LAS COMADRES SPEAKER SERIES - JUNE

 

 LAS COMADRES SPEAKER SERIES PRESENTS

Elizabeth Yeampierre on Environmental / Climate Justice

Wednesday, June 30  *  4pm PT/ 5pm MT/ 6pm CT/ 7pm ET & Puerto Rico

“Confronting climate change will mean changing society.” – Elizabeth Yeampierre

 

Climate change is a crisis of injustice, to both people and the planet. Climate justice encompasses not only environmental or physical changes in nature, but also ethical and political issues. Solutions exist and Grassroots Activists are being heard.  Our speaker has been recognized as a Climate Warrior and one of the World’s Most Influential People in Climate Policy --  Elizabeth Yeampierre.

JOIN US on Wednesday, June 30, for an interactive and enlightening presentation. 

Check your time zone:  4pm PT; 5pm MT; 6pm CT; 7pm ET & Puerto Rico.

 

Registration is required.  Once you’ve registered you will receive the zoom link.

REGISTER HERE:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqceGspzMiHdDJ0K2LNnQov0OCDPA-vetE

 

BIO:   Elizabeth Yeampierre is Executive Director of UPROSE and Co-Chair of the national Climate Justice Alliance.  She is a long-time advocate and trailblazer for community organizing around just, sustainable development, environmental justice, and community-led climate adaptation and community resiliency in Sunset Park, NY. Ms. Yeampierre has been a featured speaker at local, national, and international forums, including Sage Paris 2015, 2016 GRI Amsterdam, White House Forum on Environmental Justice, Yale, Harvard, Cooper Union, Columbia, and universities, colleges, and conferences all over the country and spoke at the opening climate rally for Pope Francis at the National Mall, The Battle for Paradise at Cooper Union with Naomi Klein. Her work is featured in several books, in addition, being featured in Latina Magazine, VOGUE, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Grist, American Prospect, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post, Democracy Now, The Intercept, and a variety of media outlets throughout the United States, Latin America, and Europe. In 2014, Ms. Yeampierre was part of the People’s Climate March Mobilization leadership – a march of over 400,000 people across New York City. She played a major role in ensuring the frontline was made up of young people of color and successfully proposed adopting the Jemez principles for democratic organizing, which have since become the roadmap to building just relationships in the climate justice movement. Elizabeth was featured in the NY Times as a visionary paving the path to Climate Justice. In 2018, she was awarded Frederick Douglass Abolitionist Award FD200. In 2020, she was named by Apolitical as Climate 100: The World’s Most Influential People in Climate Policy, and spoke at Oxford University, and the Ethos Conference in Brazil. In 2021, Elizabeth appeared in numerous news outlets such as Rolling Stone and Self Magazine and appeared on national panels for The Business Insider. Learn more about Elizabeth and UPROSE at www.uprose.org.

 

Here are some articles on Climate Justice for your perusal: 

https://e360.yale.edu/features/unequal-impact-the-deep-links-between-inequality-and-climate-change

https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/1/17/22236287/brooklyn-wind-turbine-assembly-hub

https://truthout.org/articles/right-wing-disinformation-campaigns-are-targeting-state-climate-initiatives/

https://www.ejnet.org/ej/jemez.pdf

 

COMADRES CONNECT!

 

 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 26 – RAISING BILINGUAL & MULTICULTURAL CHILDREN

LAS COMADRES SPEAKER SERIES
Wednesday, May 26
Time: 7pm EST / 6pm CT/ 5pm MT / 4pm PT  

Registration required. Zoom link will be sent via email to all Comadres.
Not a member yet? Join Las Comadres for your invitation


Raising Bilingual and Multicultural Children

Speaker: MARITERE R. BELLAS  

Parenting Topic Expert & Advocate for Bilingualism & Multiculturalism

Maritere R. Bellas is an award-winning author, parenting topic expert, speaker, writer, podcast host, IGLive host, and social media influencer. She published a parenting column for 12 years in La Opinion newspaper in Los Angeles, while contributing to major national magazines including Ser Padres, Healthy Kids En Espaňol, Huffington Post, HipLatina, People en Espanol, El Nuevo Dia, and Latina Style. Her books include RAISING BILINGUAL CHILDREN and ARROZ CON POLLO AND APPLE PIE: Raising Bicultural Children. During the pandemic, Maritere hosts a twice-weekly IGLives to offer parents information, tools, resources and tips as they navigate their families’ new normal. 

