The New York Times has something no other English-language newspaper in the United States has this morning IN ADDITION to the Eric Morel Story "Morel Pleads No Contest to Sexual Assault," NUMEROUS newspapers throughout the U.S. were more than happy to RUSH to publish.  Remember, Joseph Serrano was shot back in March -- and today is the 10th of June.  Eric Morel was in court YESTERDAY and here are all the articles READILY and RAPIDLY available online in a quick Yahoo! search of the news using the key words "ERIC MOREL."  Now, a quick search for "JOSEPH SERRANO CAGUAS PUERTO RICO" brings up NOTHING -- not even today's New York Times article .  .  .
 
 
«FROM Yahoo! -- We didn't find any news stories matching the following criteria:
Containing this query term: JOSEPH SERRANO CAGUAS PUERTO RICO

Suggestions:
- Check your spelling.
- Try more general words.
- Try different words that mean the same thing.
- Broaden your search by using fewer words.»
 
 
«Morel cops plea, avoids jail time 
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Jun 09 11:41 PM
 
Former Boxing Champ Makes Plea 
NBC15 - Jun 09 8:12 PM
 
Morel pleads no contest to sexual assault 
USA Today - Jun 09 3:52 PM

Morel pleads no contest to sexual assault 
Boston Globe - Jun 09 3:49 PM

Boxer Eric Morel pleads no contest to sexual assault 
Belleville News-Democrat - Jun 09 3:34 PM
 
Morel Pleads No Contest to Sexual Assault 
Herald & Review - Jun 09 3:09 PM
 
Boxer Eric Morel pleads no contest to sexual assault 
San Diego Union-Tribune - Jun 09 3:04 PM

Madison Boxer Faces 30 Years For Sexual Assault 
Channel 3000 - Jun 09 2:42 PM
 
Morel Pleads No Contest to Sexual Assault 
ABC News - Jun 09 1:55 PM
 
Morel Pleads No Contest to Sexual Assault 
AP via Yahoo! Asia News - Jun 09 1:26 PM

Former flyweight champion pleads no contest to sexual assault 
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Jun 09 12:28 PM

Morel: No contest to sexual assault 
CBS Sportsline - Jun 09 1:24 PM

Morel Pleads No Contest to Sexual Assault 
Rapid City Journal - Jun 09 2:15 PM
 
Morel Pleads No Contest to Sexual Assault 
Lincoln Journal Star - Jun 09 2:10 PM

Morel Pleads No Contest to Sexual Assault 
AP via Yahoo! News - Jun 09 1:26 PM»

 
When a Puerto Rican does something BAD -- it's a story READILY AND WIDELY AVAILABLE.  When a Puerto Rican does something COURAGEOUS and HEROIC -- it takes some time, IF EVER, for that story to reach EVERYONE in the United States who may not speak Spanish.
 
I salute The New York Times for publishing the following article with a beautiful photograph of Joseph and his dad .  .  .

Edwin Serrano, left, has trained his son, Joseph, toward a gradual comeback after the 21-year-old boxer was shot 
in the head outside a gym in Puerto Rico three months ago.  PHOTO: G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times

«A Boxer, Gunned Down, Fights to Come Back
 
By JOHN ELIGON 
Published: June 10, 2005

As he walked toward the Bairoa boxing gym in Caguas, P.R., Joseph Serrano was bubbling with excitement, eager for his first visit to the gym since winning his pro debut four days earlier.
 
Inside, several of Bairoa's young amateurs were just as eager, waiting to congratulate their gym's latest up-and-coming professional.
 
But before Serrano made it to the door, he heard someone calling his name. While his father, Edwin, continued toward the entrance, Joseph turned and took a few steps. 
 
In the blink of an eye on that calm, sunny day in early March, three gunshots rang out and the slender, 112-pound Joseph Serrano collapsed onto the warm concrete, blood spouting from his skull. Edwin Serrano and Victor Bisbal, another promising fighter who had been waiting near the entrance to the gym, stood over Joseph, piling on towels to stop the bleeding.
 
"I saw all this blood," Bisbal said yesterday through an interpreter at the Trinity Boxing Club in Lower Manhattan. "I didn't know what to do. I was just so nervous about it. I thought he was going to die right then and there."
 
But in what his family has called a miracle, Joseph Serrano not only survived, but has recovered much faster than his doctors expected.
 
A month after the March 4 shooting, Serrano awoke from a coma. A month later, he started walking again. And this past Sunday, at the Trinity Boxing Club, Serrano laced up a pair of boxing gloves, almost three months to the day he was shot, taking the first tentative step in the resumption of his boxing career.
 
Serrano's fortitude has inspired boxers all over Puerto Rico, perhaps none more than Miguel Cotto, who brought Serrano with him to New York this week to see Cotto defend his World Boxing Association junior welterweight title against Muhammad Abdullaev at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night. (Bisbal is on the undercard.)
 
