“We Latinos are a large population, and we're growing fast. But, it doesn't do us any good if we don't get educated so we can help the next generation. Love education. Work hard. Don't give up. It's all about learning, all about pride, all about life.” These are the words of Rueben Martinez, my Latino hero.
Rueben Martinez is my hero for various reasons. First, his goal is to motivate not only Spanish speakers to read, but the whole world. He believes that everyone should have an education. Secondly, he also believes that everyone should read because reading not only is fun, inspiring, motivating, but can make you smarter and take you places that you may have never imagined existed.
Rueben Martinez was born in Miami, Arizona in a small mining
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town in 1940, from a Latin family. He loved reading and writing, but his parents didn't want him to read or write. They wanted him to go work in the mines. In high school, he made the difficult decision of leaving his family to go to Southern California in LA, so he would not have to work in the mines. During high school, Martinez found out he had a talent for reading and writing.
He decided to use his writing skills to become a published writer and to motivate people to read. But, without relatives or money, he struggled for a while. Some time later, he found a job at McDaniels Market as a bagger. Shortly after, he found more lucrative work at Bethlehem Steel. After his boss at Bethlehem Steel saw his skills at a ten inch mil, he was promoted, and his wages …show more content…
doubled. Three months later, he started working at a barber shop named Hill Street Barbers, which inspired him to open his own shop in 1968. In 1975, Martinez opened a second shop in Santa Ana. He put up books in the Santa Ana barber shop and started selling them. Some never got returned, such as a copy of a signed first edition of Anthony Quinn memoir. Eventually, he made his Santa Ana barber shop into a bookstore, which was named Librería Martinez. In this way, he carried on his goal of motivating people to read. During this time, he also got married and had three children. Rueben Martinez was very determined. He worked in his bookstore 14 hours a day with no breaks, for three to four years, continuing his life-long goal of inspiring people. His bookstore became a success, so he opened three more bookstores. After publishing many books and writing, he became a published writer, a speaker, and a college faculty member. He did all this simultaneously, as he continued to work hard for education and his love of reading. He also started teaching and motivating the world even further.
When Martinez was invited to join the faculty at Chapman University, even before he answered, he was presented with a signed first edition of Anthony Quinn memoir. He also received awards such as the MacArthur Fellowship in 2004, the Genius Grant, and commendations from the U.S. Congress, for his entrepreneurial and Social Activism.
Rueben Martinez has impacted me and the world in many ways. His main goal in life is to inspire people to see the wonders of reading and learning. He has motivated me to read and learn. More important, from him I have learned that reading is not just a necessity, but it is also a privilege. We learn new things, try new things, and are motivated and inspired to get out of our comfort zone and to go that extra mile with any of our goals.
As I move up in my student career, I will always remember his words, “When you work hard, you build, you plan, and you dream, there's no obstacle that you can't overcome.” Every time I feel down, doubt myself, or when I pick up a book, and I will be reminded that Latinos like me and Rueben Martinez can make a huge difference in the
world.
Barr. Cesar Chavez put a quote about Martin Luther King Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” which give the message to the reader that Cesar Chavez had no intentions of having a rebellion but to just exposed of the injustice that it was given to the immigrant workers because by exposing those inequalities to the union is when it can be cured since it was done before. It also tries to explain to the reader that they will not give up on getting equal right for the people because Cesar Chavez stated that “They have been under the gun, they have been kicked and beaten and herded by dogs” this shows to the audience that the people of Cesar Chavez will not give up even if there are gun pointed into their heads. It also stated into the “Letter of Delano” that “Time accomplishes for the poor what money does for the rich” what this is trying to say and what it is trying to reach for the audience is that even if the immigrants are poor and they can’t afford not to work they are willing to do it because with that time they were getting prepared, prepared for what it was coming in the nest years to come they had a
He knew that with more people who enroll he would be able to make a bigger impact on certain communities, who originally didn’t believe that they would have any impact at all. These actions that he took would continue to help other migrant workers, but also help people who didn’t live in Delano
Through the years, individuals have shown that a single man can make a difference. Men who, when committed to a cause, will rise up with honor, integrity, and courage. Cesar Chavez was such a man. He represented the people and rose above his self concerns to meet the needs of the people. Cesar Chavez showed us that, “The highest form of freedom carries with it the greatest measure of discipline.” He lived by this standard and fought freedom with the highest form of dignity and character.
He has the knowledge of philosophy and psychology. He attempted to write when he was a youth, but he made a choice to pursue a literary career in 1919. After he published Cane, he became part of New York literary circles. He objected both rivalries that prevailed in the fraternity of writers and to attempts to promote him as a black writer (Claypool 3). In Washington in 1921 he took care of his grandparents and wrote full time....
Although he spent 10 years in college, he got married and had three children. He helped his mother stand up to her family and make them realize once and for all that she is deaf and cannot be made to fit in the hearing world. He wrote a 175 page paper that made him realize that he could write a book. He also finally found a job as a counselor at PSD, working there once again after a few years at Gaulladet.
In his formative teenage years, Lee attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. He especially enjoyed english class and writing in general. Lee recalls in an interview that, “From a young age, I was interested in becoming a writer...and dreamed of writing the next Great American Novel (Kugel).” In order to achieve that dream, Lee needed to obtain a typewriter, so he worked many different jobs. Some of which included selling newspapers, delivering sandwiches, writing ads and obituaries for the local paper, and three other jobs.
