Archive for October 2011

Dia de Los Muertos vs. Halloween

It is that time of year again, that which commercialized to be filled with tricks and treats, is one that also leads people to partake in October’s ‘morbid culture’ of fright and fear. However, Halloween certainly has deep historical roots in other cultures, transforming the image as we know it today.

Since the United States can essentially be viewed as a microcosm of the world- representing people and their cultures from across the globe, it should come to no surprise that many of the customs that are commonly associated with Halloween are similar to those in other cultures, particularly to El Dia de los Muertos- The Day of the Dead- in Mexico. Both celebrations begin on 31st of October, which traces back to when the Aztecs in Mexico were conquered by the Spanish, and they implemented their Christian celebration of All Saint’s Day on November 1st and 2nd . In fact, in most Latin American cultures, El Dia de Los Muertos begins on October 31st, but unlike in the United States, when it is celebrated throughout the evening, most Latin American cultures begin celebrating at midnight on October 31st, which officially commences their religious celebration of All Saint’s Day on November 1st. 

In addition to the difference in timing, both El Dia de Los Muertos and Halloween have more differences in custom than is often understood due to the modern mixture of the two traditions: “But the customs have different origins, and their attitudes toward death are different: In the typical Halloween festivities, death is something to be feared. But in el día de los muertos, death — or at least the memories of those who have died — is something to be celebrated… Its origins are distinctly Mexican: During the time of the Aztecs, a monthlong summer celebration was overseen by the goddess Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead” (Veronica Gonzalez- Smith 2010).

In the United States, many families of Hispanic origin, particularly Mexican families often combine both celebrations, usually partaking in the ‘commercial’ festivities of Halloween of tricking and treating, costumes and scary movies, but also aiming to preserve their traditions of commemorating the dead in El Dia de Los Muertos through vigils and ‘remembrance ceremonies’, which often involve bringing up cherished memories of the dead and often paying visits to and adorning their graves.

Of course, as in any Hispanic home, the food is never left behind: “Festivities also frequently include traditional foods such as pan de muerto (bread of the dead), which can conceal a miniature skeleton” (Veronica Gonzalez- Smith). We all know that any new recipe that is specific to an event or time of year, is one that carries over sentimental value- one that, in this case, unites the present to commemorate and be reunited with the past.

MiBODEGA AGENCY Attends 14th Annual Leadership Dominican American National Roundtable Summit

Los Que Se Quedan

On October 13, 2011, The American Bible Society in New York City hosted a Latino Immigration Summit, focusing on ‘los que se quedan’, those who remain in the various countries where millions have left for the United States. The event hosted several leaders that are particularly involved with the topic of immigration, including professors, businessmen, and government officials who contributed to an open forum on the topic.

Oftentimes, immigration topics are focused on the impact that immigrants have on the economy or society of the United States versus the impact that immigration has on the nations the immigrants leave behind. In his documentary, Los Que Se Quedan (those who remain), Mexican screenwriter and director Juan Carlos Rufo, focuses on the impact that immigration has on the families who are torn apart by what is seen by some members as a necessary migration to the United States. The documentary enlightens the viewers with insight on the humanistic impact that immigration has on those who are separated; frequently, families are torn apart to never be mended, and often, those who do return are not the ‘same’.

The open forum particularly focused on the effects of migration on the country that is being departed. While some like Ms. Gale Kesselman, the Co-Chair for the New Jersey Citizens for Immigration Control, maintained that , “there needs to be a distinction between illegal immigrants and transcendent workers”, some like the Vice President of Western Union, Ms. Barbara Span insisted that in this ever-expanding global society, trade is necessary to help those who leave and ‘those who remain’ in different parts of the world. Span insists that the story is the same all over the world, “a story of small-business development and global trade; through trade not aid we can better get to the root problems of migration”, which is proven to be true as she claims that Western Union clients send millions of dollars home to support education and small businesses abroad; by their repeated financial contributions, individuals help the overall sustainability of their family members abroad.

Despite the increasing numbers in immigrants in the United States, the Chief of the Office for Policy and Strategy for the US Citizenship and Immigration Services under George W. Bush, Mr. Carlos Iturregui, asserts that, “now we are at a stage where politicians do not want to talk immigration.” This, he says, has particularly been the case after the occurrences of 9/11, which completely brought to a halt any progress in international policy that related to immigration; although pressing issues relating to immigration are in fact brought up, they seem almost redundant and very difficult to resolve due to the varying numbers of opinions that different politicians have on the issues.

