buenas dias and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo. and today the sons of los tigres del norte are in the studios. plus the president of hispanic university dr. david lopez are also here. this is your "comunidad del valle."

we begin today with a local group helping the people of haiti. they are called the haiti action committee. and with me here on "comunidad del valle" are julissa garcia, seth donnelley, and victoria duran to talk about their experiences and why they're helping out that impoverished country. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> we'll start with you, victoria. tell us about your organization and why you decided that haiti was the country you wanted to help. >> so the way i was -- i became involved with haiti was last year i had a student by the name of stephanie nguyen who pretty much spearheaded a fund-raiser at the high school i work at which is evergreen valley high school in san jose. and what she was able to do is raise over $3,000 through an organization called $1 for life that is based out of los altos high school and run by a director, mr. robert freeman. and what she was able to do on our campus is really fund-raising and bringing in over $3,000 and exceeding her

goal of $1 per student was what spearhead our connection and being able to go and see firsthand where the money went. pi was an amazing experience because we were able to go in july for nine days, both myself and stephanie and my sister and julissa and myself as well. and see 100% of the fund-raising money go to community center, to women's groups, and to really support firsthand through food distribution, through the development of breaking ground at the new site, and seeing the infrastructure that is being done to really -- >> bring the place back to life? >> really bring things to life. and then strategically to really support the aftermath of the earthquake. >> we have some video that was shot after the earthquake. and seth, you were there, you

witnessed some of this. you don't want this to happen to any country, obviously. but a country like haiti, which already has next to nothing, boy, that really grips at your heart, i guess. >> absolutely. and this trip was actually my ninth trip to haiti in the last five years. i teach high school. but this trip was my first trip with the students. we had a wonderful delegation of about 15 people. from the south bay. and for the students and for myself and for my colleagues it was so eye-opening to see the tenacity and the power of the grassroots organizations who are working day in and day out to heal their country. but it was also very disturbing to see how little of the major aid from the big ngos and the governments has actually reached the people. and that's actually consistent with my findings from earlier trips before the earthquake that haiti essentially is a country that is poor because it suffers

from a lack of democracy. and it suffers from a lack of democracy because of, unfortunately, truth be told, the failures and the cruelties of u.s. foreign policy toward that country. so much of my work has been to try to get the information back to the states, like on programs like this, to get the word out and say we need to change our foreign policy toward haiti and stop dominating that country and to support the people to have true self-determination. >> and julissa, a lot of us here at home saw the pictures, and we made our donations and wen we went back to our normal lives. you said i want to take this a step further, i'm going to go there and i'm going to roll up my sleeves. >> soon after the earthquake -- right after the earthquake i told myself i wanted to go at some point during this year, and i was looking for an opportunity to go. and it's very clear that, again, a lot of that -- those donations that the majority of americans made, haitians have not seen that money.

from what we hear, it's held up in congress or, you know, so i think what was good with our group is that, you know, we are a grassroots group ourselves. we went to other grassroots organization there's and were able to give 100% of the profit. >> death and destruction, that's basically what it was? >> it was eye-opening. you know. and -- it was eye-opening and beautiful and a very spiritual trip. and it was just like nothing i've ever seen. >> there's a demonstration coming up, seth? >> yeah, on december 17th. >> november. >> oh, i'm sorry, not december. november 17th. the organization that we work for, the haiti action committee, has been supporting delegations to haiti to raise funds and get it to the people directly. but also it's part of trying to raise awareness inside the united states to change our foreign policy. just like we changed foreign policy toward el salvador and nicaragua. and so we encourage viewers to go to haitisolidarity.net

website for more information. it will be a demonstration calling for the return of the elected president, aristide, who was forced out in a u.s.-backed coup five years ago, and ever since haiti's been suffering from that very human-made earthquake. >> what do you want viewers at home to sleep at night with, if you will, victoria, after watching this interview? >> going to haiti just going to pick up my medication, they said oh, they still need help? was a question presented to me. and this was back in july. and to see the destruction and the magnitude, yes, they need help. and any way to support, especially grass root organizations like haiti action committee to be able to take the full percentage of -- 100% of the money to grassroot leaders in haiti that know where to apply the money is definitely the help that we can have from our community. >> i'll show you some information and have you repeat a couple websites if you have those you want to get out. we have haitination.net.

