Archive for January, 2009
The great Latino hope, Bill Richardson, that some wanted to be President, then Vice-President, then Secretary of State, but who ended up getting Secretary of Commerce, is now withdrawing his name from consideration.
Apparently Richardson’s withdrawal has to do with a Grand Jury investigation.
Richardson has denied any wrongdoing.
You can read Obama’s and Richardson’s official statements on the matter after the jump.
Obama Wants to Resolve Puerto Rico’s Colonial Status While Saying Nothing on Assault on Occupied Palestine
11:03 am By Maegan La Mala · Gaza|Palestine|Politics|Puerto Rico · 17 Comments
4 Jan 2009
President Elect Obama sent a message to Puerto Rico for the swearing in of the new, pro-statehood governor, Luis G. Fortuño.
President-elect of the United States Barack Obama reiterated that he will try to resolve the colonial case of Puerto Rico during his first term and explained that self-determination is a “basic right” of Puerto Ricans, for which reason he will undertake responsibility for seeing that Puerto Ricans have “a voice” in the solution.
Wait, a voice in the solution? Am I wrong in thinking that if self-determination is a basic right, then shouldn’t Puerto Ricans decided the solution, not just have a voice?
Mala’s Sabado Morning Links
8:37 am By Maegan La Mala · Blogs|Books|Nicaragua|Politics|Quicklinks|race · 1 Comment
3 Jan 2009Grab your cafe and sit down for a moment with me before we start our errands and enjoy the first weekend of 2009.
What challenges does the incoming Obama administration face specific to brown and black communities?
Forget Mother Goose. How about some Mamá Goose?
Nicaragua harnesses el viento.
And last pero certainly not least, have coffee with our amigo Nezua moves into a nuevo blog groove.
In 15 Years, Mexicans Will be Largest Latino Group in NYC
2:57 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|mexico|New York City · 2 Comments
2 Jan 2009
Queens, NYC has been the epicenter of population change in many ways. When I was a pre-teen in Corona, Queens, my family was part of the new wave of Latinos moving into a traditionally Italian neighborhood. We, a Rican family, weren’t typical though, as most of the Latinos moving in were Dominicans. Now, living in Corona as an adult, the neighborhood has shifted from Italian, to Dominican to Mexican and this reflects a larger city-wide trend.
According to a study : “The Latino Population of New York City, 2007″ by Laura Limonic, research associate at the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, by 2024 New York’s largest Latino group will be Mexicans, with Dominicans in second place.
The city’s Latino population increased by 2.5 percent between 2006 and 2007, to over 2,337,000, the report said.
While several groups have become larger, the rates of growth for Mexicans and Ecuadorians are particularly striking: since 2000, the number of Mexicans increased by 57.7 percent — to over 289,000 — and Ecuadorians, by 38 percent, to over 201,000.
Via / Feet in 2 Worlds
Image Via / David Lida
Austinites Protest Bombing in Gaza
2 Jan 2009
via Ansel comes this really great report on a protest in Austin, Texas against the Israeli bombing of Gaza.
A small clip:
As darkness began to fall and the chilly night air set in, the mass of protesters in front of the Capitol’s twenty-foot Christmas tree dwindled. But a dozen or so children of Palestinian families weren’t phazed at all – they kept singing and chanting more than two hours after the protest began. Drivers passing by noticed the excitement and honked their approval
It’s a great report and really made me happy to hear so many accented voices out protesting against this horror. Go listen to the whole thing.
AP and Yahoo! News Decide to Start the New Year with Anti-Immigrant Hate
12:57 pm By Maegan La Mala · housing|Immigration|media justice · 2 Comments
2 Jan 2009
Lest people think the threat that undocumented immigrants is not real, AP and Yahoo decided make sure this year is another year of unfounded fears. Yesterday they published a story with the headline: “Many illegal immigrants live in public housing”.
What the article essentially does is point the finger at undocumented immigrants for long waits for public housing and for a lack of affordable housing in general.
