Latinos at Brave New Films

Latinos at Brave New Films http://bravenewfilms.org/topics/latinos 2008-06-20T01:34:18Z Re: HAF @ NYC's Gay Pride 2007 http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/42550-re-haf-nyc-s-gay-pride-2007 2008-06-20T01:34:18Z MayorGalvan <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ihufFOap3Q4&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ihufFOap3Q4&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/42550-re-haf-nyc-s-gay-pride-2007"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/48021" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Video Cam Direct Upload</p> </div> <a href="/blog/42550-re-haf-nyc-s-gay-pride-2007">Watch the video</a> Why Politicians Must Pay Attention to Latino Voters http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/41372-why-politicians-must-pay-attention-to-latino-voters 2008-07-24T12:51:53Z seeprogress <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nrW3nwnAjyk&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nrW3nwnAjyk&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/41372-why-politicians-must-pay-attention-to-latino-voters"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/46644" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p><p>Why do politicians need to start paying attention to Latinos? And what are the biggest issues facing Latino voters right now? Vanessa Cardenas of the Center for American Progress <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/06/cardenas_video.html">answers these questions</a> in the latest installment of CAP's ASK THE EXPERT series.</p></p> </div> <a href="/blog/41372-why-politicians-must-pay-attention-to-latino-voters">Watch the video</a> Beverly Hills Chihuahua http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/38197-beverly-hills-chihuahua 2008-07-11T08:12:19Z Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GTh41nyJfaU&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GTh41nyJfaU&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/38197-beverly-hills-chihuahua"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/43181" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p><p>First, before you read any further, go watch the trailer for Disney's movie, <a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/beverlyhillschihuahua/trailer_large.html">Beverly Hills Chihuahua</a>, Then, come back so we can talk about it.</p><p>You like that? Hmmm?</p><p>At a time when writers and producers of material about human Latinos face unprecedented resistance to our material, Hollywood had absolutely no problem green-lighting "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." It will be released in September, which is (coincidentally? methinks not) Hispanic History Month in the United States. Note: The brown male dog hooks up with the whitest female dog ever, and asks, slyly, "Jealous?" Also note, he is "50 percent warrior, 50 percent lover."</p><p>Nah, no stereotypes there.</p><p>At a time when new information about the incredible complexity of ancient Mayan civilization, writing, language and mathematics is being uncovered, at a time of unprecedented attacks upon those of Mexican descent in this country, at a time when history books are finally starting to admit that many tens of millions more indigenous people were killed in the Americas than previously admitted - this, THIS is what we get from our film industry.</p><p>A film industry with a long history of very cozy relationships with government propagandists.</p><p>If I hadn't sat in so many meetings where studio execs made comments that would make Jim Crow laws seem enlightened, I wouldn't believe it. But believe it I do. George Lopez and Salma Hayek on board to voice the characters.</p><p>Thoughts?</p></p> </div> <a href="/blog/38197-beverly-hills-chihuahua">Watch the video</a> Sheriff Joe's Easter weekend of racial profiling in Phoenix http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/33514-sheriff-joe-s-easter-weekend-of-racial-profiling-in-phoenix 2008-04-07T17:15:47Z Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez <a href="http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/33514-sheriff-joe-s-easter-weekend-of-racial-profiling-in-phoenix"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/thumbnail_pic/36545" style="border: solid 1px black; margin-right: 7px; margin-top: 3px;" align="left" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>It's a little after four in the afternoon, and I’m standing in the blazing heat, in a parking lot at the Northwest corner of 32nd Street and Thomas in Phoenix. Most of the parking lot is roped off with yellow police tape, a dramatic move by perhaps the most dramatic sheriff in American history. Inside the taped area are deputies. Lots of deputies. Lots of sunglasses. And big, big trucks housing mobile jail cells. Lots of TV news crews. Lots of hatred. Ah, Arizona, how do I love thee? Let me count the deputays.<br /><br />I am here as an editor, as a reporter, and as a citizen observer. But I don’t go inside the roped off area with most of the other reporters. They’re here from all the TV stations, from the newspapers. Sheriff Joe Arpaio farts in Phoenix, and many in the corporate media here come running to celebrate it against a backdrop of American flags and tough-guy scowling. There has never been a more lauded scoundrel than this, I think. Question is: Will they celebrate this day as well? After all, Arpaio is here today, on Good Friday, to tell the people of Maricopa County that he has begun another weekend of “patrols” in predominantly Latino neighborhoods. For Easter Weekend. The last time he did this, it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Nice timing, from a man who bragged on CNN that he found being compared to the KKK to be a compliment. Ah, Arizona.