Since before I was born, my Hispanic heritage played a huge role in who I am and what I have achieved. My great-grandfather immigrated to this country with the desire to provide his family with a better future than his own. My grandpa grew up in Texas on the boarder of Mexico and traveled to Blue Island, Illinois as migrant crop worker. This desire passed down by my grandparents and my great-grandparents has played a tremendous role in propelling me to where I am today. Each generation sought to make the the lives of their children better than their own. My grandma received the opportunity to live in the country of opportunity from her father, and my grandpa paid for my mom to get an education. My mother pushed me to do my best in school and
When we have dreams we do everything possible to achieve them. We are sometimes faced with barriers that prevent, or make it harder for us to accomplish our goals. Latinos in the United States work hard to give their families a better life. Latinos all have faced many challenging circumstances in order to accomplish their dreams. Latinos look up to other Latinos and when they see other Latinos that have succeeded then they feel that they too can succeed in whatever they put their mind to. George Lopez is a Mexican American comedian and actor. He serves as a great role model for every Latino. He went through a lot of tough situations that made his life hard. George Lopez has not only served as a great example of a Latino accomplishing his goals through hard circumstances, but he has never forgotten where he comes from, he has always given back to the community and has also represented the Latino community in the United States in a positive way.
Internalized racism has hit the individual level where half of all Hispanics consider themselves as white. One Mexican American asserted that he felt “shame and sexual inferiority…because of my dark complexion.” He also described himself with “disgust” loathing his appearance when he sees himself in the mirror. Stereotypes play a huge role in the Latino culture in the U.S where often the usual stereotype is that Latinos are job-stealers, uneducated, poor and illegal. “Envidia” or jealousy sabotages the Latino community because Latinos begin to question the qualifications of other successful Latinos. No one has the positive thought that Latinos can achieve and triumph in any field; they just can’t believe that. Latinos just stamp other Latinos with those stereotypes Americans say. Because of internalized racism, Latinos and Hispanics distance themselves from the Spanish language to support the English only movement. They are embarrassed of their inherited language and rather choose English to complete assimilation. “Almost 40% of Latino/a respondents prefer English as their dominant language…” (Padilla 20). Where I currently live, I always see on the day to day basis Hispanics and Latinos that immigrated to the United States from other countries sounding “white.” I speak to Hispanics; even Latinos in Spanish and they respond
Young Andrew Carnegie, found a job as a bobbin boy at a cotton factory. There he earned only $1.20 a week. Andrew Carnegie was an extremely hard working person. With his ability to work hard, he held many jobs throughout his life. “He was a messenger in a telegraph office and secretary and telegraph operator for the
His father is a Puerto Rico native and an author. “In the 1980s he was a special advisor for Hispanic affairs to Mayor Edward I. Koch, and served as Director of the
One major factor that decides how successful someone will be is determined by race. Although by law, discrimination due to race is illegal, this does not completely deter racial discrimination. This is especially true concerning the American dream, as it proves the chance for success is not the same for everyone. Studs Turkel records Stephen Cruz’s oral retelling of his story of discrimination. Stephen Cruz is a Mexican-American who is discriminated against due to that fact. Although he does receive a well paying job, he knows he only received t...
Achieving the best education is a rewarding accomplishment for many students, especially for minority groups. It allows the individuals to pursue careers they love and be financially secure. But not everyone has been able to receive the best education possible . Throughout history Chicanos had to face inequality in the education system. They have been segregated, tracked, and denied culturally relevant programs. These problems have driven Mexican American student to fight for education rights with protests and lawsuits. Even though Chicanos have continued to struggle for many years, no progress has been made in the American education system. To this day, Chicanos continue to struggle with inequality in the education system such as the concerns with the increase dropout rates of no English speakers.
When I was born, my family had just migrated to California from Mexico. In a new country, my father worked in landscaping earning less than $4 dollars an hour, while my mother relied on public transportation to take her newborn child to and from doctor visits. In the land of opportunity, my family struggled to put a roof over our heads. But never discouraged, my parents sought to achieve their goals and worked tirelessly to raise my younger brother and I. From a young age, I was taught the importance of education; this became a major catalyst in my life. My desire to excel academically was not for self-gain, but my way of contributing to my family’s goals and aspirations.
I want to become a pediatric doctor because I enjoy seeing children healthy and happy. I know that college will not be easy and not to mention medical school, but I am determined to make it. And I know that I will because I am the proud daughter of two undocumented parents that risked everything to give my sisters and me a better future. However, my parents are no different from other parents living within our Hispanic community. Many of these parents want to see their children go to college and make the best out of their future. I am not a parent, but I am a member of our community, and I want to see more Hispanic students in college. I also want to be able to interact with my Hispanic community and stress the importance of a higher education. The number of Hispanic students in college is not as high enough, but I have no doubt that we can change that. I want to be able to educate my community that with good grades, high scores, and determination anyone can go to college, without the worry about the expense. We are Hispanic, which means that we are strong, brilliant, risk takers, humble, but most importantly, hard working, and because we have all those qualities and much more, I am certain that we can do anything and everything that we set our minds