Posts Tagged ‘Current Affairs’

If an illegal immigrant isn’t counted, is she there?

Posted by Jorge Diaz de Villegas

This past week, the top two Republican candidates vying for the Senate seat Mel Martinez will be vacating, engaged in a war of words over whether the  Census should count illegal immigrants in its tally of the US population. The pragmatist, Charlie Christ, looked at the issue from the point of view of his current governor’s perch, arguing that not counting illegal immigrants would stem part of the flow of Federal dollars to the state (not surprising given his support for the stimulus bill last year), while the new poster child of the conservative movement in Florida, Marco Rubio, angled to gain political points with the party’s base by stating that illegal immigrants should not be counted.

It is all kind of a moot point because the Census count has already started, and I am not too interested in exploring the politics of it all in this forum, but the whole brouhaha got me wondering as to what would happen in the marketing sphere if Rubio’s point of view was somehow adopted by Congress or a future Administration.

Funding for Hispanic marketing in the US has been on the rise for quite some time, but not enough can be said about the boost in attention it received after the count of the 2000 Census showed that US Hispanics had become the country’s largest minority and were well on their way to leaving everyone else far behind. What would happen to marketing funds for Hispanic programs if all of a sudden the Census eliminated what could arguably be 20-25% of the Hispanic population in the United States? Would the lower figure become the new gauge of market size, and depress interest in the segment, or would marketers figure out a way to adapt and project for the real number of Hispanics living in the US. The issue might be compounded because so many of the geodemographic segmentation systems used by marketers in the US are based on Census data and cutting out illegal immigrants from those models would certainly skew the profile of Hispanic audiences. At least it looks like it will be another 10 years before the possibility arises of us having to wrestle with these answers.

| February 5th, 2010 No Comments »
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Helping Haiti: U.S. Hispanic Charitable Donations are Strong

Posted by Marisa Villalobos

As Ivette pointed out in her post last week, international and Latino response to the horrific earthquake that struck Haiti has been tremendous.  Eight days after the quake, the Red Cross had received a total of $137 million in donations from Americans alone.

How much of that was from U.S. Hispanics?  No one really knows for sure, but you can bet it was significant.

Hispanics have a long history of giving back.  Often giving takes the form of service or in-kind donations, such as helping to care for elderly or sick family and friends, serving up home-cooked meals at community events or rallying together to address local community causes in the U.S. and in countries of origin.

In fact, there’s not much data on the amount of money Hispanics donate to non-profit organizations, though a 1998 Gallup poll found that nearly 63 percent of Hispanics gave to charity, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported in 2002 that “Latina and Latino giving in the United States actually equaled or surpassed that of Anglo-Americans.”

So it should come as no surprise that there have already been scores of local Hispanic fund raisers for Haiti relief, such as the 12-hour radiothon hosted by all of the Spanish Broadcasting Systems radio stations in Miami, where staging centers for donation collection in Hispanic neighborhoods “were running out of space” and a live music marathon in Chicago.

On a national level, Univision is partnering with the Red Cross to support fund raising efforts with PSAs and special live reports from Haiti, and it aired a star-studded “Unidos por Haití” telethon hosted by Don Francisco this weekend.

Of course Hispanic celebrities have also stepped up with their own efforts.  Ricky Martin visited Haiti together with Habitat for Humanity and his own foundation.  Jennifer Lopez appeared on the CNN telethon two weeks ago.  And Enrique Iglesias lent his talents to a collection of songs people can download for donations.

To find out what you can do to help, visit the Google information site in English and Spanish.

| January 25th, 2010 No Comments »
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Unidos por Haití con Canto y Baile

Posted by Ivette López

Since the recent devastation that was cast upon Haiti, we have seen numerous corporations and individuals come together to offer support. Organizations such Latinos in Social Media worked with the AARP to match funds donated under #latism and tomorrow, Univision will air a special edition of “Sábado Gigante” with a star-studded line up for “Unidos Por Haití” relief. This will air across the United States and in 10 Latin American countries and feature artists like Alejandra Guzmán, Chayanne, Daddy Yankee, David Bisbal, Gloria Estefan, Graciela Beltrán, Luis Fonsi, Natalia of La Quinta Estación, Olga Tañón, Pee Wee, Ricky Martin, Shakira, Thalía and Willy Chirino, among others.

Other Latino artists like Shakira and Juan Luis Guerra will be participating in the MTV Telethon tonight and holding benefit concerts, respectively.

