NewsTaco

By Nadine Natour, NBCLatino

This is the second installment of Latinas empowering other Latinas to succeed in honor of Women’s History Month. 

For ten high school girls enrolled in the photography program Las Fotos Project, the summer of 2012 was a lesson in disguise.

Rather then a host of drowsy days spent on the sidewalks of Los Angeles, they traipsed through the San Gabriel Mountains and snapped photos of rocky cliffs and lazy rivers, lilies in full bloom and vistas of the California landscape.

The group then used the same film to capture scenes in their community, edited the double exposure photographs and wrote poems to accompany the art. Finally, the girls published a bookfeaturing the photographs and presented it at a public exhibition which they personally marketed.

Founded by freelance photographer Eric Ibarra, Las Fotos Project helps its young Latina members build their photography skills and their confidence.“The program is such a unique setup,” says the 28-year-old Ibarra, who launched the club three years ago after he noticed a lack of extracurricular opportunities in the area for young girls. “They learn all these life skills almost without realizing it.”

Ibarra partners with Los Angeles organizations to find Latinas aged 11-17 who could most benefit from the experience. The girls, who often come from low-income or middle-income communities, then enroll in ten-week classes where they’re quickly taught the basics and given a personal point-and-shoot camera.

Las Fotos mentors help the students brainstorm possible field projects, with the freedom to choose any theme or landscape near the Boyle Heights headquarters. Every project ends with a community exhibit, photo book or mini-documentary.

Lizbeth Rojas, now a student at Loyola Marymount University,  joined the group at 17 and suggested the San Gabriel trip for their summer project. She says it gave her a different perspective on her East Los Angeles neighborhood.

“We feel like we have to live in a place where it has to be busy but being in the mountains is different,” says Rojas, who ultimately led the trip. “I was able to notice things. It gave me another view of the world.”Another member of the group, Ana Cortes, created a photograph of a craggy mountain scape over the facade of the East Los Angeles Municipal Courts. She captioned the photo: “We owe nature justice!”

“I took a picture of the courts because I’ve always been into law and law enforcement,” says Ana, now a freshman studying criminal justice at California State University, Los Angeles.

Cortes joined the group at 17, never having handled a film camera. She says the group made her feel more confident and stood in marked contrast to her experience at her high school.

“At school, everyone’s judging everyone ,” says Cortes. But the project, she says, was “totally different. I was shy at first but it was fun and you just felt welcome.”

The various field projects offer the students a chance to explore their community but, more often, they wind up exploring their inner selves. For one assignment, the girls were told to take photos of the most inspiring person in their life. They then fashioned the photo series into a revealing video documentary.

Las Fotos Project maintains a roster of around sixteen girls at a time, in several California locations as well as a project in Guatemala. According to Ibarra, the girls can remain in the program once they pass the 17-year-old age limit, but many go on to attend college or find work elsewhere.

Though she has aged out of the program, Ana Cortes says she still retains a love of photography. She said she plans to take photos and create a scrapbook of her family, friends and memorable events.

“It was my own idea, something to keep all the nice memories I’ve had,” says Cortes. “I’ll do it just for fun, just for me.”

This article was first published in NBCLatino.

[Photo by ric Ibarra/Las Fotos Project]

By Latino Rebels

A report out of Philadelphia revealed today that Judge Patrick Dugan, who believed a viral video showing former city police lieutenant Jonathan Josey punching Aida Guzmán last fall after the city’s Puerto Rican Parade was sensationalized by the media and who this week presided over Josey’s not guilty verdict for simple assault against Guzmán, is married to a Philadelphia police officer. According to Philly.com, “a chorus of criticism swelled Wednesday after word spread that Dugan is married to Philadelphia Police Officer Nancy Farrell Dugan, who has been on the force since 1997, city payroll records show.”

The story published reaction from the city’s Puerto Rican community:

Some members of the city’s Puerto Rican community who denounced Dugan’s acquittal of Josey were bristling over the revelation about his wife.

