Archive for June, 2010
Today’s World Cup Games : Colonizers vs Past Colonies
7:42 am By Maegan La Mala · Brazil|Chile|Spain|Sports · 1 Comment
25 Jun 2010My political mind can’t help but look at some today’s World Cup matches and think how sports intersects with issues of nationalism.
At 9:30 am EST Portugal vs. Brasil and at 2:00 pm Spain vs. Chile.
The Billionaires Media Mogul Pro-Migrant Club
6:40 am By Maegan La Mala · business|Immigration|Politics · 22 Comments
25 Jun 2010NYC Mayor Bloomberg, whom I would never call my mayor since I never voted for him and certainly not for this third term, has long been held up as an advocate for immigration reform. He runs a city that runs on immigrants, so this is just smart business for him. The fact that his police department tends to harass immigrants shows that his support only goes far, as in, he supports immigrants so long as they work in NYC his way, struggling through unwieldy and confusing red tape to get proper permits to sell on the streets, for example.
The billionaire mayor is trying to bring his friends along for the pro-migrant ride, which really may be nothing more than performance as there is no viable immigration bill before Congress that is likely to get passed this year. Among the rich old white dudes who now have formed a coalition to push for “immigration reform” include Walt Disney Co. Chairman and CEO Robert Iger and Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp., two companies known for their respect for immigrant communities (right?).
Calling All U.S. Citizens : Let’s Work on the Farm
2:04 pm By Maegan La Mala · Food|Health|Immigration|Labor · 11 Comments
24 Jun 2010Today the United Farm Workers launched their Take Our Jobs campaign which calls on documented workers in the United States to apply for agricultural jobs across the country.
In a telephonic press conference today, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, said that the campaign was a response to the misinformation and fear of undocumented taking jobs in the U.S.. “The current economic crisis has people blaming the undocumented as much as farmworkers, ” Rodriguez said.
Clearly this is more than just about labor, it is about the growing anti-immigrant rhetoric that by default places many farmworkers in the position of targets since the majority of them are undocumented.
This campaign, which seeks to place wannabe workers in farm work, is also a push for AgJobs, one of the so-called “piecemeal” bills that have more bi-partisan support than Comprehensive Immigration Reform (the other one being the DREAM Act). AgJobs would create a path to legalization for undocumented farm workers currently working in the U.S.
But on a wider level, the campaign seeks to connect the security of farmworkers to the security of the nation’s food supply. Rodriguez said that the U.S. is in denial about where our food comes from and who is responsible for getting it to the tables of U.S. families.
Read more…
Introducing Youth Media Maker: Espie Hernandez
9:28 am By BiancaLaureano · Media|media justice|sexuality|Women|youth · 3 Comments
24 Jun 2010I’ve decided that this summer I will take time out to interview media makers over at my Media Justice column. The site focuses on youth and often we don’t always embrace the media they create and find it valuable and worthy. Last week Vivir Latino was invited to attend the Human Rights Watch Film Festival’s youth track: Youth Producing Change. One of the films featured was by a young media maker named Espie Hernandez.
Espie’s film is about her experiences being a 15 year-old out Latina lesbian and planning her Quinceañera. Her short film MARIPOSA is below. I’m planning to use her film in my human sexuality class I’m teaching this summer and am very excited to hear what others think of her film (it was the only film that discussed aspects of sexuality and sexual orientation).
Espie’s interview was done on video and I’ve transcribed the interview as well. You may read and hear the interview at my Media Justice column.
Mala’s Media Minuto : Brazil
6:16 am By Maegan La Mala · Brazil|economy|Media|Sports · 4 Comments
24 Jun 2010
I’m just a futbol fan, no expert pero there sure are a ton of people looking at Brazil as one of the potential winners of the World Cup. In Brazil, as in much of Latin America, soccer is a a religion not just a sport pero leave it to the latest Newsweek to turn Brazil’s love of the sport into an economic concern.
From pg. 10 : [In Brazil] Banks close for the games. If the national team makes the playoff round, many schools suspend classes (Kindergarten included). And good luck finding an open church on game day. Even the warring drug traffickers on Rio’s hillsides will likely call a truce when the ball is rolling…That kind of passion has a cost…Brazil would forgo $1.2 billion [if just half the workforce in contending nations knocks off on game days].
No word on the positive community of futbol fans watching the games. Everything has to be monetized and have a value placed on it (as if the futbol industry in and of itself weren’t lucrative enough). This perspective is no accident, Brazil and Chile both have been centered in South America as examples of democratic and dconomic success following years of military dictatorships. This doesn’t erase the reality of the widening gap between rich and poor in either place.
And I am especially thinking of Brazil now that floods in the Northeast have killed at least 41 and disappeared at least 1,000. About 100,000 have been left homeless.
United Nations Special Committee Tells U.S. to Get Moving on Rican Self Determination
2:44 pm By Maegan La Mala · Puerto Rico · 2 Comments
23 Jun 2010It doesn’t seem to make much sense to me: the idea that an outside international body needs to tell another nation to get moving so that a second nation can get free. Pero, in the context of the United States colony of Puerto Rico, it makes sad but perfect sense.
