damian trujillo: hello, and welcome to “comunidad del valle," i'm damian trujillo, and remember, you're gonna see that qr code at the bottom of the screen throughout the show so that you can register to vote. it takes you directly to the secretary of state's office so you can now register to vote on “comunidad del valle." today, we are celebrating cinco de mayo with festivities and parades on your “comunidad del valle." ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ damian: we begin with the monthly visit by the consulate of mexico in san jose. ambassador alejandra bologna is the consul general of mexico in san jose: ambassador, welcome back to the show. alejandra bologna: thank you so much for having me. damian: well, thank you for being here. we're gonna talk later on in the show about cinco de mayo. for us pochos it means a lot of cultural pride, but in mexico, for mexicanos, what is cinco de mayo? alejandra: well, it's really interesting starting about what is the difference between here in mexico and the celebration in the united states of cinco de mayo. for mexico, it was a battle that was held in 1862. it was the invasion of the french army ruled by napoleon.

so, it was the most important army in the world at that time, and in puebla, ignacio zaragoza defeated the army, the french army, so that's why it's a special moment of our history against an invasion of a foreign country that in that battle was the mexican army. that it was inferior, defeat the most powerful army in the world. so, the celebration it's less than or has not the same meaning as the independence day that as you know is on september 16th, but what is important is that during those periods, there was a lot of connection with californians, and that where

here it was the civil war. so, there was a connection between juarez that was against the imperial frances, and it was allied with president lincoln, and there were groups that were fighting in here, or were helping also to mexicans to fight the french army. so, when it was more focused on the civil rights. as you know, when mexico become independent in 1810, it was declared the provision of the slaves, so it was also one of the codes that was in the civil war. so, it was like the civil rights that in that battle were

really remarkable. so, that's why i hear the chicanos were celebrating, or have the celebration of the cinco de mayo. damian: well, it's cultural pride, we're gonna celebrate it whatever the history is, i guess. so, yeah, we'll talk about the parades and that in our next segments, but one thing real quickly, ambassador. you and i did a news report on the change, recent change in passports for young children of mexican nationals. this is for security reasons, to prevent child abductions and child trafficking. alejandra: yes, of course, as you know, in mexico for using a passport for a minor, you need to have the authorization of both parents. just in case it's only a single mother, or for any reason it is just one parent that has the custody of the minor, then it's the only way that they can have just one parent getting the passport.

so, this permit, it has to be done at the same time that they are using the passport, and our passports has the possibility to include the photograph of the parents of the minor, and that helps a lot of authorities to identify if the minor is not traveling with their parents, just to see what's happening. we know that minors can travel maybe alone, taking care of that, different companies or airline companies, or with some family member, but in that cases, they have a special permit to do that. so, it's a way to reduce the risk of having one parent or other people trying to restrain minors. damian: well, we saw a sample of that in the video that we're watching. thank you for providing that for us. it's a fascinating move, hopefully it does work. and we're gonna keep you for one more segment, ambassador, but if you want more information on these programs by the consulate

of mexico in san jose, they're on enzo street there on the screen, there's also their website. we'll be back with the consul general of mexico in san jose, ambassador alejandra bologna, stay with us.

damian: and we're back with ambassador alejandra bologna, she's the consul general of mexico in san jose. you wanted to talk about a program, ambassador, it's programa consular de emprendimiento. tell us about that. alejandra: yes, it's a program focused for empowered women. so, it's focused only for women that want to become entrepreneurial, that want to have a small business or help them if they are already selling food, or selling some beauty products, or something like that. to increase their sales or to become more business, or to increase their business. so, we have this special program that all the consular network help.

it's a linked with the university of phoenix, arizona. they have some lessons, they have some concepts to reinforce, and then with some mentors, we are accompanying them to get the skills to really become entrepreneurial women. and it is important, because, you know, fighting against domestic violence, sometimes the problem is that there's not self-confidence for women of going ahead, and if you gave them the skills to be independent, to be autonomous, that will help a lot. so, a part of this program is focused to empower women, to give them the possibility of having their self-confidence and self-profits so they can be independent and they don't need to be subject to live with someone that is hurting them.

