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Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Celebrities Reveal Their Immigrant Stories in Their Words

The creator of “Fresh Off the Boat” compiled hundreds of mini-memoirs to tell the story of immigrant America.

ABC’s sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat,” based on Eddie Huang’s memoir of the same name, has become a hit by telling the story of one immigrant family’s journey from Taiwan to America.
Now the show’s creator is sharing hundreds of immigrants’ stories in a new book, with each story told in six powerful words.
Celebrity chef and author Eddie Huang, left, actress Mila Kunis, actor George Takei and astronaut José M. Hernández are among those who share their stories in “Six Words Fresh Off the Boat: Stories of Immigration, Identity, and Coming to America.”
The book ― edited by Larry Smith, creator of the famed six-word memoir series ― sheds light on what it’s like to leave one’s country to start a new life in America. The book contains hundreds of stories from famous, notable and everyday immigrants who come from all around the world. It explores everything from their thoughts on “smelly” foods and masked accents to the sweat, courage and determination it took to begin anew in the United States.
As President Donald Trump works to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program ― which would directly affect the lives of 790,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children ― perhaps it’s the perfect time to hear immigrants and first-generation Americans tell their own stories of how they found their identity in the U.S.
Source: Latino Huffington Post

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Hablas Spanglish

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AMHERST, Mass. — When I arrived at the San Juan airport in Puerto Rico recently, the first thing I heard was this exchange:
“Cómo estás, brother?”
“Muy cool!”
“Y la situación?”
“Ya tú sabes, stinky.”
(Or, roughly, “How are you?” “Really cool.” “How are things?” and “You know, stinky.”)
During that visit, evidence of Puerto Rico’s deep recession was everywhere to be seen: foreclosure signs, empty storefronts, closed public schools and a growing homeless population. Facing $123 billion in debt and pension obligations, the government is seeking bankruptcy relief in federal court.
Depending on whom you asked, either doomsday had finally arrived or this was just another hiccup in the long-suffering island’s history. It is estimated that between 2010 and 2015, 7 percent of the entire population moved to the United States. Naturally, Puerto Ricans were sharply divided on how to resolve the crisis. But one thing united everyone: the eloquent Spanglish used to communicate the collective dismay.
Indeed, it takes any traveler no time to recognize that on the island such “code-switching” is truly democratic. No matter where one goes, Spanglish makes no distinction in terms of age, class or ethnicity. I heard it en la marketa (in the market), en la guagua (on the bus) and en el bloque (on the block). I heard Spanglish constantly on the radio in salsa, bomba, plena and reggaeton lyrics. And I saw it in the ubiquitous graffiti, which, more than in any other place I’ve been in the Spanish-speaking world, seem to favor double-entendres.
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Nightlife in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The island has developed a thriving version of Spanglish. CreditVictor J. Blue for The New York Times
Puerto Rican Spanglish didn’t just pop up out of the blue. It has been around since the Spanish-American War of 1898. Or, more concretely, since President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act in 1917, when the island entered the colonial conundrum that keeps it upended. But in times of trouble, “la lengua misma te ayuda a bregar” (“the tongue itself helps you out”). I overheard this dialogue outside a restaurant:
“Vas al coffee break ahora?”
“No, porque si no doy overtime el boss me coge.”
“Careful y tómatelo suave.”Are you going on a coffee break now?” “No, because if I don’t work overtime, my boss gets mad at me.” “Careful, take it easy.”)
Just as Puerto Rico Spanglish isn’t altogether new, the island isn’t the only ecosystem where this hybrid form of communication thrives. The United States-Mexican border is another fertile ground, although its Spanglish has a distinct vocabulary and different syntactic characteristics. Just as there are many varieties of Spanish in Hispanic countries — Argentine Spanish is different from Mexican, Colombian, Venezuelan, Cuban and so on — in the last 100 years or more, Spanglish has evolved sufficiently to establish an assortment of distinct, clearly defined types. Dominicanish, Cubonics, Tex-Mex and Chicano Spanglish in California need to be understood on their own terms.
Within those nationally defined groups, young people use Spanglish differently from their elders, just as immigrants use a type of Spanglish that is unlike the Spanglish spoken by second-generation Latinos. There is even a palpable difference between Puerto Rican Spanglish and Nuyorican, the Spanglish spoken by Puerto Ricans on the mainland. Each of these varieties is infused with a unique lexicon, accent and even style — “su propio revolú,” its own ruckus.
For a long time, purists have sought to stop the spread of Spanglish. They have described it as a pest, looking for ways to “correct” its speakers’ uncivilized parlance. For instance, in 1991 the Prince of Asturias Award, perhaps the most important cultural award in the Spanish-speaking world, was given to the people of Puerto Rico, “whose representative authorities, with exemplary decisiveness, have declared Spanish to be the only official language of the country.”
Likewise, the 2014 edition of the dictionary published by the Royal Spanish Academy, the watchdog of Spanish language usage, included 19,000 “Americanisms,” which are terms used by Latin American speakers of Spanish. A large percentage of those words are “Anglicisms” because they come from English. Common examples are “congresional” (congressional), “dron” (drone) and “nube informática” (iCloud).
What makes this edition of the dictionary a source of ridicule on Puerto Rico in particular is that just a few Anglicisms made it in, which means that the island’s parlance still remains largely beyond the purview of the academics who put together the lexicon. Buddy is “el broki.” And an invoice is “el cheque.” These simple terms aren’t registered in the prestigious lexicon, which means the joyful, exuberant Puerto Rican tongue was ignored.
It is time we stop this condescending approach to Spanglish. Puerto Ricans are proof of the durability of the phenomenon. In fact, we must see Spanglish as a new language. While it’s still not standardized, millions of speakers use it every day, creating their own syntactic rules. Looking down at them as barbarous speaks tons.
Curiously, while enjoying every sound San Juan had to offer, I kept on thinking of Yiddish, another “bastardized” tongue. Yiddish started as a mix of German and Hebrew, to which all sorts of other elements have been added over the centuries. At first it was spoken by women and children, so it was looked down upon by Talmudists and the educated elite as unworthy of serious consideration. But by the 19th century, Yiddish writers like Sholem Aleichem, author of “Tevye and His Daughters,” on which the Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof” was based, became best-selling authors. And in 1978, Isaac Bashevis Singer, among the most important writers of the 20th century, received the Nobel Prize in Literature for bringing the “universal human condition to life” in Yiddish.
Spanglish is transitioning from the oral to the written form, as novels, plays, movies, poetry, TV shows, translations, sermons and speeches are delivered in it. And it is already defining the future of the Americas. I will not be surprised if a Nobel is given in the next few decades to a Spanglish author whose oeuvre will need to be translated into Spanish and English to be fully understood by non-Spanglish speakers.
During my visit to San Juan, a performance artist assured me that U.F.O.s, if they ever land on the planet, would probably choose this island. He said it was unlikely that extraterrestrials would visit epicenters like Washington or other United States cities because they would get the executive order forbidding their entrance. In Puerto Rico, on the other hand, they will feel most welcome. They will also have a chance to appreciate the audacity of the population: “No hay money, time runs muy slow, but hey, la gente es super cool.”
Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story

