Archive for April, 2011
NYC : VivirLatino’s Mala in Resurrection, A Night of Poetry, Performance & Art, Easter Eve.
8:18 am By Maegan La Mala · Arts|literature|Media|New York City|Puerto Rico · Comments Off
17 Apr 2011
I am honored and blessed to be a part of this event and those who come can be blessed to by a most divine power.
Saturday April 23, 2011 from 6 to Midnight,
Performances start at 8pm
$5.00 DONATION
CASH BAR
RESURRECTION will be an evening of multimedia performance poetry by New York City’s Latin@ avant-garde elite, incorporating spoken word, dance, music, visual effects and art exhibit.
Presented by The Organization of Puerto Rican Artists, inc. O.P.Art
in collaboration with The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center and HISPANIC PANIC!
At The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center
107 Suffolk Street, New York NY
Room #309 and Teatro Kabayito
Between Rivington and Delancey,
F, J or M train to Delancey/Essex.
PRESENTING: POETRY, PERFORMANCE
Aravind Adyanthaya
J Skye Cabrera
Lola von Miramar (Larry La Fountain-Stokes)
Maegan La Mala Ortiz
Carlos Manuel Rivera
Vanessa Martir
Charlie Vazquez/Steven Maldonado
***WARNING*** THIS SHOW WILL CONTAIN ADULT THEMES
VISUAL ART EXHIBIT AND SALE
Showing recent works:
Everardus Bogardus , Andricel Yanela Peña,
Giovanni Caravaggio, Pepe Villegas, Rafael Rosario-Laguna,
Luis Carle, and Peter Madero III
The Organization of Puerto Rican Artists, Inc. (O.P.Art). Is a non-profit organization sponsored by The New York Foundation for the Arts, and is a 501(c)(3) Tax-exempt organization.
www.op-art.org
White House Response to Senators’ Letter on Deferred Action : Send in the Latina Yes Mujer?
8:51 am By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Immigration|Obama|Politics · 10 Comments
15 Apr 2011Yesterday, I told you about the letter sent to President Obama, signed by 22 Senators, asking him to stop the deportation of DREAMers and to grant deferred action. In the letter, they lay out very clearly that he has the authority to do it.
The official White House response came via Cecilia Munoz, former Senior Vice President for the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and current Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House.
In an interview which aired yesterday on Univision, (this link autoplays in case you are at work), Munoz said that the answer is a legislative one, passing the DREAM Act, and said that there could be a better way to deal with DREAMers cases, but on a one by one basis. Munoz says :
…the President cannot say that he will ignore the law and not apply it for a group of people on a large scale.
Munoz asserts the same position in an interview with Telemundo (autoplay link), that Obama cannot defer the deportations of a whole group of students, but that an option is to do so on a one by one basis.
Read more…
VL At The Cine: East WillyB
6:39 pm By BiancaLaureano · Arts|Culture|Internet|Media|New York City|Uncategorized · Comments Off
14 Apr 2011
Often when we share what films we’ve reviewed and seen it requires VL readers to dish out some money to get to the theater or wait to rent (or find other ways) to see the film. This is the first time we are reviewing media that is FREE, that you can interact with online and whenever you have access.
East WillyB is a Latino centric web series created by Latinos, produced by Latinos, and casting Latinos. Created over coffee in Brooklny, creators Julia Ahamuda Grob and Yamin Sagel sat down and discussed what they wanted to create, who they wanted to reach, an what messages they wanted to send. Reaching the “new generation of Latinos” who are wired and plugged in, educated, and tired of one-dimensional stereotypes in the media was their focus. They began working on the scripts and character development and created East WillyB. This is a series that will be featured on the web and have various webisodes uploaded each week (so you don’t have to wait a full 7 days to get the next episode!). Each webisode is less than 5 minutes and has a multiplatform appraoch (i.e. animation, comedy, drama, etc.).