“It’s ridiculous. His wife is a police officer, and I understand he was endorsed by the FOP [Fraternal Order of Police],” said Quetcy Lozada, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Conference of Puerto Rican Women.

“We’re all human beings,” Lozada said. “There is no possible way that a judge put in a situation like that will be able to make an unbiased decision.”

Guzman’s attorney, Enrique Latoison, said he learned Tuesday that the judge is married to a cop.

“When it was brought to my attention that his wife was a police officer, it was very surprising and I consider it to be a conflict of interest,” said Latoison, who has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the case and intends to file a civil suit against Josey on behalf of Guzman.

When asked about whether this was a conflict of interest, the Philly.com story said that Dugan “appeared pained Wednesday and paused in a courthouse hallway only long enough to say that the Code of Judicial Conduct constrained him from answering questions.”

The story also included opinions from local legal experts, who all agree that Dugan should have recused himself.

Frank M. McClellan, professor of law emeritus at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, said the standard for a judge to recuse himself is if he has a personal interest in a case that would prevent him from being impartial, or if his presiding would create an appearance of impropriety.

“It certainly would have been appropriate, even if not required,” for Dugan to recuse himself, said McClellan, who teaches legal ethics and malpractice law. “We want to give the public confidence that there has been a fair and impartial decision made.”

Lynn A. Marks, executive director of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a nonpartisan reform organization, said that although Dugan was not required to recuse himself, maybe he should have.

“Given the fact that this had the potential of being a high-profile case, it would have been wise to [step aside] so that people would not question his decision,” she said.

Marks, a lawyer, said that “at the least he should have disclosed to the attorneys that his wife is a police officer so they could decide if they wanted to bring a motion to recuse.”

According to the story, the city’s District Attorney did not know that Dugan was married to a cop and the spokesperson did not want to answer whether the DA would have asked Dugan to step down from the case. The story also said that it tried to reach Josey’s attorney on Wednesday, but that they could not reach him for comment.

This article was first published in Latino Rebels.

The Latino Rebels are a collective of social media influentials, bloggers, marketers, journalists, poets, writers, producers, photographers, and marketers. We use humor, commentary, opinions, independent stories, cross-links to others blogs, and our social media platforms to share our universe.

[Phot by Latino Rebels]

By Jody Brannon, Latinovations

The desire to connect with America’s growing Hispanic and Latino audiences has marketing firms parsing data, looking to help clients make sense of shifting demographics.

With the growth in immigration and U.S.-born Hispanics and their families, the marketing firm Experian has produced an analysis concluding that 16 percent of people in the U.S. ages 6 or older identify as Latino or Hispanic.

That’s up 2 percentage points from 2006, when this figure was 14 percent.

The report also points to a youth boom, saying that 1,008 Latina girls in the United States turn 15 each day (tying that to the traditional coming-of-age celebration of quinceañera), up nearly 8 percent from 2006. But the other striking figure is among Generation Y and younger:

About 25 percent of individuals in the U.S., ages 6 to 34 – roughly the Millennials or Gen Y – identify as Latino or Hispanic.

These numbers are in addition to census data showing that the U.S. population growth in general will slow, then skew older and more diverse by 2060.

That 25 percent – fully a quarter of the nation – is in that sweet spot of youth with buying power. Today it tantalizes merchants, online and in stores, restaurants, theaters and more, and it will only continue to grow as the U.S. Hispanic population continues to grow in decades to come.

And beyond cash registers, the same population has strength politically, given that about 55,000 Hispanic teens reach voting age each month, according to researchers at the Pew Hispanic Center, who expect the Hispanic electorate to double by 2030.

This article originally appeared on National Journal and Latinovations.

Jody Brannon, Ph.D., is a Veteran digital journalist and editor of The Next America, a National Journal initiative that explores the impact of shifting demographics on politics and policy.  Contact her at  @brannonj or follow The Next America on Twitter and Facebook. 

[Phgoto by wneuetc]

By Roque Planas, Huffington Post LatinoVoices

NEW YORK – Looking to get in shape without going to the gym? Sonia Sotomayor’s got an idea for you.