Mexico city will present ’Querida Haití, Haiti Chérie, Concierto en Solidaridad’ a benefit concert this Sunday and organizers have asked participates to bring items for donation to Haiti. The lineup for this presentation includes Djuvens Colas, whom is Haitian, and bands like  Yo i Yo, Estación Jamaica and Bombástica.

On January 31, the Dominican Republic will hold “Artistas unidos por Haití” which will feature more than 30 local artists in the merengue, salsa, pop and bachata music genres.

Our Latino communities both here in the states and around the globe are all pulling together for Haiti and the reach and support can be anticipated to be wider and larger than in past relief efforts. Social media and online news coverage have been instrumental in casting a wider net at much faster rates in terms of promoting relief efforts and technology has made it possible to better organize communities and individuals wanting to lend a hand.

What are some other things you’ll be doing or watching in support of our neighboring nation? Please let us all know by commenting below.

| January 22nd, 2010 3 Comments »
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Hispanics and Health Care Reform

Posted by Marieli Colón-Padilla

Last night, Univision national news featured an exclusive interview with President Obama on the economy which included thoughts on healthcare reform. Among the points emphasized by the President:  he said his proposal would provide increased access to quality health care coverage, include options for preventive care for immigrant workers who have legal status, and ultimately reduce healthcare costs for all Americans. But why is it so critical to our demographic?

While more than 47 million people in the United States are uninsured, access to health insurance and ongoing health services is a more serious problem in the Hispanic community. More than 34 percent of Latinos do not have health insurance and Latino immigrants, at 58 percent, are much more likely to go without medical coverage. Sadly enough, despite higher pregnancy rates, 11 percent of Latina mothers do not receive prenatal care during the critical first 3 months. Although most Americans access private health insurance through their employers, it is estimated that only 2 in 5 Hispanics are covered by employer‑sponsored insurance.

Meaningful health care reform in the Hispanic community will increase access to health services and lower out-of-pocket medical costs. Another essential component of health care reform is ensuring that health services provided are delivered in a culturally competent and linguistically appropriate way. Approximately 1 in 8 Hispanics report that their health care provider rarely explains their medical situations in a way they can understand. Legislation that was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3200), includes languages that would call for healthcare professional to receive linguistic and cultural training and also includes provisions to boost scholarship opportunities for disadvantaged students in the health profession.

Latino leaders such as Representative Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Vice‑Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, has stated that “no community is less insured today in this country than the Latino community. So we absolutely need to reform our health care system.” We can only agree that inaction of meaningful health care reform brings serious consequences to the well‑being of the future of the Hispanic community in the United States.  As Congress moves forward with solutions to fix our broken health care system, it is important that our elected officials hear from the Hispanic community and we communicate with them the importance of meaningful reform for all Americans.

| July 30th, 2009 No Comments »
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Dia de la Tierra (Earth Day!)

Posted by Maribel Ferrer

Today we celebrate Earth Day and to observe the occasion, Hispanic media has done a good job of providing content that can raise awareness and help get us all more environmentally savvy so we may preserve the planet for generations to come. No matter what side of conservation or conversation you are on, we all can agree that our generation creates too much waste and the worst part is that some of it will carry on to our kids and grandkids.

Latinos and minorities in the country are more sensitive to environmental issues not just because they think ‘green’, but out of need.  For many 1st and 2nd generation Latinos, preserving resources such as water and energy are part of their daily lifestyle because of behaviors from their home country where they may have depended on precious private water sources and even supply their own energy.  Most have an acute awareness of turning off appliances to prevent high energy bills, turn off the water while brushing their teeth and are mindful of pre-packaged items that have extra plastic or materials that end up in landfills.  In the U.S., minorities also have experience working in sites and living in places that are impacted by air and water quality issues and environmental justice disparities have long been issues to overcome.  Also, according to surveys conducted in time for last year’s presidential elections, the environment is among top concerns for Latino voters.

As we all take a moment to think about Earth Day, kudos go to Hispanic media and organizations that keep the consumer education information coming to Latinos in the U.S. and who make it a point to help us all be mindful of simple, complex, involved or plain no-brainer actions we can take to preserve and conserve the resources we share.

