Posts Tagged ‘Entertainment’

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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Oye Pepe, La Familia Still Works

Posted by Maribel Ferrer

This Sunday, Miami’s PBS station was airing a marathon of a TV gem from the 70’s: Que Pasa USA?  I had to stop and watch.  According to Wikipedia, the show is the first PBS-produced sitcom. I grew up catching episodes that aired in Puerto Rico and as I tuned in again to the going ons of the Pena family, it struck me that the use of bilingualism or, more appropriately, dual language during the series is still very relevant and innovative.  The show centered a household that included grandparents from the Cuban exile, their daughter and husband and their two teens, a girl and a boy. The marathon, promoting DVD sales of the 39-episode run of the show, included commentary in Spanish airing.

For those who may not have seen the show, the characters bring you into their multigenerational world and flip languages according to the emotional/behavioral content of the dialogue or which generation is leading the conversation.  That is the way many households speak still today, except we don’t have to add the layer of helping the viewer along to fully understand the show in English or Spanish that the show had.  It originally aired from 1977-1980 and its most recognized actor is Steven Bauer of Scarface fame.

Here is a link to the favorite episode among viewers who participated in social media efforts supporting the marathon.  It deals with citizenship.  For fun, check out the Que Pasa USA.org website’s Spanglish dictionary.

Now, what do you think are some other examples of good programming portraying Latino families in the U.S.?  Drop us a line and help us build a top 5 list.

| December 7th, 2009 No Comments »
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Standing Ovation to 2008 Achievements in Art

Posted by Maribel Ferrer

Flipping through the pages of the latest issue of Poder, I saw a story about a new Norton Anthology on Latino Literature and was reminded about Junot Diaz's great accomplishment of winning the 2008 Pulitzer for the tales of Oscar Wao. He is only the second Latino to earn the top writing recognition. Diaz tells a very good story of acculturation, of displacement, of the Latino experience– much like other Latino writers. And he contributes the very unique Dominican voice of his characters who are (or think they are) perpetually sieged by the culturally-charged 'fuku': a concept that has many different meanings and words among Latino countries.

But Junot is not alone in his great conquest of the 2008 arts world. Latino Lin-Manuel Miranda took the Tonys by storm earlier this year with In The Heights: the best musical, best score, best orchestration and best choreography winner. Earlier this month, the musical score was nominated for a Grammy, along with The Little Mermaid, Gypsy, South Pacific and Young Frankenstein. Diaz and Miranda, like Nilo Cruz with Anna in the Tropics and Oscar Hijuelos with The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love before them, reached the pinnacle by earning these national top awards in theater and prose. Coincidentally, these four talented individuals are of Caribbean descent (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic).

Earlier this year, the 7th art named Javier Bardem the 2008 Oscar winner for best supporting actor on his role on No Country for Old Men.

As the year wraps and many 2008 ’in-review’ lists are published, we just wanted to send a nod out to these accomplished Hispanics who contributed to the great cultural total of our present and made a mark in some of the most reputed awards to creative pop expression in modern times.

Here is a link to a good story about Latino arts in 2008: A Year to Remember for Latinos (NY Daily News).

PS: kudos to John Leguizamo and the rest of the cast in Nothing Like the Holidays. Hope the film about a Latino Holiday family reunion does well.

 

 

| December 16th, 2008 No Comments »
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Olympic Dreams

Posted by Maribel Ferrer

The 2008 Olympics in Beijing have been a source of pride for the nation and proven to be a historic showing for some of the best athletes to recently don USA uniforms. Securing their place in history are one Michael Phelps– the most decorated Olympian to date — and the men’s swimming team he represents. And then there’s the story of the women’s rowing team first gold since 1984, and not to forget the women’s gymnastics team gold for Shawn Johnson and teammate Nastia Liukin securing silver, both on the beam event which is a first for the nation.

But one singular story caught the attention of Wednesday’s El Nuevo Herald29cover20standaloneprod_affiliate84 after the gold won a cover story for Henry Cejudo, the US wrestling champ born to undocumented Mexican immigrants. Cejudo proudly pronounced his medal to belong ’half to Mexico and half to the US’, due to the strong affinity to his family’s culture and roots. Cejudo is from Los Angeles, the nation’s #1 Hispanic market. His story has been picked up by many publications and Google shows more than 400 results to his name. His rise to fame and the medal did not come easy. Raised as one of four siblings, his family struggled to make ends meet and moved around quite a bit as he was growing up. The 21-year old now has secured his name and family’s history in the books.

Along Cejudo, other U.S. Hispanics also are representing the US at the games. Dara Torres’ stellar performance as the oldest swimmer to score a medal, the taekwondo team includes the Los Lopez siblings– 3 brothers and a sister with roots in Nicaragua that made history as the first sibling team to compete since the early 1900s and Stephen Lopez is a contender for gold. Then there’s Michael Orozco is soccer, distance runners Leonel Manzano and Jorge Torres, many in the boxing team, and others I may not have been able to identify.

