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ERNESTO Caravantes
z Clipping Their Own Wings z
A reflection on the past, present and future of our youth...
S E A S O N ’ S G R E E T I N G S A N D A H A P P Y N E W Y E A R !
Nearly six years ago, I set pen
to paper and began to write a
book. As a Mexican-American,
I felt that something needed to
be done to help the
plight of Latino
students who drop
out of school in
droves. I wanted to
help culture to
which I belong.
When nearly half
of the Latino stu-
dent population
drops out of high
school, the entire
country suffers as a
result. These former students
end up committing violent
crimes, joining street gangs, or
end up having several children
out of wedlock. They also end
up going on public assistance.
You and I as taxpayers end up
footing the bill. It drains the
national and state economies of
valuable resources. However,
when I decided to write Clip-
ping Their Own Wings, I
wanted to approach this prob-
lem from a different angle. I
focused on the culture, and
took the bold
position of stat-
ing that it was
the culture that
was at the heart
of the problem.
In so doing, I
put forth my
proposition that
the culture val-
ues other things
over and above
education. I was
not stating that
the culture couldn’t care less
about education, but, rather,
that other things, such as sheer
survival, and family cohesion,
pull rank over education. My
book’s message was not placing
any value judgment on this
matter. We all have to survive
and most of us place strong
importance on family values.
However, for some cultures,
On Friday, February
05th, I will have the
pleasure of speaking with
some promising leaders
of tomorrow at the
Chinatown Service
Center in Los Angeles,
California.
nnn
Chinatown Service Center
February 05, 2010
4:30pm
Los Angeles, CA
Newsletter
education is more important
and more of a priority than it
is for others. Plain and simple.
And for those of us who are
able to study th