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Showing posts from October, 2011

LATINA HOLIDAY BLOG TOUR

   The Latina Holiday Blog Tour is the brainchild of Icess Fernandez Rojas ( http://www.writingtoinsanity.com/ ).  She has gathered almost a month’s worth of writers and bloggers -- including yours truly -- for a blog tour.  Think of us as your very own Latina Advent Calendar .  There will be essays, stories, videos, photo albums, music, etc.  Stay tune for more details. In the meantime, here is the lineup for December: Dec. 1 Julia Amante Dec. 2 Valerie R. Dec. 3. Radames Ortiz Dec. 4 Deborah Staley Dec. 5. Sylvia Mendoza Dec. 6 Danielle Klenak Dec. 7 Lupe Mendez Dec. 8 Natasha Oliver Dec. 9 Maria Ferrer -- The Latina Book Club Dec. 10 Sidney Williams Dec. 11 Toni Plummer Dec. 12 Mayra Calvani Dec. 13 Kristy Harding Dec. 14 Thelma Reyna Dec. 15 Rose Molina Dec. 16 Regina Tingle Dec. 17 Teresa Dovalpage Dec. 18 Mirta Espinola Dec. 19 Kim Brown Dec. 20 Gwen Jerris Dec. 21 TBA Dec. 22 Icess Fernandez Rojas Dec. 23 Teresa Carbajal Revet

IN MEMORY OF PIRI THOMAS

   "We're hung up in the middle, with no place to go." They don't want us here, in the land of the Yankees and in Puerto Rico they deny us our heritage. Creativity: it's the strength, the power, it's healing. Creativity was my salvation in prison because it kept me from becoming a vegetable or a psychopath. It opened worlds up to me where I could time travel with the power of my mind because of the anguish to be free, out of that canary cage.                                                                                                                ----Piri Thomas Author Piri Thomas died on October 23 at the age of 83 in California, away from the city of birth (New York) and the land that he loved (Puerto Rico). Piri is best known for his memoir, DOWN THESE MEAN STREETS, which chronicled his life growing up in Spanish Harlem, his drug addiction and his time in prison. Many compared it to THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X. Piri wrote the origina

Q&A WITH AUTHOR…..TERRI MOLINA

   I’m one of those people who just has to do things right and succeed, and I’ll keep working on it until I do. Some call it persistence…I call it stubborn.     -- Terri Molina Tell us about your book, FORGET ME NOT. How did you come up with the idea? Well, here’s the blurb: Romance novelist Casey Martinez thought changing her name would help her escape the pain of her past but when she receives photographs of a grisly murder, it becomes evident that a killer is stalking her. Over the past six years, women who share an eerie similarity to Casey have been found raped and mutilated—each with the remains of Casey’s book by their side. Haunted by the death of her mother twenty five years earlier, Casey reluctantly seeks refuge in the town she swore she would never return to—Rosehill, Texas. Detective Scott Weller is assigned to protect Casey, and it's no easy job dealing with the stubborn, independent woman who wants nothing to do with him. But living in such close quarters lea

THE CELEBRATION CONTINUES

  The month-long celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month is officially over...or is it? We continue to be Latino.  It's not something that we can turn off.  And we wouldn't want to if we could.  So even though the holiday is over, the Celebration Continues. As Latinos, let's continue to honor our Parents, our roots, our culture, our music, our language, all our peoples.  And, let's Pay Tribute to Latinos everywhere.  Read Latino books; watch Latino movies; patronize Latino businesses; play your favorite Latino artists. The Latina Book Club also wishes to thank its Guest Bloggers this month; see list below.  If you missed their post, just click on their names.   GUEST BLOGGERS Marcela Landres , Editor Extraordinaire Raul Ramos y Sanchez , author of AMERICA LIBRE Monique Frausto of Blogs by Latinas Mike Padilla , author of THE GIRLS FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY CANTINA Vanessa Libertad Garcia , author of THE VOTING BOOTH AFTER DARK: DESPICABLE, EMBARRASSI