Facebook & LinkedIn: @MaritereRodriguezBellas
Instagram: @Latinaboomermom
Twitter: @mariterrebellas
Website: www.MaritereRodriguezBellas.com

#LasComadres 

#LCSpeakerSeries 

MAY BOOK SELECTIONS

Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club is pleased to announced it's books of the month for May 2021.   

WIN A FREE BOOK! 

 Register early for the Teleconference, and you may win a free book. 

Register here for the FREE teleconference: http://lascomadres.com/latinolit/join-teleconference/

Check your time zone for the Teleconference: 5pm Pacific; 6pm Mountain; 7pm Central; 8pm Eastern & Puerto Rico.

Follow the simultaneous Twitter Chat at @ReadLatinoLit. Use hashtag #ReadLatinoLit.

The Book Club Bookshop can be found here: https://bookshop.org/shop/lascomadresbookclub

JOIN the Comadres & Friends Book Club here: http://lascomadres.com/latinolit/join-book-club/

There are Book Clubs in all time zones. Their discussions are always lively and fun. Find the one near you here: https://readlatinolit.blogspot.com/2020/12/las-comadres-friends-book-club-by-time.html

Visit the Book Club website for information on past and future books here: www.latinolit.com.



MAY BOOK OF THE MONTH

OF WOMEN AND SALT 

by Gabriela Garcia
Published by: Flatiron Books

SYNOPSIS: In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.

From 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia’s Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayals―personal and political, self-inflicted and those done by others―that have shaped the lives of these extraordinary women. A haunting meditation on the choices of mothers, the legacy of the memories they carry, and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their stories despite those who wish to silence them, this is more than a diaspora story; it is a story of America’s most tangled, honest, human roots.

BIO: Gabriela Garcia is the author of the novel Of Women and Salt, forthcoming from Flatiron (US), Picador (UK), and in seven other languages. Her fiction and poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, Tin House, Zyzzyva, Iowa Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Cincinnati Review, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award, a Steinbeck Fellowship, and residencies and fellowships from Breadloaf, Sarabande Books, Lighthouse Works, the Keller Estate, and the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley. She has an MFA in fiction from Purdue University, where she also taught creative writing. The daughter of immigrants from Cuba and Mexico, Gabriela was raised in Miami and currently lives in the Bay Area. In her past life she worked in music, magazines, technology, and feminist and immigrant rights organizing.

Author webpage: http://www.gabrielagarciawriter.com/
Twitter (author): @GabiMGarcia
(publisher): @Flatironbooks


CONVERSATIONS WITH BOOK

IT IS WOOD, IT IS STONE 

by Gabriella Burnham
Published by: One World

SYNOPSIS: Linda, an anxious and restless American, has moved to São Paulo, with her husband, Dennis, who has accepted a yearlong professorship. As Dennis submerges himself in his work, Linda finds herself unmoored and adrift, feeling increasingly disassociated from her own body. Linda’s unwavering and skilled maid, Marta, has more claim to Linda’s home than Linda can fathom. Marta, who is struggling to make sense of complicated history and its racial tensions, is exasperated by Linda’s instability. One day, Linda leaves home with a charismatic and beguiling artist, whom she joins on a fervent adventure that causes reverberations felt by everyone, and ultimately binds Marta and Linda in a profoundly human, and tender, way.

