60 Minutes: Justice Sotomayor prefers "Sonia from the Bronx"

Interviews with Supreme Court justices are rare. But tonight even more so because in 223 years, there has never been a justice like Sonia Sotomayor. 

Among other things, she's the first Hispanic on the Court, she's the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants who settled in the Bronx -- that New York melting pot that pours out streetwise kids and American success stories.

Sotomayor, now 58 years old, calls the streets of her childhood, "My Beloved World," and that's the name of her new memoir. In her first broadcast interview, she told us that the neighborhood gave a poor girl, with a serious illness, a chance to serve and an opportunity to become one of the most powerful women in America.

Scott Pelley: This is where you grew up?

Sonia Sotomayor: In a public housing project. I lived in this one on the corner. Hold on.

Sonia Sotomayor (in Spanish): Hello. How are you?

Neighbor: Welcome to your old neighborhood.

Sonia Sotomayor (in Spanish): Thank you.]

You could believe she never left. They remember and she's never forgotten. Seems the only difference is the security detail which she really never needed in the Bronx.

Scott Pelley: You know, your brother told us that more than once in this neighborhood he got beaten up.

Sonia Sotomayor: Yep. And more than once I beat up the person who beat him up.

Scott Pelley: You stood up for your brother.

Sonia Sotomayor: Oh, you asked me the other day if I was a tough cookie, and---

A tough cookie who never crumbled at a setback.

Sonia Sotomayor: I am the most obstinate person you will ever meet. I have a streak of stubbornness in me that I think is what has accounted for some of my success in life. There is some personal need to persevere, to fight the fight. And if you just try and be stubborn about trying you can do what you set your mind to.

Sonia Sotomayor set her mind to being a judge at the age of 10. And three presidents agreed. Appointed to a federal court by the first George Bush, she was promoted to the Appeals Court by Bill Clinton. And in 2009 selected for the Supreme Court by President Obama.

Scott Pelley: Your first day working here: terrifying?

Sonia Sotomayor: Overwhelmingly terrifying. I was so anxiety ridden. I was so nervous that day that my knees knocked. And I thought everybody in the courtroom could hear them knocking.

Scott Pelley: Well, come on. You'd been a federal judge for more than 15 years at that point.

Sonia Sotomayor: I had not been a Supreme Court justice. It's a very different stage.

On this stage she's one of the most vocal questioners. And her vote most often falls on the liberal side. She helped uphold the Health Care Act and strike down tough illegal immigration statues. Back in the Bronx as a girl, she set her heart on being a cop --inspired by Nancy Drew novels and TV. But by the age of 8, the plot of her life was rewritten by diabetes.

Scott Pelley: The doctors told you because of your Type 1 diabetes--

Sonia Sotomayor: --Type 1 diabetes. At any rate--

Scott Pelley: --you couldn't be a cop.

Sonia Sotomayor: Yes, I couldn't be a cop. I figured out very quickly, watching "Perry Mason," that I could do some of the same things by being a lawyer.

[Perry Mason: Objection]

Scott Pelley: So, we are sitting in the Supreme Court today because you read "Nancy Drew" and watched "Perry Mason" on TV? CBS 60 Minute Interview (12:00 minute video)

Florida's Fast Growing Puerto Rican Population

Believe it or not, pero Cubans account for little more than a quarter (28%) of Florida's Latino population -- and shrinking! That is, 3 of 4 Floridian Latinos are now nonCuban. Puerto Ricans are the state's 2nd largest Latino group at 850,000 (2010 census) and growing rapidly (migration/youth). 

The Sunshine State's Puerto Rican population grew 75% between 2000 and 2010, mostly in Central Florida, and they now make up 13% of Orange County and 27% of Osceola County. Barring another Mariel boatlift or exodus, the 2020 census may show Puerto Ricans eclipsing Cubans in La Florida.

Interactivemap: Census 2010: Puerto Rican population in Florida

indigenous people day poem

by Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria

A Message From Vagabond to Occupy Wall Street: To Occupy And Unoccupy

“This is a war that’s been going on since the invasion of North America.” Rev. Pedro Pietri

“With the ongoing Occupation movement on Wall Street and the growing occupation movements going on around the US, this is just a reminder that some of us have been dealing with occupation for centuries now.

Although we support the ideas behind Occupy Wall Street and the other Occupation movements we want those who have chosen to use the terminology of ‘Occupation’ to be aware of the hidden and unrecognized history behind that word when it comes to non-white peoples.” Vagabond

Vagabond's 'To Occupy and Unoccupy'

The Mexican-American Boom: Births Overtake Immigration

From the Pew Hispanic Center...

Births have surpassed immigration as the main driver of the dynamic growth in the U.S. Hispanic population. This new trend is especially evident among the largest of all Hispanic groups-Mexican-Americans, according to a new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. 

In the decade from 2000 to 2010, the Mexican-American population grew by 7.2 million as a result of births and 4.2 million as a result of new immigrant arrivals. This is a change from the previous two decades when the number of new immigrants either matched or exceeded the number of births.

The current surge in births among Mexican-Americans is largely attributable to the immigration wave that has brought more than 10 million immigrants to the United States from Mexico since 1970. Between 2006 and 2010 alone, more than half (53%) of all Mexican-American births were to Mexican immigrant parents. As a group, these immigrants are more likely than U.S.-born Americans to be in their prime child-bearing years. They also have much higher fertility.

