Hola!

Thanksgiving Day is known as “Día de Acción de Gracias” or “Día de Dar Gracias,” and for the majority of Latinos in Nevada, the day also kicks off Christmas shopping season.

Many of us who come in search of the “American Dream” immediately take to embracing the Thanksgiving holiday.  We are thankful to be in the land of opportunities, to contribute to our country through our hard work, as well as celebrate the well-being of our familias.

Obviously, we tweak the celebrations with our Latino essence and flair. Some Latino Thanksgiving dinners include turkey, however most of the time the turkey for dinner is not the same guajolote you’ve helped raise since you were a child. Instead of using the traditional Stove Top stuffing, Latinos stuff their turkey with ground beef, chorizo, bacon, and a variety of nuts.  Have you ever tried turkey birria? You get the best of both worlds: traditional American dishes infused with new Latino flavors!

Gratitude is a virtue that we must continue to instill in our children and families. I hope that as a community we take advantage of this long-standing tradition and take the day to reflect on all the things we are grateful for. 

I know I am.

Dice un refrán popular: Regala afecto, no lo compres, but with la llegada of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, más vale que nos pongamos las pilas para evitar ser víctimas de fraudes o estafas.

Miriam Lira-Hickerson, the Ombudsman of Consumer Affairs for Minorities at the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, recientemente comentó que this year there may be a record high volume of purchases. This means that bad actors and scammers will have more opportunities to prey on consumers because purchases are not only happening in stores, but also online.  

If you plan on taking advantage of Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales to get ahead on your Christmas shopping list, do so with precaution: Scammers are using high-end technology to defraud customers on websites and smart phones. If a link from a favorite store looks suspicious, don’t click on it. 

Lira-Hickerson also recommends researching business’ policies ahead of buying things, such as whether sales are final and timeframes for returns. In addition, it is important to know the conditions for returns just in case you lose the receipts or discard the packaging.

“Please remember that we have the ‘Be Your Own Advocate’ campaign, which includes prevention, and prevention is protection. If you have any questions, contact me directly at my email mhicckerson@business.nv.gov,” Lira-Hickerson said.

LiterArte y Comala se han convertido en dos pulmones que permiten dar un profundo respiro a la cultura en el valle. Unidos en la difusión de letras, una treintena de creadores se reunieron para celebrar el II Encuentro Internacional de Escritores, evento organizado por Roberto Peláez Romero.

• Celebran el 113 aniversario de la Revolución Mexicana con un hipotético diálogo entre Pancho Villa y Francisco I. Madero. El presidente de México Andrés Manuel López Obrador determinó que el 2023 fuera el “Año de Francisco Villa”. (Read more here.)

• Nevada’s wildland firefighters got a temporary pay raise in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed a massive infrastructure bill into law. But that pay bump is set to expire. That’s why Nevada’s Democratic Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto have introduced the Wildland Firefighter Fair Pay Act. (Read more here.)

• Vegas culinary workers get 32% pay raises over five years under new contracts. The Culinary Workers Union announced on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that 99% of the vote favored the new five-year deal. “BEST CONTRACT EVER! Congratulations to 10,000 hospitality workers!,” the post said. (Read more here.)

Soy residente de Las Vegas desde hace más de 30 años, me siento orgulloso de ser parte de esta vibrante comunidad que enriquece con su aporte el fortalecimiento de esta ciudad. La “raza” latina es parte esencial del mosaico cultural de Las Vegas.

Frank Alejandre is the Community Editor of The Nevadan / El Nevadense.

Have a question or comment? Reply back to this email!