The first Latina Supreme Court Justice recommended dancing salsa daily as a way to keep fit during a talk Saturday with journalist Maria Hinojosa at New York’s El Museo del Barrio to promote her new autobiography, My Beloved World.

“As Latinos, we do a lot of salsa, and that’s healthy,” Sotomayor said. If every Latin couple danced an hour of salsa after dinner, Sotomayor speculated, it would work wonders for the community’s health.

“What do you think they’re doing in the gyms right now?” She asked, referring to the rising popularity of zumba and other dance classes. “They’re doing salsa!”

Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes as an 8-year-old child in 1962, back when insulin-dependent diabetics had to sterilize their needles over boiling water, Sotomayor learned from a young age to make her health…

This story was first published in Huffington Post Latino Voices.

Roque Planas is Associate Editor at Huffington Post Latino Vocies.

[Phot0 by The White House]

By Angelo Falcon, NBC Latino

“There are times when you hear what at first sounds like good news, and then you think about it and wonder if, in fact, it is.”

Click on picture to read story.

[Photo by pablo.sanchez]

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By Raisa Camargo, Voxxi

The recipe for success isn’t so much about emulating a dog-eat-dog mentality, but rather it’s building a base of networks or what Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis called “hermandad.”

Solis explained to a crowded room of Latina leaders at a luncheon Monday during the National Hispana Leadership Institute annual conference in Washington D.C., that growing up she sought “hermandad” or a support system.

“There’s this synergy that exists among Latinas that we support each other,” said Solis. “Whatever we do, we have to remember, we have the responsibility to continue to make sure that others come behind us and they’re around us because let me tell you it is lonely, even where I am at.”

Hilda Solis: “One of the biggest obstacles Latinas face to being successful is they need more Latina role models”

She later told VOXXI that she considers one of the biggest obstacles Latinas face to being successful is they need more Latina role models. In her own life, she didn’t have that support system. For this reason, the Secretary indicated that networks such as NHLI are especially vital in present times.

“You don’t all have to come from a certain criteria or background. You can learn all these things become a leader in your own right,” she told VOXXI.

The message Hilda Solis echoed is one practiced by NHLI for years. The organization was established in 1987 to address the underrepresentation of Latinas in the corporate, nonprofit and political arenas. An estimated 500 women who have graduated from the program’s leadership training have also mentored around 5,000 other Latinas.

Although the speech comes at a time where Latinas are making inroads through various levels of society, some would say the mainstream has yet to embrace this growing force or “an untapped business asset.”

Loida Rosario, a business and marketing strategist and president of Into the Core Consulting, LLC., wrote a guest blog for Forbes indicating that not one Latina was mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article titled “More women are Primed to Land CEO Roles.”

Yet, NHLI counters there isn’t a lack of successful Latinas who are breaking barriers. One case in point is Catherine Pino, co-founder and principal of D&P Creative Strategies, who was awarded the NHLI Alumna of the Year. Pino has worked closely with Fortune 100 companies and private foundations to advance social service initiatives. Like Solis, she pioneered her way up the ladder.

Pino was the first Latina co-chair and board member of the Hetrick-Martin Institute in New York City. She served as a board member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, and is currently serving as a board member of the National Council La Raza and the National Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation(GLAAD).

NHLI board chairwoman Marieli Colon-Padilla explained that more Latinas are gaining venues particularly in terms of their purchasing power and NHLI’s mission is to help these women grow in numbers. Colon-Padilla told VOXXI the misconception is that Latinas and women in general should emulate men in how they achieved success. Yet, NHLI believes the contrary.

“I encourage Latinas – because it is a big challenge—is to not lose themselves along the way. Sometimes, once we break the glass ceiling we try to emulate the male behavior and there is something to be said about that not only emotional intelligence, but the gender intelligence.”

She added, “The biggest obstacle is our own fears.”

That’s a message the Secretary of Labor made front and center in her own speech. The Secretary went on to note that it’s still not an easy position. Often she heard “naysayers” tell her she wasn’t going to be able to accomplish some of her goals.

