latiNOhoosier

Jose Mendez was perhaps the first Latino baseball legend ever. In his homeland of Cuba, they called him “El Diamante Negro,” The Black Diamond.

From 1908 to 1914, Mendez was one of the greatest Negro League pitchers, along with Rube Foster and Smokey Joe Williams.

Born on March 19, 1887 in Cardenas, the slightly build (5-foot-8) Mendez threw hard (he reportedly killed a teammate when he accidentally hit him with a pitch in the chest in batting practice) and had a “jug handle curve.”

Beyond Satchel: Part Three

You might wonder why I allude to this topic on this blog. It’s because, just as diversity and discrimination issues, it is all about human rights and equal rights.

A 17 year old female from Boone County, Indiana, is suing her her high school, Lebanon High School, for forbidding her from wearing a tuxedo to prom. She is a lesbian and wants to wear a tuxedo instead of a dress because a dress reflects a sexual identity that she doesn’t identify with or embrace. School district attorney Kent Frandsen stated that the school district has had a long instated policy that only allows male students to wear tuxedos to prom, and that there is no need to change this policy because up until now it has not been challenged. The student was told to either wear a dress or not go to prom.

Lebanon schools agree girl may wear prom tux

The 2007 Census of Agriculture, which was released in early February, found the operators of American farms have become more diverse in the last five years.

The count of Hispanic operators grew by 10 percent, and the counts of American Indian, Asian and black farm operators rose as well, according to the census.

Census finds more minority-run farms

That’s fine and dandy for our unemployed amigos to the south. With all due respect for my Latino brothers and sisters, I’m sure they’ll do their best and we probably won’t even know the difference unless they get creative and add some jalapenos or cumin to the mix. But that’s not the point.

J.P. DEVINE: Saying adios to a cool, crisp friend