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The Annual VivirLatino Requisite Cinco de Mayo Post

5:05 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · arizona|Culture|Immigration|mexico|Violence · 4 Comments

5 May 2010

Mala’s a little worried because she’s not in ~~Kansas~~ er the ‘hood anymore and today is Cinco de Mayo. In St Petersburg, Florida, where I am attending a conference on journalism and “new media” if you will, I have seen at least 3 Cinco de Mayo promos at local bars. They range from the innocuous margarita special type to the sombrero’ed, teta-licious dark haired mujer seen here. Not among the worse I have seen in my life. In general promotions feature white looking people (and I say this fully acknowledging that on visuals I do not always present as Latina) in sombreros and ponchos. They are drinking Mexican beer and I’m sure there is a maraca, a chile pepper, and a piñata thrown in for good measure. It reminds me of a running joke with amigo Kai about what makes an “Asian Salad” Asian. Throw in some sesame seeds somehow equals Asian. Slap on a chile pepper, you have something Mexican.

Every year here at VL, ever since we started, we write about Cinco de Mayo. We explain that it is not the Mexican equivalent to the Fourth of July. We’ve written about racist Cinco de Mayo parties on college campuses that rely on Speedy Gonzalez’ish stereotype at best, racial slurs at worse.

See we didn’t worry about hate after Arizona’s SB1070. That’s just the latest manifestation of it on a historical timeline of hate against Latinos who are now all painted as Mexican (see the case of Marcelo Lucero if you don’t want to believe me).

Inspirations : Whose Afraid of Anti-Immigrant Hate? Not these Children.

11:35 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · children|Immigration|Justice|mexico · 5 Comments

18 Apr 2010

With the horrible things happening in Arizona, activists/writers/advocates/culture workers, and all of us really need doses of strong inspiration. We need hope, love and beauty.

This video, which apparently is kinda old, reminds me of all those things and of the lessons we teach our children by example.

Feliz Domingo

Immigration, Criminalization and American Progress

13 Apr 2010

According to an article posted on The Hill, Rep. Xavier Becerra (Calif.), the House Democratic Caucus vice chairman said that Latinos view President Obama with suspicion because of his inability (or unwillingness) to make moves on the issue of comprehensive immigration reform to match his many words. But I think the suspicion isn’t because it’s not that he hasn’t made moves…

I actually don’t think that the Department of Homeland Security, or I.C.E.for that matter, have gone rogue. I think they are continuing a legacy of criminalizing people of color, specifically immigrants, and using “security” as coded language for othering.

Yesterday afternoon I was on a call hosted by the Center for American Progress (hold your laughter please). The call was called “Securing Our Borders” and highlighted a report looking at border security as a key aspect of comprehensive immigration reform specifically in the context of the Secure Border Initiative. On the call were Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Chuck McCutcheon, the author of the report (This will open a PDF file), and Angela M. Kelley, VP for Immigration Policy and Advocacy for the CAP.

Tonite at UCLA, Xip Xop oaXaca

9:15 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Activism|mexico|Music · Comments Off

12 Apr 2010

I wish I was in LA for this (and a million other reasons) plus I would love to take my younger daughter who recently returned from Oaxaca.

“Xip Xop OaXaca” (50 Minutes) Hip Hop is alive and well today all over the world. This film is just another piece of evidence that by taking back identity, territory and community, Hip Hop can be part of a movement for hood liberation. In Oaxaca City, Mexico we see one more city in which young people continue to speak truth to power, through Hip Hop.

*When: Monday, April 12th, 2010
*Where: Geology Building. Room 4660, UCLA
*Time: 6pm- 9pm

Presented by Simon Sedillo (a community rights defense organizer and film maker. He has spent the last 8 years documenting, producing and teaching community based video documentation in Mexico and the US. Through collaborative media projects, Sedillo’s work has contributed to a growing network of community based media production whose primary objective is to share, teach, and learn from one another, about community based media production and the collective construction of horizontal networks of community rights defense.)

http://elenemigocom un.net/banda/ simon/x/en

** snacks provided! **

Paquita la del Barrio would rather have dead children than children raised by gays

5:32 pm By la Macha · GLBT|mexico|Music · 3 Comments

17 Mar 2010

Well, ain’t this some sorta shit? Paquita la del Barrio, an old time Mexican singer (she sings rancheros), announced in an interview that she’d rather see her child dead than adopted and raised by teh gays.

But she doesn’t mind teh gays marrying.

I realize La del Barrio is old school, so there’s not much that many of us can probably do or say to change her mind. So instead, I’ll just leave you all with a far more compelling image than dead children.
via Blabbeando: Mexican couples get married!

Monday Musica, Dia de la Mujer Edition : Lila Downs, la Niña

11:34 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · mexico|Music|Women · Comments Off

8 Mar 2010

Lila Downs is one of my favorite mujer artistas. The video here features some of the mujeres that have been killed and disappeared in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. i would like to extend the dedication to todas las mujeres that have been disappeared by I.C.E. and the U.S Department of Homeland Security.

Monday Morning Musica : El Desayuno

7:43 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · mexico|Music · 1 Comment

8 Feb 2010

To start our Monday, the Monday after snOMG! and the Superbowl, how about a good desayuno. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and today’s musical breakfast comes to us via la banda Abeja de Monterrey N.L.

Via / la Banda Elastica

Mexico City’s Navidad Gift : Marriage Equity

9:29 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · GLBT|mexico · 1 Comment

26 Dec 2009

Mexico City gave it’s residents an early holiday gift on Monday the 22nd when it’s legislators approved a law giving same-sex couples full marriage rights and allows gay couples that marry to adopt children. The move as actually an extension of a 2006 law that passed in the city granting same-sex civil unions the same benefits of marriage.

I think I need to move to Mexico city.

Via / Women’s e-News

Amnesty International Video About Femicides in Juarez

2:38 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Justice|mexico|Violence|Women · Comments Off

18 Oct 2009

Women raped, murdered and disappeared in Juarez continues to be an ongoing situation. With over 400 cases reported and an unknown number not reported, the issue fades in and out of the public eye.

I would like to know of ways to support local organizations and local families in and around Juarez. Organizations without big budgets so that the mujeres of Juarez can live and rest in peace.

Is Decriminalization Enough to Stop the “War on Drugs” Violence in Latin America?

28 Aug 2009

Marijuana Two Latin American countries recently have made moves to decriminalize the possession of certain drugs for personal use, a move that some are touting as a positive new direction in the “war on drugs”.

In Argentina:

Argentina’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that it is unconstitutional to prosecute cases involving personal marijuana use as long as it does not harm others. It did not, however, set a weight limit for what it considers personal use.

The judges’ decision urges the Argentine government to “create policies against illegal drug trafficking and adopt preventive health measures, with information and education against drug consumption directed at the most vulnerable groups.

And in Mexico:

Under the new law, a police search that turns up a half-gram of cocaine, the equivalent of about four lines, will not bring any jail time. The same applies for 5 grams of marijuana (about four cigarettes), 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams of methamphetamine or 0.015 milligrams of LSD.

VivirLatino