First, there was the transphobia and tired Rican stereotyping of the now cancelled ABC sitcom Work It. Then there is the not yet cancelled but should be CBS sitcom ¡Rob! centering around a white man’s (played by Rob Schneider) sudden marriage into a Mexican-American family. That family is filled with every Spanish accented caricature possible, weal attempts to counter those portrayals, and plenty of hot blooded innuendo. Two nights ago I watched Glee and the debut episode of The River, and I was reminded why I generally avoid television unless it’s the news and even that pisses me off.

I am not a GleeK. In fact before Tuesday night I had never seen an episode of Fox’s Glee and will shamelessly admit, that the only reason I watched last night was to see Ricky Martin like the good Puerto Rican I am. I have been a Ricky Martin fan ever since he was a teen in Menudo and there are pictures of a pre-teen me and an acid washed dressed Mr. Martin to prove it. I was hoping he would sing some of the songs I like (Vuelve) and, hell, maybe even some of the songs I don’t like (La Vida Loca). Instead what I got was a weak ass story about a Chilean Spanish teacher from Ohio singing LMFAO’s Sexy and I know It, followed by the worst examples of “Latin songs” ever like Enrique Iglesias’s Hero and Madonna’s La Isla Bonita. There was even a matador outfit which was partially used to make a comment about stereotypes but in the context of the whole show, the teachable moment fell flat. Yes, Ricky was sexy and I did know it and I would watch him be sexy with anyone of any gender just not any of the cast of Glee.

Following Glee, I switched to ABC to watch the premiere of The River, Steven Spielberg’s 8 episode series that follows a crew somewhere down the Amazon to rescue a missing nature show host. The two hour pilot was filmed in Puerto Rico which proved to be really distracting to me as a viewer watching and hearing the night scenes. I just couldn’t buy that the reality film crew and stars were in the Amazon with a bunch of Boricua tree frogs singing. The show, billed as a supernatural thriller, bases much of it’s chills in exotic stereotypes of otherness. For example, when the crew break into a locked cabin, they find an altar with a small statue, beads, and photographs that is supposed to be read as ominous especially when matched with a chupacabra like creature that needs blood that escapes from the room. The dark magic continues as the primarily white crew (save an African American camera man and a Spanish language speaking father and daughter team) delve deeper into the Amazon. The only non-white woman, who has been warning everyone to get the hell out or else face the wrath of the evil spitits, becomes possessed while the rest of the crew have to dig up colonizer bones to save themselves. In a nutshell the message of the series, as I wrote on twitter last night, is that white people need to stay the hell out of the Amazon or else face possessed dolls hanging from a tree or something like that.

Can I get an M.I.A. style salute to prime time tv now please?

My dear aunt, who was fighting cancer for over three years, took a turn for the worse and transitioned from this world last week. She is the second of my mother’s sisters to pass away from breast cancer and the fifth death in our family within the last three years, making the loss more devastating to the family.

I felt the need to make the personal public since this occurred around the same time the Komen controversy broke (there will be a separate post on that mess) and because my Titi Migdalia was a fan and regular reader of VivirLatino.

In her honor and memory, I’m ready to jump back in.

Thank you for your understanding.

M. la Mala

In last night’s GOP debate, on again off again front runner Newt Gingrich took a page from the Democratic National Committee, targeting Mitt Romney as the most anti-immigrant. Certainly this attack is related to Romney’s statements earlier this week touting “self-deportation” as a good solution to current problems. Romney, offended by Gingrich’s characterization, demanded an apology. As I pointed out in a piece I wrote for El Diario La Prensa last month, we are heading into dangerous territory when we try to find the “worst” among bad choices. Gingrich’s allegedly kinder, softer approach to immigration amounts to what the current Obama policy is on paper, allowing “non-threatening” immigrants with family ties and a long history in the U.S. to stay in a permanent limbo status.

A new/old Latino target is being pushed by one organization. Today, Presente.org launched a campaign targeting potential GOP Vice Presidential pick, Senator Marco Rubio. The campaign wittingly named “No Somos Rubios” (We are not Rubios/We are not Blondes), hones in on Republicans using a brown face with a brown name to earn Latino votes. This right wing strategy is being called into question not just based on Rubio’s anti-immigrant positions but also because Rubio represent such a specific facet of the Latino electorate. Rubio appeals to Cuban-American anti-Castro demographic. Rubio probably will not appeal to other Latinos, especially in the South West, who according to polls, played a critical role in Obama’s getting elected in 2008.

More local Florida politicians are also getting in the game and trying to prove that they don’t hate immigrants. Republican Congressman David Rivera from Miami introduced the ARMS Act, which is one half of the DREAM Act. The Gingrich supporter is pushing a law that would offer a path to citizenship to undocumented youth who serve in the military. There is no educational provision.

