Mural artist Marela Zacarias of New York City explains the meaning behind
her mural during the Hispanic Heritage Month kickoff on Sunday at King’s.
Pete g. wilcox/the times leader
Angel Jirau, a champion of local Latinos who works with local schools, governments and community groups, said the Spanish-speaking population is the fastest-growing group in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
In the next two decades it will be the “strongest voting block,” he said. Those who harbor fearful and bigoted views may have to “deal with the consequences” in the near future, Jirau said.
The Latinos are hard-working people who want to contribute to the communities and maintain pride in their heritage, he said. They are not here, he said, to steal jobs, change the language and commit crimes.
The immigrants who come to Wilkes-Barre like it because the city is still basically a small community similar to the towns they left in Latin America. Jirau stressed Latinos are a “God-fearing people” and the local church presence helps them to settle in.
During the event he addressed a group of young Latino dancers. He stressed they become “involved to enrich the community.”
He also told them to understand they are not the only immigrant group who have suffered when trying to assimilate into local society. Jirau pointed to similar barriers faced by the Irish and Italian immigrants.
“It’s not easy to become a citizen,” he said. “The paperwork is horrendous.”
Carmen Vasquez, a volunteer dance instructor, led the RJG Latino Multicultural Dance Group that performed several different Latin American variations. She said she started teaching dancing to the children in her church religious education classes in 2007. Since then, she said, the attendance has grown to 35 male and female students.
Two of her top performers earned scholarships at King’s College. Rhina Navarro and Natali Mejia both showed their talent along with about 20 other performers.
Latin dances involve a lot of “passion,” Vasquez said. The children learn it to “preserve their culture,” she added.
Marela Zacarias, from Mexico City, displayed her hand-painted mural depicting “what it means to be an immigrant.” It showed the contrasts between the “repression” faced by scapegoated immigrants and the “empowerment” they achieve by hard work.
She told the group the hard-working Latinos have become a key element in the local economy.
Zacarias, who works as an immigrant rights activist, said she strives to “educate and communicate” the truth about Mexican people.
Corrupt Mexican government policies, open-trade agreements that favor large American businesses, and the draw by American companies to bring in “cheap labor” are the reasons the Mexican people venture into the United States, she said.
It is more productive to cross the border and find work than to try an run a small business in Mexico competing against Wal-Mart and large food companies, she said.
Jirau commended county and city officials and King’s for being “very gracious” in their willingness to help. However, he stressed, Latinos “do not want hand-outs.”
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