“You get up you dust yourself off and you start walking again,” she told the audience.

Hilda Solis is the first woman to serve in the U.S. Cabinet

Hilda Solis was raised in La Puente, California by both parents who left their native countries in Nicaragua and Mexico. Solis also became the first woman to serve in the state senate and later defeated a long-time Democratic incumbent to gain a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and now is the first woman to serve in the U.S. Cabinet.

Solis indicated that Latinas are not well understood in today’s society and part of the challenge is changing such perceptions.

“We want to have our imprint felt,” she said. “I think we want to have a lasting impact there. What we need to know is that we don’t have to hold back. There are many people that want to see our contributions made.”

“You all here are going to breaking the gas ceiling a thousand times—you’re going to breaking it inch by inch.”

This article was first published in Voxxi.

Raisa Camargo is a staff writer at Voxxi.

[Photo By U.S. DOL]

By Tony Castro, Voxxi

A scandal over a so-called voter purge leading up to the presidential election has led to the resignation of Texas Secretary of State Esperanza “Hope” Andrade, the first Latina to hold that position.

Andrade, a Republican, resigned her $125,880 a year job in the wake of overseeing the removal of dead voters from the rolls – which turned into a controversy because many of the voters targeted as dead were very much alive.

As Secretary of State, a position to which she was named in 2008 by Gov. Rick Perry, Andrade served as Texas’ chief elections officer.

San Antonio attorney Roy Barrera Sr., who was the first Latino to be secretary of state in 1968-69, said Andrade had been a victim of an over-zealousness in many states to purge voter rolls.

“In some efforts it was legitimate, in others it was just an effort to hold down the vote, in my opinion, of minorities,” Barrera said. “I don’t think she took any role in that effort, but yes, she did send letters to many, many people over the state inquiring about their qualifications.”

Andrade’s attempt to purge voter rolls was halted by a state judge after notices were sent to thousands of “living” voters who were told that their names were about to be removed from the rolls unless they took action.

A spokesman for the secretary of state’s office said Andrade “felt that the time was right after a successful election to move forward and give someone else an opportunity to serve in this great office.”

Andrade defends her actions in Texas voter purge

Andrade’s office has steadfastly defended its actions in attempting to clean up voter lists.

But Andrew Wheat of Texans for Public Justice, a group that monitors money in politics, said Andrade may have been too aggressive in her actions.

“Maybe it’s time. We just felt like this so-called dead voter list of hers went way, way too far,” Wheat said. “She sent garbage data to local election officials around the state…

“That’s a sad record for our first Latina secretary of state.”

Andrade, 63, had previously served on the Texas Transportation Commission.

“It has been the highest honor of my professional life to serve as the secretary of state for the greatest state in our nation,” Andrade said in a statement announcing her resignation.

The governor has named a San Antonio attorney and businessman John Steen to succeed Andrade.

“As the first Latina secretary of state, Hope has a permanent place in our state’s history books and her personal commitment to making Texas a place of unlimited opportunity will leave a lasting impression on our state’s future,” Perry said in a statement.

This article was first published in Voxxi.

Los Angeles-based writer Tony Castro is the author of the critically-acclaimed “Chicano Power: The Emergence of Mexican America” and the best-selling “Mickey Mantle: America’s Prodigal Son.”

[Photo courtesy Office of the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry]

By Jesse Luna, NewsTaco

This election season, voters accessed candidate and proposition information in many more ways than in previous years.

We still received the stack of campaign literature in our mailboxes, were exposed to a barrage of ads on our TVs and received more than our fair share of after dinner phone calls asking for our support, money and time, but there were a few new “touches” added to this year’s election material mix, many on social media and mobile platforms.

Election information in Social media ads
We saw ads on our favorite social media networks like Facebook pushing for candidates and causes. It was difficult to avoid them even if we tried. I heard from one community organizer who said that some ads had already reached a “saturation point” and really didn’t need to run any longer. In other words, he was sick of seeing the ads even though he and his organization were actively campaigning for that issue.

