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I Went to Cornell and All I Got was This Sweatshop Made Cap

3:34 pm By Maegan La Mala · Dominican Republic| Fashion| Labor · 1 Comment

7 Aug 2008

Wanna show off some alumni pride? Or how about that cap of your favorite baseball team? If you look at the label of your cap and see that it was made in the Dominican Republic, chances are it was made in a sweatshop.

Sweatshop workers stitch logos into caps for Major League Baseball, the NHL, the NBA and the NFL.
Many college caps are made there, too. One company, BJ&B, for example, manufactures caps for the Universities of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Missouri, Connecticut, Arizona, Louisiana State, Cornell, Northwestern, Penn State, Tulane and Purdue…Here’s how it works: A university licenses its name and logo to American apparel distributors like Nike, Starter, Champion and Reebok, and earns about $1.50 per cap. BJ&B, for example, then pays the worker 8 cents per cap. At that pay rate, a worker takes home $40 for a typical 56-hour work week, as calculated by UNITE, an anti-sweatshop lobbying group. The total cost of making the cap comes out to about $6.08, but consumers pay about $19.95 for the cap.

The good news is that BJ&B workers, thanks in part to universities’ pressuring, formed a union but they are only one sweatshop in a sea of free-trade areas that allow companies located there to be exempt from import fees and income taxes on the backs of workers.

Via / Republica Update

Celebrate Dominican Independence Day : SOB’s Style

20 Feb 2008

Just because I’m Puerto Rican doesn’t mean I don’t like some Dominican flavor (forget the rumors of Ricans vs. Dominicans). I know from experience that one of the hottest Dominican Independence Day celebrations outside D.R. is in NYC, more specifically in S.O.B’s. This February 27 promises to be no different with a concert featuring merenguero Shino Aguakate, Frandy Sax and DJ Lobo. And where there’s good Dominican music there’s got to be good Dominican food. S.O.B’s is serving a full Dominican menu, completito con kipes, chicharron de pollo y pasteles de platanos (damn save me a plate!)This is the only celebration in NYC on February 27th, the actual date of Dominican Independence.

Ticket Info: First 100 Ladies free, $10 Ladies/ $12 Gentlemen; Available on Ticketmaster and the S.O.B.’s Box Office, 212-243-4940. Doors open 7pm.

Special Thanks to Alex Damashek at S.O.B’s for providing pics and info. Now someone quick : offer to watch my kids so I can go!

Juan Luis Guerra and Gilberto Santa Rosa: Advocates Against Gender Violence

3:17 pm By Maegan La Mala · Activism| Celebrities| Dominican Republic| Latin America| society · 1 Comment

19 Dec 2007

According to the head of Women’s Issue of the Dominican Republic, 160 women died of domestic violence related crimes in the Caribbean nation between the months of January and October 2007. In Puerto Rico, the figure is smaller: 18 deaths. In order to call more attention to this epidemic, two of the PR and DR’s most well-knowns are coming out on behalf of victims of domestic violence:

Dominican singer songwriter Juan Luis Guerra and Puerto Rican salsero Gilberto Santa Rosa will be, among other artists, protagonists of the serán, entre otros artistas, los protagonistas de la campaña “Pégale a la pared” campaign, an initiative against violence towards women in their respective countries, which was introduced today in Santo Domingo.

The first phase of the campaign will be made of up of two 30 second advertising spots starring Guerra and Santa Rosa, which will be shown on television and broadcast on the radio in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

While the initiative is to be applauded, they could have come up with a better name (which was inspired by a song by Reyli Barba). “Hit the Wall”…no, don’t hit anything. Get some help with your violent temperament instead.

Other stars will also participate, among them Reyli himself, puertorriqueño Joseph Fonseca and dominicanos Andy Andy, Wason Brazobán and Raymond Pozo.

Via / El Universal (Venezuela)

More Trouble From Storms in Caribbean

10:10 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Dominican Republic| Puerto Rico · Comments Off

14 Dec 2007

aacb8f29-cb71-40e5-8ccd-fe6a4087e4cf.hmedium.jpg Tropical Storm Olga has claimed at least 20 lives in the Caribbean with many people pointing fingers at the government.

As Olga began lashing the Dominican Republic with rain Tuesday, officials slowly released water from the Tavera Dam into the Yaque River, Octavio Rodriguez, a member of the committee that oversees dams during emergencies, told The Associated Press.
But fearing a dam failure that could kill thousands in Santiago, the country’s second-largest city, the panel decided around 11 p.m. Tuesday to open all six floodgates an hour later, gushing 1.6 million gallons of water every second into the river.

