Topic: Dominicans | VivirLatino

Martes Morning Musica : Peña Suazo - No guardo Luto

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:19:42 -0500

Cuz it's cold outside and we need to move the caderas to keep warm.

This Year In the Dominican Republic, At Least 102 Mujeres Have been Killed by Partners

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:22:29 -0500

The 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.

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.

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:10:35 -0500

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

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:36:53 -0500

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

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:25:51 -0500

According 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

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:30:38 -0500

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

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:00:17 -0500

My '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

Latino Soldier's Sad Homecoming

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:00:15 -0500

I can hear the church bells from Our Lady of Sorrows church from my apartment. It is just a block from where I live, in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood of Queens, NYC where Mexican storefronts and Dominican storefronts compete with each other. In this neighborhood and across the United States, the ongoing Iraq war and ending it is a top issue for Latinos because it is our sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and neighbors being sent to the front lines and returning, not as they left, but in boxes.

On Thursday, he came back. The police cars with flashing lights guided Sgt. Alex R. Jimenez’s coffin past the laundry, the travel agency and the minimart to 104-35 37th Drive in Corona. The procession paused in front of the bouquet of yellow and white flowers.

“You’re home, you’re home,” his friends and relatives cried as they surrounded the car holding his coffin, holding each other up for support.

It had been more than a year since Sergeant Jimenez, 25, was reported missing after an ambush on his two-Humvee convoy in an area south of Baghdad known as the triangle of death. He was one of three members of the same Army unit — Company D, Fourth Battalion, 31st Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum in upstate New York — captured in the attack. Four Americans in the same unit and one Iraqi interpreter were killed.

Towns In D.R. Subject to Raids

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:57:40 -0500

I set my google alert to notify me of all instances of "raids" being discussed in the news recently. And the results have been surprising. I expected to get links to stories about ICE raids here in the U.S., but instead, most stories have been about drug raids conducted throughout the world. Apparently, the War on Terror did not end the War on Drugs.

Dominican Police and United States (FBI) investigators yesterday conducted searches in several towns of Altagracia province(east), where they seized properties worth millions from the Benítez brothers, four Cuban nationals charged with defrauding the U.S. Social Security for US$110 million.
More than one hundred SWAT and other agents participated in the searches and occupied the cabañas Mi Casa and Singapur, located near Higüey, where an unspecified amount of money and firearms were also seized.

There was a good question in comments:

Oh goody who gets to divide up the loot.....and will the public see any benefits...or just a bunch of off duty cops partying in speedboats and cabana jacuzzis

I wonder who we could go to for the answer?

Miercoles Musica Reminder : Juan Luis Guerra's La Travesia Tour

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:00:39 -0500

Juan Luis Guerra's anticipated U.S. tour, La Travesia, jumps off in less than three weeks. Do you have your tickets yet? If you don't, better hurry. These tivket may very well sell out. After all this is his first major U.S. tour in over a decade.

Check after the jump to see when he's coming to a city near you.

Junot Diaz Wins National Book Critics Awards

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:28:31 -0500

Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao published by Riverhead Books, won the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction. I feel it's well deserved. The book made me and lots of friends I know cry. When a book make you cry, it has to be good.

Via / Remalocha

Celebrate Dominican Independence Day : SOB's Style

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:00:27 -0500

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!

Last Minute Navidad Gift Idea : The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:29:50 -0500

Ever since his breakthrough short story collection Drown came out almost 10 years ago everyone wondered what the Dominican writer Junot Diaz would do next. At long last we have an answer via The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Released earlier this year with much fanfare, Diaz has become the Latino darling of the literary world, again. The tale of a Dominican geek who gets no play is linked to larger Dominican history. The book is making the must read list of critics and pop culture mags alike.

Juan Luis Guerra sued

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:04:12 -0500

Dominican music legend Juan Luis Guerra is being sued by his producer, puertorriqueña Maritza Casiano for breach of contract. We'd love to give you the details, but I'm afraid there aren't many. Apparently Casiano and Guerra have worked together for over 20 years, and something went wrong with a contract, so it's off to San Juan's Federal Court. The official statement reads:

"Casiano Group ni la productora Maritza Casiano emitirán declaraciones más allá de las que explica el documento presentado en el tribunal de la Corte federal", indica la comunicación que recuerda "los más de 20 años de relación y el gran afecto entre las partes".

According to Spain's 20 Minutos, Casiano says she is "very affected" and prefers that the courts put an end to the dispute between her and Juan Luis Guerra.

Via / 20 Minutos

Image via BMI.com

Dominican Parade NYC

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:16:41 -0500

Yesterday 6th Avenue in Manhattan was awash with love for Quisqueya la bella at the Dominican Day Parade here in NYC.