A Story of Three Women
This is a story of three young women in Juárez, Mexico. These three stories are intertwined by virtue of the asylum and the leadership of its founder, Pastor josé Antonio Galván, who has created a family atmosphere where not only the patients but the members of the larger “family” provide an enormous amount of support for each other...
Leaving the world to find it
For a vast, remote and harsh expanse of southwestern desert, the Kaiparowits Plateau has seen a lot of life, from prehistoric Indians to migrating Mormons to adventurers that, during the Memorial Day weekend, included my son and I. Just as this seemingly inhospitable area helped save earlier travelers, so it redeemed our own trip that otherwise could have gone off the tracks. Sometimes, it would seem, you have to leave the world behind in order to find it...
A Prescription for New Mexico’s Children
As a physician, I know that when you have a cure for an ailment, you use it. You don’t waste time, because you know that delay only makes the condition worse. New Mexico has a problem. We’re at the bottom of nearly every indicator of child well-being. We know what works and we’re actually giving the right medicine to a few lucky kids. But most are not getting the cure, even though we know it works and we have the resources to get it to them.
Kids need more than health care. They need a comprehensive set of services that promote healthy development. High-quality early care and education is the prescription...
New Mexico must be bolder in mitigating racial disparities among children
It’s estimated that children will be a minority-majority population by 2018 nationally. In New Mexico—where 74 percent of children are racial/ethnic minorities—we’re way ahead of the trend.
In fact, only one other state (Hawaii) has a higher percentage of children who are racial or ethnic minorities. We have the highest percentage of Hispanic children, and just two states (Alaska and South Dakota) have higher percentages of Native American children. Just 26 percent of New Mexico’s children are white.
While we rightfully celebrate our rich cultural diversity, New Mexicans and our elected and civic leaders need to take action regarding racial disparities...
The Myth of the Good Mother
Who is the good mother? From the earliest representations of women-- Paleolithic figurines with wildly inflated reproductive organs – through modern mothers Facebooking their cleanest, happiest family photos, she is a creation mixed with history, culture and pure imagination. The good mother has features we all recognize—her supernatural patience, unwavering attention and empathy, submission to the needs of others, and an expectation to have her own value measured heavily by the outcomes of her offspring.
The problem with the good mother is that she is a myth that many women rely heavily upon as the role model for their real, dirty, wonderful but emotionally turbulent motherhoods...
Tax Credit Increase for Low-Income Working Families Would Increase Tax Fairness
New Mexico lawmakers have at their disposal an effective tool for helping the working families in our state who need it most. The Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC)—a credit based on the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)—goes to low- and moderate-income families that work, helping them meet their basic needs. Increasing the credit would do so much for these families struggling to get by on low wages, and there’s a way to pay for the increase that actually helps restore a little bit of fairness to our tax system...
Flat-Lining New Mexico’s Tax System Would Make it Even More Unfair
New Mexico’s state and local tax system is already unfair—with the lowest-income New Mexicans paying a rate double that of the highest-income earners. A so-called ‘flat tax’ or ‘consumption tax’ would make the tax system even more regressive. Still, there are legislators who would like to enact a consumption tax. Representative Tom Taylor and Senator William Sharer introduced twin bills (HB-369 and SB-368) during the 2013 legislative session to do just that. Although that legislation did not pass, it is all but guaranteed to make a reappearance in January—and in subsequent years if it is not adopted in 2014...
Immigrant Women Rise Against Domestic Violence
Off a busy Albuquerque boulevard, one of the city’s most vital services goes on quietly with its work. Now 13 years old, Enlace Comunitario, or Community Link, works non-stop to prevent and resolve domestic violence among the Duke City’s large, Spanish-speaking immigrant population.
Beginning with a handful of visionary founders, Enlace Comunitario now employs a fulltime staff of 31 and many volunteers who educate the community about the varied manifestations of domestic violence, as well as channels assistance and resources to victims...
Hunger in New Mexico
More bad news for kids in the Land of Enchantment. Not only is New Mexico the second worst state in which to raise your children (thank God for Mississippi!) according to Kids Count, but it’s the absolute worst in food security. Maybe we need a Department of Homeland Food Security – we’re not doing very well at protecting our children.
Food insecurity is a term that replaces “hunger,” perhaps a euphemism, but more descriptive of families that at least some of the time don’t know where the next meal is coming from...
The rape of a five-year-old
Almost lost amidst the terrorist attack on the Boston Marathon was the news a few days later of a five-year-old girl raped and left for dead in New Delhi, India. Only four months earlier, a young Indian woman was gang raped on a bus; she died of her injuries. Much of the world’s attention focused on that faraway country, on its startling number of sexualized power crimes against women and girls, and the failure of its authorities to take such crimes seriously.
But this is not an Indian problem. There is really nothing unusual about men raping or otherwise sexually abusing women and young girls...