Dominican Cardinal Calls Gays Maricones

11:12 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Dominican Republic| GLBT · 1 Comment

1 Nov 2007

cardenal.JPG.jpg Leave it to a Catholic leader in the Dominican Republic to turn waht was to be an interview about if political figures should disclose where they get their earnings to a diatribe about the GLBT community. Dominican Republic Cardinal Jesús López Rodríguez’s criticism of gays wasn’t the worse of it, it was the language he used that is surprising.

According to El Nacional, the Cardinal, arguing that fidelity should be at the core of education efforts to stem pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases “explained that for those reasons the Catholic church was opposed to promiscuity between ‘heterosexuals and maricones’ because sex had to be of the moment and between a man and a woman.”

Imagine a U.S. cardinal using the word faggot to to talk about the GLBT community here. Yes, a girl who went to Catholic school all of her life I am more than aware of the church’s position on gays but he took it to another level, a level of hate and hate speech that is hardly what Jesus would do.

Via / Blabbeando

Not Such a Joyous Noel for Caribbean

7:14 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Cuba| Dominican Republic · Comments Off

1 Nov 2007

Tropical Storm Noel hit the Caribbean hard, especially Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Late last night the death toll due to the storm was at about 60.

The storm is not expected to turn into a hurricane but Florida residents are still keeping a close eye on Noel.

A tropical storm watch was issued today for the southeast Florida coast by the center. A watch means tropical storm conditions are expected within 36 hours.

In the Dominican Republic, there are at least 21 confirmed deaths and 16 people missing. 18 deaths were reported in Haiti and one in Jamaica.

In Cuba, about 1,000 homes were damaged, 2,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas, and schools were closed for thousands of students, according to the government.

Via / Bloomberg

Wife of Missing Latino Soldier in Iraq Faces Deportation

12:27 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| Dominican Republic| Immigration| Politics · 2 Comments

20 Jun 2007

Proving yet again that no good deed goes unpunished, Yaderlin Jimenez, the wife of a missing in action soldier stationed in Iraq faces deportation. Spc. Alex R. Jimenez has been missing since May 12 when there was an attack on his unit in Iraq. He petitioned for his wife’s green card but a judge put a stop on those proceedings since he went missing. If Yaderlin were deported to her native Dominican Republic she would have to wait 10 years before she could reapply to enter the U.S.

In my opinion there is only one word for this : disgraceful. Your husband goes to fight in the name of the United States and this is how the U.S. repays.

Via / ABC News

Dead Prez’s Can’t Vote in DR Anymore

2:06 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Dominican Republic · Comments Off

30 May 2007

What do Juan Bosch and Joaquin Balaguer have in common? If you answered that they were both presidents of the Dominican Republic and died in 2002 you’d be partially correct. Up until recently they were also eligible voters. How recently? Up until last week. Their names along with thousands of other Dominicans who are deceased, have emigrated or are otherwise ineligible to vote in next year’s elections were purged from the official record.

Via / CBS

A Little NYC in DR

12:05 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Dominican Republic · Comments Off

29 May 2007

There are about 600,000 Dominicans living in NYC and Dominican President Leonel Fernandez used to be one of them. Perhaps its nostalgia for times past that have led Fernandez to build a NYC style subway system in Santo Domingo. But not everyone is as excited about this mass transit option especially when they look at the bill. Originally the train was set to cost $464 million. That figure is up to 710 million, more than 2 percent of the Dominican Republic’s gross domestic product and expected to rise. So do Dominicans need a subway or would that money be better spent say on infrastructure or poverty?
Only time will tell.

Via / CBS

Shakira finally getting hitched?

7:23 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities| Chismes| Dominican Republic| Latin America · 1 Comment

16 May 2007

We’ve been listening to rumors that Shakira is going to wed her long-time boyfriend, Antonio de la Rua for years now. We’re skeptical that this is actually going to happen, but are just gonna put it out there for you. Las malas lenguas say that Shaki is going to go through with it, and in the D.R.:

Dominican Republic is again under the international spotlight after a Latin Celebrities radio program reported yesterday that the singer Shakira and her fiancé Antonio de la Rúa are planning to wed in this country next September.

The newspaper El Dia, quoting the website Labotana, says that the famous singer’s wedding will be in her mansion located in the resort Punta Cana, in Dominican east coast. That same program didn’t reveal the date of the wedding, but several indications point to that month.

And according to Spain’s 20 Minutos, Shakira’s mother-in-law-to-be, Inés Pertiné, has already hired designer María Pryor to make Shaki’s wedding dress.

Via / Dominican Today and 20 Minutos

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