Obama: For Deportations & Against DREAMers
6:58 am By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Immigration|Obama|youth · 2 Comments
14 Apr 2011The Immigration Policy Center just released their Second Annual DHS Progress Report.
From the Executive Summary:
From the beginning of the Obama Administration, there has been a tension between enhanced immigration enforcement and a push for comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). This tension increased significantly in 2010 as the Administration ramped up its immigration-enforcement efforts at the expense, many believe, of the very people most likely to benefit from legalization and CIR. With the 111th Congress essentially immobilized on reform, but for the dramatic lame-duck passage of the DREAM Act in the House and its near miss in the Senate, the public looked to the President and his Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for some measure of immigration relief. For the most part, they didn’t find it.
Image Via America’s Voice y Feet in Two Worlds
I’ve been called pretentious by a lover or two in my lifetime, pero this Argentina, Denise Murz, properly (re)defines ,via electro-pop, chica dificil to chica who knows the value of her time. Kind of fun, cheesy reflection of alot of my own feelings at the moment.
NYC peeps, Denise will play her first NY show on May 13th, and she´ll do it on Nacotheque (Fontana´s Bar, 105 Eldridge St)
Bolivia’s “Law of Mother Earth”
2:54 pm By BiancaLaureano · Activism|Bolivia|Environment|history|Religion · 11 Comments
12 Apr 2011There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding Bolivia’s new law that, when passed, will grant Nature all and equal rights granted to humans. This news is not new as Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, the first indeginous President of Latin America, announced December 2009 at the U.N. Climate Summit they were creating a Mother Earth Ministry. Days prior to the summit President Morales hosted the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia.
During President Morales’ speech in 2009 he stated: “The budget for the United States is $687 billion for defense. And for climate change, to save life, to save humanity. They only put up $10 billion. This is shameful.” Yeah, I don’t even want to go back and look up the numbers for education and healthcare.
The law is said to establish 11 new laws for Nature which include:
- the right to life and to exist;
- the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration;
- the right to pure water and clean air;
- the right to balance;
- the right not to be polluted;
- the right to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities;
- the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered
(I know that’s not all 11, pero I’m having a hard time finding them in English or Spanish, if you know of a link with all of them please share and I’ll update the post!)
A DREAM Activist and Friend Faces Deportation
12:32 pm By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Immigration · 8 Comments
12 Apr 2011The numerous posts I have written throughout the years pushing for calls, petitions and support for people who would have/could have been eligible to live in the U.S. without fear, namely the DREAMers, is proof of the deception of the Obama administration.
On April 1st, it was reported that Department of Homeland Security head, Janet Napolitano said that DREAMers were not targets for immigration. Whoever believed this was fool. Recently, activist and friend, Prerna Lal received notice that she was being placed in removal proceedings.
From her website :
The Notice to Appear for a Master Hearing is for November 10, 2011, just four days short of my 12 year anniversary in this country.
(So much for Barack Obama not deporting DREAM-eligible youth or am I just too old and educated to qualify now?)
I’m the grandchild of a U.S. citizen and the daughter of legal permanent residents of the United States. The fact that I’m in removal proceedings is incomprehensible as a matter of fact and law…
… I’ll take the Notice to Appear as a compliment. It looks like I’m an important enough threat to be the target of ICE enforcement efforts. I thought DHS Secretary Napolitano was prioritizing removing so-called “criminal aliens” from the country and students like me were not the target of ICE enforcement efforts. I was wrong. Funnily, I’ve never received a speeding ticket or citation, let alone seen the inside of a police station. My only “crime” is that I turned 21 before my mother became a legal permanent resident of the United States. Unfortunately, I can’t stop aging. I’d love to know how to reverse the process. I’m sure everyone would.
But you know what’s a bigger crime? Separating a mother from her child. Separating a child from her mother based on an arbitrary age. I don’t know how my parents are supposed to survive this, considering all their hopes and dreams for the future are pinned on me, considering they came to this country only to give me a better life.
