Archive for June, 2009
Bilingual Education: The Debate Continues
10:52 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bilingualism|Controversia|Education|society · 1 Comment
18 Jun 2009MSNBC has an interesting piece on how increased immigration to formerly non-Latino areas of the country is affecting the educational landscape of public schools, and the contrast with areas of the country where English Only has succeeded in being instated and has subsequently failed students.
Have a look at the video and let us know what you think about this continuing debate. What’s best? Bilingual education? Immersion?
Via / MSNBC
6 Months and 10 Days : What Courts Value Latino Lives At
8:22 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · crime|Immigration|media justice|Obama|Ohio|pennsylvania|Politics|race|Violence · 7 Comments
18 Jun 2009This morning in my inbox I received another email telling me, and whoever else was on this advocacy org’s coveted mailing list, that I should be vigilant about the rising tide of hate crimes and yet again the point of reference was the Holocaust Museum shooting.
Do I really need a reminder? Do I need to hear the frenzied 911 call of a mother after seeing her husband and daughter shot and killed? I know that audio is going around some blogs and media sites and I have refused to listen for my own personal sanity as a Latina mother but also as a statement against the exploitation of the pain of Latinas for the sake of “the story”
Would Hate Crimes legislation made a difference? Would it have prevented a Latino young man from having a noose placed around his neck and dragged around a parking lot in Ohio? Maybe if the young man would have died his lie would have been worth more than the paltry sentence his horror was met with.
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – A central Ohio teenager accused of putting a noose around a Hispanic boy’s neck and dragging him in a parking lot has been sentenced to 10 days in jail.
The 18-year-old was sentenced Wednesday in juvenile court in Mount Vernon, a city of 15,000 residents an hour’s drive northeast of Columbus. He dropped his original plea of not guilty and pleaded no contest to ethnic intimidation.
A charge of aggravated menacing was dropped.
Obama Throws a (Tiny) Bone to (Some) Gay Couples
6:47 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|GLBT|Obama|Politics|society · 1 Comment
17 Jun 2009Come on, Barack. You can do so much better than this:
It’s for federal workers only. So it applies to about 0.00001% of the LGBT population in the U.S. And it’s a memorandum. What does that even mean? And since it applies to federal employees, does that mean that federal privileges such as allowing a person to petition a visa for a foreign partner would be honored? I would guess not.
While HRC commended the move before it was even officially announced, I say that this is crumbs; a token move to quiet the millions of LGBT Obama supporters who feel let down betrayed by what hasn’t been happening with this administration. It’s time for Obama to get his gall up and tackle the two issues we all know he’s afraid of: gay marriage and immigration.
Via / Queerty
Miercoles Mixology Featuring Rosangel Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila
9:41 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · drink|Marketing · Comments Off
17 Jun 2009
Most “hombres” wouldn’t go near pink colored tequila, pero since quizas porque I’m a mujer or maybe I’m just a sucker for free alcohol, I accepted Gran Centenario‘s offer to try their new Rosangel tequila infused with hibiscus.
It wasn’t the pink that interested me actually. I’m more of a wine drinker than anything else and if I have to go with something harder I lean towards rum. What had me curious was the addition of the hibiscus. Hisbiscus aka Jamaica. In my immigrant hood, you know it’s summer when the Mexican markets put out their huge jugs of aguas frescas and my favorite is aua de jamaica.
Rosangel Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila isn’t sweet pero the hibiscus makes it’s flavor smooth. I’m not a huge tequila drinker pero I found that making frozen margaritas with it made me and others happy with the subtle hibiscus sabor.
Rosangel Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila is clearly being marketed to women who maybe would like to do pink shots or drink a pink cocktail, pero for those of us that stay away from mujer marketed products, the sabor is fuerte enough to join your summer bar.
You can learn more about Rosangel Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila at it’s official site. (It plays music so if you’re at work turn down the volume or put your headphones on)
UN Committee Approves Text Calling on U.S. to Expedite P.R.’s Self-Determination
7:30 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Politics|Puerto Rico · 1 Comment
17 Jun 2009
On Monday afternoon, The Special Committee on Decolonization approved a draft resolution calling upon the Government of the United States to expedite a process that would allow the Puerto Rican people to exercise fully their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
The above news that came into my inbox (gracias Jo Boriken) comes from Puerto Rico’s pro-independence party (PIP). A few thing right away caught my attention. One, the fact that this happened in a Committee on Decolonization, formally known as the Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, reasserts what many have refused to say or covered up through semantics. Puerto Rico is a colony.
Second, I can’t be the only one who finds in strange that one country needs to request action from another in order to determine it’s own future. Pero maybe that’s just the radical in me.
By the terms of that text, which the Special Committee approved by consensus, the decolonization body… requested that the President of the United States release all Puerto Rican political prisoners serving sentences for cases relating to the Non-Self-Governing Territory’s struggle for independence -– including two who had been imprisoned for more than 28 years. It expressed serious concern about actions carried out against Puerto Rican independence fighters and encouraged rigorous investigations of those actions, in cooperation with relevant authorities.
The Special Committee, also known as the “Committee of 24”, urged the United States Government to complete the return of occupied land and installations on Vieques island and in Ceiba to the Puerto Rican people; respect their inhabitants’ fundamental human rights to health and economic development; and expedite and cover the costs of decontaminating the areas previously used for military exercises.
Introducing the draft resolution, Cuba’s representative said Puerto Rico was a Latin American and Caribbean country with its own national identity, and its long struggle for independence was deeply rooted in a sense of identity. Notwithstanding 27 resolutions and decisions approved by the Special Committee and the General Assembly, the people of the Commonwealth were still unable to exercise their legitimate right to genuine self-determination and independence due to continuing economic, political and social domination by the United States, the colonial Power.
