Martínez
said tragic events may change our daily routine
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Hector
Barreto and Elizabeth Lisboa-Farrow
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Aliza
Pilar Sherman
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By
Tatiana Prophet
tprophet@atlantalatino.com
Atlanta, Sep. 20. Leaders from the U.S. Hispanic Chamber
of Commerce had hoped to see two presidents speak at one of the
highlights of their annual convention: the Hispanic businesswomen's
luncheon at the Atlanta Hilton on Thursday.
If it weren't for the terrorists attacks last week, officials
say that both U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President
Vicente Fox would have traveled to address chamber members. But
instead, they remained in their capitals working to lead their
nations in this time of crisis. And at the luncheon, as has been
happening all over the country in the last ten days, hundreds
of Hispanic businessmen and women showed up to show solidarity
and support for the country they call their own.
"Tragic events like those of last week may change our daily
routine, but we will not allow them to change what it means to
be a citizen of the United States of America," said Mel Martinez,
U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to a standing
ovation.
Martinez, a Cuban-American who fled to the United States in 1962,
read a letter from President Bush expressing regret on not being
able to attend.
"Many
Hispanic Americans were among those who gave their last full measure,"
wrote Bush in the letter. "To those, I say, America mourns
with you."
Martinez asked everyone to stand for a moment of silence. Then
he addressed the original topic of the luncheon, which was Hispanic
businesswomen. To Hispanic women, he said, "You're paving
the nation's streets, you're running the shops on Main Street,
and you're running the shops along Wall Street.
You're on camera crews and construction crews. If it is bought,
sold, or traded in this country, you can be sure that a Hispanic
woman is somewhere behind that."
Several Hispanic women and entrepreneurs spoke at the luncheon.
Aliza Pilar Sherman, founder of Cybergrrl, Inc., and author of
"PowerTools for Women in Business: 10 Ways to Succeed in
Work and Life," stressed the need for more women role models
in business, technology and government.
"We need to tell our stories, stories of other Latinas who
are successful, make sure the media covers it, make sure we are
being represented," she said.
Sherman also expressed profound regret at the attacks in New York,
which has been her home for the last 14 years, until she began
traveling the country recently in her RV. "I have seen the
real America, the caring," she said. "It makes me proud."
(www.atlantalatino.com).