Friday, July 14, 2017

El Peso Mexicano se recupera




           Baja dólar 10 centavos, a $17.85



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Wednesday, July 12, 2017

El Mal De México....

El mal en México: narco, demonios y mega exorcismos
A renglón seguido por José Carlos G. Aguiar


La idea de que el diablo anda suelto ha estado ya rondando por algunos años. Mientras que los muertos caen y se suman cada día, mostrando la brutalidad de la violencia en México, la corrupción, injusticia, criminalidad, y el colapso de las instituciones se han convertido en el día a día. Grupos conservadores de la iglesia católica hablan de una presencia demoniaca, mientras que los narcos le hacen promesas y ofrendas a satanás para protegerse de sus enemigos y asegurar así el éxito.
Desde la década de 1980 circulaban por México rumores sobre rituales satánicos de narcos pidiéndole protección y éxito al ángel del mal. Se decía que los traficantes realizaban sacrificios humanos como ofrenda. Sin embargo, en ese tiempo en el que los medios de comunicación estaban controlados por el estado, no había evidencia concreta sobre las ofrendas, y el rumor permaneció como una especie de mito urbano. Hasta ahora.
Aunque la imagen del diablo ha estado presente en la cultura popular mexicana de diferentes maneras, como por ejemplo en las figuras del nacimiento o el juego de la lotería, hay hoy en día nuevos registros del demonio en México, que le dan un significado y función distintas a las fuerzas del mal.
El diablo sale a la calle
En los últimos años, y después de que la ‘guerra contra el narco’ fuera lanzada por el presidente Felipe Calderón, ha comenzado a aparecer la imagen del diablo en lugares inesperados. En mercados populares, yerberías y altares callejeros junto a las imágenes de La Guadalupana, San Judas Tadeo, la Santa Muerte y Malverde, se ha incorporado ahora el diablo como ‘santo popular’ al que se le hacen ofrendas. Gente de ‘fina figura’ (es decir, narcotraficantes) le pide favores y es devota del diablo.
Las imágenes que representan al diablo resaltan no sólo porque materializa el mal, sino también porque exhiben un pene descomunal en erección. En un país como México con una violencia expansiva y mortal de género y homofobia, no deja de ser revelador y al mismo tiempo escalofriante que la masculinidad sea representada como una fuerza del mal. El diablo es el protector de los narcos, y su poder del mal se manifiesta a través de la fuerza masculina de los hombres, la de su sexo, para hacerlos así unos “chingones”.
Se han construido incluso capillas dedicadas a satanás, como el “Santuario del Angelito Negro” en Pachuca. Al recinto se entra por un largo pasillo oscuro, que genera algo de misterio pero sobre todo la impresión de haber bajado al inframundo, de entrar al infierno. El santuario emula más bien una cueva: el espacio es reducido, casi no tiene iluminación, y el aire apenas corre. Al fondo se encuentra una vitrina de cristal tenuemente iluminada con una luz roja, donde se resguardan imágenes del Angelito Negro.
El angelito está vestido inequívocamente de norteño, vinculándolo así a la mitología del narco, y se encuentra sentado en un trono; sus manos tienen garras en lugar de dedos, con las que sostiene billetes de dólares. La imagen corresponde a Satanás, y la gente viene a adorarlo, a pedirle favores o pagar mandas. En el santuario se realizan trabajos espirituales como limpias y trabajos negros, pero también espiritistas, estableciendo contacto con los muertos y manejando a los espíritus.
El Angelito Negro es popular entre narcotraficantes que vienen de diferentes estados del país, como Michoacán, a pedirle que les ayude. Los devotos le hacen ofrendas valiosas de dinero y oro; pero ellos saben que el diablo da pero también quita. Y que al diablo se le paga con dinero pero también con la vida.
El exorcismo magno
El 20 de mayo 2015 tuvo lugar en la catedral de San Luis Potosí el primer exorcismo magno en México. Los medios de comunicación hablaron de un “mega exorcismo” para liberar al país del mal, la violencia, y que los ciudadanos se dejen de matar entre ellos. México es hoy en día el país con el mayor número de exorcismos del mundo. Para muchos católicos, la violencia es una señal de la influencia del mal y del demonio sobre el país.
