Tag Archives: Media

Capitalizing on the Mamiverse : Preliminary Thoughts

  By Maegan La Mala | July 19, 2011 - 9:04 am |
30 Comments

I came across the article from the Daily Beast as it made it’s way across my twitter stream. The article, titled, Meet the Fútbol Moms, focuses on the launch of a new website targeting mamis, that is Latina moms. The website, Mamiverse, which I have yet to explore in depth, promises to give Latina mamis, a huge demographic, “the Oprah treatment”.

Who said we wanted that?

According to the article, what the Mamiverse wants to do is to prove that all Latina mothers are not undocumented anchor baby makers. Well those words weren’t used. These were:

In a period when American-born Latinas have been caught in the national freakout about “border security,” Mamiverse offers them a new spokeswoman. She’s a particular kind of Latina mom—an English-speaking, all-American gal. “The young, acculturated, affluent, online Latina is speaking English, and is imbibing media in English,” says Rene Alegria, the site’s 36-year-old founder and CEO.

In other word a Latina who is happy to pass? All- American meaning anything but Latin American. The website wants us all to be Gabriela Solis apparently. Oh and Rene Alegria – not a mami.

From the article:

He was born in Tucson, Ariz., in 1975. His family is a case study in the acculturation process he now trumpets. Alegria’s grandparents immigrated from Sonora, Mexico, in 1955 and still don’t speak English. By the time he was 19, Alegria was living in New York and working at the publisher Simon & Schuster…At 25, as a young editor at HarperCollins, Alegria founded Rayo, the first major Hispanic imprint in New York publishing. He insisted that most of Rayo’s books, from authors like Ray Suarez and Jorge Ramos, should be in English…The imprint began producing mostly Spanish-language books. “It ended up being the Telemundo of book publishing,” Alegria moans. He left in 2009.

According to the article, Alegria was “horrified” at the calls for a boycott when Arizona’s SB1070 passed. The Mamiverse – again not started by a mami – is based in Arizona.

The Mamiverse has started with a star lineup of mamis including Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Maria Hinojosa, Daisy Fuentes. It has also started with one exclusive retailer ready to sell to the new demographic- Target.

The end of the article tries to make the Mamiverse political – saying that it is the mamis who will determine the 2012 election.

Alegria thinks Mom will be the one brokering the conversation. “The next César Chávez,” he says grandly, “is going to be a Latina mom.”

Because apparently Latina moms have never done anything politically before this moment.
Based solely on the article (again I have not really analyzed the actual site) it seems the success of the Mamiverse is based on the notion of erasing the idea of otherness which means that any mami who does not fit into this upwardly mobile, English speaking, non-pork eating mold gets further pushed into the shadows.

Pass me the pernil because I am not sitting at that table.

Have you checked out the Mamiverse? Does it represent your mami’hood?

Post to Twitter

The Billionaires Media Mogul Pro-Migrant Club

  By Maegan La Mala | June 25, 2010 - 6:40 am |
22 Comments

NYC Mayor Bloomberg, whom I would never call my mayor since I never voted for him and certainly not for this third term, has long been held up as an advocate for immigration reform. He runs a city that runs on immigrants, so this is just smart business for him. The fact that his police department tends to harass immigrants shows that his support only goes far, as in, he supports immigrants so long as they work in NYC his way, struggling through unwieldy and confusing red tape to get proper permits to sell on the streets, for example.

The billionaire mayor is trying to bring his friends along for the pro-migrant ride, which really may be nothing more than performance as there is no viable immigration bill before Congress that is likely to get passed this year. Among the rich old white dudes who now have formed a coalition to push for “immigration reform” include Walt Disney Co. Chairman and CEO Robert Iger and Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp., two companies known for their respect for immigrant communities (right?).

(more…)

Post to Twitter

Que Que? Fox News to Start a Latino News Site?

  By Maegan la Mamita Mala | May 20, 2010 - 1:33 pm |
4 Comments

How do you say “no comprendo” in racist.

I’ve read at least three reports on how Fox News is launching a Latino website called “Fox News Latino”.

“About a third of the country is going to be of Latino heritage by 2050 and we thought it was time to launch a site with more of a focus,” said Michael Clemente, Fox News’ senior vice president of news editorial.

I’m not stressing this becoming competition for VivirLatino pero que en carajo does Fox News know about Latinos? Since when has Fox News ever been fair or respectful of the Latino community? Y que? Ahora they well talk shit about us in Spanish or Spanglish or will they use this as more proof of how much Republicans really love Latinos, well certain Latinos, good Latinos? My guess is that Fox Latino will also feature Latino vendecomunidades who will say how much they are against “amnesty”, etc.

Post to Twitter

Internship! Latino Engagement

  By BiancaLaureano | April 7, 2010 - 1:44 pm |
3 Comments

I was contacted by Gabriela Lazzaro, the Bilingual New Media Coordinator at Planned Parenthood about this exciting internship opportunity for Latino youth/college students in NYC! If you know of someone who may be interested please share this with them!

Contact Gabriela directly at: mailto:ppnewmediaintern@gmail.com and apply online here.

Summer Latino Engagement Intern position (possibly paid, TBD)

**Don’t be shy! If you heard about this internship here tell Gabriela in your cover letter! You can mention me, Bianca, or say you read about it on Vivir Latino or Latino Sexuality!

