Dominican Republic Independence Day

Today Feb 27th we celebrate the Independence day of the Dominican Republic. It was on this day in 1844 that the Dominican Republic gained its Independence from the 22 years of Haitian rule. In 1838 a secret society was formed to fight for Independence, the group was called " La Trinitaria" (The Trinity)because its original nine members organized themselves into three different cells which eventually went on to recruit as seperate organizations. The founding fathers were Juan Pablo Duarte, Ramon Matias Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sanchez. Today, 165 years later we commemorate those brave, unselfish actions with our Dominican brothers and sisters and wish them another 165 more. Con mucho amor, God bless.

Dominican Republic gets greener

I was reading in the "DOMINICAN TODAY" that volunteers from the utility company AES Dominicana and Pronatura, an environmental group partnered up to plant over 2000 native Pine Trees in San Jose de Cocoa. Im glad to know that our Latin American countries see the importance in reducing greenhouse gases and we are proud to see the example being set in the Dominican republic. "Pronatura is a Dominican organization which in addition to protecting the environment, promotes the development of the country's renewable natural resources, sustainable development and to improve the standard of living of people in high-priority zones."

My hopes are that our other latin American countries will follow suit and recognize the positive outcome that this brings not only to the Latin countries but to the rest of the world as well. We are one step closer to fighting a world battle against global warming, con mucho amor para mi gente in the Dominican Republic God bless.

Penelope Cruz the second Lateena to win Oscar

I dont know if anyone was watching the Oscars last night but history was made again, and it was by one of our own beautiful Lateena actresses. Penelope Cruz won supporting role in "Vicky Christina Barcelona." If you werent watching then you missed the acceptance speech, at the end of it she says in spanish that the win was for her home town in Spain. We congratulate her for a well earned Oscar and wish her all the best in her future. There was also alot of mention that Penelope was the first Lateena to ever win an Oscar, but that was an incorrect statement that a number of writers have made. This might of been an error, its possible that the writers meant that she was the first Spaniard to win an Oscar but she was not the first Lateena to win an Oscar. The first was Rita Moreno in " West Side Story" she also won other firsts like the Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and the Sarah Siddons Award. Nevertheless we give the love and respect to both of our Oscar winners and recognize all their hard works and careers and wish the world to them.

Good Article

I read this great article about Lateenos supporting and unifying with Latin countries outside of the United States so that we can better respect one another and help build stronger relations. Its really a good article that was reinterpreted in English, originally written in "El Diario La Prensa" by Elvira Arellano.



http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=ace7a56c338e7dcfc27fff3411e80b20

Our Day in history

In 1945 on this very date the United States military started one of its most dangerous fights in the history of the pacific, during World War II. Though Feb 19th was the beginning of the battle for Iwo Jimas air fields it was also the beginning of the end for the Japanese. There were over 25,000 US casualties and wounded, 36 days of living hell and death all around. Among all the casualties and wounded there were many Lateenos in both groups, fighting alongside other fellow Americans for the greater good of the world. Its important to recognize all the heroes of this country to include the Lateeno, Native and African Americans who served their country and gave their lives for it. The battle for the Pacific, and most importantly Iwo Jima was won because of the great sacrifices made by our military and the brave souls in it. I am proud to say that our gente played a major role in the securing of the air field on Iwo Jima and the eventual defeat of the Imperial Japanese Army. Being a lateeno veteran myself I am honored to make this blog entry, to all my combat brothers and sisters just showing some love, God bless.

These dayz

Mandando saludas a todo mi gente, I hope everyone is having better days, from the word out on the street and in the newspapers its not looking so good. I'm reading many similar messages out there from people that are just too negative and seem to have no real solution other then getting into the "survival mode" and riding this recession out. We are all having challenging times in the U.S, Latin America and abroad, but unlike those speaking that doom and gloom message I believe that there is much more to life then what we are currently experiencing. This purging process that the world is going through is necessary, not just for the new economy, but for the new direction that we must go in order to return balance. Keep in mind that along with filtering out the "old" there must be the "new" to replace it, which leaves a perfect opportunity for those that have planned and are waiting to seize that moment. There is no better opportunity then now for Lateenos to start planning and readying themselves for that new shift, some of us have allowed time to slip by but there are new days ahead and it is within those days that we can still benefit and accomplish our dreams. Lateeno people have worked hard to establish themselves but now its time to take it further because that which is to come is what we will reap if we are prepared. I know today is not so great but tomorrow will be better, believe in yourself, stay hopeful and dream big. Dream BIG!!!!!! God bless.

Joe Cuba el Padre de Latin Boogaloo

Puerto Rican musicians and music lovers alike have lost a great influential person of our time. Joe Cuba whos real name is Gilberto Miguel Calderon, was the "Father of Latin Boogaloo", dubbed that because of his unique style and ways of using instruments like the conga and timbales just to name a couple. Joe grew up in spanish Harlem, the son of a candy store owner, he started playing at a young age apperently after breaking a leg when he was playing a neighborhood favorite, stickball. He went on to play with some other Salsa greats such as Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, and Ricardo Ray. On April 1999 our very own Joe Cuba was forever written in our history of music by being inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. Sadly yesterday Feb 15th, 2009 we lost this wonderful musician but he will always be in our hearts and he has left behind a legacy of music for all to enjoy. Joe you are in our prayers.