But news reports say that there are not enough Hispanics in the US team, in all about 4% of the 600 member team based on a AP estimate. And while that may be true, kudos to the ones who earned a spot and Cejudo– enjoy your medal for many years to come!

| August 21st, 2008 No Comments »
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A Latino E-Virus

Posted by Maribel Ferrer

Nothing says that Hispanics are online in full force more than an email virus directed solely at them (and in Spanish). An item from People en Espanol reports that people have been getting viruses in emails that ‘deliver’ fatal news about the deaths of Luis Miguel, Shakira and/or Alejandro Fernandez. The emails appear to come from Televisa or CNN and are in fact vicious viruses. There is a lot of competing data about Hispanics online and their preferred language for navigation, but we know at least 33% prefer Spanish and market moves such as Impremedia gambling on Impre.com, Univision.com’s dominance and million of users, and even People en Espanol’s site all attest to the fact that the universe is large (also loyal judging for the growing ‘foros’ section on Univision.com). Of course, email is also heavily used among the group since it is a good way to stay connected long-distance. And while I have found no data to prove it, the incidence of hitting ‘forward’ seems to also be high, based on personal observations, so knowing about this virus can help prevent a further spread. Keeping in mind that the web has no geographical boundaries and the popularity of these artists beyond the U.S., there is no telling how many people could be taken by these false emails.

| July 9th, 2008 No Comments »
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The Latin Grammys Come to Houston

Posted by Ray Fohr

The Latin Grammys recognize excellence in Latin music and are one of the most-watched Hispanic shows in the Western Hemisphere; in the U.S. alone, close to 12.5 million viewers tuned in for the 2007 show. Latin_grammys_logo

This year, the 9th annual Latin Grammy Awards will be broadcast live from Houston, Texas to more than 100 countries. Hosting the Latin Grammys is a first for Houston and this past Tuesday April 8, all of those involved in bringing the show to the city announced it to music fans all over.

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| April 10th, 2008 No Comments »
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VH1′s New Reality Show: Bofetadas, Intriga, y Final Feliz

Posted by Maribel Ferrer

Reading the trades, I had noticed some coverage about the newest VH-1 reality TV conconction: Viva Hollywood! I glossed over the headlines until I saw it mentioned again today and saw that Latino TV darling Carlos Ponce was hosting– had to learn more. Turns out, VH-1 is pitting 12 aspiring bilingual actors in a race to become… a Latino novela star!

The premise of the show is that contestants have to master the 7 sins of novelas. They will be showing off their acting skills while living at the ’Casa de Locos’. But hold on: in what seems like an implausible plot twist from novela madrina Delia Fiallo, astrologer Walter Mercado will provide alerts and predictions of challenges to come during each episode. And in true novela style, contestants will be ‘killed off’ during the progress of the show until one is crowned with the ‘papel estelar’ and receives a contract with talent firm LatinWe, a Miami condo, and $100,000 prize.

From the press release, it seems VH-1 was able to plot every single cliché of the Latino novela culture into one big reality TV show (or should we call it ‘spoof’?). Sofia Vergara, Daisy Fuentes, Angelica Vale, Charo, Christian De La Fuente, Lorena Rojas, Maria Celeste Arraras and Perez Hilton all have signed on as celebrity guests on the show that premieres this Sunday.

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| April 10th, 2008 No Comments »
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La Misma Taquilla

Posted by Maribel Ferrer

Flipping through El Nuevo Herald’s movie listings the other day, I ran across ads for Bajo la Misma Luna –a well-publicized movie and first big screen vehicle for Mexican soap opera darling Kate del Castillo. According to a recent news report, Hispanics are the USA’s fastest-rising demographic of movie ticket buyers. But from all accounts, this movie’s story line is relevant beyond ethnicity. With a Mexican cast led by Del Castillo and Eugenio Derbez, the plot is about a boy who decides to cross the border to look for his mom who crossed a few years before him. The sensibility to immigration is very palpable in today’s society and with widespread media coverage and accounts of personal stories, the story is very captivating.

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| March 26th, 2008 No Comments »
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Could This Be the Beginning of a Tectonic Media Shift?

Posted by Jorge Diaz de Villegas

And I thought I would never see the day – but times do change. The Miami Herald reported this morning that Telemundo and Televisa have reached a 10-year agreement to have Televisa distribute Telemundo programming in Mexico. The deal itself probably won’t have a major immediate effect on the US media market, but combined with Televisa’s ongoing legal feud with Univision, it could signal a fundamental realignment of the forces that have governed Spanish-language television in the US over the past decades.

Univision’s ratings dominance has been anchored on the Mexican soap operas to which they have had exclusive rights as Televisa’s partner. Whether Televisa severs its programming relationship with Univision now as a result of their legal battle or down the road when their agreement expires, it could represent a huge windfall for Telemundo who have long languished in second place without access to the Mexican programming that is so popular among the immigrant population.

| March 18th, 2008 No Comments »
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