It’s also unfortunate that no court of law would hear my claim of the years of pain, anguish and trauma that I’ve faced by the simple fact that according to immigration law, my only parents are not my immediate relatives.
They are legal permanent residents now. They will be U.S. citizens soon. And they still won’t have the right to keep their youngest daughter in this country.
God Bless America.
If you can help Prerna out by donating some funds to pay for her trips to court, etc, please do so here.
Parts of Arizona’s Show Me Your Papers Law (SB1070) Remain Under Injunction
9:21 am By Maegan La Mala · arizona|Immigration|Politics · 1 Comment
12 Apr 2011Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift an injunction on the most controversial aspects of SB 1070, including the provision that required police to verify the immigration status of anyone they suspected of being undocumented, the show me your papers portion of the notorious law. The injunction is expected to stay in place until the Department of Justice lawsuit against SB-1070 is decided.
Salvador Reza of the Puente Movement responded, “SB 1070 and the on-going court battles could be avoided if the Obama administration simply ended its ICE Access contracts with Arizona. A simple stroke of the President’s pen could resolve much of the human rights crisis in Arizona. ”
And may I add, across the country. It’s important to remember that the federal lawsuit against SB1070 is based more on the idea that it is the job of the federal government to enforce immigration laws, than on the idea of racial profiling being a disgusting way to feed the prison system. And enforce the federal government has done (i.e Secure Communities).
The continuance of the injunction hopefully will also serve as a warning to states, like Georgia, that are pushing laws like SB1070, that these laws will be challenged by the legal system, but perhaps more importantly and less talked about, by our communities.
A Quick Note from Managing Editor Mala : Catching Up
4:36 pm By Maegan La Mala · CLPP · 2 Comments
11 Apr 2011This past weekend I attended and presented at the 30th Annual Civil Liberties & Public Policy program (CLPP) Conference at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. I am happy with the way Bianca held down the fort in my absence, making sure there was plenty of delicious, thought provoking content to keep this space alive.
While at CLPP, I co-presented a workshop and sat on a panel, both which were related to my work here and other places. The conference was a challenging space for me physically and emotionally, but I also learned and came away with much.
But, as often happens, this has caused me to be further behind in my work here and in other places. So accept my apologies as I regroup and set up some kick-culo posts full of information y corazon for all.
Abrazos,
Mala
Maryland Approves DREAM Act
8:53 pm By BiancaLaureano · DREAM Act|Education|Immigration|Maryland|youth · 3 Comments
9 Apr 2011In a vote on Friday, April 8, 2011, the Maryland House of Delegates voted 74 to 66 in favor of the DREAM Act. This will allow undocumented youth who are seeking degrees in community colleges and state schools to receive in-state tuition as long as they graduated from a state school and their families pay taxes unless they are exempt for emergency situations (which right now are unclear to me what is considered an “emergency”).
As an alumna of the University of Maryland and a product of the public school system in the state, this makes me proud, even if just a bit, for representing the state. When I was at UM last week giving a presentation on Demystifying Latina Sexualities (write up forthcoming), three undergraduate students spoke prior to my presentation urging folks who were present to sign in support of the Maryland In-State Tuition Bill.
Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown released the following statement Friday:
“The only way Maryland will continue to thrive is if we embrace all who wish to contribute to our great State. Allowing children of undocumented immigrants who have attended and graduated from Maryland high schools to access an affordable college education will help them give back, both in taxes from higher paying jobs and through service to their community. We have a great deal to gain by embracing new Americans, and I congratulate the House of Delegates for taking this historic step to ensure Maryland remains a land of opportunity for all.”
Listen to coverage from when the DREAM Act passed the state Senate in March 2011.
And might I add, that I find it less than exceptional that the only media coverage of this story for the past 24 hours has been from conservative spaces!
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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