A Latina mom's baby-sitting lament
Editor's note: Rose Arce is a senior producer at CNN and a contributor to Mamiverse, a website for Latinas and their families.
By Rose Arce, CNN
(CNN) - We began breakfast one recent morning delivering this news to Luna: Rosanna, her caregiver, was going on a two-week vacation. "Who is going to take care of me?" she asked. And then she gave me "the look." I call it pouty face. Her dime-sized brown eyes squeeze together, the lower lip rolls out, the hands ball up. Every time she looks like that, my crazy Mama Head empties of sugarplum fairies and fills with fears of pedophilia and child snatching.
We have had the same babysitter since Luna was born. Rosanna would step in front of a train for Luna. She is not easily replaced. But when Luna was a baby, we figured we had options. There is a reason God gave us mothers, tias (aunties), abuelitas (grandmothers) and the occasional BFF you call "co-madre" regardless of whether they are actually your kid's godmother and hence your "co-mother." The problem is every Latina in New York works until death. There is no cotton-topped Grandma on standby sitting in her house-dress feeding chickens.
I don't think all Latinas are so overprotective of their kids. But this one is.
Zimmerman to request new bond hearing
By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) - George Zimmerman's lawyers have vowed to file a motion asking a Florida judge for a new bond hearing for their client Monday, a day after the murder suspect returned to jail on a judge's order.
The 28-year-old Florida man accused in the death of Trayvon Martin had been free on bond for weeks until Sunday afternoon, when he turned himself in to authorities in Seminole County, Florida.
Zimmerman become a focus of intense national attention earlier this year, after he fatally shot the unarmed African-American teenager who had gone out to buy a bag of Skittles and Arizona iced tea at a 7-Eleven in Sanford, Florida.
The neighborhood watch volunteer said the February 26 shooting was in self-defense. Martin's family and civil rights activists from around the nation said that Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic, racially profiled the 17-year-old and ignored a 911 dispatcher's request not to follow him.
Zimmerman surrenders, is booked into Florida jail
By the CNN Wire Staff
Sanford, Florida (CNN) - George Zimmerman was booked into jail Sunday after surrendering to authorities before an afternoon deadline, the Seminole County sheriff said.
Zimmerman met two members of the sheriff's office in a business parking lot about 1:25 p.m. Sunday and was taken into custody, Sheriff Donald Eslinger told reporters.
Zimmerman was required to return to central Florida and turn himself in after a judge revoked his bail Friday, saying Zimmerman misled the court about his finances.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, is accused of shooting unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in a gated community in Sanford in February. Zimmerman argues he acted in self-defense.
About In America
What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
Black in America
iReport