An exquisite debut novel by young Brazilian-American author Gabriella Burnham, It Is Wood, It Is Stone is about women whose romantic and subversive entanglements reflect on class and colorism, sexuality, and complex, divisive histories.

BIO: Gabriella Burnham is a dual citizen of the United States and Brazil. Now a New York resident, she lived in São Paulo as a child and most of her family still lives there today. She holds an MFA in creative writing from The Writer’s Foundry at St. Joseph’s College and has been awarded fellowships to MacDowell Colony and Yaddo. She has worked as a reporter, a creative writing teacher, and in immigration law. It Is Wood, It Is Stone is her first novel.

Author webpage: https://gabriellaburnham.com/about/
Twitter: @OneWorldLit

READ LATINO LIT 

Books make great Mother's Day Gifts.  Hint! Hint!

WEDNESDAY, MAY 5 --- PERINATAL HEALTH WITH DR. LOURDES J. RODRIGUEZ

 

Join us on Wednesday, May 5, at 6pm Central, (4pm Pacific, 5pm Mountain, 7pm Eastern and Puerto Rico) for a discussion on Perinatal Health with Dr. Lourdes J. Rodriguez, PhD, Senior Program Officer at St. David’s Foundation.

It has been widely publicized that Texas has the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States and, by extension, the developed world. Equally worrisome, maternal morbidity – causes of disease associated with pregnancy – have been on the rise in Texas for the past 20 years. Join us for a conversation about the contributing factors and what actions we can take to improve maternal outcomes for all women.

St. David's Foundation focuses its work in central Texas: A nationwide nonprofit doing work in Central Texas (defined as: Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis or Williamson Counties), that benefits residents of those counties, may apply for our funding.

As Comadres, we can harness our strengths to reverse these trends and contribute towards full term births and healthy pregnancies.

***** Zoom details:  Your MUST register in advance. *****


When: Wednesday, May 5, 2021 06:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

(4pm Pacific, 5pm Mountain, 7pm Eastern and Puerto Rico)  

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUod-iprzspHNzMIBYi93ZMGYuwv-9tZHf7



After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Add this info to your calendar, as soon as you receive it so that you don't have to search for it on the day of!

OUR PRESENTER:  Comadre Dr. Lourdes J. Rodríguez serves as Senior Program Officer at St. David’s Foundation overseeing the Women’s Health portfolio of work. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2020, Lourdes served as Associate Professor and Director of Community-Driven Initiatives at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin. Lourdes also worked as Program Officer at the New York State Health Foundation, and from 2004–2012, she co-directed the Urbanism and the Built Environment track in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.  As a public health practitioner, and in both academic and philanthropic roles, she collaborates, develops and evaluates initiatives to improve health with people most impacted by health inequities.  Lourdes has a Doctorate in Public Health from Columbia University, a Master of Public Health from the University of Connecticut, and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Biotechnology from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.  Dr. Rodríguez is a member of the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Roundtable on Population Health Improvement and currently holds an appointment as an Adjunct Faculty with the UTHealth School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus. 

      

 

Learn more about the St. David’s Foundation and its programs by visiting their website:  www.stdavidsfoundation.org

LAS COMADRES PARA LAS AMERICAS
Speaker Series 2021
E:   info@lascomadres.com

W:  www.lascomadres.com

WORLDWIDE COMADRAZO & 21st ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION -- MESSAGE FROM DR. NORA DE HOYOS COMSTOCK

 

From the WWC Commemorative Book...

