Archive for the ‘language’ Category
Israel Dubs Swine Flu “Mexican Flu”
7:40 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · israel|language|mexico|Religion · 4 Comments
28 Apr 2009
There has been one reported case of the swine flu in Israel so far, but Israeli officials aren’t calling it that. Ultra-orthodox Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman says that calling the disease by its name is “religiously sensitive”:
“We will call it Mexican flu. We won’t call it swine flu,” said Mr Litzman, who belongs to the ultra-religious United Torah Judaism party.Pigs are considered unclean under Jewish dietary laws. Muslims also do not eat pork for similar reasons.
That’s all well and good, but calling it Mexican is no good either. The BBC reports that scientists in Israel are concerned that the term will “stigmatize Mexico”.
Via / BBC News
April is Poetry Month : La Bruja
9:03 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · language|literature|Women · Comments Off
28 Apr 2009I’ve been featuring a mix of “classic” Latin poets with current poets all through the month. Hoy I bring you la Bruja.
April is National Poetry Month : Las Gallas
8:01 am By Maegan La Mala · language|literature · 2 Comments
26 Apr 2009
I stumbled upon these mujeres known as Las Gallas : Magda Martinez, Julia Lopez and Michelle Ortiz (no relation).
We are a Philadelphia-based multi-disciplinary arts collective that incorporates all of our developed skills in theatre, visual arts, dance, film, poetry, spoken word & literature. We stretch the boundaries of arts collaborations by involving new ways of creating through workshops and mutual interactions. We gather to share stories, inspire dialogue and debate around ideas of family, traditions, religion, education and gender roles. LAS GALLAS are a crew of skillful mañiaticas in search of a project, We roam fields and ethnic enclaves looking for kernels of truth and the occasional idea. Armed with brushes, pens, canvas, paper, film and feet they pave their way. Exploring the exotic destinations of Camden, Philadelphia and the lower east side. Awing their audiences with their “inter-disciplinarian” posturing. Spreading their poultry gospel: GALLAS can lay eggs, carry them and start the kikirikiki-ing on the roof top if need be.
April is Poetry Month : Mariposa
8:40 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · language|literature|Women · Comments Off
24 Apr 2009Today’s poet is fellow NY hermana Mariposa.
The White House Press Room : Now With Spanish Flavor!
7:53 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Cuba|language|Obama|Politics · 3 Comments
14 Apr 2009Yesterday we told you how Obama lifted restrictions on travel to Cuba (but only for Cuban-Americans) and lifted the cap on remittances sent by family members to family members in Cuba. The real news was that the announcement was made in part in Spanish! Gasp!
This is historic yes, and it’s clear that the intent was to speak directly to Cuban-Americans and who knows maybe even Cubans. Pero dies it show that the Obama administration “gets it” as the anchor woman says?
Get what exactly?
The embargo is still in place. Travel to Cuba is still limited to Cuban-Americans.
While the policy is a change, it’s not exactly groundbreaking.
And what about that pesky immigration issue?
Where’s the Spanish language White House briefing on that.
I know, I’m never satisfied.
Texas Lawmaker Wants Asian Americans to Change their Names
1:39 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|language|Politics|race|Texas · 2 Comments
9 Apr 2009This sounds like something out of The Onion, but sadly, it’s true. This disgusting piece of news comes to us from The Houston Chronicle, and it makes me fear a trip back home to Texas: a Texas legislator, one Rep. Betty Brown (R-Terrell) suggests that voters of Asian heritage change their names to make them “easier for Americans to deal with.” Take a deep breath before reading the following:
Brown suggested that Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible.
“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.Brown later told Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”
You can watch a video above of the House Elections Committee where this went down. Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans, testified to the difficulties that Asian Americans often face when attempting to vote.
The Texas Democratic Party has demanded an apology from Brown, while the Republican party says Democrats “want this to be about race”.
If it isn’t about race, then what is it about?
Via / Chron.com
Obama’s Spanish Tongue as a Political Tool
8:05 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · language|Obama|Politics · 2 Comments
6 Apr 2009
I caught heat for criticizing President Obama’s appearance on Premio Lo Nuestro. I proposed that Obama’s use of Spanish in a way that didn’t address any real issues was pandering. Others thought I missed the point completely since after all Premio lo Nuestro is a social/entertainment event not a political one.
I still would argue that Obama’s video injected politics into an event that usually just injected with lots of silicone. A new poll shows that I may not be alone.
Recently, President Obama has been speaking in Spanish and appearing on
Spanish-language networks. AOL Latino just conducted a poll in which a
majority (54%) voted that the move was a strategic/political move, while
34% voted that he¹s just getting closer to his electorate.