is that one? and is there any others you want to put out? >> haiti action. >> okay. it's haitiaction.net. >> yeah. >> haitiaction.net. that is the web address. any other phone numbers or any information that -- >> well, in regards to next week's rally, not only it's a call for aristide's return, again, that was a former president, who was kidnapped in a coup d'etat, but also to bring light to the upcoming elections that are being held at the end of the month and the exclusion of the political party that the majority of haitians belong to. and they really don't represent the poor peopl the poor people. they're being excluded from the upcoming elections. this is actions the u.s. is helping to sponsor. i think this is something we need to be aware of. >> you guys are helping half a world away. congratulations for your work and thank you forring doing what we're not dpog. doing. >> thank you for your work. >> coming up the president of

the national hiss payne university dr. david lopez. stay with us. psps oh, so when's the big day? oh, we got married years ago. but the point is, i fit in it. well, good for you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. should we order panda blossom, panda moon... how about chinese at home with wanchai ferry? you can make it in just 14 minutes. mmmh, orange chicken. great. i didn't feel like going out anyway. [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry. restaurant quality chinese in your grocer's freezer.

they're doing some great things at the national hispanic university. dr. david lopez is my guest. welcome back to the show, dr. lopez. tell us about this early university program that you're starting there at the nhu. >> nhu's always had a history of reaching into the community, into the high schools and mid schools. we have the esperanza proom for middle schoolers and their parents. upward bound. we recently embarked on this program called early university program. since we have a charter high school on campus with 415 students the juniors and seniors are taking university coursework from university professors right on the campus. the charter school's on the campus. so it's a great opportunity for these students to take courses early. demystify the university experience. close that chasm between high school and higher ed. and we've had great success with it. last year we had 52 students in that program. 51 are in four-year colleges

today. one went to the service. but those others are moving on. this year we have 90 and they're taking classes like calculus and english and chicano latino studies, just some relevanced classes. and we have high expectations for them in their performance. >> that's what we need. my first step on a college campus wasn't until a month before i started college. that's unacceptable. >> yeah. the earlier we start with students, the better. just to get them on campus as even third-graders, to see the university. but having students take college courses, regular college courses actually with a college professor, we've got some tremendous professor that's are highly motivated, inspirational, and working with these youngsters and they're performing, they're rising to the occasion. dr. ronzon, who does the latino performing arts, says "i'm giving the students voice." because a lot of the students come, in they're shy, a little timid, they want to stand back. and he says no, no, voz alta. and all of a sudden they're developing their voice.

what is confidence? confidence is a memory of past successes, right? once you have those successes, you develop that confidence. and that's what we do with these kids. >> and if some students or parents are thinking i can send my kid to san jose state or fresno state or santa clara, why should i choose national hispanic university? your answer is. >> well, those are good universities. >> and you partner with some of them. >> we partner with san jose state and santa clara. i taught at fresno state for 22 years. they're good institutions. they're doing hard work. what is unique about nhu is that we personalize the experience, we make sure we use the familia model. everyone's responsible for the students. just like in the old ways where they had the plaza and people circled around to support the students and the children and so forth. same thing here. we're all responsible for these children. whether you're a professor, custodian, the president. so we use la familia model, but we have those high expectations and we don't just tell these kids hey, you can achieve this. we build processes and procedures and put them in place to make them get there. and another key factor is those role models, people that care,

because students, they really don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. and that's one thing i've learned as an educator over many years. >> one thing that's frustrating as a news reporter to cover is -- and it happens all the time is bridging the achievement gap. and we're not able to bridge it yet. it seems like you're doing it there at the national hispanic university. why aren't we doing it everywhere else? >> that is a good question. it's a major challenge. in this state does not bridge the educational achievement gap and as some people call it the racial gap we're not going to have the workforce of the future to keep this state and country competitive. we need bold innovative ideas like national hispanic university, like the latino college prep, really reaching down and doing the hard work to make sure these kids have the opportunities to learn. and guess what? they can learn. it just takes hard work and people working together to make it happen. it happens with partnerships. you've got to partner with the parents also, get them involved in the process. >> how smart is that pipeline, the one between nhu and latino college prep?