MESSAGE FROM THE

NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL FOUNDER OF
LAS COMADRES PARA LAS AMERICAS

 

Dr. Nora de Hoyos Comstock

 

 

IN GRATITUDE,

 

Twenty-one years! Can you believe it? It feels like it was just yesterday that Las Comadres movement began building community, preserving and celebrating culture, opening doors, and supporting each other, sharing social capital, y mucho mas! The expansion of the internet via email to general audiences made it possible for me to take advantage of the new tool to build virtual connections, albeit via text only at that time. It was labor-intensive work, requiring many, many hours to build the foundation. Today, largely due to the Coronavirus-19 pandemic, we “are gaining on the future”!!! The videoconferencing platforms which were slowly getting traction have allowed us to maintain contact and build new connections in ways which were not easily accessible before. We can provide access to each other via many virtual platforms and we can service many more via the World Wide Web. But when we first started, it was basically an email network and I have been called a pioneer in this work for the Latinx/a/o community.

 

It has been a wild ride! We have done so many things, learned so much from each other, and built lasting friendships. Las Comadres is not the story of one person. We are mucho mas than the sum of our parts. You are Las Comadres and our coordinators and I have been the glue. Without your unflagging support as members of this vast social network, without your patience as we built it, we would not be here celebrating 21 years! There are so many of you that I must thank for contributing to the success of Las Comadres that it would fill pages (actually your names up to the year 2012 appear in the Acknowledgments in our book, COUNT ON ME: Tales of Sisterhoods and Fierce Friendships, published by Simon and Schuster in English in 2012/Spanish in 2013). There are many names to add to the list after publication. And with the addition of new leadership for Las Comadres, especially the energetic and vibrant, Maria Ferrer, with her new ganas, together we will change the face of Latinx/as in this nation and around the world. The stories and memories will fill books and bring us closer together and make us stronger.

 

The next twenty years are a new chapter in our journey to securing our place as indelible contributors to the US American experience. It will not be an easy chapter but it must be written and spoken by us—you, our Latinx/a/o communities, and me. Each and everyone of you has a special role to play and we are here to help, as always.

 

With heartfelt gratitude to all of you and to my husband, Jack Bell, without whose support, we would not have made to it Year 21! And to Maria Ferrer without whom there would be a questionable tomorrow for Las Comadres.

 

Con mucho carino,

Nora

 

 

SPONSORS

Platinum:  St. David’s Foundation

Silver:  MOLA Market Research; Mona’s Family Emporium, Primavera Strategic Planning; The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez 

Bronze:  The Arreaga Agency/ Farmers Insurance; Casa de la Familia Counseling; CasaQ by Darlene; DonateWay; KCasati; MUNDU Media; Pitikin Learning Projects; Positive Directions Co.; Ramos Admin.

   

GOODIES!

Commemorative Book – a gift to all Comadres & Guests.  Best to print front & back.

WWC Holding Slides with Nora Award winners and Comadres in their WWC T-shirts.

Note:  Subscribe to Las Comadres Para Las Americas’ YouTube channel today.  WWC recordings and videos coming soon!

  

Worldwide Comadrazo Committee

Thank you to the following Comadres for their outstanding work, especially Laura and Monica.  And, many thanks to Comadre Yvonne Tapia for the beautiful design of the WWC21 logo.

 

Maria C. Ferrer – Producer

Laura Esparza – Stage Manager

Monica Peňa – Technology Manager

Rosa Beato – Raffle Coordinator

Nydia Marsella – Anniversary Video

Tess Tobin – Awards Coordinator

Tania Solė – Advisor

Dr. Charley Ferrer – Website Designer

  

 

#LasComadres

#WWC21

#WorldwideComadrazo

#FierceFriendships

 

THE NORA AWARD WINNERS 2021

  

Las Comadres Para Las Americas

 

The Nora Awards

 

Named in honor of Las Comadres

National / International Founder

DR.  NORA DE HOYOS COMSTOCK

The Nora Awards recognizes Comadres who 

exemplify the virtues of Loyalty, Generosity, 

Sisterhood and Kindness.

 

Congratulations to the Winners!

 

 

THE NORA AWARD – COMADRE OF THE YEAR

The Nora Award for Comadre of the Year is for a Comadre 

who has helped another Comadre(s).

