From projo.com
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Rhode Island news
3.30.2001 00:16
Up and down Broad St., Latino community thrives
BY MARION DAVIS
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE
-- Asia Medina first came here in 1979, a 21-year-old from a small Dominican town seeking better fortunes with her husband, Rafael. They found few people like them and soon returned home.
They came back in 1989, after living in Santo Domingo and New York City. They had three children by then, and they wanted them to have "a quieter life" and better schools, Medina said.
This time, they found a larger Latino community. But when she opened Asia's Beauty Salon on Broad Street, six years ago, it was the city's first Hispanic beauty parlor. Now it's one of eight in the area.
For Medina, the change in the neighborhood has been a treat.
"It's very pleasant to work in this place, surrounded by Hispanics," she said as she shared pictures from a trip to Santo Domingo with several friends. "Everything that I want from my country is here."
Up and down the street, Dominicans and other Latinos sell jewelry, shoes, knicknacks and groceries with a Caribbean flavor. Nearby businesses offer cheap long-distance phone calls and money-sending services. Local restaurants serve roast chicken, beef and pork en salsa, fried turnovers and mashed plantains. On weekends, El Caribe Night Club pulsates with merengue.
No place in this city has been as dramatically transformed by Latino immigration in recent years. But as Puerto Rican-born Councilman Luis A. Aponte stresses, this is only where the Hispanic influx began, and where it's most evident. Look closer, and you'll find Latinos nearly everywhere.
"Latinos are really integrated in that sense," Aponte said. "I think all over the city you're going to see an influence, whether it's just a bodega [Hispanic grocery store], or whatever."
ACCORDING to U.S. Census Bureau figures released yesterday, Providence is now home to 52,146 Latinos, an increase of 27,164 -- 108.7 percent -- from 1990. They make up 30 percent of the city, up from 15.5 percent in 1990, and made it possible for the population to grow by 8 percent despite a loss of more than 24,000 non-Hispanic white residents.
Councilwoman Patricia K. Nolan, who represents the Elmwood neighborhood, credits much of the area's resurgence to Latinos.
"Broad Street wouldn't be what it is today if it wasn't for the Spanish community," Nolan said. "Those stores were empty when I moved here, and they came and turned those little hovels into nice businesses. As far as I can see, they saved Broad Street."
The Census figures released yesterday don't show where the different Latino nationalities have settled, but there are visible clusters. Mount Pleasant, for example, has the biggest Guatemalan population, while South Providence is a Dominican stronghold.
Marino Rosado, who just opened a shoe store next door to Asia's Beauty Salon, capitalized on Dominican pride in choosing a name for his business.
There's a popular shoe store in Santo Domingo called Los Muchachos, and so that's what he put on the sign outside. "Everyone knows the name," he said.
Many people who live here share similar stories. Most came to the United States through New York City, and then moved to Providence -- mostly in the last decade -- in search of una vida m ufaccent,175 s tranquila, a quieter life.
Many came for their children's sakes, and they express concern that Providence hasn't proven so safe -- it is their neighbors whose sons have been shot, stabbed and bludgeoned to death in recent years.
FEW TALK OF GOING BACK to the Dominican Republic, though they stay in touch, send money and travel there every year or two. Visits to New York are more frequent -- as often as every month.
The Guatemalan presence in Mount Pleasant is less obvious, but Valley Street and Manton, Chalkstone and Atwells Avenues are lined with businesses that cater to the growing community.
As he waited for a takeout order at Mi Guatemala restaurant yesterday, Juan Jos Rodos, a Guatemalan-born trucker who lives near Allentown, Pa., said he squeezes his truck into this neighborhood because it's his favorite in the Northeast.
"I'd love to live here, because you really find the environment of our country," Rodos said.
Ethnic pride and differences between the various countries encourage kindred groups to band together -- the more boisterous (and often darker-skinned) Caribbean people; the quieter, often poorer Central Americans; the more educated South Americans. But there's plenty of mingling, too.
At El Tiburon Sports Bar, on Valley Street, Peruvian-born owner Oscar Valverde pointed out Ecuadoran, Argentinian, Dominican and Guatemalan customers in the crowd watching the Paraguay-Uruguay soccer match on his TV Wednesday night.
Valverde, who immigrated 16 years ago, has been in business for nearly 3 years, after more than a decade as a factory worker.
"I came here with the idea to keep studying, but I found minimal possibilities, so I set the goal to succeed in something, take advantage of being here," Valverde said. "I worked hard, and I tried to save my money."
AS THE LATINO POPULATION has grown, so have the Hispanic media, which now include a local Telemundo affiliate that started broadcasting last July -- and offers local news in Spanish -- several radio stations, and a weekly newspaper, Providence En Espa ol.
Hispanics have also made an impact on the city's churches; there are several Spanish-speaking Pentecostal congregations and nine Catholic parishes that offer Mass in Spanish.
In the school system, Latinos have long been a major presence. Last year, Latinos also made themselves known as a political power, with several candidates for legislative seats, lawyer Angel Taveras running for Congress, and established non-Hispanic candidates eagerly courting the Latino vote.
And while some cities report clashes between Latinos and the whites and African-Americans among whom they live and work, here they have blended in smoothly, for the most part, several observers said. They patronize one another's businesses, try one another's food, and pick up bits of the language.
