Elsie Rivas Gomez is a mother, wife, teacher, and writer living in Pasadena, CA. She was born in El Salvador and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her first collection of poetry, Swimming in El Rio Sumpul, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. You can find her blogging over at MamaFeminista.
Twitter: ergomez
My husband, the only Latino in the group of prospective parents, stood next to the only African-American in the group, a mother. They watched a group of adorable elementary school students sing a song in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. As the lyrics, “we shall overcome” sang through the air, my husband realized that all of the students were either Anglo or Asian. He stayed through the rest of the tour and information session at the amazing schoolRead More ...
Editor’s note: They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so this holiday season we asked all of our regular contributors – we’re up to nine! – to just send us a photo that expresses what the holidays mean to them for this collection of Bicultural Christmas Photos. What kind of photo would you have sent in? “Each year we visit the Christmas tree in Old Town Pasadena. It always delights the girls. I like the way we areRead More ...
“Que Divina!” I loved the Babel Animalitos T-shirt from the moment I saw it. The t-shirt comes in pink and blue and features three pairs of animalitos “speaking” in both English and Spanish. As our little Spanglish children all know, the doggie says “Guau Guau” in Spanish, but “Woof” in English. The sombreroed pajaritos on this shirt chirp, “Pio Pio!” It made me and Marisol both smile immediately with its playful graphics. I noticed right away that the shirt wasRead More ...
My family has always celebrated Thanksgiving, and as long as I remember it has marked the official start of the holiday season. Last year, I wrote about how mi familia comes together for the holidays, and how it makes for a crowded and busy time. Now that I have a family of my own, we alternate holidays with each side of the family, allowing our kids the opportunity to form memories with everyone in their large, beautiful, diverse family. It’s not always easy.Read More ...
For the DREAMers I know that our community at Spanglishbaby is a diverse bunch, and that we come from a variety of personal and political perspectives, so I’m a little nervous about writing a post about politics, but I’d like to share with you some of my reflections on the recent passage of AB 130, the California DREAM Act: The California DREAM Act allows undocumented students to receive financial aid, if financially eligible, from private and public sources. Under AB540,Read More ...
We are deep in Disneyland on a family vacation, tired but happy. The girls have been enjoying the music, make-believe, and spectacle that is this childhood fantasyland. I am happy to report from the glittery trenches that there is plenty of Spanish to be heard on main street, churros in every land, and a pretty decent Mexican restaurant in the park as well. Looking around at the staff that works here in the Happiest Place on Earth, I see manyRead More ...
Ana
Roxana
Just two mamás raising bilingual kids
