Archive for the ‘Dominicans’ Category
Junot Diaz : writing feels like rolling up my emotional sleeves and putting my hand into a fire
7:34 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Books| Culture| Dominican Republic| Dominicans| literature · 1 Comment
27 Jul 2009
I don’t know why I didn’t come across this interview with my Dominican boyfriend, Pulitzer Prize winning Junot Diaz, before, pero it made me love him more. Hopefully we won’t have to wait 11 years for his next book.
Before I immigrated, I had no interest in books, no interest in newspapers, no interest in anything like that. There were plenty of little comics in the Dominican Republic, little pictorial books, penny dreadfuls: I had no interest in those whatsoever. But when I immigrated to the United States there was the crisis of being an immigrant who couldn’t speak the language very well, who didn’t understand the culture very well. I needed a way to express myself and a way to be engaged in the English language without it being a form of punishment. Speaking, during those early years, was a punishment. There was a lot of ridicule and a lot of cruelty, and instead of practicing aloud I could more safely read and practice language in my head.
Remesa Reversal
9:34 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Dominican Republic| Dominicans| Money| economy · 1 Comment
18 May 2009
The current economy has had an impact on all communities, but especially Latinos, who were already feeling the pinch. This has caused a reduction in the amount of money that immigrant communities are sending to their home countries, and anti-immigrant scapegoating has a role to play as well. Pero here’s a very interesting development, as reported by Feet in 2 Worlds, remesas have started to change their usual traveling direction, with money coming from Latin America to the United States.
“We have seen a significant increase in the number of money transfers made from the D.R. to the U.S.,” confirmed Reny Pena, supervisor of customer services and transfers at the company’s office [La Nacional] in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights.
Pena said that the volume of transfers from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. grew from between 80 and 120 monthly transfers in 2006 to the current rate of about 150 transfers a day. The increase has prompted the agency to expand the department that deals with U.S.-bound remittances from one to five employees.
Junot Diaz’s Pulitzer Winning Libro to be a Movie Directed by Motorcyle Diaries Director
8:22 pm By Maegan La Mala · Books| Dominicans| Movies · Comments Off
25 Nov 2008
Junot Diaz’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, will be adapted into a film and directed by Brazilian director of Central Station and The Motorcycle Diaries, Walter Salles.
I liked both Central Station and The Motorcycle Diaries, so hopefully the film adaptation of Oscar Wao will be as good as the actual book.
Via / Remolacha
Martes Morning Musica : Peña Suazo – No guardo Luto
11:19 am By Maegan La Mala · Dominicans| Music · Comments Off
18 Nov 2008Cuz it’s cold outside and we need to move the caderas to keep warm.
Via / Remolacha
This Year In the Dominican Republic, At Least 102 Mujeres Have been Killed by Partners
12:22 pm By Maegan La Mala · Dominican Republic| Dominicans| Women · Comments Off
13 Nov 2008The year is not quite over yet statistics coming out of the Dominican Republic show that so far this year (through to September), 102 women have been killed by their partners. 154 women in all have been recorded as being murdered in the Caribbean nation. The sad thing that is never recorded in statistics is the number of incidents of violence against mujeres that are never recorded, that are covered up yet reverberate through communities in silence.
In response, the state has set up 14 centers throughout the country to deal with familial violence. Yet the state also is taking an almost threatening approach to community movements inside DR who have taken their struggle to the streets in search of justice and a fundamental change in how women’s lives are valued.
R
adamés Jiménez, Procurador General…advirtió que todo aquel que altere el orden público será sometido a la justicia.
In other words, we’ll take care of the problem just don’t disturb public order, as if violence against women and the threat that hangs too often over the lives of women isn’t a disturbance enough.
Via / Panorama Diario, Remolacha
Haitian Immigrants Still Face Hardship in the D.R.
6:10 pm By Maegan La Mala · Dominicans| Haiti| Immigration| Latin America| World · Comments Off
11 Nov 2008
Nearly 3 years ago, I wrote about reports out of the Dominican Republic that Haitian workers and immigrants were being subjected to the most extreme forms of xenophobia and discrimination, and many were losing their lives. This post stirred up a lot of emotions, and it appears that now, 3 years later, things aren’t much better for Haitians in the D.R. The Inter Press Service reports on recent hate crimes and reprisals which are driving Haitians out of the Dominican Republic.
“A group of Dominicans armed with pistols, machetes and knives came to take revenge on us. I broke my leg trying to escape from my house, which was on fire. It’s not fair that all Haitians should have to pay for the crime of one,” Elena Piti, a Haitian mother of seven who lives in the Dominican Republic, told IPS.“I’m thinking of going back to Haiti, because I’m afraid that something might happen to me. Besides, I have nothing left here. I lost everything: my house, my money and my job,” said Franklin Jean, who IPS found hiding out in a precarious shelter in the surrounding fields.
The violence is reportedly a reprisal for a crime committed by a Haitian man against an elderly Dominican farmer. IPS reports that a mob burned down 25 houses in a Haitian settlement of El Cerro.
NYPD Attacked Father Taking His Daughter to School and Now He Faces Charges
9:36 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism| Dominicans| Family| Justice| New York City| Politics| crime · 4 Comments
17 Sep 2008
Imagine you are walking your daughter to school. It’s a common scene. The last thing you expect is to be attacked. The last thing you expect is to be attacked by the New York City Police Department. Yet, that’s exactly what happened to Jesus Bracero.
In May 2007, 56-year-old Jesus Bracero was attacked in Washington Heights by NYPD officers while dropping his 15-year-old daughter off at school. The catalyst? Bracero not complying immediately when asked for id. This is where people will say to themselves, why did he not just follow the police order? The answer is simple. In the words of Bracero: “I had not done anything illegal.” This was enough to unleash the NYPD choking and beating him.
They dragged Bracero out of his car with a chokehold on his neck. Bracero says he was assaulted by many police, who handcuffed him and repeatedly banged his head on the ground.
Aventura at Juntos en Concierto Last Night at Madison Square Garden
4:25 pm By Maegan La Mala · Dominicans| Music| New York City · Comments Off
22 Aug 2008According to one VivirLatino reader, Aventura was one of the show stoppers at last night’s Junto en Concierto event at Madison Square Garden. You tell us if you agree.
Another Youn Latino Dies While in Iraq : Jose E. Ulloa
12:30 pm By Maegan La Mala · Dominicans| Iraq War · 1 Comment
12 Aug 2008
Every day innocent Iraqi civilians are killed because of the ongoing, U.S. led war there. We don’t hear about those deaths. Instead what we do hear about are the deaths of soldiers, and one of the latest deaths is that of a N.Y Latino.
Sgt. Jose E. Ulloa, 23, died Saturday when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive in Sadr City, the Pentagon said.
Via / Fox News NY, Remolacha
Dominicans in Nueva York Celebrate Their Day
11:00 am By Maegan La Mala · Culture| Dominicans| New York City · Comments Off
11 Aug 2008My ‘hood was jumping yesterday with Dominican flags waving off the backs of men and women and, flags hung outside car windows, people playing guiros and merengue from open windows and the doors of bodegas. More than just an ordinary domingo in the ‘hood they were celebrating Dominican pride and yesterday was the Dominican Day parade in New York City.
Via / Remolacha
Hola!
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