>> it's a fantastic pipeline. we call it the eight-year pipeline. we're moving students seamlessly from ninth grade to the baccalaureate. we partner with san jose state. some of our students after two years go on and major in engineering at san jose state. some have gone on to santa clara. some go on to law school. we're really promoting that they continue. higher education familia. that's what it is. we're the higher education familia. we extend ourselves from the regular family that like you and i came from, damian, where the mom and dad were trying to really help us, and now they're in a setting where the familia, the higher education's there to support them and achieve their goals. >> and those students compete with the very best. your sxeech debate team -- >> phenomenal. >> -- you can write a whole book -- >> there's a movie just -- when they beat dartmouth and the university of miami in the finals for the bioethics debate in new york. think about it. five latino youngsters that were average students here in schools that came to us, and our professor, michael jordan, had the same process i just

mentioned, put it in place through a lot of hard work. those kids beat tremendous schools back east. >> why is it? what is in your drinking water at national hispanic university? >> we call it the secret sauce. it's really people that care. there's a very unique culture, the familia model, we call it, where -- and it's not just hispanics. michael jordan is an american -- african-american -- an anglo-american from santa cruz. he's a surfer. he knows how to inspire and influence these kids. he can take them to the highest levels. we have a variety of professors teaching these kids. and it's all about not only the students having ganas but the professors and everyone else having ganas to help them. >> it takes people to believe in them, and that's what you guys are doing there. >> exy.actlexactly. yeah. belief is everything, right? >> absolutely. the national hispanic university is in san jose on story road. there is the web address. any final thoughts? >> well, we're always looking for students. all students. so we're looking for you to get

off your couch, come to nhu, bring your mom and dad, bring your relatives. we're there to help you. >> it's an open invitation. no more excuses. we've got to bridge that achievement gap. they're doing it at the national hispanic university. >> [ speaking spanish ]. >> thank you very much. up next on "comunidad del valle" the sons of los tigres del norte. we'll introduce them to you formally. stay with us. ♪ [ female announcer ] yoplait's real fruit and the goodness of dairy... gives you a little slice of happy.

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♪ well, we all know who they are. los tigres del norte, legendary band that's been playing all over the world for decades. the sons of one of the band members, hernan hernandez are here with us on "comunidad del valle." rex aya and raul antonio hernandez are musicians in their own right. but what was it like, mixaya,

first of all, to be growing up in that household with a legendary band like los tigres del norte? >> first of all, thank you for having us. very memorable experience. had people coming in and out. musicians. always playing music. so there was always music in our household, whether it was norteno music. my mom played everything from marvin gaye to james brown. it was a very memorable experience for me and something that i wouldn't trade for. >> did you guys have to get into music? because that's what the family lineage was? >> no. to tell you the truth, it was the complete opposite, believe it or not. my dad was completely, you know, didn't even want us getting anywhere near music. >> really? >> so it was one-day of those things where you kind of like -- it was in our blood. my dad's -- my mom's dad was a mariachi and he was in a mariachi band so, he kind of, when my dad wasn't there, he would teach us the ropes in that form of music. but like i said, in the beginning my dad never -- he was

like, go to school, you know, do this, do that. but it was something in our hearts that we had that we just wanted to go with music. and luckily, you know, we're here. >> and you guys were probably born when they were already, you know, at the top of the charts. i mean, what's it like to see the adoring fans at the convention center? it's packed all the time whenever they're performing. >> i actually got to, you know, see their transition, you know. i'm a little bit older than him. i'm 31 years old. so i've seen that transition from -- i remember living in a one-bedroom home with all my kids and my tios and then laporta negra comes out and we're moving into a five-bedroom home with a swimming pool. so i got to actually see that struggle and see them actually work hard. and just that work ethic they had. but i think more importantly just the way they would treat people. that was like, you know -- i was in awe of that, you know, the way they would just be humbled and take a stand for two, three hours after a concert.