Ok so the source is AOL Latino, which indicates that the poll may not be the most scientific, pero interesting none the less.
What do you all think?
The Oscar’s Spanish Language Moment
9:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Bilingualism|Celebrities|language|Movies|Spain|TV · Comments Off
23 Feb 2009Actually there was one Spanish language moment right before Penelope Cruz won for best supporting actress when Angelica Houston, who was charged with giving Pe her nomination tribute, finished off with a “Felicitaciones”.
“This is not going to be 45 seconds, I can say that right now. Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one. Thank you so much to the Academy
I want to share this with my fellow nominees and with the amazing ensemble of actors that I had the privilege to work with in this movie. Thank you, Woody, for trusting me with this beautiful character.
Thank for you having written over all these years some of the greatest characters for women. And I cannot talk about great female characters without thanking my friend Pedro Almodóvar for having made me part of so many of his adventures. Thank you, Bigas Luna, Fernando Trueba, for giving me my first movies. Thank you, Harvey Weinstein. I wanted to dedicate this to my parents and to my brother and sister, to my friend Robert Carlo, who is not with us anymore, and to everyone who has helped me from the beginning and you know who you are and I thank you from my heart.
I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream. And I, always on the night of the Academy Awards, I stay up to watch the show and I always felt that this was, this ceremony was a moment of unity for the world because art, in any form, is and has been and will always be our universal language and we should do everything we can, everything we can, to protect its survival.
So I thank you so much and I have to say something in Spanish, because everyone? Todos lo que, desde España, ahora están compartiendo éste momento conmigo, y sientan que esto también es de ellos, se los dedico, y a todos los actores de mi país. Muchisimas gracias. Thank you so much.”
Via / Lossip
The Oscars Have a Language Problem
7:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Bilingualism|language|Movies|TV · 4 Comments
23 Feb 2009Gracias to all the twitter followers who watched the Oscars with us last night.
I’ll admit I haven’t seen most of the movies that were nominated and won. Ok, I’ve only seen one pero por lo menos that film saw an award with Penelope Cruz winning mejor supporting actress for her role in Vicky Christina Barcelona. That’s the closest there was to a Latino win (and yes I know Pe’s not Latina. She’s Spanish as in European). Pero Latino weren’t completely absent. I counted four musical references to West Side Story and after the Oscars there was a commercial for a new ABC show that used a racist Latino gang stereotype.
I was very bothered that neither The Garden nor Trouble the Water won for best documentary. That award went to a film about a French tightrope walker.
The Oscars seemed to have a problem with foreigners, especially ones with accents, especially POC. Yes, I know that Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture. Pero the main awards went to the Brit production teams and the tech awards and musical awards going the actual Indians. I haven’t seen Slumdog pero white directed movies about non-white people always concern me, especially when the directors based the film on a book written by someone from Indian, and let’s not forget the fact that Great Britain colonized India. As I write this I am watching Jimmy Kimmel make references to the child actors from Slumdog Millionaire never acting and never being on sidewalks. And did Ryan Seacrest just hold up a paper with their names because he couldn’t read them?
Pero Hollywood loves POC, especially when they sing and dance. A.R Rahman’s performance complete with a quasi Bollywood dance number was met with much applause. Pero when POC spoke, especially when they spoke with an accent people thought it was hillarious. Take for example the Japanese winner for mejor foreign film Departures. The audience was laughing, not cuz there were jokes pero cuz the winner had an accent. I even saw some tweets on how director Yojiro Takita was screaming cuz no one could understand him.
So POC just keep singing and dancing, just don’t speak, especially if you have an accent.
Speaking Spanish Could be Harmful to your Health
11:20 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|language|race · Comments Off
31 Jan 2009
Marcelo Lucero, Wilter Sanchez, and José Sucuzhañay taught the rest of the world what Latinos in the U.S. have known for a long time, that looking Latino, existing, puts your life at risk, your body at risk. Add to this fear of a Spanish speaking planet, because Spanish language=Latino=immigrant=target.
A 28-year-old San Jose man was arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime Monday after allegedly attacking another man because he was speaking Spanish, police Officer Jermaine Thomas said Tuesday.
The 53-year-old victim, who is Hispanic, was talking on his cell phone in Spanish in the area of Saratoga and Latimer avenues around 12:20 p.m. when the attack occurred, Thomas said.
The suspect, San Jose resident Scott Pontzious, who is white, allegedly told the victim during the assault that he needed to speak English.
Pontzious then fled but was later arrested nearby. He was booked into Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of battery and committing a hate crime, Thomas said.
Via / KTVU, Citizen Orange
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