damian: oh, well, that's great. it's a great talleres, workshops, and lessons for some women who want to be entrepreneurs. before we let you go, ambassador, you and i did another report on the appointments, the citas, because i got an email from a student at sonoma state who says my mom can't get a cita, she's been trying for weeks. when i visited the consulate, two out of three people who i interviewed said i had no problem getting a cita. what can you tell the co-nationals just about the patience and the fact that you do offer 1,000 appointments per week? alejandra: yes, of course. we have a networking, a consular networking of consulates here in the state of california. so, we serve four counties, that is monterey, san benito, santa cruz, and santa clara, so we open weekly 1,000 appointments for our co-nationals to get their documents, that is the

electoral vote credential, the passport, or the matricula consular. the best way to do that is through whatsapp. we yesterday opened appointments, and there were enough appointments, i think, until six o'clock, and maybe still they could find someones. but what we try to do is to limit the possibility of persons that are taking advantage of this need of our community selling, because they have a person that daily is calling on tuesday the whole day until they get the appointments for other ones. the problem here is that the only way that they can do that is giving the same information of the person that is going to come to the consulate. so, they share important information, personal information, and sometimes also documents, and that's very

risky, because they can have, or they can lose, they can be a subject of a fraud of identity. so, we encourage our community to be confident that if they have an emergency, they can come to their consulate of their jurisdiction here in san jose, and saying what is the emergency, we can evaluate if we gave the passport. if not, they need to do the appointment, but it's important to have the commitment of the community not to go to these centers to buy the appointments, because that generates this idea that there are not appointments, and they are feeding these persons in their way to get advantage, or due money against the propose of serving our community.

damian: yeah, don't go to that third party. and you mentioned whatsapp, that's the easiest and fastest way to do it, it's on your website. thank you, ambassador, for that information. we're gonna flash that website so people can log on and make their appointments via whatsapp if they can. thank you so much for being on the show again. alejandra: thank you. damian: thank you, and again, we'll show that the website for the consular of mexico in san jose. the whatsapp number is there, that's an easy way, i'm told, to get those appointments. don't go through that third party. fraud might be imminent. well, up next here on "comunidad del valle," the cinco de mayo celebrations are here. stay with us.

damian: and we're back here on "comunidad del valle," and just a reminder that the qr code you're watching on the screen, that's where you can register to vote from now until november. you will be able to register to vote here on "comunidad del valle," takes you directly to the secretary of state's office in sacramento. well, the cinco de mayo parades are back. councilmember omar torres is one of the spearheaders of the downtown event.

also, jose badillo is the ceo of advance staffing, they're on our show, welcome to the show, gentlemen. jose badillo: thank you, thank you for having us. damian: well, i mean, omar, counselman, i remember the parades in the early days, and this was the largest cinco de mayo parade in the entire country, and you're bringing it back to downtown san jose. omar torres: yes, we sure are. it's not just me, it's a team, and so i'm very grateful that our wonderful partner here, jose, is bringing back the cinco de mayo parade back to downtown san jose. so, i remembered it as a kid, you know, there was a little, you know, a little fracas there in the late '90s and so it went away, and now we are working together to bring the desfile back to downtown san jose for families. because we all know that we can celebrate cinco de mayo peaceful and safely. damian: yeah, absolutely, i remember watching, and there was

rudy and the cruisers that were on one of the trucks, in the back of a truck, and oh, my goodness, this parade is the bomb. we're gonna get a taste of that, jose, when you bring some of the acts back to san jose? jose: absolutely, i think in the parade we're gonna have a lot of different trucks, low riders, some really nice floats, la musica, a lot of great entertainment, a nice variety of entertainment for the entire downtown and city. damian: actually, i should say jose, welcome back to the show. you said that you danced here on "comunidad del valle" just a few years ago, on some folklórico for us. jose: yeah, as a young kid i danced for a group called [speaking spanish] de san jose, so my passion as a young kid was folklórico and dancing. i used to dance in the mariachi festivals. i used to actually dance in the cinco de mayo parades every year in downtown. i got invited to "comunidad del valle" to dance there at the studio. i think i was about eight years old.

