10:39 am By Maegan La Mala · Celebrities|DREAM Act|Education|Immigration|military|Music|Politics · 3 Comments
16 Dec 2010While some mainstream media outlets continue to issue obituaries for the DREAM Act, Latino celebs are coming out in favor of it.
Reggaetoneros Wisin y Yandel have been tweeting their support for the DREAM and urging fans to call Senators to vote.
Ozomatli y Ugly Betty actress America Ferrera have lent their names and star power behind a petition sponsored by the National Council of la Raza (NCLR).
Edited at to add that apparently singer José José has also come out in favor of DREAM.
Mexican rockeros Maná issued a press release two days ago announcing their support for the DREAM act. Lead vocalist Fher is quoted as saying:
Es vital que estemos alertas, que no nos quedemos cruzados de brazos en espera del resultado de la votación en el Senado; como les decÃa: que todos los latinos envÃen cartas, correos, emails, que llamen por teléfono a los senadores y a las oficinas de los partidos. La Cámara de Representantes ya nos dió la señal de que SI SE PUEDE. La aprobación del “Dream Act” corrige una de las peores fallas de un sistema de inmigración con muchos problemas donde se obliga, a los jóvenes que han crecido en los Estados Unidos hablan inglés, sobresalen en sus comunidades, en la escuela como deportistas o voluntarios, a poner su vida y su talento en receso porque los consideran ilegales. Es cierto, eso tiene un precio muy alto para nuestros hermanos y para sus familias, pero también para los Estados Unidos.
Porque lo viejo es lo nuevo y vice-versa and because current struggles are continuations, steps forward from past struggles and yeah because I’ve seen Kofre live and they are fun to watch and jump around to and have a have a message. The kick ass mujer on the trombone doesn’t hurt either.
11:10 am By Maegan La Mala · Music · 7 Comments
23 Nov 2010
Calle 13 has done it again, with the release of their 4th album, ‘Entren Los Que Quieran’, their last album with Sony as they remind us in the variety show themed intro, the dangerous duo bring their tongue in cheek , raw rhymes.
From the Intro:
“Directly from Puerto Rico, the most important colony in the word and the only place where the people pay more attention to Miss Universe than to education…”
At this point, most fans and others have already heard and seen “Calma Pueblo” but if you haven’t, it’s a loud strong reassurance that Residente and Visitante haven’t sold out but that they are the lyricists of the barrios.
If anyone thinks that (slightly) politicized lyrics aren’t worthy of culo shaking then I invite you to listen to El Baile de los Pobres which talks about some of differences between the rich and poor, needing to dance not among them. Here is where some of my criticisms of Calle 13 do come out though as the boys rely on many machista mentions of nalgas pero that said I had to crack up at the dirtiness/hillariousness of some of the lyrics (yes even with sexism). Check this line :
” I heard you were the Queen of all the Rosales but today I am going to lower you four social classes”
It’s been awhile since we heard something new from the Grammy-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra(SHO), but on September 28th, 2010 they released their fourth album, Viva la Tradicion.
Aptly titled, Viva la Tradicion is as strongly rooted in the Latin salsa/jazz movement as the 13 piece collective is and in case you weren’t sure, the second song on the cd, Mi Herencia Latina(My Latino Heritage), opens the path by recognizing some the forepapis y foremamis of the genre: Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Tito Puente, Beny More, Compai Segundo, Bobby Capo and acknowledging the many genres like bomba, plena, guaguanco, rhumba, and son that intersect like our own identities.
9:23 am By Maegan La Mala · Arts|Music|New York City · 1 Comment
22 Oct 2010Because our history is African, LatiNegr@, y AfroRican
BOBBY SANABRIA AND THE MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSICAFRO-CUBAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA PRESENT A TRIBUTE HONORING
Rafaél Hernández (1892–1965)
Bobby Sanabria and the Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra will pay tribute to Puerto Rico’s greatest composer, Maestro Rafaél Hernández, whose works include such masterpieces as Preciosa and Lamento Borincano and who made history as a trumpeter with bandleader James Reese Europe’s 369th Regiment Harlem Hell Fighters band during World War I.October 22 / 7:30 PM /
Borden Auditorium, Manhattan School of Music120 Claremont Avenue
(Broadway and W. 122nd St.)
All tickets $5
For tickets call 917-493-4428
8:40 am By Maegan La Mala · arizona|Immigration|Music · 1 Comment
4 Oct 2010Today’s musical pick comes to us via the new PBS Arts website . PBS Arts is part of PBS’s multi-platform initiative to reinvigorate public engagement with the arts through an exploration of performance, artistic expression, and the creative process — on-air, online, in the classroom and in every community. In this Quick Hit, Seu Jorge, who is one of my favorite artists from Brazil, performs a song named after a Portuguese dance but about Brazilian fishermen.
P.S. : If you are offended by images of fish being well fished, you may want to close your eyes and just listen to the music.
Watch the full episode. See more Sound Tracks.
6:11 am By Maegan La Mala · Chile|Linking Latinos|Music · 1 Comment
20 Sep 2010During this Latino Heritage Month, we are marketed to, studied, talked about and analyzed. During this month many of our homelands, ancestral and actual celebrate their independence days but also within these countries we struggle onward seeking true freedom.
The following video comes from us gracias a Rebel Diaz. Filmed on the streets of Santiago de Chile and produced Chilean team, Artefacto Visual, the video features Villa Grimaldi, which was a concentration camp site during the Pinochet dictatorship ushered in by the United States and where two of the Rebel Diaz crew members, RodStarz and G1′s, parents were tortured.
For me, this video is what this month and every other month of the year is about.
Enjoy
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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