Category: Latino Heritage Month

There are so many stereotypes that Latinos have that it one would think that I would be hard to pick one that I wish I could change. However there has always been one that had just really gotten under my skin over the years. It is the notion that Latinos are lazy. The idea of being lazy is a some what all encompassing trait that includes always being late and being generally nonchalant.

This is actually a motivation tool for me. If I feel that I am in a situation in which someone views me as the stereotypical Latino based on me possibly being lazy, then I find myself proving the exact opposite. Laziness is a stereotype that makes no sense to me. I have no idea where this has come from. I will say this, Latinos are far from lazy.

I think about the migrant workers who make barely enough to be considered minimum wage. I think about my family who have clocked in massive amount of hours at their jobs. I think about my mother who worked too much at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx. I think about my father who busted his ass for Con Edison to get me through college and he worked so much that I still think about the cancer he developed in his lungs.

Let’s not forget that Latinos in this country were the reason that Obama is in white house. The massive amount of Latino voters is what put him over the hump. If we were lazy then we would not have come out in such a force. As much as I can say that I wish to get rid of this stereotype, I would like to think that we have done a great job of showing that this label not not apply.

Religion is something that I think all Latinos can say is at the core of the family dynamic. In most Latino households, you should be able to find a picture of Jesus some where hanging.

Which brings me to Botanicas. I am not sure I can fully explain these religious shop quite the way I need to. I am not sure I can do them justice. I do remember my mother going there quite often to pick up things. There were a few in the Bronx that I can remember when I was a kid. I am not sure if they are there any more. This is where my mother used to pick up Holy Water (there was specific kind I guess), incense, and those seven day candles I referred to.

One of the things that I have gotten so fascinated with when I have made my travels to Latin American and the Caribbean is art. I think that art is one of the things that we under rate so much as a people. I know that I do not spend nearly enough time in my life going to museums. Art is something that very few people can really appreciate.

I have been to Mexico and Puerto Rico twice and the Dominican Republic once. I have always made sure to bring back something that reminds me of where I have gone. For me, the best way I can do that is art. I am not talking just talking about the art that is painted and placed on walls for people to and interpret. I am aslo very much into the hand carved art that really express a culture.

Before anyone thinks I am an art collector I must inform you that I am not. I appreciate true art for what it is…expensive and authentic. However, there is no shame in going to souvenir shop and picking something up. What I have found is that the best places to go to get some really cool art or a hand crafted sculpture is to go somewhere that is none touristy. Not because the price is right, but because it seems to be less mass produced. The smaller shops are usually run by local families that need the money and work hard for it

I feel this is one place in my life that I knew more about. Art was something that was not really a part of my life as a kid. When I went to Puerto Rico in 2005, I just had to go to Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. That place is absolutely amazing. I have been to a few art museums in my day, but for every piece of art be solely (or souly) about Puerto Rico is just outstanding. I also took note of the African influences as well.

I do not have a favorite artist either.I am the type of person that sees certain things and if it speaks to me I will like it. I feel that much of the art that I have seen is a direct connection to the past. I find that I have a preference to older art as opposed to modern art. It very interesting to see something of Aztec origin when in Mexico as opposed to something that may just been made.

The history of Tainos is vast. I will admit that I do not know as much as I should know about them. This fact ultimately bothers me. So I will stick to what I do know, which is the point of where I can have discussions with people and encourage people to learn about their past. This is how I know what my limitations. Let me preface this by saying that I understand and acknowledge my Ecuadorian side, but I will only talk about Tainos and not the Incas. The reason being is I need to do more reading on the Incan Empire before I can blog about it.

What I know about Tainos is that they are the indigenous people of Puerto Rico. Now I know that there are other islands within the Caribbean as Quisqueya (currently Dominican Republic/Haiti) and the Bahamas in which they inhabited, but for the sake of this blog, I will stick with what I know and talk about Puerto Rico.

