By ED MORALES Oct. 3, 2012 There was an appropriate air of excitement at Bogotá’s Teatro Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on a recent September evening. A buzzing crowd had come to hear a broad array of musical acts native to this capital city, a magnet for internal migration, and celebrate its designation as Creative City of […]
Read moreIt’s Hard Out Here For a Scab
Much has been written, broadcast, tweeted, and bloviated about Monday night’s “blown call” by replacement referees during the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers. A national debate has been raised about whether part-time workers deserve a non-contribution based pension. Even anti-union blowhards like Wisconsin governor Scott Walker have come out in […]
Read moreLas mentiras que nos tiran
Hace poco que surgió otra controversia en los medios sobre el uso (aparente y alegadamente) de las tácticas de los nazis en el debate político, que se sigue intensificando de cara a las elecciones de noviembre. John Burton, el jefe del partido demócrata de California, dijo que lo que usaban los republicanos era una versión […]
Read moreThis Is How You Tell It: Junot Díaz’s Spanglish Zanganerías
“I’m not a bad guy,” says Yunior in the very first sentence of “The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars,” the very first story in Junot Díaz’s collection This Is How You Lose Her. How many times has that thought gone through my head? Díaz seems to know, like many overeducated Latinos of his generation, that the […]
Read morePuerto Rico Political Discourse Dictated by “La Comay”
La Comay is a female marionette assuming the role of middle-aged town gossip. But she is voiced by a comedian named Kobbo Santarrosa, who has built his show, Super Xclusivo, into the highest-rated program in Puerto Rico by mixing tabloid gossip, sensationalism and a speculative form of investigative nation into a highly influential source of the island territory’s political discourse.
Read moreSometimes Life Is Like…
Sometimes life is like the floor of Jackson Pollock’s studio. Seemingly chaotic, but possessing a logic that somehow coheres. Spiraling colors dripped down from above, settling on a canvas of earth. I felt drawn to the swirl, and leaving the creaking wood of the barn that housed it, it was time to listen to the […]
Read moreRepublican Attacks on Welfare Policies Wrong
Published Today on McClathchy.com The Republican Party should be ashamed of spreading disinformation about President Obama’s welfare policies. It is trying to use using divisiveness and fear to gain at the ballot box. Playing the race card and reviving old and inaccurate welfare stereotypes is just plain wrong. The Romney campaign is running an ad […]
Read moreRepublican Mob Shouts Down Puerto Rican Republican
UPDATE: El Nuevo Día has published a story that says that the outburst chronicled below was the tail end of a demonstration led by Ron Paul supporters over allowing the Maine delegation to sit. And if that’s the case, then the behavior I describe below may not be as boorish as I first suspected. But […]
Read moreNo Means No: A People’s Victory in Puerto Rico
All month long the people of Puerto Rico have been assaulted by a barrage of advertising on television, radio, and billboards urging them to vote for two constitutional amendments that would eliminate the absolute right to bail for the accused and decrease the size of the legislature by 30 per cent. They were told these […]
Read moreEddie Palmieri and the Future of Salsa
When you think of 75-year-old Eddie Palmieri, legendary Nuyorican pianist, you think about his classic salsa hits like “Azúcar,” “Justicia,” or “La Malanga.” Or maybe you remember his extensive series of Latin jazz recordings post-1980. But the enigmatic truth about Palmieri is that while he will deny being a salsero or a jazz musician, he is […]
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ED MORALES 