Although it may take a decade or two to finally arrive at a consensus on the many areas that are affected as a result of immigration, one thing is certain and certainly not able to be ignored. At the end of the day, those who leave, and those who remain, Los Que Se Quedan, certainly represent two sides of a very human separation, one which often brings about despair, heartbreak, and sometimes eternal separation.

'Til Death or Divorce?

The National Vital Statistics Reports, show that in 2009, the divorce rate of 3.4 was exactly half the marriage rate of 6.8. The divorce rate, although declining, in 2007 at 3.6, in 2008 at 3.5, and in 2009 at 3.4, is probably subject to the declining marriage rate during those years, from 7.3 in 2007 to 7.1 in 2008, and eventually to 6.8 in 2009.
The states with the highest divorce rates are Nevada, Arkansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wyoming, respectively; those with the lowest divorce rate are Massachusetts, Iowa, Illinois, and Rhode Island.
The U.S. divorce rate has often been quoted as being 50% or higher; however , the U.S. divorce rate as a percentage remains unknown and open to speculation, but, it can be said that nearly one in four Americans age 20 and over has been divorced at least once, according to the U.S.Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) (2004 data): 24% of American men and women age 20 and over have ever been divorced; 78% have ever been married, 61% have been married once, 14% have been married twice, and 3% have been married three or more times.
According to the U.S.Census Bureau, Asians have the lowest divorce rates at 9%, followed by Hispanics at 15%, then Blacks at 22%, and then with White, Non-Hispanics having the highest divorce rates at 27%.

Film Happy Feet 2 Includes Rapper Common and Sofia Vargas

Rapper Common and latina actress Sofia Vargas are included in the cast of the upcoming film. The full cast is listed below.

Happy Feet 2 main voice cast is listed below :

• • Elijah Wood as Mumble
  • Robin Williams as Lovelace/Ramón
  • P!nk as Gloria
  • Elizabeth Daily as Erik
  • Carlos Alazraqui as Nestor
  • Johnny A. Sanchez as Lombardo
  • Lombardo Boyar as Raul
  • Jeffrey Garcia as Rinaldo
  • Brad Pitt as Krill #1
  • Matt Damon as Krill #2
  • Magda Szubanski as Miss Viola
  • Sofia Vergara as Carmen
  • Anthony LaPaglia as Boss Skua
  • Hugo Weaving as Noah
  • Hank Azaria
  • The Mighty Sven – He is a character who is introduced in this film and met Erik, Mumble and Gloria’s son, and he is a “flying penguin.”

Miss Representation Trailer

This video without a doubt points out valid arguments within media today and gender exploitation. If your interested in getting more information on this check out their website HERE

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Battlefield 3 Video Game Adds Jay-Z Track On Their Official Soundtrack

The Battlefield 3 Developers make Jay-Z’s 99 Problems part of their official soundtrack. The game drops in stores 10.25.11  This is one more example of urban culture being mainstream in today’s society. Battlefield 3 is a first-person shooter action video game, being developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and to be published by Electronic Arts. The game is set to be released on October 25, 2011 on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.

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President Obama Nominates Dominican American Julissa Reynoso For U.S. Ambassador

President Obama nominates Julissa Reynoso, who is a Dominican American who is currently Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central America and the Caribbean in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the Department of State to be the U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay. Julissa Reynoso is an attorney by trade and, prior to joining the U.S. State Department, practiced law at the international law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York, focusing on international arbitration and antitrust law. She was also a fellow at New York University School of Law and Columbia Law School.

In 2006, Ms. Reynoso served as Deputy Director of the Office of Accountability at the New York City Department of Education. She has published widely in both Spanish and English on a range of issues including regulatory reform, community organizing, housing reform, immigration policy, and Latin American politics for both popular press and academic journals.

