Archive for October, 2005
A new feature of VivirLatino, “Lo Que Hay” will feature events from across the country that we think will interest our VL readers.
To submit an event, please use our contact form.
Atlanta
Kia Rio Carnaval Event
When: Friday, October 21, 12:30pm – 2pm
Where: Centennial Olympic Park
Cost: Free
Boston
Latin Expo
When: Saturday/Sunday, October 22 & 23, 12pm – 5pm
Where: Shriners Hall
Cost: Free
Update: USHCC Denounces Nagin’s Comments
6:27 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration · 4 Comments
20 Oct 2005
In a previous post, I commented on the hypocrisy of New Orleans’ mayor Ray Nagin’s remarks on Mexican workers’ role in the reconstruction of the city post-Katrina. Today, the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce officially denounced the comments via press release:
USHCC Deplores Remarks by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Regarding Mexican Workers and the Rebuilding of New Orleans
Washington, DC–(HISPANIC PR WIRE)–October 19, 2005–In response to recent comments by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin regarding Mexican workers and their efforts to the clean-up and rebuilding of the city, the Unites States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) issued the following statement:
“At a time when this great country has united to lend a helping hand to those affected by the ravages of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the USHCC, finds the recent public statement by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to be offensive, divisive and highly inappropriate.
Mr. Nagin’s reference to ‘make sure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers,’ published in the Friday, October 7th edition of The Dallas Morning News, is simply unacceptable during a time of national unity and support in which national Hispanic organizations, such as the USHCC and countless others, are donating funds, time and resources to the clean-up and rebuilding of this incredibly diverse and dynamic city. To be confronted with comments of this nature that highlight prejudice and division, coming from a public official that represents an important minority group, is a huge disappointment.
Read the whole release at Hispanic PR Wire
Via / Hispanic Tips
The photography exhibit, The Waiting: Faces of Hope 2005, will be displayed in the Miami Children’s Museum through November 17. The photographs are portraits of 36 local children over the age of 8 that need a family to adopt them.
“We are in desperate need of foster parents.”
The project, was created by Miami-area non-profit group Fotomission. Who states:
Our mission is to utilize artistic and documentary photography as a means of creating positive social change while at the same time promoting the art of photography.
Hoping to make a difference and get some of these children into supportive homes, the photographers really captured some amazing expression in these children’s eyes.
“There are a lot of misconceptions about foster children.”
Most of the children in the Miami area that are in need come from African-American, Caribbean, or Hispanic backgrounds, and are over the age of 11.
This is the second project of its kind run by Fotomission.
Seeing these pictures wants me to just reach out to these kids and give them a huge hug. Even if you don’t live in Miami, there are kids all over the country that need good homes. Contact your local agencies for more information.
View the photos
Fotomission
Via / Miami Herald
E-Loan allegedly racist and homophobic
1:40 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California|GLBT|society · 1 Comment
20 Oct 2005
The San Francisco Bay Area is probably the last place one would think of when qualifying traditionally racist or homophobic regions. But according to some employees, E-Loan, a well-known lending company based here in the Bay is not living up to that reputation of acceptance and plurality. In fact, just the opposite. Employees are suing for harrassment on the basis of sexual orientation, gender and race:
According to the complaint, filed by attorneys at Kerr and Wagstaffe, Jonni Guelde, a supervisor in the underwriting department of E-Loan, regularly made offensive slurs against African American, Latino, and LGBT employees. The complaint also says Guelde bragged about how, at a prior job, she ridiculed a transgender employee to the point that the employee eventually committed suicide.
While some of the complaints have stated that management made derogatory comments towards Latino employees, the BAR newspaper quotes the plaintiffs’ attorney as saying:
“The irony is that it’s a Latino-based company. They’re really well-known as an employer-friendly company,” Labar said.
Apparently E-Loan recently merged with a Puerto Rican financial services company, Popular Inc.
This doesn’t make them a “Latino-based company” and even if it were managed by a Latino executive team, why would that even matter? Racism and homophobia exist in the Latino community as much as they do in any other. To imply that a Latino business would be inequivocally above this type of behavior is to simplify the matter. What’s shocking to me is that in this day and age (and in this part of the country) employers still believe that they can get away with creating a hostile work environment for employees. If these allegations are found to be true, E-Loan, a publicly-traded company, will pay big for their misdeeds. Sometimes that’s the only way people learn.
