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Sigue la batalla

1:32 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California|Politics · Comments Off

31 Oct 2005

As a follow-up to some recent posts on California gubernatorial candidates’ courting of the Latino vote via Spanish-language ad campaigns and town hall meetings, I offer you some excerpts from a piece from today’s edition of the LA Daily News:

The governor taped a town-hall forum on Spanish-language Univision that aired statewide over the weekend, even as opponents launched their first Spanish-language TV ads featuring Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attacking the governor’s proposals.

The high-profile events are just the latest campaign efforts aimed at courting the 2 million Latinos registered to vote in California, accounting for 14 percent of the statewide electorate.

The Legacy of Edward Roybal

4:37 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Politics · Comments Off

26 Oct 2005

I read a blog post today where someone was talking about how happy they were that there were no “real” Latino leaders, so that no one has to deal with the political baggage that goes with them duking it out in the press. Maybe there are no leaders anymore, and if there were, one of them left us on Monday:

Edward R. Roybal, who spent his political career, including three decades in Congress, fighting for minorities, the poor and the elderly, has died. He was 89.

When elected to the House of Representatives in 1962, Roybal was the first Hispanic from California to serve in Congress since 1879. Roybal, who also served more than a decade on the Los Angeles City Council, died Monday night of respiratory failure complicated by pneumonia at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, according to a spokeswoman for his daughter, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif.

Leaving behind a legacy is not an easy thing. A lot of people leave this world having left a legacy of success or ambition, yet devoid of meaning. In the case of Roybal, his legacy was of a struggle and a triumph in civil rights for Latinos. Roybal was someone who lived discrimination and out of his hatred for it was born a fight against it.

“A champion for civil rights and social justice like him does not come around every day,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement. “He wanted nothing less than what all Americans strive for — a good job, safe neighborhoods, quality schools and a place to call home.”

A simple legacy, yet a heroic one.

Via / The LA Times

Candidates battling via ads in Spanish

6:00 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California|Marketing|Politics · 1 Comment

19 Oct 2005

The political heat is on here in California. With gubernatorial elections looming, the candidates are ready to take pot shots at each other in their new language of choice: español.

Candidate for governor Steve Westly has already begun his campaign, and Mr. Schwarznegger is launching one of his own in the near future:

Westly ad: “Sus iniciativas perjudicaran a nuestros ninos, nuestros masestros y a la gente trabajadora.” (“His initiatives will be a detriment to our children, our teachers and working people.”)

Less than two weeks ago, the governor’s campaign team launched their own Spanish language ads supporting Propositions 74 to 77. Interestingly, Schwarzenegger is not in them.

Schwarzenegger ad: “Es preferable controlar gastos y balancear el presupuesto que aumentar impuestos.” (It’s better to control costs and balance the budget, than to raise taxes.”)

The governor is going to need a lot more than Spanish ads to court Latinos. He’s pretty much in bad with every minority group imaginable in this state, including Latinos, who according to the 2000 census (and unfortunately for him) represent 32% of the population of California. Maybe that’s why he’s spending one million dollars on the ad campaign while his opponent only a quarter of that. Good luck, Arnie…and good riddance!

Via / ABC 7 News

A journey through the life of “wanderers”

12:31 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Books|Immigration · Comments Off

17 Oct 2005

Translation Nation, a book by Pulitzer prize-winning author Hector Tobar, isn’t just another rhetorical analysis of the “immigration situation” in the United States. This book, released by Riverhead Books, goes into the trenches to tell the real-life stories of people of all kinds who have ventured from their homes to make a new life in our country — those who Tobar calls “the wanderers”:

Tobar begins on familiar terrain, in his native Los Angeles, with his family’s story, along with that of two brothers of Mexican origin with very different interpretations of Americanismo, or American identity as seen through a Latin American lens-one headed for U.S. citizenship and the other for the wrong side of the law and the south side of the border. But this is just a jumping-off point. Soon we are in Dalton, Georgia, the most Spanish-speaking town in the Deep South, and in Rupert, Idaho, where the most popular radio DJ is known as “El Chupacabras.” By the end of the book, we have traveled from the geographical extremes into the heartland, exploring the familiar complexities of Cuban Miami and the brand-new ones of a busy Omaha INS station.

Translation Nation has already received high praise from critics from The New York Times and The Washington Post as a work which explores the complexity of immigration and the link shared by all Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Via / The El Paso Times and Penguin Books

A.B. y la bandera

6:00 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · mexico|Music|Politics · 3 Comments

13 Oct 2005

A.B. Quintanilla, leader of the Kumbia Kings (and brother of the late Selena Quintanilla) was hyped up about touring in Mexico and appearing on Mexican TV. So hyped, it seems, that he basically wrapped himself — or his guitar — in the Mexican flag. And that was a mistake:

According to sources in Mexico’s Secretariat of Government, somebody in the bowels of an obscure agency called the Department of Civic Promotion saw the Kings on television and decided that the guitar violated Mexico’s law on the protection of national symbols.

Not only that, someone in the Department of Civic Promotion concluded that the guitar violated two international treaties, including the Treaty of Paris on trademark protection, said a secretariat spokesman who asked not to be identified.

The violation could result in a diplomatic letter of complaint from Mexico to the U.S. State Department, or a fine levied against the band.

I may not be the status quo, but I thought most people with a good knowledge of Mexico knew that this was a no-no. There have been so many beefs about this in the past 20 years or so that it’s kind of hard to ignore. Why do you think you never see people in Mexico walking around with Mexican flag t-shirts? Hypocritically, at Fiestas Patrias time, you can buy just about any article known to man emblazoned with the colors of the Mexican flag: from a huge sombrero (normally reading “Viva México Cabrones!”) to sarapes to fuzzy scarves. These articles, while clearly alluding to the Mexican flag, do not contain images of the flag. Also hypocritical, the most common “novelty item” sold at Fiestas Patrias celebrations is, ironically, the flag itself: in miniature versions for your rear view mirror to giant ones to hang outside your house.

But no T-shirts and no guitars. And as obscure as it sounds, every Mexican I know would gasp if they saw this happening on TV. It’s just a rule, and however absurd it may seem, is very much engrained in the Mexican psyche.

Poor A.B. He was just trying to represent. I think this mishap is a pretty good illustration of what gets lost in translation between Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Both feel real pride. So similar, yet so different.

For the really curious, check out the Mexican flag code.

Via / The Austin American Statesman and Latin Music News

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