Mariachi Femenil
I am sending this in response to an article that appeared in the March 2008 issue, referring to Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles as America’s first all-female mariachi group. I beg to differ.
My grandfather, Rafael Elizondo, started a Mexican duet with two of his daughters in the 1940s, called Las Hermanitas Elizondo. As the family grew, my grandfather took four of his five daughters and began a mariachi group that came to be known as Las Rancheritas de Rafael Elizondo. When he passes away, they went on to perform all over the world, and they were the first all-female mariachi group in the nation.
While I salute these young ladies and many others, I’m sure you can understand how it gets under my skin when I hear other groups referred to as a “first all-female mariachi group” when I lived through the almost four decades that my mother and her sisters were well known for being the only “mariachi femenil.” I just wanted to set the record straight.
Beatriz Lucia Robles
Via e-mail

Speaking about Spelling
I’d like to comment on Ruben Navarrette’s interview with Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. I am Mexican and have a 6-year-old daughter born in the U.S. As it is the language spoken at home, my daughter’s first language is Spanish. When she started pre-kindergarten at the age of 3, her schooling in English began, and by the age of 5 she was already bilingual. I was so proud of her. My concerns started in kinder when I began noticing that the majority of her classes were being taught in Spanish. I immediately spoke to her teacher, commenting that it is much more important to me that my daughter learn to read and write properly in English, as this is the base of her future. I think the bilingual program is good, but as was commented in the interview: They are not giving priority to the needs of the children. In my opinion, we as parents need to understand that our children are American, and we must assume our responsibilities so that they can incorporate seamlessly into society and have the same opportunities as Anglos. And if our dream as parents is for our children to speak Spanish properly, then let’s speak Spanish to them at home and let their schooling be in English. Thank you for Ruben Navarrette’s and Eduardo Padrón’s article. They helped me make a definite decision regarding my daughter’s education.
Ana Ortiz
Via e-mail

It was disturbing to read the article about bilingual education. You need to ask not at the top of the ladder, but at the bottom, where things happen. I taught English in a public elementary school for 16 years in a ESOL [English for Speakers of Other Languages] Program. We never had any student in the program for five years! They stayed with us between two-and-a-half to three years. If they didn’t get mainstreamed into regular class in that time, we looked for other types of problems. Have you thought about children being SLD, ADD, ADHD or having other problems?
It isn’t that parents don’t value education, or that teachers don’t have high expectations, or that they don’t know what to do. The combined effort of parents, teachers and more importantly, students [is needed] in order to see good results. The only thing I agree with is that the longer it takes for students to learn English, the bleaker the picture becomes.
Lilliam Mas
Lakeland, Florida

Celia On
Broadway
I wish to express my thanks for your article on Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz. As a proud native New Yorker of Puerto Rican heritage, I am thrilled and touched by the success of this showcase. Celia’s legacy is one that all people can rejoice in as she showed the world what a true Latina mega force she was. Ms. Laugart, Mr. Capo and the company are nothing short of brilliant. But we need stronger representation and presence on Broadway and off-Broadway. Someday we will be represented on a constant basis in New York City theater.
Carlos Leon
Via e-mail

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