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Southland Digest
The Southland Digest is a weekly summary of highlights gleaned from a myriad of ethnic press based in Southern California, arguably the largest ethnic media market in the country. The aim is to provide a glimpse of the lives, the conversations, and the perspectives of this multicultural population vis a vis national, state, and local issues. Occasionally the writer might venture beyond the borders of SoCal to other territories and topics. The digest is produced by NAM Southern California Director Julian Do.
[ filed under: sports immigration ] They reaped sports glory for England in the 1924 Olympics but Ben Cross and Eric Liddell, the athletes portrayed in “Chariots of Fire,” actually ran for their personal reasons. Cross, a Jew, wanted to overcome anti-semitism and class prejudice. Liddell, a Christian whose nickname was the “Flying Scotsman,” did it to glorify God. When Iliberto Umana runs, he wants to show a dignified face for the day laborers. “When I run, I leave everything aside and the only thing I’m focused on is to reach the finish line…,” says Umana, the 37-year-old Mexican who is a team member of a day-laborer marathon running group. Every day he would go to “a corner on Kester Avenue in Van Nuys” looking for work. But on weekends, he sheds his work clothes and changes into a marathon runner. He and his group want to run among the world’s best athletes in the LA Marathon to counter the anti-immigrant sentiment in recent years. “After the 20th mile, all you have is your spirit. Your body has given it all,” says Antonio Bernabe, leader of the day-laborer runners. “That’s when you’re motivated by the reason we run, to ask for justice and dignity for the immigrant community”. Alex Garcia | San Fernando Sun | 2.28.2008 The San Fernando Sun is a bilingual Spanish-English weekly covering the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. |
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