so, i have a lot of great memories as a young kid, and that's kind of the purpose behind all of this, what's excited me to support and help work with the city to bring it back. damian: alright, well, we do have some video of the fliers that you all have, and a video of some old parades from before, but tell us what excites you, councilmember, about this upcoming parade. anything else you wanna mention about the parade? omar: cinco de mayo is about celebrating mexico spirit, celebrating our mexican cultura, right? and the influence that it has not only in the city of san jose, but throughout our united states and throughout the world, right? and so, la cultura mexicana is beautiful, and we're resilient, and that's what cinco de mayo is all about. damian: and you can see from the video we're showing that it's been a while, because that video is a little stretched. so, that's when we were using different kinds of cameras, but give us hits, runs, and errors, jose, what can we expect this year, the parade starts at city hall.

jose: yes, so we'll have the streets closed from city hall all the way to cesar chavez park, also known as christmas in the park. i know more people are familiar with that one. and so, the parade will start around 9, 9:30 a.m. and all the way to cesar chavez park, from 9, 9:30 a.m. to 11 o'clock in the morning. we'll have the parade, we have folklórico dancers, azteca dancers, we have some low riders, we have different floats, and we're actually working on opening our own restaurant in downtown san jose, so we will have a big chef and some big jalapeños walking down the street dancing. we have a great variety of music and entertainment during the parade. then, as we all arrive at the park around 11 o'clock, we will have live music on stage, a dj, we'll have live mariachi,

folklórico dancers, azteca dancers, and local bands. and this will be the first time we're announcing it, but the main artist for the evening around three o'clock will be beatriz adriana, who will be performing with the live banda and mariachi group. and we will also have lucha libre doing five matches throughout the day. so, at the park, at cesar chavez from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. we'll have the lucha libre, the live music, and we'll have somewhere between 25 to 35 different vendors sharing a lot of their local business and information as well to the community, so, it's gonna be great. damian: i expect to see you then in a singlet, jose, and a mask doing your lucha libre. we have a couple of minutes, councilmember, what can you tell us? the space is yours, tell us about the parade, but also tell us about the street closure, because that involves some of that as well. omar: right, so again, this is in coordination with our san

jose police department and office of cultural affairs, right? and so, we definitely want to bring back the memories of decades past where our community came out and celebrated our mexican culture, right? and so, you know, it is very symbolic that we'll be starting at san jose city hall. i always say that as your councilmember, it's your city hall. i'm here to represent our community. and we will finish off in one of the greatest civil rights leaders, right? cesar chavez, who was one of the greatest civil rights leaders in the united states, but here in california, and so we'll be finishing off at plaza de cesar chavez, right, where we honor señor cesar chavez. damian: alright, well, that is beautiful. i'm glad that the parade, the festival is back in full force in downtown san jose. we have about 15 seconds, so say any final thoughts. jose: i think the purpose and passion behind all of this is to

bring the community together, to bring back the spirit of downtown san jose with this event, and now that the cholo days are gone, we think that this is gonna be a great start to something great again for downtown san jose, and to bring back the spirit for the latinos and for the entire community. so, we're really excited to be able to ignite this once again. damian: alright, well, let's show you that information. this is happening on the day, cinco de mayo, one week from today. starts at the san jose city hall, the parade does, it goes over to plaza de cesar chavez, and there's a great website for more information, you can get all the information there on the screen. and up next here on “comunidad del valle,” another cinco de mayo parade, this one on the east side of san jose. you wanna stay with us.

damian: well, and there is another cinco de mayo parade and festival on cinco de mayo in san jose. this one going from king and alum rock over to story road, the heart of the east side. with me is councilmember domingo candelas of district number eight, and councilman peter ortiz of district number five.

welcome to the show. peter ortiz: happy to be here, thank you, damian. damian: thank you, councilmember ortiz, how big of a deal is this for the east side? peter: oh, this celebration has momentum for years of coming to fruition. the east side community will finally have the opportunity to have its first official parade and festival celebrating the cinco de mayo holiday. so, this is the time for our mexicano and chicano community to come out and take pride of their culture and their ancestry. damian: yeah, and in the specifics, councilmember candelas, we mentioned kind of the parade route, but the festivity was to begin right after the parade. domingo candelas: absolutely, no, we're really excited. i'm super excited to be partnering with councilmember ortiz to bring this cinco de mayo event to our community. we are expecting a family-friendly event.