Via / The BAR and Google News
Someone Please Stop the Vacilón
1:10 pm By Maegan La Mala · Movies|radio · 3 Comments
20 Oct 2005
La Mega’s el Vacilón de la Mañana morning radio show is apparently so popular that a movie version oh so smartly titled, El Vacilón: The Movie, will be hitting the big screen soon. The Spanish language radio show is based out of NYC’s WKSQ 97.9 FM aka la Mega radio station. It is a mix of vulgar and insulting jokes and schoolyard pranks mixed in with morning news, traffic, with an merengue or bachata thrown in. Hosted by two Rican characters, Luis Jimenez and Moonshadow, the show is currently syndicated in New Jersey, Puerto Rico, Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, Tampa and Orlando. So there is an audience ripe and ready for the film which also features actor Paul Rodríguez and spoken word artista Caridad De La Luz aka “La Bruja”.
I’ll admit to having heard the show a few times years ago. I will admit to chuckling during the “Caiste!” segment, where people are pranked called. The rest of the show, which from what I can tell hasn’t changed since the years I last listened, plays to the lowest sense of Latino humor. Everything is wrapped in sexual double entendres and the comedic skits tend to be based in stereotypes and insults about Latino lesbians, gay men, African-Americans, dark-skinned Latinos, Jews, and South Asian immigrants. Women are treated with misogynist jokes.
The film opens tomorrow , October 21.
el Vacilón de la Mañana website
U.S. Air Force via Rock en Español
10:06 am By Maegan La Mala · Music|Politics · 9 Comments
20 Oct 2005
File this under “nothing in this world is free”. Batanga internet radio has teamed up with the U.S. Air Force to create a cd featuring some big names in the rock en Español scene including Peruanos Libido. All visitors to the Batanga website need to do is take a little quiz about the U.S. Air Force and enter all their personal information and they will get their “free” cd but also loads of information and probably some phone calls on how to join the U.S. Air Force.
Does this strike anyone else as shady? I know the U.S. military has had trouble getting recruits to fight their wars lately, but given that the Batanga’s target demographic is Latinos ages 14-34, this match up makes me uncomfortable. Isn’t it bad enough that our young people are targeted as soon as they enter high school by the armed forces? Given the growing lack of educational and career opportunities for Latino youth doesn’t this rock cd “giveaway” exploit our young people and lead them straight to the front lines? Somehow getting harassed to join the U.S. military via the mail and telephone in exchange for a cd of canciones people can get by other means doesn’t seem like a fair deal.
Batanga Air Force Rocks
Phoenix, El Paso Best Cities for Entrepreneurs
9:41 am By Maegan La Mala · Entrepreneurs · Comments Off
20 Oct 2005
This month’s Entrepreneur magazine reports on the best cities to start your company in, across large, mid-size, and small cities.
#1 Large City: Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix earns the top spot due to its high percentage of start-ups in the past year, real estate prices in the area, and community services to help entrepreneurs get started.
But that doesn’t mean that Phoenix doesn’t have its challenges. Maricopa County had the largest population increase in 2003-2004, as compared to all other counties across the US. The city is also implementing a light-rail project which is a multi-year project that will disrupt multiple parts of the city during its construction.
#1 Mid-Sized City: El Paso, TX
Ranking near the top in start-ups and growth, El Paso beat out other cities by its high scores across the board. Because of its location, El Paso is more closely tied in business and in life to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, that to other cities in Texas. This location gives El Paso good business with the maquiladoras in Juarez and over $3.4 billion a year in spending from Mexican tourists. Additionally Fort Bliss nearby provides work in government contracts, currently about 16% of El Paso’s economy.