Some of the highlights for the week:

  • On April 25th, Discovery Channel en Espanol will air An Inconvenient Truth in Spanish
  • Terra.com has feature coverage on the site, including a profile on ‘environmental criminals’
  • Univision.com has a great spread for its campaign, Piensa Verde, Actua Verde (Think Green, Act Green)
  • Impredia and pubs La Opinion, El Diario La Prensa, have call outs to stories on the front page

And last but not least, for Hispanics looking to get more engaged with the environment, following are a few groups and associations worth noting:

  • La Onda Verde de NRDC:  A program from the (Natural Resources Defense Council—an organization with more than  1.2 million members.—created to help Latinos become more aware of environmental issues.  They have an interesting partnership  with Warner Music for Latin artists downloads benefiting the non-profit’s efforts.
  • LatinosGoGreen.org: A project of non-partisan group Democracia USA, it began as a voter education campaign on green issues and now continues to educate and mobilize.
  • SierraClub’s EcoCentro: A comprehensive site about Sierra Club’s initiative to inform and empower Latinos to take environmental action.

Don’t see your favorite group or initiative listed here?  Drop us a line and we’ll include it.  For now, happy Dia de la Tierra to all.

| April 22nd, 2009 No Comments »
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Our Nation Makes History

Posted by Maribel Ferrer

Yesterday was a day for the books.  The 44th president elect took office.  He's the first black man to run the nation.  He also is an agent of change.  No wonder millions took to the national mall to celebrate him and with him, and no wonder so many influential groups, luminaries, celebrities and media flocked to fete the occasion in due measure. The Latino community was no exception.

Obamas

Our colleague Marieli Colon-Padilla was there, in D.C., at the center of the action and tells us that there were more than 10 celebrations put together by Latino groups to celebrate the inauguration.  NCLR and other influential groups hosted  the most notable event: the star-studded Latino Inaugural Gala. Latino entertainers Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony said “presente” at the Hispanic inauguration pre-celebration at Union Station. Other entertainers at the event included Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, Mexican singer Lila Downs, Colombian singer Shakira, comedian George Lopez, actress Rosie Perez, actor Edward James Olmos, Chiefs’ tight end Tony Gonzalez, telenovela actress Angelica Vale, and others. Members of Congress filtered in and mixed in with the crowd and the stars.

They also held a Latino State of the Union meeting alongside MALDEF and LULAC, and, as expected, immigration reform figured at the top of the list. Immigration remains a highly divisive political issue, particularly since concerns about terrorism amplified the debate about border security in recent years. The issue was presented as a topic separate from border discussions and presented as an issue of national interest defined by cooperation, rather than confrontation, with Mexico and Latin America.

But we can say now Latinos have “friends in high places” in the Obama administration, like the Interior secretary designate, Ken Salazar; the Labor secretary designate, Hilda Solis; and the White House’s director of intergovernmental affairs, Cecilia Muñoz, formerly a vice president of the National Council de la Raza.

Overall it was clear that the Latino vote is too important to be ignored.

Around Hispanic networks and Hispanic print, the media turned its focus to the story of the day.  All the leading correspondents reported from the nation's capital. Impremedia did a terrific job with photos and coverage on the site (check out their El Cambio section),  Univision reported live from DC from the swearing in ceremony, even during ’Despierta America’ and then worked out a deal with Comcast to offer the coverage available on-demand post the event, Telemundo also did a great job of covering the event.

And as the day gets documented and added to the U.S. history book, one Latina will always be close to Michelle Obama on the day she became First Lady: Cubana Isabel Toledo.  She designed the dress and coat that Mrs. Obama wore as she stood next to the man who today begins a new chapter for our nation.

| January 21st, 2009 No Comments »
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Obama’s Last Stretch*

Posted by Marisa Villalobos

Tomorrow is not only Election Day, but the night of the big Obama rally here in Chicago.  His campaign has arranged for a huge election watch party in Grant Park, and while 65,000 people hold tickets, the Mayor estimates up to a million people will attend to see Obama either win or lose the big race.

Because Obama lives in Chicago and will be putting the city on the international stage, the rally is big news here and Obamamania is at fever pitch.

Another city enamored by the senator from Illinois is the city of Obama, Japan, of which some residents have shot their own music video to show their support for the candidate.

In the spirit of this really fun, Japenese music – and I guess even politics – knows-no-language-barriers video, I decided to do a quick online scan to see if members of the Latino community are expressing their support for Obama in creative ways … and we most certainly are.**

Read more »

| November 3rd, 2008 No Comments »
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