Meanwhile, the number of new immigrant arrivals from Mexico has fallen off steeply in recent years. According to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of Mexican government data, the number of Mexicans annually leaving Mexico for the U.S. declined from more than one million in 2006 to 404,000 in 2010-a 60% reduction. This is likely a result of recent developments in both the U.S. and Mexico. On the U.S. side, declining job opportunities and increased border enforcement may have made the U.S. less attractive to potential Mexican immigrants. And in Mexico, recent strong economic growth may have reduced the "push" factors that often lead Mexicans to emigrate to the U.S.

As a result, there were fewer new immigrant arrivals to the U.S. from Mexico in the 2000s (4.2 million) than in the 1990s (4.7 million). However, the Mexican-American population continued to grow rapidly, with births accounting for 63% of the 11.2 million increase from 2000 to 2010.[1]

At 31.8 million in 2010, Mexican-Americans comprise 63% of the U.S. Hispanic population and 10% of the total U.S. population. According to Pew Hispanic Center tabulations from the March 2010 U.S. Current Population Survey, 39% of Mexican-Americans-or 12.4 million-are immigrants. With the exception of Russia, no other country in the world has as many immigrants from all countries as the U.S. has from Mexico alone. Nor does any country in the world have as many citizens living abroad as does Mexico. According to the World Bank, more than 10% of Mexico's native-born population lives elsewhere, with the vast majority (97%) of these expatriates living in the United States. 

[1] The 11.2 million increase reflects the net change in births, deaths and net migration of the Mexican-American population in the U.S. between 2000 and 2010.

Complete Report

The Ponce Massacre (Film Footage)

On March 21, 1937 (Palm Sunday), a march was organized in Ponce, Puerto Rico, by the island's Nationalist Party. It was organized to commemorate the ending of slavery in Puerto Rico in 1873, and to protest the jailing by the U.S. government of Pedro Albizu Campos.

The peaceful march turned into a massacre as 200 heavily armed members of the US-controlled Insular Police opened fire. The horrific attack using machines guns, rifles and tear gas bombs, was carried out under orders of General Blanton Winship, Puerto Rico's US colonial ruler, and police chief Colonel Francis Riggs...a fellow best known for helping establish the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua.

Seventeen unarmed marchers were murdered and 235 wounded, including women and children. Hundreds more were jailed. The US Congress moved quickly to immunize Riggs and Winship from any charges.

It was the biggest massacre in Puerto Rican history. The following is a 19 second clip of that day of infamy.

Raquel Rivera's San Isidro

Raquel Z. Rivera is a singer-songwriter (Las 7 Salves de La Magdalena/7 Songs of Praise for The Magdalene), author (New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), editor of the anthology Reggaeton (Duke University Press, 2009), scholar at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Hunter College), freelance journalist, essay and fiction writer, and member of Afro-Boricua music group Alma Moyo.

Raquel's latest work of art is her life in San Isidro of the South Valley, Nuevo Mexico. Here's an excerpt from her blog Cascabel de Cobre:

My brother introduced me to San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isidore the Farmer) some years ago. Jorge Homar carries around a small estampita of the saint in his wallet. A cook and farming enthusiast, my brother is passionate about everything related to growing and preparing food. From the moment I realized the saint was working his magic from inside my little brother's wallet, San Isidro has had a piece of my heart.

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Christopher Lee Rios (aka Big Pun): 11/10/1971 – 2/7/2000

Christopher Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was a Puerto Rican rapper who emerged from the underground rap scene in The Bronx in the late 1990s.

He first appeared on albums from The Beatnuts, on the track “Off the Books” in 1997, and on Fat Joe’s second album Jealous One’s Envy in 1995, on the track “Watch Out”, prior to signing to Loud Records as a solo artist. Big Pun’s career was cut short in 2000 at age 28 when he died of a heart attack.

More

Big Pun - Wikipedia
Big Pun - The Internet Movie Database
Christopher Rios, 28, Rapper Recorded Under Name Big Pun - Obituary NYTimes 2/9/2000
Big Pun: The Legacy documentary - YouTube
Big Pun Biography - Big Pun Forever

Quiara Alegría Hudes: Playwright, Author

Quiara Alegría Hudes is an award-winning author of plays, musicals, screenplays and other literary works.

Though her works are varied in style, she combines an intellectual curiosity with a humanistic vision to tell new American stories.

Her work for musical theater includes Broadway’s Tony Award-winning Best Musical In the Heights (Tony Nomination for her book, Pulitzer Prize finalist, Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics Circle Award) and the children’s musical Barrio Grrrl! (book and lyrics, Helen Hayes nomination for Theater for Young Audiences).

More

Quiara Alegría Hudes website
Worth listening - Courier-Post

Hispanic v. Latino by Google's Ngram Viewer

According to Google's nifty Ngram Viewer, use of the term 'Hispanic' in American English books peaked in the early 1990s and has been slipping ever since. In contrast, 'Latino' has been surging since the 90s. 

(Ngram Viewer by Google lets you graph and compare words and phrases over time, showing how their usage has waxed and waned over the years. The data is derived from 15 million books scanned by the folks at Google and includes all of the major languages.)