Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón
In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.
But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.
As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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CONFESSIONS OF A MEXPATRIATE to Play Teatro Paraguas, 2/6-8
Teatro Paraguas presents Confessions of a Mexpatriate, an original one-man performance. …Mexpatriate depicts the misadventures of a man who embarks on a journey across Mexico in search of his life’s meaning, and in a discovery of what it truly means to be Mexican-American.
Mexpatriate takes the audience on the adventure of one heavily-American-media-saturated man, embarking on a passage across Mexico, in which he comes to embrace the beauty of the culture and what Mexico means to Mexican-Americans. A memory and a fantasy, scary and welcoming … these are just a few of the aspects of this comedic look at a soul-searching experience. Mexpatriate is portrayed by actor Mical Trejo and is directed by Ken Webster. Both Trejo and Webster are award-winning theater artists…
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Latino Theater Company’s José Luiz Valenzuela on Creating Diverse Stage Productions
As the artistic director of the Latino Theater Company (LTC), José Luiz Valenzuela has spent the past 30 years producing work for the Los Angeles theater community. And as an immigrant himself, originally from Sinaloa, Mexico, Valenzuela is committed to telling stories that represent the new America—one that is more whole and diverse.
Operating out of the Los Angeles Theater Company since 2007, the LTC is an Equity group that employs 50–60 actors per season, with two seasons a year, and 5–7 plays within each of those seasons. And though the people in charge happen to be Latino, as Valenzuela explains, laughing, the LTC prides itself on producing work from various different cultures…
Link to interview
Eyes On History: David Valdez, Only Latino White House Photographer
By Juan Castillo
GEORGETOWN, TX — When others saw history in the making on the world’s grandest stages, David Valdez saw work to do.
The personal photographer to former President George H.W. Bush and the only Latino to ever hold the position – “the privilege,” he says – Valdez’s singular focus was to document history. Time was not on his side, however. He had only split seconds to make decisions.
So when the world, for instance, marveled over a meeting between the president and Pope John Paul II, Valdez, eyes behind the lens, shut out the noise and worried about other things. Exposure. Lighting. Composition. And focus. Always focus…
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San Diego Native Tackles Immigration In New Animated Series ‘Bordertown’
A San Diego native is on the team behind a new animated comedy sitcom tackling changing demographics and immigration.
Lalo Alcaraz, creator of the first nationally syndicated and politically themed Latino daily comic strip, “La Cucaracha,” is writing and consulting on the Fox show “Bordertown.”
The show focuses on the relationship between two neighbors, a border agent and an immigrant, living in a fictional town along the U.S/Mexico border…
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Cafecito: Guillermo del Toro On How To Thrive In Hollywood
Guillermo del Toro, one of Hollywood’s most talented and prolific directors and producers, spoke to Cafecito host Feliciano Garcia on the challenges he faced when he first arrived in Hollywood from Mexico in the 1990s.
“When I came it it was more difficult to make the community understand that Latin talent didn’t have to be ghettoized and marginalized into exclusively Latino projects,” said del Toro. He said that as years have gone by and with directors like Alfonso Cuaron and Robert Rodriguez behind the cameras and with others in front of the cameras, “I think we have earned the right to be taken seriously on every endeavor we want to take.”…
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Artist, ‘cultural adjuster’ Mel Casas has died
Mel Casas, an influential artist and teacher who helped define the Chicano art movement has died after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 85.
The artist died at home Sunday surrounded by family, said Grace Casas, his wife of 35 years…
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NBC4 Supports the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation
NBC4 Southern California supported the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation’s (MAOF) annual Aztec Awards Gala on October 3, 2014 in Downtown Los Angeles. NBC4 Reporter Kim Baldonado was the mistress of ceremonies.
The Aztec Awards recognize individuals who have positively impacted the Latino community. One of the 2014 honorees was Actor Edward James Olmos.
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Images of Latinos in U.S. culture to be examined in 1-night lecture, exhibit at UT El Paso
The UTEP Department of Communication and the Chicano Studies program presents a lecture and exhibit by Dr. William Anthony Nericcio that examines American visual culture reflecting images and stereotypes of Latinas/os. The event, Mextasy: Seductive Hallucinations of Latina/o Mannequins Prowling the American Unconscious , will be at 5:30 pm, Wednesday, Oct. 15 in Quinn Hall Room 212 at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Mextasy is a traveling art…
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Cristela Alonzo TV Show: Mexican Comedienne To Take World By Storm With New Sitcom [PREVIEW]
Breakout comedienne Cristela Alonzo stars as a woman laughing her way to the new American dream in “Cristela,” a family comedy loosely based on her life and stand-up routine. Cristela’s dream of becoming a lawyer is something her traditional Mexican-American family doesn’t quite understand. She’s entering her sixth year of law school after juggling home obligations and working multiple jobs to pay her way. She lives in cramped quarters with her sister Daniela, her long-suffering brother-in-law Felix and their two young kids…
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Cheech Marin introduces Chicano art collection to Texas Tech
By ELLYSA GONZALEZ
He’s done some acting, made people laugh and produced film projects.
But over the past 20 years, Cheech Marin also has been collecting art.
On Friday, Marin visited Texas Tech to introduce an exhibit of art from his personal collection as part of a collaboration between the Tech College of Visual and Performing Arts School of Art and the Presidential Lecture & Performance…
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11 Hispanic Filmmakers Who Are Seriously Killing It
There was a time when even the most devoted American cinephile would struggle to name more than a few Latino directors beyond Pedro Almodovar and Luis Bunuel. Today, filmmakers like Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Miguel Arteta, Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Robert Rodriguez have become bankable names with movies that are embraced by broad audiences. But can “Gravity,” “Pacific Rim,” or “Sin City” be defined as Latino films?
There’s another group of Hispanic filmmakers who are really nailing their craft; they’re not yet household names in the U.S., but they’re reinvigorating genres, providing fresh perspectives, and reshaping the cinematic experience…
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The Elusive Bicultural Latino Audience
According to Horowitz Associates’ Focus: Latino 2014 report. Bicultural Latinos, Hispanics who feel strong cultural ties to both their U.S. and Hispanic identities, represent 53% of America’s Hispanics.
Biculturals, who tend to be more educated and make more money than average Hispanics, are a highly desirable target demographic for advertisers. Additionally, compared to total Hispanics and TV content viewers overall, biculturals are younger, more entertainment-oriented, and very tech-savvy. Many media companies and their advertisers are now working to develop effective strategies for engaging them…
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Musical Interests of a Middle – Income Mexican – American ( Natural or Naturalized) in the Western United States from Birth to Old Age
Two interviews were conducted; one with a 30 year old mixed Caucasian Mexican American male
with a family of five, Jimmy,studying music in Idaho and another with an
elderly couple from the baby boom cohort included a 68 year old Mexican
American female,Candelaria,who moved to the U.S. in 1963 and a 74 year old Mexican-
American male Cayetano,who moved to the U.S. permanently in 1948, both naturalized in 1977. Although the
instructions were to interview only one person from the older group, both husband and wife
intervened in the conversation.
Both interviews were done via Skype.
Both generational cohorts indicate…
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Robert Rodriguez: “The Future of Hispanic TV is in English Programming”
Robert Rodriguez is working his magic on English-speaking Latino audiences with his new network, El Rey.
During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 46-year-old Sin City director revealed what made him decide to launch a TV network.
“John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa at FactoryMade told me, ‘There’s an opportunity for a TV network. Comcast is giving them away.’ So I came up with the concept for El Rey,” Rodriguez explained…
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Chuck Ramirez: Outsider Objects
Chuck Ramirez, a graphic designer for H-E-B, a Texas-based grocery store chain, spent his workdays communicating ideas through the products he promoted in glossy advertisements and posters. His professional career undoubtedly influenced his artistic endeavors, which revolved around producing images of everyday objects. He often photographed his subjects out of context, isolated against a stark white background, thereby provoking the viewer to reexamine them. What was it about coconuts, grocery bags, pillboxes, piñatas, raw meat, wilted flowers, and worn brooms that enthralled Ramirez?…
Link to abstract and thesis
The Fluffy Movie
By Kurt Jensen
Catholic News Service
NEW YORK (CNS) — Like Bill Cosby, Gabriel Iglesias tells stories, not jokes. In “The Fluffy Movie” (Open Road), the rotund Mexican-American comic, whose tales are as soft around the edges as the man himself, shares engaging accounts of weight loss and the difficulties of being the stepfather of a teenage boy…
Link to review
Salma Hayek surprises fans with singing and dancing in Sofia
. Mexican-American film actress, director and producer
. Breakthrough role was in 2002 film “Frida” as Frida Kahlo
. Starred in “Grown Ups” and “Grown Ups 2”
Mexican-American actress/film producer Salma Hayek has a huge fan following in North America and Mexico because of her beauty, acting and outgoing personality and these traits have once again come to the forefront and brought her more fans in Bulgaria…
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Diversity in the Workplace: NPR’s Latino Employees, Audience Statistics Below US Population Average
National Public Radio’s employee ethnicity rate is nearly identical to their listenership statistics. NPR Ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos disclosed the company’s ethnicity data following criticism of the cancellation of its diversity-focused talk show “Tell Me More.”
“I agree that cancellation of the journalistically excellent seven-year old show is sorrowful, and I don’t think I am talking out of school when I say that this seems to be a feeling shared up and down the NPR hierarchy,” Schumacher-Matos wrote. “The reasons for the closure, as Chief Content Officer Kinsey Wilson has made clear in a number of public statements, are that the show had a relatively small audience, lost money and is a victim of shifting strategies to keep up with changing times.”…
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3 Big Latino stars headed to the Walk of Fame
Their hard-working trajectory has made them some of the most successful Latinos in the entertainment business. That’s why three big Hispanic stars are headed to California’s popular tourist destination in Hollywood boulevard and Vine street to be honored with their very own star in the Walk of Fame.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has announced the “Class of 2015 Star Honorees,” which include three very much-loved artists of our own.
SEE ALSO: Stars of ‘Rio 2′ fly to Miami’s Walk of Fame
Next year, Colombian actress Sofia Vergara, Cuban-American rapper Pitbull and Mexican comedian Eugenio Derbez will inaugurate their own permanent public monuments for their achievement in the biz…
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Yahoo Diversity Figures Show Lack of Blacks, Hispanics
Yahoo has released information on the diversity of its workforce, and like Google it has a lot of room for improvement.
Last month, Google revealed that only 2% of its workforce was Black, 3% Hispanic and women only 30%.
Yahoo has followed suit by publishing its workforce diversity figures, and they are along the same lines. Women make up 37% of the overall workforce, with blacks representing 2% and Hispanics 4%.
In leadership positions at Yahoo (defined as VP and above), the story is even more lopsided. 77% of those posts are held by men, 2% are held by Hispanics and only 1% by Blacks…