taking pictures, signing autographs. just being there, shaking everybody's hand. that's what really stood out to me the most. >> we do have a short clip of your music video. we're going to plate entire video in its entirety. that's redundant. at the end of the program. but i want to show a short clip and talk about it and then we'll talk about it on the side. ♪ you can chill at your home ♪ we took your food while you sit on your throne ♪ ♪ there's something wrong with that picture there ♪ ♪ ♪ we latinos on the rise like blood pressure ♪ ♪ it's under control ♪ treat us like some animals ♪ get rid of ♪ [ singing in spanish ] ♪

♪ >> that is awesome. your parents and your uncles took on the struggle. they were the voice of the immigrant. and you guys are kind of taking that same approach but in a different genre. >> yeah. like everybody knows their uncles. and you know, my dad for being the voice of the people. i think with this song it happened by accident. it was one of those things where we were just speaking out of frustration for what we felt was going on at the time. and you know, like i said, we just got into the studio and we knocked out the song.

and you know, without even thinking anything of it, you know, people started -- we started getting positive responses from it. it was something that like i said, i mean, we kind of took on that role that they were doing without even wanting it, you know, without even looking for it. and i think it was something that felt natural for us because in the beginning of before this song we were doing our separate solo careers and this song brought us closer. and i think that's what -- people expected, too, our father is in a band full of brothers and a cousin, and for us to join together was a natural thing to do. >> did your dad say, [ speaking spanish ]? >> i used to work with him for seven years, so i kind of know what it is to be in the shoes, traveling, lavando la ropa, getting coffee for them. i went through that. but like my brother said, i think the youth needed a voice too. obviously they speak to the

immigrant, the first generation immigrant, and this song was for the next generation immigrants. the sons, the daughters of those immigrants because they also have a voice too. they're going through stuff that maybe they can't explain and maybe they can't project, and that's what we're trying to be, that voice for them also, and let them know it's okay to have a voice. >> very well put. we do have a studio right next door. the doors are open. whenever your pops wants to come and bring a couple of his brothers over, tell him the doors are always open. >> go over there and rock it. >> there you go. it's awesome. let me show you some information if you'd like to learn more about this great endeavor. it's called todos somos arizona. and we'll play that video in its entirety when we continue. stay with us. this is a strawberry pop tart. but this is warm, fresh-baked strawberry toaster strudel. [ music ] see the difference? pillsbury toaster strudel, the one kids want to eat. than ltening there'to our favorite songs. there's nothing we love more

than listeng our favorite songs. but our favorite thing isating tono's pizza rolls. buour vorite thing eating tono's piz rolls. ♪ we're the kids in america oh,h ♪ and here's our address for next week's saludos. remember to pipg a commy of the salvadoran newspaper and support your weeklies all across the bay

area. we thank you for sharing a part of your sunday with us once again. we leave you now with the great sounds of mixaya and raul antonio hernandez. this is called todossomos arizona. all proceeds go to the legal education fund. stay with us. buenas dias. >> outside the arizona state capital in phoenix protesters are demonstrating at this hour against a new law. >> good evening from new york. just hours ago the governor of arizona signed into law an immigration bill that may in practical terms mandate racial profiling. ♪ ♪ we clean your home, cook your food while you sit on your throne without a clue ♪ ♪ there's something wrong with that picture there ♪ ♪ [ singing in spanish ]

♪ ♪ we latinos on the rise like blood pressure ♪ ♪ treat us like some animals ♪ dictating ♪ to get rid of all of us ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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