Viva Palestina Hip Hop Benefit in NYC Tonite
6:20 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Uncategorized · 1 Comment
17 Jun 2009HIP HOP BENEFIT FOR GAZA AND VIVA PALESTINA
WED., JUNE 17, 6:30 PM AT ARENA NYC
with Special Guests George Galloway and Rosa Clemente
Existence is Resistance presents Hands 4 Gaza on June 17th at
Arena NYC 135 W 41st between 6th avenue and Broadway.
Hip Hop performances by Immortal Technique, LowKey, Rebel Diaz, G.O.D., S.O.U.L Purpose, A-Alikes, Marcel Cartier and DJ Vega Benetton.
Speakers include British MP George Galloway who is raising funds for his convoy from the US to Gaza and the 2008 Green Party Vice-Presidential candidate Rosa Clemente. All proceeds will go to the Viva Palestina medical aid convoy to Gaza being organized by George Galloway and Ron Kovic.
The Cure Remade a la Latina
5:56 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina|GLBT|mexico|Music · 1 Comment
16 Jun 2009Here at VL we’ve been fans of the Kumbia Queers for a while now. The Argentine-Mexican queer combo seems to be an endless source of awesome-weird jams that get the cintura a-movin’. So what was my delight when I found that the Kumbia Queers had remade an old 90s favorite of mine — The Cure’s Love Song– in Spanish and rendered in the cumbia style. Check it out.
Emo-depressed mixed with cumbia lightheartedness…awesome translation with a mixture of seriousness and tongue-in-cheek silliness. It’s the best of both worlds!
Majority of Latino Seniors Still Working
10:58 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Labor|Lifestyle|society · Comments Off
16 Jun 2009
The vision many of us have of abuelito playing cards with his buddies or abuelita at home looking after grandkids has officially been disproven. A new study shows that the majority of U.S. Latinos over 50 are doing anything but lazing around the casa: they are still part of the workforce.
Seventy percent of U.S. Hispanics over the age of 50 are in the work force according to the report “Hispanic Workers 50 Plus” presented at the conference “Diversity and Aging in the 21st Century: The Power of Inclusion,” organized by AARP. Seventy six percent of them are immigrants and 62 percent are U.S.-born. Very few of these workers have health benefits. They also tend to have few absences from work. On average, these workers earn $30,357 per year, less than their white and African American counterparts, who earn an average of $50,595 and $36.429 respectively.
Very interesting statistics. If you’re into this sort of thing (I am), check out the full report here. It provides datapoints on a variety of topics, such as the education and health of older Latino workers.
Via / New America Media
Hate Crime Laws May Make Us Feel Good Pero They Won’t Save Our Lives
9:21 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Activism|crime|Immigration|Justice|media justice|Politics|race|Violence · 2 Comments
16 Jun 2009I think I have had to write this over and over many times, every time there is a hate crime against a Latino pero it is worthy of repeating.
Defining what makes a hate crime is a political act. The reason I write this is that I am reading many media reports and blogs that keep referring to the shooting at the Holocaust Museum as a hate crime but not that many referring to the murders of Brisenia Flores and her father as a hate crime.
On a legislative level, states each have their own hate crime statutes that aren’t consistent with each other so what may be a hate crime in one state may not be in another. Often the definition of a hate crime is hinged on the use of an epithet or slur, not the history of the community where it happened. This is why some advocates have been pushing for Federal hate crimes legislation, that would create one standard that would be followed across state lines and these moves make people feel good, offer a sense of protection, except they are only good once there is a victim.
U.S. Reps. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Steve Israel (D-NY) and José E. Serrano (D-NY) announced the introduction of the National Hate Crimes Hotline Act of 2009.
“Far too many victims silently bear the burden of the crimes committed against them, which is why we are taking steps to provide a place for them to be heard. A National Hate Crimes Hotline would allow New Yorkers and victims across the country to safely report to the police and find vital assistance. In addition, accurate reporting will improve local responsiveness, increase prevention efforts and help bring an end to these heinous acts,” said Rep. Velázquez.
Martes Musica Verano 2009 Edition : Céu’s Vagarosa
6:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Brazil|Music|Women · Comments Off
16 Jun 2009
It’s been more than a whole year since we’ve heard from Brazilian singer Céu. Just in time for the season of playas and parties, Six Degrees Records and Urban Jungle Records releases Céu’s Vagarosa. Vagarosa translates to “slow, easygoing, and leisurely” and that perfectly describes the sound and mood of this album pero this cd is anything but light and fluffy. The jaunty cavaquinho, a sort of Brazilian ukelele, betrays the into’s,Sobre o Amor e Seu Trabalho Silencioso, ruminations on the magic chemistry of love.
The cd then seemlessly moves into a funkier reggae beat with Cangote.
Vagarosa employs lots of electronic tricks, evident in the rendition of the Jorge Ben song “Rosa Menina Rosa”, that work beautifully with the more classic elements of jazz horns, blues beats and Céu’s sensual rich voice. She also employs non-traditional instruments and arrangements like in the song Ponteiro, that features a circus organ.
Sonâmbulo references hip hop with a little bit of tango in it’s tale of a sleepwalker.
All in all Vagarosa may be this summer’s perfect soundtrack, with Céu experimenting musically but never to the point of being to obscure or unreachable. This one will get alot of play in casa mala and it should in your casa too.
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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