The death of 17-year-old pregnant farmworker Maria Isavel Vasquez Jimenez has become a symbol of a system gone wrong, outraging the farmworker community and leading to the first ever criminal case over a farmworker’s heat-related death in the country. The teen died of heat stroke after working for nine hours in 100-degree heat pruning grapes. Read about the criminal case and about why Maria Isavel made it to California in the first place. Find the story here or link to PDF. Photo courtesy of the family.
STORY: Almond Ambassadors
This story is about how the agricultural industry is hiring movie stars in Asian countries such as China and India to promote its crops, especially nuts. Read the story here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/04/us-farmers-nuts-asia-movie-stars_n_829131.html and link to PDF
Also, here is a link to a gallery of photos I shot for the story:
http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/117082843.html?tab=gallery
STORY: Radionovela tackles gay issues among Latino farmworkers
This is my first AP story. Short, but important: A Spanish-language radio drama is aiming to break the silence surrounding homosexuality and its acceptance among the agricultural community. Read the story here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110211/us-gay-radionovela-/ or
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=12897022 or link to PDF
You can listen to the episodes of the radionovela (en Español) on the Radio Bilingue website: http://conectate.radiobilingue.org/novelas/
You can also read my previous story about Latinos and homosexuality, which I wrote for The Oregonian, here:
Often shunned by family, Oregon’s gay Latinos fight for respect