From what I have gathered, information about Tainos in Puerto Rico, before Columbus’ arrival, is scarce at best. There are carvings and artifacts that can be traced to this once proud people. Once Columbus arrived to the “new world”, Tainos quickly faded out of existence due to disease and the hard working conditions due to slavery. It was so bad that there was a royal decree to emancipate the remaining population of Tainos in 1520 so they would not go into extinction. This lead to influx of African slaves into the Puerto Rico.

Interestingly enough, the men that came from Spain to settle into Puerto Rico and the rest of the islands did not bring women with them. Of course there is the old tale that women are bad luck on boats, which lead many to take Taino women as their wives, thus leading to the birth to mestizo children.

I will say that the word “Borinquen” is the name that the Taino’s called the Island (“Borikén”). It was later called Puerto Rico by traders and such as the island grew in popularity. The icon that I have on this blog is the Taino symbol for the coquí, which is a frog that is native to the island as well.

Let me just say that as I think about this, I just shake my head because this is the kind of history I would have loved to learn in history class. My knowledge of these things are most self taught in books that I have read over the years. I will always try my best to learn more.

 
Let me start by saying that I love women in general. I think that women in general make the world go round. Most of the people in my family are women. While I lived with my father when I was 16 and beyond, before that I lived with my mother. So, I have a good idea of how to treat women and how they effect the world around them. Most of the women in my family are very strong and outspoken. Thus the major why I love Latinas.

I love Latinas because essentially they are the women that I have grown to cherish and adore. Despite the problems with my mother, she still remains the relative center of what I know about women. My step mother has played a major role in my life as well. I feel that there were gaps in my life when it came to women that she filled. I would be foolish to not mention the enormous amount of female cousins that I have grown up with. I have 14 females cousins and 7 aunts from both sides. My definition of what a Latina should be comes from all of them.

Which bring me to the reason why I love Latinas. I feel they embody the beauty of our people. Since we come in all different colors, shapes, and places…the beauty of Latinas are endless. Then, there is the innner strength that comes from the women that I do know. Being Latina is not easy with cultural expectations and perceived cultural limitations.

I appreciate the struggle that they go through. I feel that Latinas are the back bone of our culture. I know that both my grandmothers held the families together. I am not sure if they had jobs in their younger years, but you can tell that keeping family together was a normal job in itself. The job responsibilities included, makes sure we ate, passing on the culture through language, making sure we went to school, and making sure we prayed. Not mention most times it was the women in the families that passed down the punishment when we were bad and forgave us for our mistakes. I see this kind of strength in Latinas. While, others view them as exotic and insatiable, I view them as women to be respected due the long histories of leadership.

To my dear Latinas, whether you are my sisters or my lovers, I will always hold you in the highest regards. You have shown me how to be strong, to deal with pain, and how to celebrate when I win. Gracias!

I love movies. I have been a movie buff longer than I have been into music. Most times, I am not caring all that much of the ethnicity of people in films as long as it is good and it makes sense. While, I totally get and understand that there will be films that will exploit certain people and play into stereotypes, it does not make me stop seeing what Hollywood has to offer.

But, I will not take a negative tone with this one. I think there are many Latino Movie Stars we could focus on because they are making it in a very competitive industry. I have already written two blogs on Zoe Saldana, so I wont go there (even though her career is exploding). We could look at America Ferrera, whom I think is a very good actress, but I am waiting for her BIG movie. I have always been a big fan of Salma Hyek, however, I feel that her movies are hit or miss. Jennifer Lopez just has not been able to catch a break with roles that define her. I personally think she plays too many non Latino characters.

I will say that when I heard Jimmy Smits was going to be Bail Organa in Star Wars a few years back, I was so very happy. Then I saw his screen time was like less than 15 minutes in both Star Wars films combined. Although, it has got to be cool to be immortalized in a movie trilogy like that though. I have talked a little bit Laz Alonzo before, he was in Avatar, but I really liked him in Miracle at St. Anna. I shouldn’t really forget John Leguizamo for any of his numerous roles, but like Salmita, it is a hit or miss with him.

