and the ugly confrontation
over the illegal immigration issue. Although the
seriousness of the immigration problem cannot be
ignored, some of the solutions presented to date are
quite frightening and frankly un-American. This is a
time for all of us to work together to achieve a
reasonable solution, one that will address the many
security concerns we face while taking into account
the significant contributions that new immigrants
have brought and continue to bring to our country. |
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Alice Perez, US Bank; Anna Saucedo,
the first cardholder of the LATINA
Style credit card; and Robert
Bard, LATINA Style Magazine
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On a happier note, in a turn of events that would
have been unthinkable a few years back, we began
2006 by welcoming Senator Robert Menendez to the U.
S. Senate. He tells us about it in this issue’s “His
View” column. He joins Senators Mel Martinez and Ken
Salazar, and in one election cycle we have changed
the political panorama of the Hispanic community in
this prestigious political institution. We look
forward to the first Latina joining them soon.
Latina talent is shining everywhere. As you can tell
by our cover story, “Center Stage,” Broadway is
benefiting from the talent of an amazing new crop of
Latina performers. They follow in the footsteps of
our two Latina giants of Broadway, Chita Rivera and
Rita Moreno, and in turn are opening the doors for
the next generation. These young Latinas can sing,
dance, act—they can do it all, and they do it
extremely well. We also have been fortunate to be
given an inside tour of what it takes for a Latina
to roam the Washington corridors of political power.
In our feature “Climbing the Hill,” you will get a
sense of how these incredible women are ensuring
that our political representatives don’t miss a beat.
Do not be surprised if one day you see their own
names on the ballots!
Evaluating the technology field, we find that at all
levels, from elementary school to college to the
professional arena, Latinas are underrepresented.
There are many institutions working hard to make a
change, and the University of Texas-Pan American is
surely having an impact with its Latinas Day, held
during the university’s Hispanic Engineering,
Science and Technology Week. What Latinas can
achieve in this field is made clear by the
outstanding career of Maria Azua of IBM, an
exceptional engineer with 29 patents and 52 more
pending.
For us at LATINA Style, February also means
the LATINA Style 50 Awards and Best Practices
in Diversity conference here in D.C. Every year,
this event brings together the most accomplished
Latinas in corporate America with our country’s
political elite and its Hispanic leadership. You can
read all about it in our next issue of LATINA
Style.
Robert E. Bard |