Ms. Reynoso holds a B.A. in Government from Harvard University, a Masters in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge in the U.K., and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain. Ms. Reynoso is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

Cancer Has Ethnic Risk for Hispanics

As I prepare for a Breast Cancer walk this morning, I cannot help but to be shocked by the following article:
“Some Hispanic women carry a gene mutation that makes them more likely to get an aggressive form of breast cancer at a young age, but few know it, because they’re not Jewish.
Researchers have found that one of the inherited mutations that is associated with early and aggressive breast cancer in women of Ashkenazi background—the Jews of Eastern and Central Europe—is also found in a higher percentage of Hispanic women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancer researchers blame the Inquisition.

Research “places that particular mutation back in history around 2000 years ago, before the destruction of the Second Temple and the dispersion of the Jews from Israel,” explains Dr. Jeffrey Weitzel, of the City of Hope, a cancer research center in Duarte, Calif. “When you put that together with historic events, it leads you to the Spanish Inquisition.”

Though Jews faced periodic persecution, the Jewish community grew in Spain in Medieval times. In 1300, the Jewish population of Spain numbered about 500,000. Over the next two centuries many thousands were forced to convert or flee. Some escaped to the Americas, where there was also pressure to convert.

Today, many of the descendants of the “Conversos” don’t know about their Jewish ancestry, or their risk of carrying the so-called Ashkenazi mutation.

“Just because you’re forced to convert, you don’t lose your genetic composition,” says Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who sponsored a law to increase education and outreach efforts to make sure women who are at risk know it.
Wasserman Schultz first learned about the mutation, and that she had it, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer at 41. She had a double mastectomy and had her ovaries removed because the mutation also puts women at a higher risk of having a second breast cancer, and of having ovarian cancer. In men, it increases the risk for prostate cancer. She advises all to do self breast exams every month and make sure to get a clinical exam annually. Cancer experts offer the same advice, and they also urge women to find out about any cancers in their families, on both the mother’s and father’s sides. “The father’s family history is equally as important as the mother’s,” Weitzel says. “Half of all breast cancers come from dad. Men are silent carriers.”

Weitzel’s first study that found the Ashkenazi mutation in Hispanic women who had breast cancer and a family history of breast or ovarian cancers was done in 2005 in California. Other studies have found similar results in a small community in Colorado, and in studies done in Mexico, Chile and Spain. Weitzel has since found another type of mutation that seems to go back to pre-Colombian Mexico. That type of mutation, called a large gene rearrangement, isn’t detected by the standard genetic test done for breast cancer.

Talia Donenberg, a genetic counselor who works with breast cancer patients at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, likens the Ashkenazi mutation to a misspelling in a document. The large gene rearrangement is more like a chapter of a book missing, something the standard test that just looks for ‘misspellings’ won’t detect.

“Some Hispanics can have detectable mutations, like the Jewish one, but some Hispanics may have these large gene rearrangements,” she says. “Those are not detectable by the commercial tests that are typically covered by insurance.”

The company that controls the testing for the breast cancer gene in the U.S., Myriad Genetics, charges an extra $700 to test for the large gene rearrangements. Myriad has patented the gene itself, making it impossible for anyone else in the U.S. to test it. A federal appeals court recently upheld Myriad’s right to control breast cancer genetic screening. Wasserman Schultz has added an amendment to a patent reform bill pending before Congress to study the issue of gene patents. “I have had a good working relationship with Myriad, but I also think that patenting a gene mutation should not be allowed,” she says. ‘It puts people’s lives at risk.’” (Susannah Nesmith.).

More Hispanics in College

“The number of 18-to-24 year-old Hispanics attending college in the U.S. reached an all0time high of 12.2 million in October 2010 according to an analysis recently published by the Pew Hispanic Center using U.S. Census Bureau data. The study indicates that the number of whites in that age group enrolling in college decreased during the same period. Enrollment of Hispanics accounted for 1.8 million, or 15 percent of the overall enrollment of students in the U.S. Meanwhile, 320,000 fewer young non-Hispanic whites enrolled in college in 2010 than in 2009.
The Pew Center attributes rising educational attainment as the dominant driver of the enrollment trends for young Hispanic adults. Their data states that the percentage of Hispanics who completed high school from 2009 to 2010 increased 3 percent. The number of students from this same category attending college also increased from 39 percent in 2009 to 44 percent “(Poder Hispanic Magazine). 
These shifts suggest that for the first time, Hispanics outnumbered young blacks on campus. This is due to high levels of migration and high birth rates among Hispanics in addition to an increase in educational pursuit (Pew Hispanic Center).