El grupo de exorcistas y sacerdotes fue encabezado por el Cardenal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, arzobispo emérito de Guadalajara. El exorcismo fue preparado por el padre español Jose Antonio Fortea, quien se ha especializado en el estudio del demonio. El ritual está basado en la noción de que es posible expeler a un demonio de un creyente, pero también de un espacio geográfico, de un territorio, como un país.
El exorcismo magno iba primero a tener lugar en la Basílica de Guadalupe en la Ciudad de México, por su simbología. Pero luego de que se filtrara la información a los medios, se decidió hacerlo en la catedral de San Luis Potosí. Durante el exorcismo, se hizo un recorrido por el interior de la catedral, y se hicieron ritos en los cuatro puntos cardinales con el fin de expeler los demonios del territorio mexicano. Sólo estuvo un periodista católico presente, y los medios informaron sobre el exorcismo semanas después de haber tenido lugar. Un par de meses más tarde, el padre Fortea hizo un segundo exorcismo, pero éste no trascendió a los medios.
Pero si alguien pensaba que las imágenes religiosas comenzaron a llorar sangre durante el exorcismo, o que los demonios se manifestaron de forma paranormal, nada está más lejos de la realidad. Según el padre Fortea, el mundo espiritual es invisible. De hecho, él nunca ha visto un demonio, y asegura que el resultado del exorcismo no es inmediato:
“Ciertamente estoy convencido que si un exorcismo tiene efecto sobre una persona, un exorcismo sobre un area también tiene efecto. Aunque no lo notemos. El demonio va a ser expulsado; no todos, algunos sí. Para mí la invocación del demonio tiene efectos, y la parte contraria, del bien, la oración, también.”
¿Mexico sin mal?
La visibilidad de la adoración del demonio hoy en día en México, junto con la organización de exorcismos, son parte de un mismo proceso. Ambas son formas radicales para ordenar y darle sentido a la espiral de violencia, injusticia e impunidad por la que atraviesa el país. Mientras unos buscan fuerzas en el lado oscuro del mal, otros ven en los exorcismos la solución a un problema institucional y del estado de derecho en el que se encuentra sumergido México.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

To My Undocumented Friend, You Are Here To Stay

To my undocumented friend, you are important. You are loved. You are appreciated. Your heart is bigger and stronger than all of the insults and names this country calls you. This world belongs to all its creatures, and therefore, immigrating does not make you a criminal, it makes you human. A resident of your own world. Our desire to live made us cross borders and swim across oceans. Some of us would rather die trying than to die at the hands of our own. We never imagined a future outside the soil that birthed us, but that very same soil has been poisoned since it was stolen. They expect us to prosper in the land they tainted with our blood. You have overcome the unexpected and survived the unthinkable. You moved to a new country with nothing but the clothes on your back, and that is admirable and worthy of praise. It takes special people to endure hate and poverty, yet still love others around them. You are strength. If they come for you, keep your head up high for you have done more for this world than those who hold you captive. Someday, they will pay for not seeing us as human beings ― as their brothers and sisters. For believing they are better than us because of the pigment of their skin. Someday, we won’t live in fear. A piece of paper has not stopped us before and it won’t stop us now. Stand tall for you are not a burden on this country, you are one of its greatest treasures. Your presence brings more than labor to this nation. You bring humility, culture, generations of resilience and love. Someday, we will no longer have to validate our own existence. Someday, they will know our worth. Walk firm and never look down. May your words express your pride and your actions show what you’re made off. Hold your loved ones tight and love them everyday. Let them love you back. I don’t know what will happen to us in the next four years, all I know is that I am proud to belong to our community. I am who I am today because of you. Together, we will survive because we are here to stay.