Much has been said/written about how “unique” the Florida Latino electoral population is. There are the right leaning Cubans, followed by Puerto Ricans, who according to some reports I have read, also don’t care about immigration because our colonial status comes with 2nd class U.S. citizenship (i.e. if you live on the island you cannot vote for president). Puerto Rico’s Governor Luis Fortuño is expected to officially endorse Mitt Romney today, which seems to be confusing many in media, equating the endorsement as a sign that Ricans inside the U.S., who tend to vote Democrat, may move to the GOP.

There are a few problems with this interpretation. I question the influence that Fortuño has on Puerto Rican voters, that is Puerto Ricans inside the U.S. Fortuño, with massive firings, police brutality, and out of control crime happening under his watch, may not be the best bellweather to measure potential Democrat to GOP Rican crossover.

Meanwhile Obama continues trying to convince Latino voters that he really is the lesser of many evils.

Obama’s renewed commitment to immigration reform is falling flat to many potential voters and especially to immigration advocates/activists. While Obama claims that his administration is not deporting young people who would be DREAM Act eligible, 22 year old Yanelli Hernandez Serrano sits in detention facing deportation next Tuesday.

As all voters struggle with the decision about who to vote for in primaries and ultimately in the November presidential election, I hope people make a decision outside of the lesser of many evils framework. While choosing which candidate has done the least amount of damage may make for an easier choice, it certainly does nothing to change a political system that counts on people selling out their values in favor of a vote that allegedly counts.

This address is particularly important because it essentially also serves as a campaign speech. It’s no secret that I am less than pleased with the Obama administration. It will be interesting to hear the ever eloquent President and see what topics he touches on. Clearly he is expected to place the economy front and center and I expect him to also discuss education. Will he mention immigration? Probably but let’s see how he frames the record deportations while trying to attract the mythical “Latino Vote”.

What would you like to hear Obama talk about tonight? Do you think he will?

Latin@ Reproductive Health, Access, y Justice

This weekend marked the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. But (re)defining access for Latin@s goes beyond a court decision. It involves internalized oppression, stereotypes, and access to not just birth control and terminations, but also to births the way we want them.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health recently released polling looking at the attitudes of Latin@s towards abortion. This polling, which also comes at a time when the GOP is courting the Latino votes on the basis of alleged shared values, reveals that the majority of registered Latino voters believe in keeping abortion legal and accessible.

Following last week’s liveblog of a conversation on cervical cancer and Latin@s, Bianca Laureano shares her ideas for Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2012 on what really needs to happen to end the disease.

We are celebrating along with Mamas of Color Rising in Texas the decision of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to make a rules change that adds Licensed Midwives as health care providers under Texas Medicaid. All mam@s deserve the birth experience they want regardless of income.

And finally, yesterday I sat down with some of the mamis of Latina Mami for a wonderful conversation about the mami’hood. You can watch/listen to the interview here (please note the link autoplays the interview)

I’ll admit that when Paranormal Activity 1 was released I went to a midnight screening by myself! When I saw Part 2 I had to be convinced by at least one other person because I was not trying to watch anything like that by myself again! I believe too much in los espirtus and was irritated some characters were taunting them in the first part. But Paranormal Activity 3 centers the two sisters who are the main characters of Part 1 and Part 2 as they were growing up. Check out the trailer below:

The DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack includes both the theatrical version of the film and an unrated version with footage not seen in theaters, as well as Lost Tapes that reveal more footage not seen in the film. Plus, they will include a digital copy and be enabled with UltraViolet TM, a new way to collect, access and enjoy movies which helps with adding films to your digital collection by streaming and/or downloading them to a variety of devices. Audio and subtitles in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

 
To Enter:

Winners will be selected randomly and contacted via email. Reply to this post with an VALID email address where we can reach you by Tuesday January 24, 2012 at 10 AM eastern standard time.

I will be live blogging/tweeting the conversation and taking/sharing your questions and comments. Just join us here!

I personally struggle with the word feminist, especially given how it has been used by so many, including white women, as a way to further push intersecting issues that Latin@s face under the rug. So I am especially fascinated by how that word is adopted by others. Check out this clip from Chicana por Mi Raza, where Cotera talks specifically about that word and how it was received.

Martha P. Cotera – teaser from Chicana por mi Raza on Vimeo.

Have you heard about Marta Cotera? What are your thoughts on what she says about feminism and women in activist spaces?

Last Friday, USCIS filed a notice of intent to change current policy that requires undocumented spouses and sons and daughters of U.S. citizens facing 3 and 10 year bars to file waivers outside the U.S. and then allowing them to return to their families by showing that their U.S. citizen family member would face extreme hardship as a result of the separation.

Before you break out the leftover new year’s confetti, I would like to remind people that this is a proposal. I have read the Notice of Intent and the language is very provisional. An intention is not that same as an actual action and within the actual document it states, “USCIS is considering regulatory changes…” (emphasis mine). There will be a several-month period for the public to provide comments on the proposed change before it goes into effect. A consideration is a thought, not an actual change in practice. In my opinion, a consideration is the campaign promise of an incumbent president trying to gain the Latino vote.