Happy Valentines a todos

We would like to wish everyone a Happy and safe Valentines Day. Everyone from the east coast to the west coast and midwest to the south. And of course a todo los Lateenos in the central and south Americas. Con mucho amor para todos. Spend some time with the ones you love and fall in love all over again, if that special someone isnt in your life then be thankful that you still have yourself. God bless

Chiles official Declaration of Independence

Today, FEB 12th 1818 Chile officially issued its Declaration of Independence to Spain. But Chile celebrates its first date that they declared their Independence which is Sept 18th 1810. The Feb 12th date is the official because it is when San Martin defeats the last large Spanish force in the battle of Maipu, and immediately starts to form their Government. These are one of historically treasured dates in time but we want to recognize it because its important for all Lateeno people since we gained Independence around similar times. Their are always big challenges after our Lateeno countries have gained Independence but to remember the day that we started living under free Government, that we can never forget just as we celebrate the United States of Americas free Government on July 4th 1776 from Great Britain. Chile we will recognize both dates of your Independence, because history does. Gente, show love to our Chileano brothers and sisters, con mucho amor, God bless.

What are you getting your Valentines

Okay I know there are some unique things that we tend to get our Valentines. We hear that some are getting the red roses and some chocolates and a then dinner at a special spot. I heard one couple was planning on going to do it up at their cousins bbq, well hey if your Valentines is cool with that then get your Q on. I personally wouldnt mind a relaxed scene at a quiet spot with just me and my loved ones, and an evening of some us time. If you have some special thing your going to do with your V then share it with us, let us know how you do it. God bless.

What if, what next

Hope everyone is having a blessed day, we wanted to share an opinion that has been voiced across the Lateeno community. There are those of us who are wanting and hoping for a more unified Lateeno people, like we had when we took part in the elections. Our people are so great in numbers that its hard to ignore even for the politicians, as we've mentioned before. Today I was reading a comment at BoricuaFirst.com, they were wondering about the impact of a Hispanic unity and the part it would play in public opinion, politics and healthcare. Well we've seen firsthand what we can do as a group during this last election, and how much we really do influence this country. Now imagine how much we could accomplish by working together even more. We could start by making our neighborhoods the safest and cleanest. As Lateeno men we could work together and make sure our families are moving in positive directions, always offering the best of ourselves to our brothers and sisters. Our Lateena women, the backbone to our families, without them there is no us. Our Lateena women could reinforce our childrens confidence in themselves, filling them with goals and big dreams. As a whole we could all support Lateeno businesses and volunteer time to our communities so that our children have examples to pass on to their own families when they get older. And all Lateeno owned businesses could set aside funds for our community childrens educations, so that they can have an opportunity to earn a degree and start their own businesses. Then by constantly informing and directing one another we could help ourselves to brighter futures. By doing this we allow the old cycles of setbacks and poverty to wither away and offer new generations to come a better chance at success. I am hopeful that this can be done but it takes alot of us to agree and then to take part and do. Whats next is up to you, me and the millions of others that are willing. Take initiative be the voice and start, do your little part we got to start somewhere. Con mucho amor a todo mi gente God bless.

The beginning and End!!

Today is one of those great days in Lateeno history. On Feb 6th 1899, the U.S. senate ratified a peace treaty ending the Spanish American War. This fluke of a war had been started by an unexpected mechanical failure on the USS Maine and by heavy propaganda from newspapers in America(the USS Maine had a boiler explosion and over 200 Americans died). U.S. President William Mckinley demanded that Spain grant Cuba its Independence, Spain refused and there begun the end of Spains strong hold. What came out of all this was Cuba gaining its Independence (minus Guantanamo bay), while Puerto Rico, Guam and Philippines were under U.S. control. As I sit here writing this I can't help but wonder what were the chances that the boiler on this ship (USS Maine) would of exploded in Havana, Cuba causing the spark for the Spanish American War. Regardless of how it all came about we can be thankful for its ending.

The Lateeno Vote

I just read an article about how we (Lateenos) played a huge part in the Obama vote. Apparently the Republicans didnt understand why the lateeno vote was heavily Democratic, maybe it was because they spent alot of money and effort to deport as many Lateenos as possible. It was as if the Lateeno community took the place of the Taliban, I guess the Bush administration had so much trouble catching Bin Laden so they figured why not focus on an easier target, all the illegal Lateenos. I guess McCains people assumed and I quote "Hispanics wouldn't vote for an African American candidate". Well not only were they wrong but the Lateeno community grew in numbers from 2004 and new majority states like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada turned democratic. So Lesson one for the Republicans, if your going to deport our relatives keep in mind that those of us that are born here still vote. Lateenos be ready for the Republicans to come and befriend us again, McCains gente are spending millions of dollars so they can evaluate how to regain our trust so they can get back in office. Check this out do you see any difference in these two faces, they're strangely similar........ Come on how can you not trust these two, hahahaha.

New month

Its the month of amor for all of us. Next week we'll be able to spend some time with the ones we love and enjoy a little personal time to help reinforce that. I know we find ourselves challenged to smile or think of something positive because all thats goin on, whether it be the economy, jobs or stressed family relationships. Its hard to see through all the drama and emotions but as long as we keep saying to ourselves that eventually this will pass too, we will make it. I know were not the only ones reading about these people who lose their jobs and get all depressed and wind up taking not only their lives but the lives of their family members as well. Its not the end of the world there will be another day, we dont know what God will bring into our lives. So stop assuming and start believing there is a brighter day if we will be patient enough to wait for it. I know there is a great future for all of us, thats right every Lateeno that believes in his/her self. I hope everybody celebrates the love for life and know that better days will come, and its mandatory we should be loving ourselves. Short and sweet con mucho amor a mi gente, God bless.

Biography of the President - The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Biography of the President - The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Congrats to Dr. Francisco Cigarroa

Lets personally congratulate one of our own that has earned his way to the top. Dr. Cigarroa "will become the first Mexican American to preside over a major U.S. university system". Austin, Texas has another Lateeno to be proud of, so do we.