Why advertise on Facebook? It also helps that Latinos almost out-index every other ethnic groups on Facebook and Facebook makes it easy with a somewhat new “filter by Latinos” ad feature. I’m still not sure what that “Latino” algorithm looks like, though, on new media sites in general. Facebook recently hit the one billion users per month mark.

Online memes
This election we saw a flurry of image memes on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and more. Every time we saw a photo or tweet, we had the opportunity to shareit. At SEIU 721, we created a set of memes featuring our members holding “Yes on 30″ and “No on 32″ signs. We posted dozens of these photos and our members and community allies helped circulate them across the Web with Like, Shares, and Retweets.

This screenshot of the SEIU 721 Facebook page shows the “No on 32″ meme that we created on the right and a snapshot of the “No on 32″ mobile phone application that was created by the LA Labor Federation. The mobile app allows the user to put tape over one’s mouth in the photo to convey the concept that Proposition 32 would silence the voice of working people. (Yes, that is labor leader Dolores Huerta in the photo on the left.)

Parodies and Satirical Characters
As if we didn’t have enough real life political characters to follow, we also had the opportunity to follow spoof accounts like @MexicanMitt on Twitter. The @MexicanMitt account was so influential that Twitter temporarily shut it down during the Republican National Convention.

Another satirical piece was the “Mitt Romney Style” video by CollegeHumor.com which went viral.

Mobile Outreach
Just as Latinos out-index most groups on Facebook, we also use mobile phones more than other groups. According to a 2012 Nielsen study, “Overall, Hispanics are 28 percent more likely to own a smartphone than non-Hispanic Whites…”  In fact, for many Latinos, smartphones are a key part of personal access to the Internet.

In this election, mobile outreach included mobile ads on apps and social media sites and it also including texting. A texting service was provided by different campaigns to provide periodic updates, to alert people to new events and actions,  and for the final Get Out the Vote push on election day.

MomsRising.com had its own texting subscription set up. This is an example of how MomsRising.com engaged subscribers during the Republican National Convention.

This iPhone screenshot below shows some of the texting interactions received in the final day.  (Um, I accidentally texted to the SEIU 721 account instead of my wife when I typed in “pizza?”) I used the “find your polling place” feature and texted “VOTED721″ to the account once I did vote.

For this election cycle, most texting campaigns were tests for future campaigns.

As someone who was involved as a volunteer in the offline as well as online aspects of the campaign, I look forward to digging through the data to see what really worked and what needs to be improved. New opportunities to connect with all voters will arise with new technologies. Latino voters will continue to benefit from greater and easier access to political information.

If you felt you were engaged in this previous election cycle, what technology methods helped you connect with your candidates or causes?

Related articles

• Latino Voters in the 2012 Election
• White House Using Technology to Reach Latinos

By Susana G. Baumann, Voxxi

n 1945, the U.S. Department of State commissioned Clotilde Arias to provide an official translation of the U.S. national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” that could be sung in Spanish.

Surprised?

A little known and never sung version, this post World War II translation is part of a new biographical exhibition, “Not Lost in Translation: The Life of Clotilde Arias,” opening at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History last week, and part of the museum’s permanent collection.

The Clotilde Arias exhibit is one of a series of performances, lectures, exhibitions, family activities and tours at various museums around the institution celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.

Coral Cantigas, a chamber chorus specializing in the music of Latin America, brought to life Clotilde Arias’s Spanish version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” during an event that also included her best-known composition, “Huiracocha.” The Cantigas was commissioned by the museum to record these two songs for the related exhibition.

Clotilde Arias sitting at the piano in her Brooklyn, NY apartment, circa 1925. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History)

Clotilde Arias’s “El Pendón Estrellado” (The Star-Spangled Banner) was commissioned under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor Policy” to secure allies in Latin America during the global conflict.

Marvette Perez, curator of Latino History at the museum, believes the purpose of the commission was a way to assimilate immigrants into the United States as well as to share the nation’s values and patriotism with Central and South American nations.

