6:35 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · New York City|Politics · 7 Comments
28 Aug 2009
I first noticed the Spanish language door hangers in my Latino NYC hood last week. The door hangers were promoting NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s run for a third term.
Now, I don’t think he should have been allowed to run again. Here in NYC there was this big push for term limits but now because the billionaire mayor wants to keep power, he’s using the poor economy as justification for a third term in office. I think that fear mongering, especially when his model of city as business instead of as communities of people, has hurt more people than it has helped, is a disgusting way to maintain control. Pero people are buying it and supporting him. In NYC the Latino vote is especially important which is why Bloomy is spending alot of time and effort lining up endorsers with Spanish last names.
One of the latest endorsements comes from a non-New Yorker, Puerto Rico’s pro-statehood Governor Luis G. Fortuño. .
In a statement released by the Bloomberg campaign, Fortuño called the mayor an “honest and independent leader who can make the tough, necessary decisions that will create jobs, keep the streets safe and continue the strides in education that have been made over the last few years.”
“New York also needs a leader who understands the diverse nature of the city, appreciates how invaluable it is, and works to ensure this diversity,” Fortuño added.
“When it comes to Latinos, Mayor Bloomberg wants to make sure that all of us are heard.”
10:25 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Culture|dance|Events|Music|New York City|Puerto Rico · 1 Comment
12 Jun 2009I’m really exhausted of being spoken to as if I were an idiot, and of debates as to who is more down, more Rican, more this more that. So, in honor of Rican Weekend, which is the Festival de la 116 tomorrow and the Puerto Rican Day Parade Sunday, here’s some Pleneros de la 21, who have a whole series of events this weekend that you can read about after the jump.
11:56 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Justice|New York City|Puerto Rico · 1 Comment
31 Dec 2007
Targeting activists who promote the independence of Puerto Rico isn’t something new but it is no less concerning especially when it hits close to home. Hector Rivera, a founder of the Welfare Poets and others were subpoenaed to appear before a Federal Grand jury investigating the Puerto Rican Independence Movement in general, and in particular, the Ejercito Popular Boricua (EPB: Popular Boricua Army) aka the Macheteros.
Tania Frontera, Christopher Torres and Julio Pabon Jr. are scheduled to appear before a Federal Grand Jury on January 11, 2008. Hector Rivera,co-founder of the cultural institution The Welfare Poets, is also expected to be served with a subpoena to appear on that day. In the past, due to the fact that some pro-independence activists have traditionally refused to receive the subpoenas from the Grand Jury or to respond to its questions, many have ended up behind bars.
7:00 pm By Maegan La Mala · Activism|Events|Justice|New York City|Puerto Rico · Comments Off
20 Feb 2006
Congressional Representatives Charles Rangel, José Serrano, Nydia Velázquez from New York, Luis Gutierrez from Chicago, Governor of Puerto Rico Anibal Acevedo Vilá and Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño have called for hearings and an independent investigation in response to the FBI’s military-style assault and seizures in the homes and places of work of citizens who favor independence of Puerto Rico, as well as the pepper-spraying of members of the Puerto Rican press who sought to cover the events that happened nearly two weeks ago. In a press release issued today Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito declared:
We are 8 million U.S. citizens living throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, whose sons and daughters have served this country with distinction in all its wars since 1917. We have a right to know on what grounds the FBI determined to bring the War on Terrorism to the homes and places of work of Puerto Ricans who favor the Island’s independence?
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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