TO CELEBRATE BEING HISPANIC IS TO NOT FORGET WHERE YOU COME FROM

   The Latina Book Club is pleased to welcome Julio Ricardo Varela as our Guest Blogger in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.  Julio brings an important message for all of us.  by Julio Ricardo Varela Latinolandia is at a crossroads in its quest to find its place in United States society. As the number of Latinos/Hispanics continues to grow in US, we are left to wonder: what will be our legacy? What will be our crowing achievement? Earlier this year, I wrote a blog piece about how being Latino in the United States comes with a lot of baggage. While an event like Hispanic Heritage Month tries to show a group of 54 million strong that is homogenous and united, it is clear that there is a marketing ideal and then there is true. I argued that we Latinos are are own worst enemy. Instead of celebrating our commonalities, we easily fall into the trap that we come from different countries and experiences, and that trap leads to disunity. Take the case of Hispanic Heritage Mo

TO HONOR MY PARENTS

   by Cindy L. Rodriguez The Latina Book Club welcomes a new guest blogger, Cindy L. Rodriguez, YA author and reviewer. When National Hispanic Heritage Month was enacted into law in August 1988, I was packing to start my undergraduate studies at the University of Connecticut. I wasn’t even aware that a month dedicated to recognizing the achievements of Hispanics existed. Of course, this was likely because I was a self-absorbed teenager headed for college. Yahoo! As a result, I never formally celebrated the month until recently, although I’ve always been proud of my heritage. My father was born in Puerto Rico and lived most of his life in Chicago. My mother is Brazilian. The only class she failed in high school was English. She brushed it off thinking, “Oh well, when will I really need it?” Juan meet Neuza. My dad was a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in Brazil—a cushy assignment if you ask me, but it was obviously meant to be. They married in Brazil, and my mother

BOOK OF THE MONTH: THE RISING MOON by Nilsa Rodriguez

   THE RISING MOON By Nilsa Rodriguez Black Dove Publishing First, there were the "UnderWorld" movies, then came the TWILIGHT craze (Go Team Jacob!).   Now comes a new voice and a new battle between vampires and werewolves.  Now you must choose.  Whose side are you on? REVIEW :    THE RISING MOON is an exciting and “howling” debut for Rodriguez. (I couldn’t resist.) It’s easy to read, fast-paced and full of interesting and likeable characters. Rodriguez has taken the vampire vs. werewolf phenomenon and made it her own, with a fresh voice and a new hook. YA paranormal readers will be pleased by this series. Rodriguez is definitely an author to watch. SUMMARY : One morning she was an ordinary and human High School senior, the next, Angelia (Lia) Lafosse is a reincarnated immortal werewolf. Now she must discover the secrets of her past and her past lives in order to survive. For if the Lobison realizes she is alive—again!—it will only mean her death and of those sh

THERE ARE COUNTLESS REASONS I LOVE BEING HISPANIC

     by Vanessa Libertad Garcia The Latina Book Club is proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with author and filmmaker Vanessa Libertad Garcia. Welcome! There are countless reasons I love being Hispanic. Many of these were born in my childhood before I became aware of the shameful way we were portrayed in American news and movies. Before junior high when white kids and their self-loathing Hispanic sidekicks chuckled while calling me “Pocahontas” and “dumb Mexican”. Long before then, I learned to love being Hispanic when the outside world did not exist and there was just my family. During those times, they frequently spoke with pride about the entrepreneurial brilliance and loyal hearts of our seaside Cuban people. When my grandmother Mamaita would talk about her native Cuban-Indian grandmother fleeing from cruel Spanish colonialists to live hidden in the mountains “los montes” where she sat daily on a rock in the stream and combed her long strong white hair. When my m

LATINOS IN POLITICS

   The Latina Book Club celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with all things and people Latino, including politicians.  Here are a few of the many who have served and still serve today.  How many do you know? SONIA SOTOMAYOR Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. First Hispanic Justice and third female confirmed. HERMAN BADILLO  former U.S. Representative (NY-D) former Bronx Borough President former Deputy Mayor of New York City First Puerto Rican to be elected to these posts and be a mayoral candidate in the continental U.S. UNITED STATES SENATE Only seven Senators have been Hispanic to-date, with only two serving currently. SENATOR ROBERT "BOB" MENENDEZ New Jersey SENATOR MARCO RUBIO Florida HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES The first Hispanic Representative was ROMUALDO PACHECO from California, 1877-1883. There have been 42 Representatives since 1877; currently, there are 24 Hispanic Representatives serving. HOUSE DELEGATES (Since 1901, has been the non-