 

Yadhira González-Taylor

 

 

THE NORA AWARD – COMADRES COMMUNITY SERVICE

The Nora Award for Comadre Community Service is for a Comadre 

who has helped her Community.

 

Dr. Charley Ferrer

 

THE NORA AWARD --  FRIEND OF LAS COMADRES

The Nora Award for a Friend of Las Comadres is for a company who continually supports our organization and the Latino community at large.

 

 Austin Community Foundation

 

#LasComadres

#WWC21

#WorldwideComadrazo

#21Anniversary

#NoraAwards

 

COMADRES CONNECT! NEWSLETTER

LAS COMADRES PARA LAS AMERICAS

is proud to announce the launch of its quarterly newsletter.

COMADRES CONNECT!  ...   SPRING EDITION

SPOTLIGHT ON COMADRE 

LAURA LOPEZ CANO
Written by Esperanza Beltran


Relaxed Atmosphere & Lots of Trust

It was an invitation from a friend that brought Laura López Cano to one of the first Comadrazos in Austin, Texas. There she met Nora de Hoyos Comstock, Las Comadres Founder, whom she later found out had been navigating in the same professional circles as herself, but neither of them knew about the other until then. The Comadrazo was such a beautiful example of what Las Comadres does: bring women together to connect.

At the Comadrazos, women are allowed to get together without pressure, says Laura. You can talk about the kids, the weather and recipes in a relaxed atmosphere where professional titles don’t matter.

She learned a lot about trust too. Women opened their homes to women they did not know, and women went to the homes of strangers. There was trust on both sides, and trust was easy when they all desire the same thing, to connect. Las Comadres biggest accomplishment, says Laura, is to have created this community of women before the rise of social media.

When she was commissioned by Nora to create the logo for Las Comadres, Laura made sure to convey, through her artwork, the vision that Nora had for the organization – a community of women connecting with each other. The word Comadrazo comes from the combination of the words Comadre + Abrazo, which is why she painted the now famous logo of women hugging each other. (The original logo had four women, we now have five.) Another interesting touch that Laura made sure to include was the variety in skin tones, hair colors and textures. Las Latinas somos as unique and varied as the world, and it was important for Laura to emphasize that in the painting of the Las Comadres logo.

Laura López Cano is a long-time Comadre and artist living in Texas. She will be holding an Art workshop during the Worldwide Comadrazo on April 17.

FRIENDS, COMADRES & A WEDDING
By Jacqueline Quiňones


Edith Reyes and Julia Abrantes have been friends for 20 years. They are also Comadres in more ways than one.

Edith and Julia met while they both lived in New York City. Edith moved to San Antonio, where she joined Las Comadres. When Julia was looking for a book club, Edith recommended the New York City "branch" of the Las Comadres & Friends Book Club, and soon Julia too was a Comadre and helping run the book club. Eighteen years later, the two are still Best Friends and still Comadres in their respective states – Edith in Texas; Julia in Georgia.

They have not seen each other in person in the past four years, but they speak practically every day. They have always been there for each other’s ups and downs, and especially last year when Edith had to cancel her wedding due to Covid-19. However, life goes on, and the wedding is back on.

The two Comadres are excited about seeing each other at the wedding not only because they are reuniting, but also because Julia will be officiating the wedding!

For Julia it is the biggest honor of her life. Edith said it was not a difficult decision to make, because she knows that Julia will make the wedding ceremony special and spiritual just as she wants it even during this pandemic. 

 

When asked what it means for Edith to have Julia officiate her wedding she said, “People will think I am crying because I am getting married, but it’s also because my best friend is marrying me. This is important for me. It is very touching that Julia will be with me on this special day in my life.”

On Saturday, February 27, despite a pandemic and mandatory social distancing, Julia Abrantes officiated at the wedding of Edith Reyes and Edward Vela. Mr. & Mrs. & Comadres forever.