On June 15th, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization approved a draft resolution telling the U.S. “to expedite a process that would allow the Puerto Rican people to exercise fully their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.” Additionally and in the spirit of the language above the body requested that President Obama release all Puerto Rican political prisoners currently being held. Considering that the United States overall and President Obama specifically has never acknowledged that there are Puerto Rican political prisoners, this is an important key on the long road to Puerto Rico’s self-determination.
The 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.
Preisdent Obama has said that he will move on the Puerto issue this year, but then again he said the same thing about immigration. Maybe he’ll send more National Guard troops to la isla del encanto and use that as proof that he cares.
Medios Caminantes: Medios creando, fronteras derrumbando at the 2010 AMC
10:03 am By Maegan La Mala · Allied Media Conference|Detriot|Immigration · Comments Off
23 Jun 2010
One of the tracks I was excited to see spring forth from the work at last year’s Allied Media Conference was a Spanish language track that centered the work of media makers working in Spanish.
Medios Caminantes: Medios creando, fronteras derrumbando
Coordinators: Palabra Radio and Peoples Production HouseMedios Caminantes, es el primer espacio de habla hispana en la historia de la AMC, producto del esfuerzo colaborativo que se desarrolló en la reunión durante el AMC2009, facilitada por Palabra Radio y Peoples Production House.
Medios Caminantes, esta buscando apoyar y avanzar en la promoción de medios de comunicación basados en la organización de la comunidad inmigrante latina y del caribe radicados en los Estados Unidos. Enfocados en construir una red de medios comunitarios hispanos, este espacio promoverá el intercambio de recursos y modelos de organización entre los mismos participantes (Organizadores y creadores). Durante el AMC2010, Medios Caminantes nos enfocaremos en compartir e intercambiar las habilidades radiales en talleres practicos y talleres sobre como usar la radio como herramienta de organización; Medios Caminantes tambien tendrá un foro abierto para compartir los diferenetes modelos sobre como usar la creación de medios para empoderar a la comunidad inmigrante de habla hispana y generar ideas para la continuidad de este espacio.
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Medios Caminantes, the AMC’s first Spanish-language media track, was initiated during the Spanish-language caucus, hosted by Palabra Radio and People’s Production House during AMC2009 .
Medios Caminantes will support and advance Spanish-language media-based organizing in Latin@ and Caribbean immigrant communities throughout the U.S. With a focus on building a Spanish-language community media network, this track will promote the exchange of resources and organizing models between Spanish-speaking media organizers. Medios Caminantes will focus on the sharing and exchange of radio communication skills with hands-on production trainings, workshops on how to use radio as an organizing tool, and a radio building workshop. Medios Caminantes will also have an open forum to discuss models for using media to empower the Spanish-speaking community and to generate ideas for next year’s track.
I can die now
22 Jun 2010
Sent to me by a dear friend–look at my girl. Look at her. Perfection.
I can die now. Quite happily.
I.C.E Needs to Learn a Lesson from the NYPD When It Comes to Rebranding
8:56 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration · 1 Comment
22 Jun 2010That lesson is that rebranding won’t change the perceptions of the communities that continue to be brutalized.
According to an article in today’s Washington Post, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “streamlining and realigning” meant to highlight the agencies efforts against terrorism and other anti-criminal activities and take attention away from their immigration enforcement efforts including increased workplace raids and the use of local law enforcement agencies as deputized immigration agents through programs like Secure Communities and 287(g).
“Public perception is dominated by civil immigration enforcement responsibilities, even though half of the agency is devoted to something else,” Morton said recently after announcing the changes to ICE employees. “We’re not going to get away from immigration. It’s very important from a national security perspective.”
Enforcement policy will not change and since there is no immigration reform happening nationally, this means that all the posters of I.C.E. agents hugging undocumented immigrants can be hung along the border wall and handed out as souvenirs to children separated from their parents.
Ok so maybe I’m being a little dramatic but thinking about the New York City Police Department rebranding efforts after a series of police brutality incidents in the late 1990′s, I’m not to far off.
Mala’s Home from Detroit
6:55 am By Maegan La Mala · Allied Media Conference|Detriot · 1 Comment
22 Jun 2010Sorry for not posting more when I was at the Allied Media Conference. It felt really hard to be fully present with other people and pair it properly with the desire to document, blog, and tweet.
Also it just tends to take me a little bit to get back into sorts after conferences. I’m not exactly sure why. A space like the AMC with so many people I do love and people I love not being there, plus the energy required to take in information and give out information with a three year old there is a little overwhelming. Slowly, today, I will start to look through the videos and fotos and discuss some of the amazing conversations and thoughts I had while in Detroit, a city that I love every year more and more.
I love all of you VivirLatin@ familia as well.
Special love for INCITE! and Allied Media Projects for helping a mami and her child attend and be as present. May I and the universe find a way to repay you 10 times over.
xoxox
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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