This intention of considering a proposal to change policy is just the latest in a series of public relation attempts to improve Obama’s image among potential Latino voters. Obama’s Latina spokesperson Cecilia Munoz, recently promoted to the be director of the Domestic Policy Council, and Congressman Xavier Becerra (D – CA) made the rounds on the Sunday morning Spanish network news shows, citing the proposal as additional proof of Obama making changes to an immigration policy. Wouldn’t real change be a proposal to eliminate the bar for certain families altogether? According to an email from the White House, applicants would still need to go abroad to complete their legal immigration process. The time apart is promised to be shorter however. Unfortunately, so many of the immigration policy promises have fallen far from being implemented and Latinos are growing resentful.

A poll released by the Pew Hispanic Center right before the new year confirmed that 59% to 27%, Latinos of all legal statuses say they disapprove of how the administration is handling deportations. By many accounts, prosecutorial discretion is not being instituted and it’s not clear to me if and when the panel to review cases in deportation will begin. This week Leslie Hernandez, a mother of three, was facing deportation to Mexico. Following community pressure, not policy, her deportation has been halted and she is expected to be released from Federal custody. Charbel Chehoud, worked undercover for the New Jersey Police that led to the solving of several high-profile crimes including a murder. He is facing imminent deportation. According to the alleged existing policy following the Morton Memo of last summer, deporting the “dangerous” and “bad” immigrants is supposed to be the priority. Neither Leslie nor Charbel seem to fall under that negative label, casting doubt upon all the alleged changes enforcement procedures.

The new fall guy to blame for non-implementation of prosecutorial discretion is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ union, the National ICE Council, who allegedly is not allowing officers to participate in trainings on the reprioritization of deportations. Stuck in the midst of all of the announcements, press releases, and intentions are undocumented immigrants and their families, who try and make sense of how best to live their lives under familiar shadow statuses with new names.

For many paying attention to the way immigration policy is playing out in this election, recent focus has been on Mitt Romney, a GOP front runner in Iowa and nationally, and recent statements he made. He said that if he were president and the DREAM Act were to pass in Congress, he would veto it.

Enter the Democrat/Progressive words of shock and finger pointing. This is additional proof of how much the Republicans hate immigrants, especially non-criminal college students or potential soldiers for whatever invented global conflict comes next. This is additional proof as to why everyone who loves immigrants, especially Latinos who are the perpetual faces of immigration policy, need to support the Democratic Party and vote for Barack Obama. This is what the Democrats use the Iowa Caucuses for, to knock down potential GOP nominees. Mitt Romney has been especially targeted by the Democratic National Committee who have a website and numerous videos focusing on Romney’s flip-flopping in a number of policy areas.

But hold on and wait a minute. Is it just me or does it seem like the Democrats (as a party, not individually) only really started talking about the DREAM Act after it failed a procedural vote last year? If I remember correctly, there were only a handful of Democrats who were really pushing the DREAM Act, especially as a standalone measure. If I remember correctly, for a long time, the party line was Comprehensive Immigration Reform until New York Democrat Charles Schumer beat that biometric horse into the ground, allowing the DREAM Act to be presented as the “oh well” option. And if I remember correctly weren’t there some Democrats who voted against the DREAM Act in that procedural vote last year?

Of course, that was Congress and we are talking about what the President can do. After all Obama couldn’t sign a bill that wasn’t passed so we can’t blame him for the failure of the DREAM Act. Right?
And it seems that the discussions and mentions of what Obama could have done and can do: executive action, deferred action and prosecutorial discretion, have gone quiet as they take away from the get out the vote campaigns/money.

In the grand scheme of things, the Iowa Caucus is an example of everything that is wrong with the current electoral system in the United States. It’s glorified opinion polling and spin on steroids. But if we are going to pay attention anyway, let’s not do telenovela style gasps when Republicans say they are against specific immigration policy that doesn’t include moats, fences, deportation, detention, and death. Let’s not pretend that the Republicans have shown much nuance when it comes to separating the “good” immigrants from the “bad” ones. But let’s not pretend that the Democrats have played with the Latino and immigrant communities any nicer. That would really be dreaming.

And in direct response to what one of our readers, Sylvia, said she wanted to see more of here in 2012 – what can people do? What is the solution/alternative/answer? On a grander scale : the whole caucus is more of a circus. Doing a little bit of poking, statistically speaking the Iowa caucus doesn’t have a great track record of being a good measure of who will be the GOP nominee or even President. Additionally, turnout numbers tend to be low.

In terms of the political issues. I don’t tell people who to vote for. Hell, I don’t even tell people to vote. What I do tell people is to be honest in their analysis and to not be so short sighted in terms of looking at history. Just like it’s too simplistic to use this binary good vs bad immigrant narrative in terms of policy, it’s too easy to say Dems good, GOP bad when it comes to any election.