no alcohol or tobacco is gonna be allowed, so we encourage everyone to come out, have a good time, bring your kids, cousins, tios, tias, abuelitos, abuelitas, come all. we're gonna have a good time at emma prusch park and an opportunity to create stronger neighborhoods. damian: yeah, and councilmember ortiz, there's some great partnerships that you have, including the low rider council. peter: oh, absolutely, we're honored to partner with the united low rider council of san jose, the consulado de mexico, somos mayfair, the ¡sí se puede! collective, and various different elected officials to bring this event to the east side. we're gonna have charos, horse entertainment, ballet folklórico, banda, you know, local musical artists, it's gonna be a diverse celebration of our mexican heritage. damian: and this is in partnership also with the san jose police department, so there's some coordinations taking place. peter: of course, we're partnering with the police department, they will be on site. we have a contract with them to provide security services, and

they will also hopefully, knock on wood, will be riding in their very own low rider. the united low rider council of san jose has partnered with our police department to prepare a low rider for the event. damian: why not? we're all one community. councilmember candelas, any other specifics that you want to share that will entice our folks to come out to the parade and festival on the east side? domingo: yeah, we're gonna have food vendors, we're gonna have local vendors to be able to buy [speaking spanish] or local goods from vendors, you know, and like councilmember ortiz said, we can't do it alone. the beauty of san jose is the diversity, and not just of the makeup of our city, but in activities. i know there's a cinco de mayo event happening in downtown, but with more than 300,000 latinos living in san jose, we are proud to put together the very first cinco de mayo event on the

east side. and so, i encourage everybody to come out and just have a good time with your neighbors. damian: alright, councilmember ortiz, with events like these, you have to close some streets to make sure that they happen safely, and there's gonna be some of that going on, so people should be aware. peter: yes, absolutely, so we're gonna be closing down king road starting in the morning until the end of the event, which should be by 5:00 p.m. as well as to the highway 680 exit, which is right there off of king road. but just to add, you know, it's really monumental that we have been partnering with the united low rider council, given that cruising was outlawed for so many years in the city of san jose. now we're bringing cinco de mayo, right, the second year of cruising being legal to the capital of low riding in northern california, king and story. we're gonna be shutting down king road, and there's gonna be over 300 low riders parked on that road, and it's gonna be an

exhibit for everyone to see. damian: well, isn't that something, that those low riders, like you mentioned, were banned? i don't know if banned, but cruising was not allowed, and now they're the main focus of what we're celebrating here. peter: yes, i mean, you can't separate cinco de mayo from low rider cruising. everybody always remembers that when you think about san jose and cinco de mayo. damian: absolutely, councilmember candelas, any final thoughts? domingo: no, we look forward to seeing you out there on cinco de mayo, damian. come out from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. just thanks again to all the community partners, you know, from the sharks, bta, to various elected officials, we couldn't have helped put this event together without everybody. so, it's gonna be a great time, looking forward to spending plenty of time out there in the community. damian: alright, yes, i'm told by my station that i will be on a low rider in the parade route, so i'm looking forward to that. councilmember ortiz, any final thoughts?

peter: just as mentioned, we've really gone above and beyond to make sure that this event is going to be safe. we're gonna be ensuring that both we have police on site and a security firm, and we're gonna be having a first aid booth just in case there's any health concerns for the public. so, please feel comfortable coming out to our beautiful east side, it's gonna be a family-friendly event that you do not want to miss. damian: it's gonna be lit. the cinco de mayo in san jose, it's back. thank you, folks, for being on the show and sharing this great information with us. peter: alright, thank you, damian. damian: alright, we'll see you there on the low rider, thank you--well, let's share that information once again. this is the other cinco de mayo parade and festival happening in alum rock, on king road from alum rock, all the way to story road. festival at emma prusch park, low riders galore. well, we thank you for sharing a part of your sunday here on “comunidad del valle" with us. we'll see you once again here next week on cinco de mayo before we head out to the parade. we'll see you next week. ♪♪♪

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