“Arias too believed that people’s aspirations could be promoted and achieved through music,” Perez said. “Her translation is extremely faithful to the original, which is a difficult accomplishment as Spanish requires about twice as many words than English to convey the same message.”

As part of diplomacy that included cultural exchanges of artists, musicians, poets and writers, the Music Educators National Conference created a competition to write an original Spanish translation of the national anthem.

Clotilde Arias: Behind the Spanish version of Star-Spangled Banner

Clotilde Arias, a Peruvian immigrant who came to the United States in 1923, won the competition and a contract paying her $150, which specified the translation had to be as close as possible to the English song in rhyme, verse and meter.

Group portrait of colleagues at McMillan Publishing, including on far left, Author James Michner and on far right, Composer Maria Grever of “What a Difference a Day Makes.”

She had arrived in New York City to study music but abandoned her studies to support her family. Clotilde Arias led an extraordinary life, working in professions that were not easily accessible to women. In the era of the creative expansion of the Harlem Renaissance, she flourished as a composer, musician, journalist, copywriter, activist and educator, as well as a mother. Arias became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1942.

She is most known for her composition, “Huiracocha,” which pays tribute to an Incan deity in a style of music indigenous to the Andes and Peru, and talks about the struggle of a race.

Composer Clotilde Arias showcasing her work at the piano with Argentine Composer and Conductor Terrig Tucci, 1942. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History)

Arias became the head of the Art and Music Committee of the United Women of the Americas. She believed that knowledge of other cultures and traditions could bring understanding and unity among peoples.

Through the lens of her possessions and papers—photographs, personal and professional documents, journals and objects—the exhibition looks at the life of Clotilde Arias, the first woman to translate the national anthem into its official Spanish version in 1945.

Clotilde Arias’ original music manuscript for “The Star-Spangled Banner” in Spanish, “El Pendón Estrellado,” is a featured object in the exhibition. “The Star-Spangled Banner” had been translated into several languages but Arias’ 1945 version still stands as the only faithful translation of the national anthem able to be performed in Spanish to the tune of the original composition.

Clotilde Arias “El Pendón Estrellado” (The Star-Spangled Banner)

Clotilde Arias’ original music manuscript for “The Star-Spangled Banner” in Spanish, “El Pendón Estrellado” which was a faithful translation that could be sung as required by her contract with the U.S. Department of State. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History)

(first page) State Department contract outlining the official request for a Spanish translation of the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” that could be sung to the original music, 1945. Clotilde Arias’s “El Pendón Estrellado” was commissioned under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor Policy.” (Courtesy National Museum of American History)

(second page) State Department contract outlining the official request for a Spanish translation of the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” that could be sung to the original music, 1945.  Clotilde Arias’s “El Pendón Estrellado” was commissioned under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor Policy.”  (Courtesy National Museum of American History)

Clotilde Arias’ IBM professional headshot. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History)

This article was first published in Voxxi.

Susana G Baumann is the Director of LCSWorldwide. A multicultural expert, a business blogger & a published author. Booklist Online calls her book “Hola, amigos! A Plan for Latino Outreach” a “centerpiece of the publisher’s Latinos and Libraries series.”

[Photos and documents courtesy Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History]

By Yaromil Fong-Olivares, Being Latino

Labor Day and barbecues go together like café con leche.  If you are like me, a proud self-identified health fanatic, you probably have a plan to enjoy your familia’s delicious take on this American tradition.  If you don’t I invite you to adopt and edit this easy and practical one.

Fasting:   According to The Scientific American a human being can survive for up to 40 days without food.  Don’t fret I am not going to ask you to go on a hunger strike before Labor Day.  But since you know you will be over-consuming food at the BBQ why not take a preemptive strategy and fast the day of the BBQ.   You can still have your cafecito con leche in the morning and drink water or tea (minus the sugar) throughout the day.  This will make you ready to overeat without the guilt.