***The commitment would be full time and this person would have to be fully bilingual in English and Spanish***

*This person will work closely with the Director of Latino Engagement on a number of projects related to Latino Outreach at a national level for Planned Parenthood. Since Gabby will also be out on maternity leave this person will have the opportunity to handle several responsibilities with regards to Latino social media outreach as well as major projects with the Spanish language Planned Parenthood website. (more…)

Post to Twitter

VL At The Cine: Our Family Wedding

  By BiancaLaureano | March 11, 2010 - 6:26 pm |
18 Comments

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

It seems like it was only yesterday that Mala and I were tweeting that we were surprised we had not been invited to a screening of the upcoming film Our Family Wedding featuring America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia, Regina King, and Forest Whitaker. Then all of a sudden an invitation falls into my inbox! I’ll admit that when I started to see the trailers on television I just took a deep sigh as the images and storyline lead one to believe that it will focus on the racism that Latinos have towards Black people. And ya’ll know how I feel about that already.

The film follows Lucia performed by America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) who is attending Law School at Columbia University in NYC where she meets her fiancé Marcus performed by Lance Gross (House Of Payne, Meet The Browns), who is seeking a medical degree at the same University. We meet them as they are packing to head back to LA to visit family and announce they are getting married. Dating for less than one year, Marcus is excited to share his decision and love for Lucia with his single-father who raised him, Brad, performed by Forest Whitaker (Last King Of Scotland), who is one of LA’s most eligible bachelors ad a well known radio personality. Lucia however, is very concerned about telling her father Miguel performed by Carlos Mencia (The Mind of Mencia) and her mother Sonia performed by Diana-Maria Riva (Chasing Papi, What Women Want) about her wedding plans, dropping out of Law School to become a teaching to immigrant youth, and moving with Marcus to Laos for a Doctors Without Borders opportunity.

As I watched the film, I was entertained, but it became clear to me that the film was written by men because each of the multiple ways the female characters were developed (or not) and how they were portrayed as weak, sad, fearful, or chasing after men. Yet the men are angry, opinionated, and in various ways display levels of power not just within their specific communities but power over the women in their lives as well. (more…)

Post to Twitter

Radical Women of Color/ GenderQueer Media Makers : We Want to Hear from You

  By Maegan la Mamita Mala | July 13, 2009 - 1:49 pm |
Comments Off

In preparation for work that will be done at the upcoming Allied Media Conference and beyond, a team of radical women of color media makers (myself included) created.

If you are planning on being at the AMC in the coming days, please take a few minutes to fill it out.

Landscaping Our Dreams: What Women and Genderqueer
Media Makers of Color Need and Want: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=kYIs3eJQ_2b8eOpSMCi8_2bRtw_3d_3d

Post to Twitter

NAM Wants Ethnic Media to Push Immigration Reform

  By Maegan la Mamita Mala | June 24, 2009 - 7:37 am |
Comments Off

New America Media, who gave some of the pro-migrant blogging work I’m aligned with some props, is calling on “Ethnic Media” to run an editorial pushing immigration reform.

Some of us don’t need to be pushed, as it’s part of our everyday operating standards but what I found most interesting about the push is how it’s being labeled specifically as:

NOT a direct reflection of some advocates’ disatisfaction with President Barack Obama’s deliberate approach to immigration reform. [Emphasis mine]

Except for some of us it is. For example, yesterday President Obama has a press conference where he discussed Iran, health care reform, the economy, and even his smoking but couldn’t be bothered to even breath a word on immigration.

You can read NAM’s suggested text after the jump.

(more…)

Post to Twitter

Immigrant Narratives : Choose Your Mother or Your Child

  By Maegan la Mamita Mala | June 22, 2009 - 5:19 am |
10 Comments

Quick. Choose. The house is burning and you have to choose. Your mother or your child? Who do you save?

The current framing of the immigration reform movement and the immigrants it claims to represents takes place against a backdrop of human lives. And in our house, the United States of America, is aflame. The framing of the current immigration reform movement however, the good vs. bad immigrant narrative that we have written about and discussed extensively, forces advocates and the media into a corner. Choose. The idea is that we can’t have it all when it comes to immigration reform. That we need to make compromises, find workable solutions to borrow an often heard phrase from the Reform Immigration for America Summit. That means choosing between your mother or your child.

(more…)

Post to Twitter

Fuerte Pushback Against Sotomayor Hate

  By Maegan la Mamita Mala | June 7, 2009 - 9:16 am |
1 Comment

Don’t let the last post fool you. The pushback against the anti-Sotomayor messages and anti-Latino messages in general are coming strong from organizations in the form of websites, videos and kick ass images.

Take for example the art coming from Presente.org, seen here. Presente! also has a petition at their site urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to Confirm Judge Sotomayor.

Speaking of petitions, The National Council of la Raza, has set up a site along with a petition directed at Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to stop the racist/sexist speech against Sotomayor and Latinos overall.

(more…)

Post to Twitter

Does Venezuela Want to Ban the Internet?

  By Maegan la Mamita Mala | May 26, 2009 - 6:56 am |
Comments Off

chavez-conf-bests-04So is access to the internet a right or a luxury? Decree No. 6649 coming out of Venezuela seems to side with it as luxury.

The decree seeks to eliminate “luxuries” or “superfluous expenses” among the public expenditure, among which includes the Internet.

This seems to go against an earlier decree No. 825 from 2000 that said that internet access and use were a priority.

A campaign, Internet Prioritaria, has launched in response to the latest decree, with a goal of keeping the internet as a government priority.

(more…)

Post to Twitter