City of Phoenix, Arizona
City of El Paso, Texas
Via / Entrepreneur.com: Best Cities for Entrepreneurs
Arizona State Guide to Doing Business
Texas State Guide to Doing Business
VL Opinion: Just because we both eat mofongo doesn’t mean I’m voting for You
8:00 pm By Maegan La Mala · New York City|Politics · 5 Comments
19 Oct 2005
With Latino Antonio Villaraigosa recently becoming the mayor of Los Angeles, there is lots of Latino pride and Latino desire to see one of our own kind in public offices from sea to shining sea.
In the case of the NYC mayoral election less than a month away, talk abounds about voting for anyone but incumbent mayor/billionaire Michael Bloomberg. The “anyone” most people mean is Bronx Rican Freddy Ferrer. Many Dems have Freddy’s back including Jesse Jackson and both Bill and Hillary Clinton. His Latino endorsements include the Latino Officer’s Association, Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez and 1199 SEIU led by Dennis Rivera. Many people feel Ferrer isn’t the best man for the job but he’s the best we got, or the lesser of two evils.
So as a progressive Latina NYC chica my hand should be itching to pull the lever for fellow Boricua Freddy right? Or as Marisa Treviño asks today in her blog Latina Lista, When is Being the Right Gender or Ethnicity Enough? In a word and in my humble opinion, never.
Candidates battling via ads in Spanish
6:00 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California|Marketing|Politics · 1 Comment
19 Oct 2005
The political heat is on here in California. With gubernatorial elections looming, the candidates are ready to take pot shots at each other in their new language of choice: español.
Candidate for governor Steve Westly has already begun his campaign, and Mr. Schwarznegger is launching one of his own in the near future:
Westly ad: “Sus iniciativas perjudicaran a nuestros ninos, nuestros masestros y a la gente trabajadora.” (“His initiatives will be a detriment to our children, our teachers and working people.”)
Less than two weeks ago, the governor’s campaign team launched their own Spanish language ads supporting Propositions 74 to 77. Interestingly, Schwarzenegger is not in them.
Schwarzenegger ad: “Es preferable controlar gastos y balancear el presupuesto que aumentar impuestos.” (It’s better to control costs and balance the budget, than to raise taxes.”)
The governor is going to need a lot more than Spanish ads to court Latinos. He’s pretty much in bad with every minority group imaginable in this state, including Latinos, who according to the 2000 census (and unfortunately for him) represent 32% of the population of California. Maybe that’s why he’s spending one million dollars on the ad campaign while his opponent only a quarter of that. Good luck, Arnie…and good riddance!
Via / ABC 7 News
BIG BAD STAN
Mexico, still recovering from Hurricane Stan, suffered over 30 deaths from mudslides & flooding – and although it endured many less deaths as compared to El Salvador & Guatemala, recovery is still taking a long time.
An El Universal article tells us that with all of the flooding in Chiapas, kids are missing school. The reason: the school buildings have literally floated away. In addition to that, the communities and families have lost everything else, as is common in floodings: books, uniforms, school supplies.
GIBSON IN TOWN, DONATES $1 MILLION
Today Mel Gibson met briefly with Mexican President Vicente Fox, and offered to donate $1 Million USD to help the victims of Hurricane Stan. Gibson is currently in Mexico filming his new movie Apocalypto which takes place 3,000 years ago and will be filmed completely in the Mayan language.
WILMA!
Meanwhile, Wilma has become a much stronger storm than was anticipated. President Fox has stated that the Yucatan region is prepared, has declared a state of emergency and elevated the warning level to orange. Evacuations of coastal areas have begun and all tourists have been encouraged to go home.
Already blamed for several deaths, Wilma will affect many countries in Central America & the Caribbean, even if it doesn’t make landfall. The amount of rains and winds that it will bring just from being close by is expected to cause quite a bit of damage.
MTV LATIN AMERICA VMA’S CANCELLED
The MTVLA VMAs that were originally scheduled to occur on Thursday and were later moved up to Wednesday due to Hurricane Wilma, have now been cancelled. Citing safety reasons, as well as show integrity (cancellations of performers, etc), as the reasons. Good call MTV. Maybe the show dates should be played around with a bit, because the recent VMAs in Miami were affected also by Hurricane Rita.
El Universal: Classes disrupted by flooding in Chiapas
MTVLA VMA Cancellation
Follow Wilma’s Path
Hola!
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
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