Homemade Sauces:  What to do with all that extra time you are not spending cooking and eating?  How about eliminating some unhealthy ingredients from the BBQ menu. All the extra preservatives, additives and flavor enhancers in your favorite commercial sauces are not worth the extra push-ups you’ll have to do the day after the BBQ. Let’s take a look and compare:

Commercial BBQ Sauce: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Vinegar, Tomato Paste, Modified Cornstarch, Molasses, Contains Less Than 2% of Salt, Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor, Dried Garlic, Mustard Flour, Potassium Sorbate (to Preserve Freshness), Spice, Dried Onions, Caramel Color, Paprika.

Basic Homemade BBQ Sauce:

• Organic Ketchup
• Worcestershire sauce
• Alcohol: Beer or whiskey or dark rum
• Sweetener: Maple syrup, brown sugar, honey, or molasses
• Paprika
• Cayenne for a little kick
• Ground mustard seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste

If you want to impress your friends and family with your culinary skills, make both a mild and a spicy batch.  You can make a big batch of mild sauce, split it in two containers, and add more cayenne or your favorite hot sauce to the spicy batch.

Grass-fed Beef:  Now that you have made the sauces why not continue on the unhealthy ingredient elimination train.  Volunteer to get the meat and collect cash if you have a big family.  Find a local butcher or store that carries meats from grass-fed cows.  Meat from grass-fed cows is leaner and healthier.  Happy cows provide happy meat.  Although it’s a little pricier than meat from grain-fed cows remember that if you don’t pay now, you’ll have to pay later in the form of health care bills and health-related emotional stress.

Light Cocktails:  Now that you have the meat, the sauce and your belly ready don’t forget about your cocktails.  Invest in a lot of plain seltzer water and lime and mix all your liquors with it.  That means eliminating sugars and salts.  Avoid all pre-made mixers and if you want to spice up your cocktails use juice from fresh cucumbers, jalapenos and berries.  You can make fresh cucumber juice to mix with your tequila and lime, and even add a slice of jalapeno or some fresh berries for more exotic cocktails.  The trick is to train your palate to enjoy the natural flavors of the berries, jalapenos, and cucumbers, rather than the sweetness and saltiness of a traditional sugar-filled, salt-rimmed margarita.

In the end, you decide what works for you.  What is the return on investment on taking a few extra minutes or hours to upgrade the health (and yes taste) value of your meals and your beverages.  Enjoy a guilt-free holiday, you might even like it.

This article was first published in Being Latino.

Yaromil Fong-Olivares is the first “out” Latina Lesbian Life Coach. She created DI=VA Life Coaching in January 2010. She is a student at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, holds a Sociology degree from Barnard College, Columbia University and sometimes produces music videos and other media.  Follow her on twitter,  @yaropathfinder.

Thursday August 9, 2012

 Census Bureau Releases Results From 2010 Census Race and Hispanic Origin Alternative Questionnaire Research (EIN News):  The U.S. Census Bureau released research today from its 2010 Census Race and Hispanic Origin Alternative Questionnaire Experiment, which provides a comparison of different census questionnaire design strategies for collecting census data on race and Hispanic origin.

Census director: One ‘mainstream culture’ doesn’t make much sense (CNN):  My personal experiences as a Census Bureau director have taught me that talking about a “mainstream” culture doesn’t make much sense. It’s hard to go from Manhattan to, you know, Lincoln, Nebraska, without saying, “Gee, I’m in two very different places.”

Census seeks changes in how it measures race (Associated Press/The Seattle Times):  To keep pace with rapidly changing notions of race, the Census Bureau wants to make broad changes to its surveys that would treat “Hispanic” as a distinct category regardless of race, end use of the term “Negro” and offer new ways to identify Middle Easterners.

Latinos prefer Hispanic as a race category, says Census study (NBC Latino):  Latinos are changing the way the U.S. Census is identifying race in America. In an alternative questionnaire experiment done by the Census, many Latinos chose to identify themselves as “Hispanic” under a combined race/ethnicity category. This is significant, explained Census officials in a press conference today, because in traditional forms, many Hispanic households would not answer the “black” or “white” racial category, either leaving it blank or answering “some other race.”