I know that I have not named nearly as many people as I want to, but I think that the interest of Latinos in Hollywood is growing. It is an uphill climb from playing something like Mexican Gangster to positive role model like Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver). We will have to wait and see what we get at the movies in the future.

Did I miss anyone you like?

I remember the first time I heard of this skinny Puerto Rican who can blow away a crowd with his vocals. My aunt Olga was talking about a guy named Marc Anthony that could sing as if he owned the entire industry. She spoke about his command of a song and even though it seemed like he never danced on stage, he was an amazing performer. This conversation was in the mid 90’s.

I think that is a big endorsement from anyone in my family. See, my family has witnessed salsa in the 70’s during the height of Fania. So people like Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon were household names. It made me think that I needed to pay attention to this guy.

When I moved back to NYC in 1998, I started getting accustomed to the night life. One thing that can be said about the bars in the Bronx, they love to play Salsa. This is when I really heard Marc Anthony. The first song of his that was stuck in my head was Nadie Como Ella. I absolutely loved that song so much that I had to pick up his album Todo A Su Tiempo. Since then his music has stuck with me.

Marc Anthony was one of the reasons why I went on my mission to go get as many old school salsa songs as I could. I feel that he gets it. The way he sings and the music that is produced reminds me of being in the basement with my dad listening to El Gran Combo.

Right now, I feel he is where it is at in terms of Salsa. Of course there are a numerous amount of artists in this genre, some who have been in the field longer than him (i.e Tito Nieves), but once he starred in El Cantante he began to embody the music. I feel that his portrayal of Hector Lavoe was good and his performance on the soundtrack was just awesome.

I look at my iTunes and Marc Anthony is all over it. Maybe he was an easy choice as my favorite Latino Musician, but I would be hard pressed to find a better one.

I am not sure what made me pick this topic because there are certainly not many Afro Latinos I see everyday if any at all. I have been sitting here thinking about this. There have been students who can fit this bill, but most if not all, have graduated. Of course, I am talking about the ones that I know well.

In Syracuse, most Latinos live on the west-side. I am not really in that part of town unless I was to see my Dominican barber (and I have decided to save money and cut my own hair). Although, they do have some good places to eat they may make me want to venture out there

I really cannot count anyone on television either. Sure, I can talk about Jose Reyes of the New York Mets since I do manage to watch baseball just about everyday. However, with work increasing and the amount of sucking that this teams has managed to do, I wont miss much sleep if  I miss a few games.

Unless I look into the mirror. Because it turns out that I am the only Afro Latino that I see everyday. I know that other Afro Latinos exist in my part of Syracuse. Clearly, I do not see them as often as I should because it seems that they are just not as many up here as I would like. Of course I am not know it all for the reason of this. But, from time to time I may see one or two, but just not everyday.

While I thought at one time this would really bother me, I have come to realize that I will always use myself as a source for inspiration. I am not going to say that all Afro Latinos should be like me, but I will say that I think that by keeping myself educated and healthy I can make my mark in this writing game.

The Spanish language is so complicated to me. I have always felt this way, particularly with all the dialects from the different Latin American countries. So with that said, no… I do not speak Spanish. I wish I did. I have an iPhone app to help me with this. The funny thing is that I can understand it but I cannot speaking fluently nor can I hold a conversation. However, I do know some phrases and sayings.

I have mentioned that I can, however, survive if I need to. Of course, if you parachuted me into the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico for like a few months, I am quite sure I will know more than just how to find a bathroom, a restaurant, and a doctor.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my grandmothers used to talk to me in Spanish. I even remember songs that associated objects from Spanish to English (i.e. ventana – window, piso – floor, lapiz – pencil, and pluma – pen). I can never remember the rest of that song. So I know that when I was younger my mother was trying to get me to learn a little bit but, all conversations were in English. I am not one of those people that cannot roll his R’s. My mother made sure that I can do that.