WORLDWIDE COMADRAZO & 21st ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Sisterhood & Fierce Friendships


SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, April 17
1pm EST / 12pm CT / 11am MT / 10am PT

Las Comadres turns 21 this year and we are celebrating with a virtual Worldwide Comadrazo & Anniversary Celebration.  There will be speakers, breakouts, a film, a sing-a-long and raffle prizes! Check out the agenda here: http://lascomadres.com/lco/2021-worldwide-comadrazo/agenda

Plus, we are introducing The Nora Awards for Comadres who exemplify the virtues of Loyalty, Generosity, Sisterhood & Kindness.

We are collecting Testimonials and photos from past meetings, book clubs, and Worldwide Comadrazos. Email us by March 20 copies of your photos and your testimonial about being a Comadre to info@lascomadres.com.

Buy the official WWC t-shirt, send us a selfie & you can be part of the slideshow. https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignsbyJori

Registration opened March 8.  We’ll see you there!


EVENT CALENDAR

March 18 (Thurs) – Las Comadres University: Fundraising
March 29 (Mon) – Book Club Teleconference / Podcast
March 31 (Wed) – Las Comadres Speaker Series

April 17 (Sat) – Worldwide Comadrazo & 21st Anniversary Celebration
April 26 (Mon) – Book Club Teleconference / Podcast
April 28 (Wed) – Las Comadres Speaker Series

May 24 (Mon) – Book Club Teleconference / Podcast
May 26 (Wed) – Las Comadres Speaker Series


LAS COMADRES UNIVERSITY

March 18 (Thursday)
Basic Components of Fundraising: 

Programs for Nonprofits and Higher Education Institutions
Dr. Celeste Guzmán Mendoza

Fee = $65. Register here: http://lascomadres.com/lco/comadre-university/fundraising


LAS COMADRES SPEAKER SERIES

Las Comadres has a monthly virtual Speaker Series. It’s FREE to all Comadres. For full descriptions, visit: http://lascomadres.com/lco/speaker-series

March 31 (Wednesday)
Establishing Powerful Networks and Collaborations Among Latinas
Dr. Isaura González
Founder & CEO Latina Mastermind

April 28 (Wednesday)
Women & Finance: 

Create Financial Independence
Monica Escobar Rangel & 

Monica Martinez-Hess
Financial Services Professionals

                                                          New York Life

May 26 (Wednesday)
Raising Bilingual and Multicultural Children
Maritere R. Bellas
Parenting Topic Expert & Advocate for Bilingualism & Multiculturalism


LAS COMADRES & FRIENDS BOOK CLUB


MARCH BOOKS
Meet the Authors on Monday, March 29

Book of the Month: THE CIPHER 

by Isabella Maldonado (Amazon Publishing)

Conversations with Book: SPIRIT RUN
by Noe Alvarez (Catapult)


APRIL BOOKS
Meet the Authors on Monday, April 26

Book of the Month: FRACTURES by Carlos Andrės Gómez (U of Wisconsin Press)

Conversations with Book: THE LOST BOOK OF ADANA MOREAU by Michael Zapata (HarperCollins)

Bonus Book: A SLED FOR GABO by Emma Otheguy (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)


For Free Registration to monthly Teleconference /Podcast, visit here: http://lascomadres.com/latinolit/join-teleconference

Find a book club near you in your time zone, visit here: https://readlatinolit.blogspot.com/2020/12/las-comadres-friends-book-club-by-time.html

Shop our Book Club Bookshop here: https://bookshop.org/shop/lascomadresbookclub


NEWSLETTER STAFF
Comadres Connect!  Quarterly Newsletter for and by Las Comadres Para Las Americas.

Editor: Maria Ferrer

Contributing Writers: Esperanza Beltran
                                   Jacqueline Quiňones

Proofreader: Rosa Beato


If you would like to be interviewed for the newsletter, email us at info@lascomadres.com.