Anaheim City Council rejects voting districts proposal (Los Angeles Times):  The Anaheim City Council on Wednesday night voted down a historic ballot proposal that would have created voting districts to help increase Latino representation in a community that has been riven by two recent fatal police shootings.

Obama Looks to Women, Latino Voters to Catch Romney in Colorado (Bloomberg):  President Barack Obama, running behind in the latest poll in Colorado, is trying to energize two key constituencies in the swing state, women and Hispanics, as Mitt Romney blames Obama for the U.S.’s slow economic recovery.

D.C. Latino PAC drives up donations for Hispanic candidates (Voxxi):  Franklin Garcia is a Dominican American who is becoming the go-to-person on fundraising for Latino candidates in the nation’s Capitol. The chair of the D.C. Latino Caucus told VOXXI that Hispanic candidates running in local D.C. races are not well represented — financially. Despite this, the city is known as one of the fountains for financing elections in other states.

Democratic candidates pitch DREAM Act for platform (Associated Press/Seattle Times):  In an appeal to Latino voters, three Senate candidates in the Southwest are calling on delegates to the Democratic National Convention to make support of a bill to help young illegal immigrants gain citizenship a part of the party platform.

Opinion: Latinas need to hear from Ann Romney (NBC Latino):  First Lady Michelle Obama has kicked her Latina outreach and mobilization efforts into high gear.  However, the potential first lady to be, Ann Romney has been absent from any high-profile, or even low-profile, outreach to Latinas.  In fact, Latina magazine’s political columnist, Viviana Hurtado, called Mrs. Romney out on this in an open letter.

GOP Convention Names More Latinos To Starring Roles (Fox News Latino):  Just two days after the Republican National Committee announced that New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez will be a featured speaker at the 2012 convention, it released a statement Wednesday saying that U.S. Senate nominee Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and Tea Party favorite, and Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño, will also have prominent speaking roles at the event.

Antonio Villaraigosa: Sarah Palin More Qualified Than Marco Rubio (Huffington Post):  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, one of the most prominent Latino elected officials in the country, said Wednesday that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is even less qualified to be vice president than Sarah Palin.

Hispanic voters may be an emerging political force in North Carolina (Greensboro News-Record):  Hispanic voters will have a greater influence on North Carolina politics as their participation in state elections increases. That’s one conclusion you can draw from this report released today byDemocracy North Carolina.

New report suggests Latino vote undercounted in N.C. (News Observer):  A new report estimates that North Carolina’s Latino vote is undercounted by roughly 25,000, with another 100,000 unregistered. The report issued Wednesday by Democracy North Carolina and a group of Latino advocacy organizations analyzes electoral and census data to provide a picture of the growing voting bloc.

Obama Looks to Women, Latino Voters to Catch Romney in Colorado (Bloomberg):  President Barack Obama, running behind in the latest poll in Colorado, is trying to energize two key constituencies in the swing state, women and Hispanics, as Mitt Romney blames Obama for the U.S.’s slow economic recovery.

Air pollution takes heaviest toll on black, Latino communities (SF Public Press):  Monday night’s  large crude-oil fire at the Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, which produced a towering column of acrid black smoke and aroused widespread panic in the area, served as a dramatic backdrop to new research showing that minorities and low-income people believe they bear the brunt of health problems related to air pollution.

States cool even more on immigration bills (Government Security News Magazine):  The number of state legislatures enacting immigration bills declined by 20 percent in the first half of 2012 from a year ago, according to a new report.

Here’s The Real Reason News Corp Wants An Hispanic Channel (Business Insider):  News Corp., the parent company of Fox, recently announced the launch of MundoFOX, a new Spanish language channel. One potential reason for the move: Hispanics hardly watch mainstream broadcast TV.

Undocumented Immigrant Can be Lawyer, Florida Bar Says (Fox News Latino):  The Florida Board of Bar Examiners says that an undocumented immigrant born in Mexico appears to qualify for a law license, but it still wants an advisory opinion from the state Supreme Court before making a final decision.