So I figured that I can learn Spanish in school. I was excited that they were teaching it in grammar school. I took it very seriously. I was learning the alphabet and the numbers. Then we got to actual sayings and I slowly was beginning to realize that Spanish I was learning was “formal” and no where near the conversational Spanish that I was hearing from my Grandmothers or in the streets.

I used to get very intimidated as a kid when it came to speaking Spanish in the real world. When I was 14, I worked for Pathmark on 207th street. This was one of the first times that I really encountered Dominicans in large numbers. Frequently, people would ask me questions in Spanish about where something was located in the store. At times, I would be like…”no speak Spanish” and then I would get a weird look. Other’s I would understand and direct them. But, this one time, some guy came up to me and said something that I did not understand. So in my infinite wisdom, I say perfectly, “no hablo espanol”.  He gave me this only look like.. “really?” and walked away. I started sticking to… No Spanish…lol

I began to get discouraged because I was starting to find that I was getting corrected at home and at school for what seemed to be 2 different languages. Ugh! I was so done. I think there was a part of me that shut down. I am really not sure how I passed Spanish in High School, but clearly I did something right. Maybe it was my gumption to graduate.

I will say that I do love to hear other people talk in Spanish. It is something that I love to hear on campus when I walk around. I have picked some more things in my years and I really do want to learn as much as I can because to be honest, if I do have kids, I want them to learn how to speak the language.

This is a subject I can write all day about. I have serious issues with how Latinos are viewed in the media. We are the largest “minority” in this country and yet we have the smallest representation in the entertainment industry. However, as our numbers grow there is an influx of advertisements that cater to the Latino middle class. The last presidential election has shown that Latino have a huge say on who gets put into the white house. I think the powers that be have taken notice of that.

There are too many issues for me to certainly list, but I can say that the power of the media can shape they way the world can look at a person or a people. Media plays a huge role in Latino identity. The Latino Identity is typically defined as a light skinned, dark haired individual that is often made to look exotic. Afro Latinos are rarely seen in areas of television media with the exception of sports. Despite what the media may consider to be Latino, the darker skinned people still remain fairly invisible.

Beyond that, I have noticed that often times the media has a way of making Latinos seem more like outsiders than immigrants. The Arizona Immigration Law (SB 1070) is a great example of that. You have to think about  it this regard, most Americans do not know the difference between Mexican and Dominican. I am also willing to bet that most of America think that either most of us came to this country by either raft or climbing a huge chain link fence. Which is a shame but let me share a story…

When I was in the Dominican Republic partying with family, I met this guy who was a husband of a friend of mine. This tall Dominican who was so funny and loved to tell stories. So there was a lot of bantering going around.. Turns out that he lives in Tennessee. He married my friend in NYC and then moved to the south where they raise their children. So, being a good dad, he coaches a little league baseball team. So his team is filled with little White kids as well as Black kids and maybe one to two Latinos. This one little White kid walks up to him after practice. He looks up and says (in a southern accent). “you sure are the tallest Mexican I have ever seen”. That story just made me laugh so hard! But, it is goes to show a my point…we are not viewed separately. Most of our images are not of a positive nature either.

We simply need to do better. I had to really think about what we see on television and movies. I will just limit this to American Media but what do the Latino actors/actresses play in films and sitcoms? Is our “race” a factor in these shows or can these people play anyone. What about the roles that are meant to be played by a Latino but someone else plays them. I know people love Scarface, but I really cannot get into that movie. I love Al Pacino, but not as a Cuban. Another thing that surprised me this week was Blair Underwood playing a Afro-Cuban in the show The Event. I wont say it is not believable…but why could they not get Laz Alonso to play that role?

Picky? Maybe. I just think we need positive views on our people and less images of our people in shambles. The media can empower or bring down whomever they choose and it can also play a big role in how children view us.