Untold thousands of illegal immigrants live in public housing at a time when hundreds of thousands of citizens and legal residents are stuck waiting years for a spot.
The impression is that the undocumented are breaking the law by living in public housing when if you read the article carefully, that’s not really the case.
Fans of the overly screamy like a typical Latina, Dora the Explorer can breath a sigh of relief now that Viacom and Time Warner Cable agreed on compensation that preserved access for the cable system operator’s 15.7 million subscribers to Dora’s Nickelodeon network, MTV and 17 other channels.
We are pleased that our customers will continue to be able to watch the programming they enjoy on MTV Networks,” said Glenn Britt, president and CEO of Time Warner Cable Inc. “We are sorry they had to endure a day of public disagreement as we worked through this negotiation.”
Viacom Inc. president and CEO Philippe Dauman said the company was happy a deal was struck. Viacom had mounted an advertising onslaught warning customers of the possible blackout, taking out ads in major newspapers and Web sites from The New York Times and TVGuide.com featuring a tearful “Dora the Explorer” crying and clinging to her monkey pal, Boots.
Via / Huffington Post
Israeli Diamonds Are Not Salma Hayak’s Best Friend
8:23 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism|Celebrities|Gaza|israel|Palestine|Women · 2 Comments
2 Jan 2009
Mexicana and la Macha’s secret girlfriend, Salma Hayak doesn’t want to be associated with Israeli blood diamonds.
Apparently Salmita asked that Jewish-American billionaire Lev Leviev remove her picture from his diamond store website after Leviev was linked to settlement expansion in the West Bank and right-wing Zionist causes.
Other actresses who also want to keep their distance include Sharon Stone, Whitney Houston, Halle Berry, Drew Barrymore, Brooke Shields, Andie Macdowell, and Lucy Liu.
The celebrities were contacted by the rights group Adalah and the New York based ‘Jews Against the Occupation’ and asked them to distance themselves from a corporation that supports the Zionist project.
The stars took action only after being contacted by the activists working to expose Leviev’s anti-human rights agenda.
Via / Kabobfest
With Obama Win, Will Chavez Open Up to Relations with U.S.?
7:35 am By Maegan La Mala · Controversia|Cuba|Latin America|Politics|Venezuela · Comments Off
2 Jan 2009
President-elect Obama’s openness to sit down with the leaders of countries the Bush administration has either alienated or straight out offended — a campaign trail promise and a point in his favor over opponent Hillary Clinton — will soon be put to the test.
The Castros of Cuba appear to be willing to reciprocate, but there is still some doubt about the willingness of Fidel’s BFF, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who has said that Obama is no different than the Republicans in “attacking” his country.
One Venezuelan diplomacy scholar, María Teresa Romero of the Central University of Venezuela, agrees that the ball is pretty much in Chavez’s court, and isn’t very hopeful about future U.S.-Venezuela relations:
“This is, or should be, a moment of change for Hugo Chavez, but I don’t think that will happen. He might do it with words, but will end up fighting again, having impasses with the U.S., because unfortunately so-called revolutionary and radical leftist regimens always need to have an enemy to confront and an anti-imperialist rhetoric.”
On New Year’s Day, 1959 Fidel Castro and his band of Revolutionary Directorate rebels defeated General Fulgencio Batista’s forces and led his country towards a revolution. Few thought it would hold, but here we are some 50 years later, and Castro’s revolutionary ideal for Cuba is still going, if not strong, along.
While the rest of the world was congratulating each other on the New Year, Fidel was congratulating his countrymen on the longevity of his ideals:
“Upon the 50th anniversary of the triumph, I congratulate our heroic countrymen,” said Castro, 82, in a brief note dated Wednesday afternoon and published in on the cover of Granma, the Communist party’s newspaper.
Lacking a non-generic comment from Fidel or anything of substance from Raul on the future of the revolution, we turn to Mariela, Raul’s daughter, the most outspoken member of the family. Check out what she has to say in the video after the jump.
Hola!
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