Gabriela Mistral: First Latina to Win the Nobel Prize in Literature



Gabriela Mistral, born as Lucila Godoy Alcayaga in Chile, was the first Latina author to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945.  Her poems explore deeply cultural issues of spirituality, heartbreak, death, and childhood.   But beyond her verse and prose, Mistral also changed lives in Latin America and beyond through advocacy, education, and diplomacy.  “She tried to speak for [the disadvantaged] through her poetry, her many newspaper articles, her letters, and her talks and actions as Chilean representative in international organizations,” according to the Poetry Foundation. “Above all, she was concerned about the future of Latin America and its peoples and cultures, particularly those of the native groups.”  Gabriela Mistral – Her Early Life  Born in ...

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See the 20 Big Universities that Are Pushing Latino Representation in Higher Education


Latino education

Latino or Hispanic-serving colleges and universities have risen 94% in the last 10 years, from 293 in 2010 to 569 in 2020, according to a recent report by Excelencia in Education. Now 20 of the largest Latino-serving colleges are forming a new alliance to double Latino doctorates and increase the number of Latino professors by 20% by 2030. The Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities, announced June 2022, aims to help increase Latino representation in higher education. Latinos make up less than 6% of US doctoral students and only 5% of college faculty. “Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States and are now 17% of the workforce, yet they continue to be underrepresented in higher education,” Dr. Heather Wilson, Chair of the Alliance, said in a news ...

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Javier Cintron: Future Doctor Aims to Address Health Inequities


javier cintron profile

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Javier Cintron listened intently to the Haitian man. Far from his home in Panama City, Florida, Javier was in Haiti on a research internship while pursuing his undergraduate education in biology and medical anthropology. As he heard the Haitian man describe the community’s health inequities, Javier thought about what he could do during his internship to help. That winter, Javier evaluated current efforts to improve the community’s overall nutrition and health and reported his findings to a volunteer group that would decide how to proceed. His contributions brought attention to potential root causes of health inequities in the community, such as lack of access to clean water. “They had to pay for a weekly supply of clean water,” Javier ...

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What’s a Respiratory Droplet and Why Does It Matter?


infection control respiratry droplets sick man coughing and spreading disease

Different viruses are spread in different ways. The main way that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spreads between people is by respiratory droplets. “In this case, a ‘droplet’ doesn’t just mean water that you can see, like big raindrops or splashes in the sink or a pool,” said Dr. Abigail Carlson, an infectious diseases physician with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), as part of CDC Project Firstline’s Inside Infection Control video series. “These droplets we’re talking about are actually really tiny, and where they come from may surprise you.” Where Do Respiratory Droplets Come From? You might think that when you breathe out, all that comes out is air. But our breath contains water too, in the form of respiratory droplets. ...

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Why Do Cleaning and Disinfection Matter in Healthcare?


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Cleaning removes dust, dirt, and germs from surfaces and objects. Disinfection makes sure that as many germs as possible are destroyed or killed. Cleaning and disinfection are both important infection control actions in hospitals and other healthcare settings because they keep germs away from people and help keep germs from spreading. Seems like common sense, right? “Even though it’s common sense, it’s important to think through all the reasons why we’re so careful about keeping an environment clean,” said Dr. Abigail Carlson, an infectious diseases physician with the CDC, as part of CDC Project Firstline’s Inside Infection Control video series. The Importance of Cleaning and Disinfection: The Immune System When we are healthy, our bodies have many built-in ways to ...

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Latinos Face Challenges in Achieving a ‘Just Recovery’ From COVID-19: Exploring the 2022 County Health Rankings National Report



Where you live, work, and play significantly impacts overall wellbeing. That’s why it’s important to explore and understand health inequities that can impact quality of life and health outcomes for Latinos and other people of color. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHR&R) is one such resource that helps leaders and county residents evaluate their community on a national scale. Created by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CHR&R publishes an annual national findings report. The report revealed worsening health trends for women, minorities, and low-income individuals in 2022, similar to the 2021 report findings, but driven by COVID-19, the worst public health crisis in more than a ...

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The Nitrate Nuisance in Drinking Water and Its Impact on Latinos


latino farmworker picking plants nitrate drinking water contaminationStrawberry Harvest in Central California

Rural Latinos and farmworkers in the US are disproportionately exposed to nitrate-contaminated drinking water. This health disparity stems from a larger issue of Latinos generally having less access to clean, safe drinking water in the US. Join us as Salud America! explores this rising health disparity through a three-part series on Latino drinking water contamination. Today we will tackle what nitrates are, how prevalent they are in Latino drinking water, and emerging efforts to promote safer water for Latinos and all people. Part 2 will address drinking water contamination at Superfund sites, its impact on Latinos, and current efforts to promote safer drinking water in these areas. Part 3 will focus on water insecurity in colonias and the US/Mexico border, and how we ...

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Texas Education Agency Creates Bilingual Materials for Latino Parents



Latinos have made great strides in education over the past decade. More and more Latinos are graduating from high school; dropout rates are at all-time lows, and even more are attending colleges and universities for the first time ever. Historically, one of the major obstacles in the way of Latinos attaining academic success have been language barriers. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has designed a new STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) report card that will share end-of-year test results that are bilingual and constructed in an “easy-to-understand format.” These report cards are mailed to parents and they can use their child’s unique code to log in and learn more at the Texas Assessment Management System website. There are practical resources for ...

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Latino Parents Speak Up for Education in Tennessee



Education is one of the key social determinants of health. It has been tied to a person’s overall health, long-term financial well-being, and job attainment. Latinos have made great strides in education in recent years, with high-school dropout rates at an all-time low and enrollment in colleges and universities at all-time highs. However, for many Latino families, one barrier that keeps them from obtaining quality education is simply a lack of knowledge of the overall system. In Memphis, TN (6.69% Latino population), a group of parents banded together to help Latino families in keep up with the city’s fast-changing education landscape. They created Spanish-speaking classes as part of the Memphis Lift’s Public Advocate Fellowship. “Our mission is to make the powerless ...

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