Shameless Self-Promotion: Latinos' Achilles Heel
Latina Lista gives us a good reason as to why we aren't seeing too many Latin@s on the Obama Cabinet--or even under consideration.
Why else would most of our Latin@ leadership be stuck in elected positions that serve single-member districts? And why else would we be fighting over the same scraps that we fought to create just to have some semblance of representation? We get so entrenched in these positions, basking in the power that we believe we have achieved, only to get the shaft whenever something opens up in the real world. Or even when one takes a chance.
I was in an e-mail discussion where the mention of some sort of "Latino farm-team" came about. I've been hearing about this farm team of junior politicians in training for "the big dance" for over a decade now, and still, nothing has been accomplished.
Sure, one can mention folks like Senator Salazar from Colorado who seems to have transcended his own ethnicity. But he was willing to take a chance even before he ran for Senate, when he was elected Attorney General of Colorado. Whether you like his policy-making or not, he took chances. And it will take no less. But the bottom line is that Latino and Latina candidates that are willing to take the leap and run "at-large" are few and far between--even locally.
And taking chances is how one gets known. While LatinaLista states that we are horrible self-promoters, we also need to realize that we also need to build upon what needs to be promoted, and at a large scale. For Rick Noriega, it was taking on huge tasks--Katrina, the Border. And he needs to continue building upon that. Who's next?
Elected to a single-member district that averages 40% voter turnout is not too boastful in my book, and it will not impress those with the campaign cash. Within our individual Latino communities around the country, we can name the names of those in the "Latino leadership," and we can boast their accomplishments in the areas they represent. But, we also need to add to the greater good. While we fight challenges and societal ills, such as racism and discrimination, which have not allowed Latin@ politicians to transcend ethnicity as often, we still need to make ourselves part of the overall solution--and not just "take care of our own." In other words, a leader for everyone breaks out and goes beyond his/her self-imposed political borders--whether those in charge like it or not.
We need to do some of the transcending ourselves, without the need to sell out our principles and the values that make us who we are--individually and ethnically. Unfortunately, this is another barrier to breaking out--selling out to make those in charge, or those who fund campaigns, happy.
So, yes, a farm team is a quaint idea. But it is going to take a lot more than just self-promotion of what we do within our own communities. If we want positions that affect and benefit the greater good, then we need to take chances, get out of our usual areas of interest, and make ourselves known. Otherwise, we have nothing to complain about when we are passed over for something big.
Let me tell you, at this time, I think the ones that can best exploit this are the recently elected Latino and Latina judges in Harris County--they've already gone "at-large." They just need to break-out after a term or two.
I, for one, will be taking LatinaLista's post to heart. I know I need to shamelessly promote myself, as well, and not wait to be recognized. We're not all THAT good, unless you tell people you are.
Unfortunately, what this underscores is not the fact that there is a dearth of Latino talent out there, because obviously that's not the case.And I would have to say that this is so true.
Instead it's the fact that Latinos are horrible self-promoters and just when we realize that it's going to take a selfless, ego-less community-wide effort to get some of the best and brightest Latinos noticed for White House appointments, there's a possibility that we're late for the party — otra vez! (again)
A bad habit that needs to be broken.
Why else would most of our Latin@ leadership be stuck in elected positions that serve single-member districts? And why else would we be fighting over the same scraps that we fought to create just to have some semblance of representation? We get so entrenched in these positions, basking in the power that we believe we have achieved, only to get the shaft whenever something opens up in the real world. Or even when one takes a chance.
I was in an e-mail discussion where the mention of some sort of "Latino farm-team" came about. I've been hearing about this farm team of junior politicians in training for "the big dance" for over a decade now, and still, nothing has been accomplished.
Sure, one can mention folks like Senator Salazar from Colorado who seems to have transcended his own ethnicity. But he was willing to take a chance even before he ran for Senate, when he was elected Attorney General of Colorado. Whether you like his policy-making or not, he took chances. And it will take no less. But the bottom line is that Latino and Latina candidates that are willing to take the leap and run "at-large" are few and far between--even locally.
And taking chances is how one gets known. While LatinaLista states that we are horrible self-promoters, we also need to realize that we also need to build upon what needs to be promoted, and at a large scale. For Rick Noriega, it was taking on huge tasks--Katrina, the Border. And he needs to continue building upon that. Who's next?
Elected to a single-member district that averages 40% voter turnout is not too boastful in my book, and it will not impress those with the campaign cash. Within our individual Latino communities around the country, we can name the names of those in the "Latino leadership," and we can boast their accomplishments in the areas they represent. But, we also need to add to the greater good. While we fight challenges and societal ills, such as racism and discrimination, which have not allowed Latin@ politicians to transcend ethnicity as often, we still need to make ourselves part of the overall solution--and not just "take care of our own." In other words, a leader for everyone breaks out and goes beyond his/her self-imposed political borders--whether those in charge like it or not.
We need to do some of the transcending ourselves, without the need to sell out our principles and the values that make us who we are--individually and ethnically. Unfortunately, this is another barrier to breaking out--selling out to make those in charge, or those who fund campaigns, happy.
So, yes, a farm team is a quaint idea. But it is going to take a lot more than just self-promotion of what we do within our own communities. If we want positions that affect and benefit the greater good, then we need to take chances, get out of our usual areas of interest, and make ourselves known. Otherwise, we have nothing to complain about when we are passed over for something big.
Let me tell you, at this time, I think the ones that can best exploit this are the recently elected Latino and Latina judges in Harris County--they've already gone "at-large." They just need to break-out after a term or two.
I, for one, will be taking LatinaLista's post to heart. I know I need to shamelessly promote myself, as well, and not wait to be recognized. We're not all THAT good, unless you tell people you are.
posted by Dos Centavos at 6:00 PM
1 Comments:
Guilty as charged.
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