Cotto and Serrano have known each other for 10 years, they train at Bairoa and Edwin Serrano is a member of Cotto's training team.
 
"He's like a brother to me," Cotto said through an interpreter yesterday at Madison Square Garden before a news conference to promote tomorrow's fight. "It hurt a lot. A guy that's been a real good kid all his life, something like this happens, you don't understand it."
 
Pedro Toledo, Puerto Rico's police chief, said in a telephone interview yesterday that he believed the police had identified the man who shot Serrano in what appears to have been a case of jealousy over a former girlfriend. 
 
The police are waiting until Serrano is healthy enough to identify the man in a lineup, Toledo said.
 
The first 48 hours after the shooting was particularly scary for Serrano's family because no one was sure if he would live.
 
The night he was shot, Serrano had surgery to remove bone and bullet fragments from his brain. Doctors were not promising.
 
Four days earlier, the Serranos were eating rice, roasting a pig and drinking soda in celebration of the 21-year-old fighter who they believed would be world champion one day. 
 
Despite losing in the first round of the 2004 Olympics, Serrano had had a successful amateur career and had signed a professional contract last year.
 
"In my mind, I only had God," Edwin Serrano said. "God is going to be the only man that's going to fix my son and bring him back to me. I prayed to God, and there he is. He's my walking miracle."
 
During the two months Joseph was in the hospital, Edwin said, his family paid him six-hour visits every day. And all the while, they did not reveal any hint of negativity, so that Joseph would not feel sorry for himself. 
 
Yesterday, Edwin wore a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of his son and the words "Say it with me. I Can," in Spanish.
 
"I think we showed him positive," Edwin Serrano said. "I think he's picked up on that from us. We don't want to be depressed about it, we don't want to be sad about it. We just want him to be positive, do the best he can."
 
Joseph Serrano is recovering almost two years sooner than his doctors expected, said Carlos Castello, a spokesman for the family. 
 
After being unable to move the right side of his body immediately after the shooting, Serrano has regained about 60 percent of the mobility on that side, Castello said.
 
His walk resembles a waddle, with his right arm dangling next to his body and his right leg dragging along the ground. 
 
Serrano can understand what people say to him, but he has trouble speaking and could not be quoted for this article.
 
But Serrano was able to acknowledge yesterday that he would continue to try to train in the hope of fighting again. 
 
"He's an inspiration to me," Cotto said. "The fact that, in the gym, I see him trying to work, it inspires me to work harder, that I give a greater effort."»
 
 
It would be nice, it would be something VERY POSITIVE, if EVERYONE in the U.S. -- in EVERY language -- TOLD THIS STORY OF BRAVERY and COURAGE as they have and will tell the story of NATALEE HOLLOWAY, the TEENAGE GIRL LOST IN ARUBA.  That's a story on the front pages of every newspaper and TV news channel throughout America.
 
Joseph Serrano and his family may not be rich, white and blonde -- but they are NOT ANY LESS American and NOT ANY LESS worthy of THEIR INCREDIBLE STORY being told.
 
The last time I heard, there was NOT ONE soldier fighting the War on Terror from Aruba -- but MANY from Puerto Rico.  Remember Puerto Rico, a PART of the United States?  Where is the "FAIR AND BALANCED" COVERAGE?

What is needed are Puerto Rican and/or Hispanic leaders who are IN EVERY WAY as well known by EVERYONE in the U.S. as are Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, BUT NOTHING LIKE THEM.  If you were to ask 30,000 people in Syosset on Long Island in New York to name two Black leaders, the two I just mentioned would be the only names offered.  If you were to ask the SAME PEOPLE to name a Latino leader -- few if any would be able to and you would probably hear something like, "well, I know who Ricky Martin and Jennifer López are."

There are MANY "Syossets" in the United States.

The MAINSTREAM media in the United States MUST elevate the top Hispanic leaders that many Latinos know by name to a level that EVERY AMERICAN will recognize.  After all, there are 41+ million Hispanic people in the United States -- and there should be AT THE VERY LEAST one LEADER who fights for the rights of their people and ALL PEOPLE who is known by the remaining 260 million people.
 
As far as EQUAL coverage of HEROIC, DECENT people is concerned -- I used to think that the Caribbean was too far away and too INCONVENIENT for the MAINSTREAM media to cover -- HOWEVER, the current Aruba story and EXCESSIVE, almost NON-STOP coverage, once again demonstrates JUST HOW WRONG I ALWAYS AM.

Well, that's all folks! Until next Friday.

Keith


For motivational speeches, conferences, media requests and other things such as eating disorders, you'll have to contact someone else. My only qualifications for writing a weekly column are based solely upon having a lot of free time, unlimited Internet access and very little else.