So it was that on Wednesday afternoon, as a white contractor walked out of Los Muchachos shoe store, he bid farewell with a smiling Adios. Rosado turned to him and replied, "Bye-bye!"
Up and down Broad St., Latino community thrives
BY MARION DAVIS
Journal Staff Writer
They came back in 1989, after living in Santo Domingo and New York City. They had three children by then, and they wanted them to have "a quieter life" and better schools, Medina said.
This time, they found a larger Latino community. But when she opened Asia's Beauty Salon on Broad Street, six years ago, it was the city's first Hispanic beauty parlor. Now it's one of eight in the area.
For Medina, the change in the neighborhood has been a treat.
"It's very pleasant to work in this place, surrounded by Hispanics," she said as she shared pictures from a trip to Santo Domingo with several friends. "Everything that I want from my country is here."
Up and down the street, Dominicans and other Latinos sell jewelry, shoes, knicknacks and groceries with a Caribbean flavor. Nearby businesses offer cheap long-distance phone calls and money-sending services. Local restaurants serve roast chicken, beef and pork en salsa, fried turnovers and mashed plantains. On weekends, El Caribe Night Club pulsates with merengue.
No place in this city has been as dramatically transformed by Latino immigration in recent years. But as Puerto Rican-born Councilman Luis A. Aponte stresses, this is only where the Hispanic influx began, and where it's most evident. Look closer, and you'll find Latinos nearly everywhere.
"Latinos are really integrated in that sense," Aponte said. "I think all over the city you're going to see an influence, whether it's just a bodega [Hispanic grocery store], or whatever."
ACCORDING to U.S. Census Bureau figures released yesterday, Providence is now home to 52,146 Latinos, an increase of 27,164 -- 108.7 percent -- from 1990. They make up 30 percent of the city, up from 15.5 percent in 1990, and made it possible for the population to grow by 8 percent despite a loss of more than 24,000 non-Hispanic white residents.
Councilwoman Patricia K. Nolan, who represents the Elmwood neighborhood, credits much of the area's resurgence to Latinos.
"Broad Street wouldn't be what it is today if it wasn't for the Spanish community," Nolan said. "Those stores were empty when I moved here, and they came and turned those little hovels into nice businesses. As far as I can see, they saved Broad Street."
The Census figures released yesterday don't show where the different Latino nationalities have settled, but there are visible clusters. Mount Pleasant, for example, has the biggest Guatemalan population, while South Providence is a Dominican stronghold.
Marino Rosado, who just opened a shoe store next door to Asia's Beauty Salon, capitalized on Dominican pride in choosing a name for his business.
There's a popular shoe store in Santo Domingo called Los Muchachos, and so that's what he put on the sign outside. "Everyone knows the name," he said.
Many people who live here share similar stories. Most came to the United States through New York City, and then moved to Providence -- mostly in the last decade -- in search of una vida m ufaccent,175 s tranquila, a quieter life.
Many came for their children's sakes, and they express concern that Providence hasn't proven so safe -- it is their neighbors whose sons have been shot, stabbed and bludgeoned to death in recent years.
FEW TALK OF GOING BACK to the Dominican Republic, though they stay in touch, send money and travel there every year or two. Visits to New York are more frequent -- as often as every month.
The Guatemalan presence in Mount Pleasant is less obvious, but Valley Street and Manton, Chalkstone and Atwells Avenues are lined with businesses that cater to the growing community.
As he waited for a takeout order at Mi Guatemala restaurant yesterday, Juan Jos Rodos, a Guatemalan-born trucker who lives near Allentown, Pa., said he squeezes his truck into this neighborhood because it's his favorite in the Northeast.
"I'd love to live here, because you really find the environment of our country," Rodos said.
Ethnic pride and differences between the various countries encourage kindred groups to band together -- the more boisterous (and often darker-skinned) Caribbean people; the quieter, often poorer Central Americans; the more educated South Americans. But there's plenty of mingling, too.
At El Tiburon Sports Bar, on Valley Street, Peruvian-born owner Oscar Valverde pointed out Ecuadoran, Argentinian, Dominican and Guatemalan customers in the crowd watching the Paraguay-Uruguay soccer match on his TV Wednesday night.
Valverde, who immigrated 16 years ago, has been in business for nearly 3 years, after more than a decade as a factory worker.
"I came here with the idea to keep studying, but I found minimal possibilities, so I set the goal to succeed in something, take advantage of being here," Valverde said. "I worked hard, and I tried to save my money."
AS THE LATINO POPULATION has grown, so have the Hispanic media, which now include a local Telemundo affiliate that started broadcasting last July -- and offers local news in Spanish -- several radio stations, and a weekly newspaper, Providence En Espa ol.
Hispanics have also made an impact on the city's churches; there are several Spanish-speaking Pentecostal congregations and nine Catholic parishes that offer Mass in Spanish.
In the school system, Latinos have long been a major presence. Last year, Latinos also made themselves known as a political power, with several candidates for legislative seats, lawyer Angel Taveras running for Congress, and established non-Hispanic candidates eagerly courting the Latino vote.
And while some cities report clashes between Latinos and the whites and African-Americans among whom they live and work, here they have blended in smoothly, for the most part, several observers said. They patronize one another's businesses, try one another's food, and pick up bits of the language.
So it was that on Wednesday afternoon, as a white contractor walked out of Los Muchachos shoe store, he bid farewell with a smiling Adios. Rosado turned to him and replied, "Bye-bye!"
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