For the People | Para la Gente

Many libraries across America offer books and many other digital resources in Spanish. In our own backyard, the Seattle Public Library offers everything from a fine collection of books in Spanish to weekly conversational classes for people to practice Spanish. This month, we focus on the Seattle Public Library’s wealth of Spanish language materials, offered for free as a service to the community. 


January 2020 Connector Magazine

In this issue of the Connector, we feature an extraordinary woman who has made her mark on America. As a child growing up in a small town in Mexico, Julieta Altamirano-Crosby traveled an hour each way to school to get a better education. Traveling on the road from the small town of El Ocotito to the large city of Chilpancingo became a metaphor for her life’s journey. Today she is the governor-appointed commissioner on Hispanic Affairs, serving three counties in Washington state. She’s President and Founder of the WAGRO Foundation and works to break down barriers to education for Latinos. And in November 2019, Julieta won a position as a council member for the city of Lynnwood. She is the first Latina to hold that office in Snohomish County. The podcast that accompanies our article about Julieta Altamirano-Crosby is available in both English and Spanish

 

                                                                                            


Artist Mira Lehr is Confronting Climate Armageddon

“The time to act is now. We must start referring to this perilous issue as what it really is: Climate Armageddon,” says Mira Lehr. 

At the age of 85 and with a career that spans six decades, Lehr is creating more new art now than at any other point in her life - with a heightened sense of urgency.


NOTES FROM THE WORKING-CLASS: The Last Star

Downtown Seattle is about to lose its Macy’s. The Macy’s building on Third Avenue and Pine Street was first occupied by the iconic Bon Marché that opened in 1890 to serve the working-class. Through a complex series of corporate mergers & acquisitions, the Bon Marché morphed into Bon-Macy’s and eventually became Macy’s flagship store in Seattle. When Macy’s closes its doors on February 28, 2020, the end of this era will signal the death knell for the way the working-class used to shop.


Ntando Mahlangu – Anything is Possible.

Ntando Mahlangu has been a gold medalist contender long before his gold winning performance at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championship that took place in Dubai, UAE. Testament to this is his journey with hemi-melia; a congenital condition that affected both his legs from the knee down. Ntando spent a good portion of his young life in a wheelchair.


The Vulnerability Brought by Electronic Conveniences

The electronic (digital) age has brought great conveniences to human beings. With the rapid development in nanotechnology and quantum technology, there seems to be endless potential ahead for human civilization. But the public is generally unprepared for the great risks as the result of advancing from the previous mechanical era to the current electronic age……


NOTES FROM THE WORKING CLASS: The Bowery Among Us

Betwixt and between New York City and Seattle, the former sites of Skid Rows are quickly becoming occupied by luxury homebuyers and high-end office buildings. Even though the poor have been forced out, they have not gone away. Skid Row has metastasized everywhere. There are more homeless than ever, but they have splintered off into small clusters. They live in the most harsh and frightful way: tucked under blankets, tarps and sleeping bags, in between alleys and in the empty spaces of retail parking lots, loading docks, storefronts, and on the greenbelts along side freeways. This Holiday Season please give to the shelter or mission in your neighborhood.


Happiness: We Still Need a Vacation Law

New legislation in New York City increases the hope of paid vacation time in the United States. Why aren’t the Democratic presidential candidates paying attention?