Jackie Robinson: una historia digna de contarse

Chadwick Boseman personifica a Jackie Robinson en la película ’42′ que narra el primer año como profesional del primer pelotero negro en jugar en Ligas Mayores. Foto cortesía Warner Brothers.

Antes de las protestas y los viajes por los derechos de la comunidad negra, hubo un hombre que se enfrentó al odio vistiendo un uniforme de béisbol: Jack Roosevelt Robinson.

Conocido simplemente como ‘Jackie’, su vida es de esas que merecen ser contadas una y otra vez porque nos enseñan esa historia no oficial, nos dan valor y humanizan a las figuras que el tiempo nos ha alejado.

Sólo por eso es que vale la pena ver la película ’42′ que hoy se estrena en las salas de cine. Dado que el 15 de abril se festeja el arribo de Robinson a las Mayores, el lanzamiento del filme adquiere mayor relevancia.

Para la segunda parte de la serie sobre el legado de Jackie Robinson, el actor Chadwick Boseman, que personifca al legendario pelotero en la cinta, charló con EL DIARIO/LA PRENSA.

— La película expone el racismo que Jackie Robinson enfrentó ¿Cuán difícil fue para ti enfrentar eso?

The Superman Question, Freedom University, and Celebrities

Immigration reform and celebrities mixed yesterday. I am not talking about the nannies and other service workers making easier la vida de los famosos, at least not directly.

Ayer, some famosos came out publicly in support of immigration reform.

The most exciting news, at least for me and some of my friends, was the appearance of Junot Díaz on The Colbert Report to talk about Georgia’s Freedom University.

If you’re not familiar with this school, here’s something from the MJ archive:

Habemus Papam

El Papa Francisco a través de la transmisión televisiva de su nombramiento.

Por todos lados se huele el jolgorio, la alegría, el fanatismo y el entusiasmo ante el nombramiento de Jorge Mario Bergoglio como el nuevo Papa Francisco.

En la redacción del periódico para el que trabajo, la gente se congregó frente a las televisiones que transmitían diferentes señales que trajeron hasta Nueva York las noticias del Vaticano.

Ya desde la renuncia de Benedicto XVI el 28 de febrero pasado, tuve que aguantar las transmisiones de los colombianos de Caracol TV, para quienes parecen no existir los crímenes de la iglesia católica.

Philly and Georgia fight for education

Youth from the community group Juntos demonstrate inside the School District of Philadelphia during the session of the School Reform Commission./Erika Almirón

Even though they’re distant, both struggles aim to keep education a basic right for everybody.

The fight to keep education a human right in the United States continued this week when people in Philadelphia and Georgia rallied behind their respective causes.

In an unprecedented move, unions, activists, and community members joined forces in Philadelphia to fight the school closings proposed by the School Reform Commission, a 12-year-old body that was supposed to fix the schools in poverty-stricken Philly.

The Philadelphia Public School Notebook reported that at least 18 people were arrested after trying to impede the SRC from starting the session where the closings would be voted.

Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa is free, René Meza Huerta is not

René Meza Huerta remains in custody of federal immigration agents four days after Tucson Police pulled him over for a traffic violation, and organizers there are working on a campaign to demand his release.

Along with him, immigrants rights activist Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa was also arrested after he put himself under a Border Patrol vehicle in an attempt to prevent the immigration agents from detaining Meza Huerta in front of five of his six children.

“We are demanding that René is released,” Alcaraz Ochoa said Tuesday night in a brief phone conversation.

Updated: Tucson Activist Raul Alcaraz Ochoa Arrested After Trying to Prevent Detention

A  Border Patrol agent handcuffs Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa after he tried to prevent the detention of an alleged undocumented immigrant nearby the workers center where he organizes in the South Side of Tucson. Courtesy of Sean Arce

UPDATE (7 p.m. EST):

Border Patrol confirmed that Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa was released with no charges pressed against him, but gave no information on René Huerta, the father of six that was arrested with the Tucson activist.

“The Office of the United States Attorneys declined to prosecute Mr. Alcaraz,” Border Patrol Andy Adame said. “At this moment, there is no information on Mr. Meza Huerta.”

A rally and press event were scheduled for 4 p.m. outside the Tucson Police Department.

More information to come.

“We needed to make Napolitano understand!”

Carlos García, from Puente Arizona, holds the scarf with the stencil Dreamer Yovany Díaz made the night before. This image was taken from the video filmmaker Barni Axmed Qaasim shot during the hearing.

Once more I am really emocionado y agradecido that Yovany Díaz Tolentino, a great y valiente luchador who has been fighting for the rights of the undocumented in Georgia and across the country, has taken the time to once more share lo más reciente de su lucha por una reforma migratoria justa que incluya all 11 million of undocumented immigrants.

Just earlier this week I wrote about the action con la que miembros de la comunidad interrumpieron the Senate Judiciary hearing on immigration reform. Yovany was one of the people Capitol police arrested and charged with disruption of Congress.

Los dejo con las palabras de Yovany: