Book Review - Mambo Kings

Title: The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
Author: Oscar Hijuelos
Publication Date: 1989

Hijuelos' "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love" is a touching story of brothers who come from Cuba to the US in search of better lives and the opportunities to play the music they love - mambo. Having seen the movie before reading the book, it was very similar and equally touching and sad. The storyline about the brothers performing on "I Love Lucy" is just as the movies portrays. However, with the book, I found the ending long and drawn out. The story about the older brother, Cesar, after Nestor's death is long and repetitive. While the book did win a Pulitzer Prize, I was not as emotionally satisfied with the book as I was with the movie. It is a great read, and a big part of American and Latin American literature, but perhaps, if I had not seen the movie first, I would have more to say about the book. For those reasons, I say read it, enjoy it, but if you've seen the movie, its an okay read.

Book Review - Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions!

Title: The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border

Authors: Teresa Rodriguez, Diana Montane with Lisa Pulitzer

Published: 2007

Where to begin? Let's start with why this book is an important, must read for anyone interested in social justice issues - women/girls have been and are dying in huge numbers just a stone throw away from the United States, near factories owned and operated by American companies, with little to no real answers about why. Since 1993, Mexican authorities have brushed aside the importance of a full-fledged investigation of Mexican police, politicians, and federal employees who have 'investigated', met with, incarcerated, spoke to and are somehow involved in the homicide cases of over 400 missing/murdered Latinas. While Mexican officials claim that a majority of the murders have been solved, there are still women/girls missing and families that have yet to find peace.

This book takes readers through the 12 years of the Juarez murders, shedding light on Mexican authorities' lack of commitment to solving crimes and the overall government's mishandling of evidence and suspects connected to the murders. Rodriguez also interweaves real stories, directly from the families of the missing women, to give readers a real understanding of the confusion and frustration so many families deal with.

At times, in reading this book, you may want to throw-up, throw the book against the wall in anger, cry out of anger and/or sadness. It seems so far-fetched that a government with this many homicides and critics could be so arrogant in their investigations and proclamations. It is also astounding to think that these beautiful young women, who are working for less than $5 a day at American factories would be the target for such malicious and heinous crimes. What's worse is that it is, literally, a few miles from the United States. While of course, I am not saying that the US should have gotten involved in the investigations without the request from Mexico, and while I am somewhat relieved that Amnesty International and the United Nations got involved eventually, I am saying that it is worth pause that as American Latino/as we stop and reflect on what this means to us. I could have easily been one of these girls, brown with long dark hair, working to support themselves and/or their families.

Rodriguez and the other authors did an amazing job of explaining how investigations were botched and who was involved in the government and keeping these homicides from being successfully investigated. They also, respectfully, told the families' stories, and through these stories and this book, the hundreds of girls/women found and still missing will live on.

It is important to read this book, learn about the femicide that took place in Ciudad Juarez, remember the victims of these crimes, thank God for how lucky we are to live in the United States with laws that protect domestic violence victims and missing persons, and finally, to feel a connection to those who are suffering.

To learn more visit: http://www.amnestyusa.org/amnestynow/juarez.html
http://www.libertadlatina.org/Crisis_Lat_Mexico_Juarez_Femicide.htm
http://www.now.org/issues/global/juarez/

Book Review - Latino Vamps!

Title: The Bride of Casa Dracula

Author: Marta Acosta

Published: 2008

The very cool Bride of Casa Dracula was a great departure from Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series and Stephanie Meyers' Twilight Saga. Complete with a little bit of romance, some blood (though in a very different way from the others mentioned above) and shapeshifters, the Bride was a fun and very cute read. Latina vampire Milagro de los Santos is preparing to wed her prince charming and vampire boyfriend, Oz. However, because of her special existence (the fact that she survived two vampire infections) and is one of the strongest vampires around, makes her the target of several attempts on her life and at the beckon call of the Council, or the vampire government. Acosta interweaves the Spanish slang into Milagro's dialogues and makes this heroine, a very sexy chica. While this book is the third of her Casa Dracula series, reading this book on its own was entertaining in and of itself. I will most definitely be on the lookout for the first two books to find out who Milagro came to be a vampire and her previous relationships with the vampires in the third book.

If you want a fun, "vampiric" read - then check out this one! It's really fun!

Book Review: MUST READ!

Title: It's Just Begun: The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip Hop's First Latino DJ
Author: Ivan Sanchez and Luis "DJ Disco Wiz" Cedeno
Publication Date: June 2009

I had the pleasure of meeting DJ Disco Wiz at a conference held at Cornell University, "Born in the Bronx," on October 31st, 2009. http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/hiphop/conference.html

Without any realization of what I was attending, I quickly realized that I had the unique opportunity to meet the great pioneers of hip-hop, such as Grandmaster Caz, Grandwizzard Theodore, Popmaster Fabel, Tony Tone, Disco Wiz and Africa Bambaataa. After watching these great legends perform and speak to a diverse audience - I was able to talk with DJ Disco Wiz for a few hours. That night, I talked to him about hip-hop, his background, his struggles, and his tremendous life story. Meanwhile, he didn't hesitate to ask me what I liked about hip-hop and how I felt about Latina/os in hip-hop. He told me he had grandchildren and had been a sous chef. It was hard to believe that this legend of the art form of DJing was a grandpa - he was just that cool and down-to-earth. Half-Cuban, Half-Puerto Rican, Wiz grew up in the Bronx, but now lived in Connecticut with his wife.

This summer, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a copy of his book. Thinking that it was a great gesture of my assistance at the conference, I put the book on my list of summer reads. And now a few months later, this great story of Hip-Hop's first Latino DJ, I read in one night!

The book chronicles Wiz's life, filled with his father's abuse, mother's undying love, street crew antics, set against the tough, rough, South Bronx of the 1970s. Wiz's stories jump off the page with realness and poignancy - you can picture it - you can feel it - the pain and sadness; the triumph and hope. Meanwhile, you feel lucky to have had a glimpse and a window into the birth of hip-hop. It reminds me of Junot Diaz's Drown and Piri Thomas' Down These Mean Streets - beyond just writing the stories, you feel the stories.

I don't want to say too much more about the various obstacles Wiz had to overcome to get to a place where he is a role model, historian, and hip-hop godfather. I will say that this book is a must read for any hip-hop head who wants to learn about the history; for any Latina/o wanting to understand the collective history of our people; for any barrio-born person; for any one who feels lost in their lives and is searching for hope - this book can offer that and so much more for so many people. For me, it made me believe that people can change and turn their lives around; and that Latinas/os are lucky to have DJ Disco Wiz represent por la gente as the first Latino DJ!

Check out the book: http://www.amazon.com/Its-Just-Begun-Journey-Latino/dp/157687494X/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Someone Help Syracuse!

This past weekend, I attended the Syracuse Latino Festival in Clinton Square. The festival was to together in order to showcase local Latino talent, promote Latin culture, and expose Syracuse residents to Latino culture within the city. However, upon arrival, it became crystal-clear that the city's Latino population is in desperate need of help. Not only were the majority of the people at the festival young, middle-high school aged children, there were very few adults keeping tabs on them. Within minutes of getting to the festival, I witnessed fist fights, water bottles thrown into the crowd, and an increase police presence. Upwards of 200 kids would run from one end of the square to other alerting police to possible fights. Luckily, festival organizers quickly spoke to the crowd, asking to family's to control their children, asking participants to show some pride in their community, and threatening to end the festival if the running continues. Unfortunately the last time that the crowd ran from one end of the square to the other, ended in the stabbing/murder of a 20 year-old man and the stabbing of a 16 year-old child. http://www.cnycentral.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=337764

This got me thinking about Syracuse and other CNY cities with growing numbers of Latino/as, and the continued violence and high school drop-out rates for Latino/as in these cities. According to Education Week - New York State had a 33% graduation rate for Latino/as; 56% is the national average. Various sources place the Syracuse Latino/a graduation rate as high as 51%. Not only is the dropout rate atrocious, the number of teen pregnancies is one of the highest in the state. The girls/children at the festival were dressed the way I expect young women to be dressed in the club, with men of all ages staring at the scantly dressed pre-teens/teens. The ultimate lack of self-respect is at the heart of that issue, along with the little supervision. The city, along with its growing crime problem, is in jeopardy. One can only hope that among the people of color in the city, there are individuals willing to continue to work toward helping the community.

Tall, Dark & Chicano - George Lopez

It's official - George Lopez is one of the most influential Latino/a comedians of all time! This past Saturday, Lopez's "Tall, Dark & Chicano" aired live on HBO; the second time HBO has hosted a Lopez show! I did have the chance to check out Lopez's sold-out San Antonio performance, and as usual he delivered! Hysterical and insightful as always, Lopez had that AT&T Center rolling! He started off the evening giving a huge shout-out to our new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor! This really set the tone for the more political of all his stand-up shows, really focusing on the growing Latino vote that no politican can ignore anymore. As usual, of course, he talked about his childhood, relationships, stereotypes, and Chicano slang, coining the new Latina/o/Chicana/o text message shortcut - "ADM" instead of "OMG" - "Ay Dios Mio."

This performance was really great, but I will always love "Why You Crying?" the best - as the jokes are fresh and his acting out various characters pee-your-pants crazy! But as with anything GLo does - I will support him, because let's be real - Lopez is the best stand-up comic out there and always represents for LA RAZA! Check out the info about "Tall, Dark & Chicano" at: http://www.hbo.com/events/george-lopez/index.html

Book Review

Title: Orange County
Author: Gustavo Arellano (http://www.askamexican.net)
Published: 2008

I just finished this amazing book by columnist Arellano, Orange County, and whoa, I am still in shock by the amazing and very embarrassing history of Orange County, CA. I am also deeply touched by his various revelations about coming into his own mexicanidad throughout his childhood and teenage-college years. It is a very easy to relate to his personal story and at the same time remain shocked about what was going on around him in Orange County. The epicenter of Republicanism, anti-immigrant sentiment, various CA proposals to keep immigrants from receiving government assistance, Christian evangelicalism - all wrapped up into this CA county where Vietnamese, Mexican, white, and black co-exist. Kinda. Many of you may know Arellano as the writer of "Ask a Mexican" and his book by the same name. He is extremely funny and satirical - another must read! Here's one of my favorite passages from Orange County:

"The rhetoric you hear in Washington, the viciousness with which the various amnesty proposals were shot down in 2007, the way talk show hosts blubber about a supposed Mexican takeover of the United States through welfare fraud, pregnancy, and/or spicy salsa - your listening to Orange County's siren song. You've learned well, America-blaming immigrants (especially Mexicans) for our national ills is again a pastime, and states, cities, and counties are tripping over themselves trying to out-anti-Mexican each other. But beware our tale, because not only did the chickens return to roost, but they're laying eggs without end: Orange County now has more minorities than whites-and Mexicans are the biggest ethnic group. "

I think of this book as a modern history book - and a tragic, yet hopeful observation of a region of the country that speaks volumes to other places in the US. Not only is Arellano speaking truth to power - he does it with a big, big, b*tch slap to the establishment! It also has a special place in my heart due to his shout out to MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), a college student organization that is more than a political organization with chapters across the US, but a home away from home for hundreds of college students trying to find their place in society and give back to their community at same time. His recollection of the impact MEChA made on his life is similar to the impact it had on mine during my undergraduate college days. So to conclude - read the book - y que viva MEChA!