<br /><br />In Arpaio-speak, this "patrol" thing means claiming that crime is up in the neighborhood, when, in fact, it is down. It means claiming that people in the neighborhood have called his offices to ask for more patrols, when in fact no one I talked to in the neighborhood has anything but fear and loathing for the sheriff. It means arresting people for minor offenses, such as a cracked windshield or mild speeding, offenses that in Scottsdale or Cave Creek would get the offender a ticket at the most.<br /><br />It is Good Friday, and Sheriff Joe has decided this is the perfect time to terrorize Latinos for a weekend. Easter weekend. He has hundreds of deputies all over the neighborhood, along with armed members of a volunteer “posse”. I see one such volunteer stride past, in a shirt that reads “GOD’S ARMY,” his pistol in full view. He is tall and stiff as an SS soldier, a stick lodged somewhere quiet high up his rectum. He sneers at me and all the people who stand with me, most of us brown, almost all of us Latino. Because I am a wiseass, I cannot resist.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/33514-sheriff-joe-s-easter-weekend-of-racial-profiling-in-phoenix">Continue reading</a> Obama's appropriation of other culture's phrases must stop! http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/31265-obama-s-appropriation-of-other-culture-s-phrases-must-stop 2008-06-11T15:33:38Z Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3IWKhYQarJU&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3IWKhYQarJU&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/31265-obama-s-appropriation-of-other-culture-s-phrases-must-stop"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/33708" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p><p>We all know Barack Obama’s rallying cry. “Yes, we can!” It has inspired millions.<br /><br />What many American’s don’t know, however, is that <a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080222060439AA0R2Z2">Obama stole this slogan from Latinos</a>. This has upset many Latino activists. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roberto-lovato/basta-yaboycott-si-se-p_b_89484.html">Or at least one.</a></p><p>But the phrase many have attributed to Dolores Huerta, the farm union organizer, who coined the phrase “Si Se Puede,” used galvanize workers against things like low pay and undocumented immigrants, might actually have another source, according to expert cartoon people in my brain.<br /><br />In truth, “Si Se Puede” translates as “it can be done,” which is not Obama’s message. Rather, with “Yes, we can” the Obama camp recklessly plagiarized from <strong>Bob the Builder.</strong><br /><br />That’s right.<br /><br />Obama’s blatant disregard for the struggles of animated characters to be taken seriously, and to get credit for their work and thoughts, is just one more example of why animated characters should support Hillary Clinton, herself quietly aligned with the cartoon cause.<br /><br />It is also an indication of a growing trend among celebrities to steal from animated beings. The most recent case of this outrage has been seen in the names chosen for their twin babies by <a href="http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gskei_LapwKjl7s0U_DGqDXmZqHA">Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.</a> Max and Emmy? Think, people. Where have you seen this before? That’s right. The siblings from the PBS animated series <a href="http://pbskids.org/dragontales/index_sw.html">"Dragon Tales" </a>are named Max and Emmy. Coincidence? I think not. <br /><br />What’s next, I ask you? Hillary Clinton answering critics with Popeye’s slogan, “I am what I am”? Ralph Nader, confronting the crisis in beef production, stealing from Bart Simpson: “Don’t have a cow, man.” Or, shudder, John McCain, borrowing from Charlie Brown for the new pro-war slogan, “Good Grief”? <br /><br />Cartoon characters everywhere must unite against this despicable appropriation of cartoon culture by politicians bent upon manipulating their way into cartoon hearts. Before, before, why – before it’s too late...and we all take a wrong turn at Albuquerque.<br /><br />Don’t laugh. You might think it can’t happen here. But you are wrong.</p><p><em>Yes, it can.</em></p><p>That's all, folks. </p></p> </div> <a href="/blog/31265-obama-s-appropriation-of-other-culture-s-phrases-must-stop">Watch the video</a> Latino Artists Feel Burn of Anti-Immigrant Fires http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/30982-latino-artists-feel-burn-of-anti-immigrant-fires 2008-06-11T15:32:47Z Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QSybLTBNLaE&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QSybLTBNLaE&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/30982-latino-artists-feel-burn-of-anti-immigrant-fires"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/33433" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p><p>(The "Bordertown" trailer in German - the movie will not be released in the U.S., thanks in part to anti-Mexican reaction in screenings here.)</p><p>In 2007, Mexican-born author Reyna Grande's first novel, <a href="www.reynagrande.com">"Across a Hundred Mountains,"</a> is released to critical acclaim, and wins the American Book Award – yet Grande's San Diego bookstore appearance is canceled after anti-immigrant patrons call the manager to protest their support of a novel by and about "illegals".<br /><br />In 2004, the <a href="www.scr.org">South Coast Repertory Theater</a> in Costa Mesa, Calif., kills its Hispanic Playwright's Project, in part to appease donors who fear "illegals" benefiting from their money.<br /><br />In 2007, Touchstone Pictures pulls the plug on <a href="http://news.softpedia.com/news/Eva-Longoria-Goes-Deep-in-the-Heart-of-Texas-22017.shtml">"Deep in the Heart of Texas,"</a> a feature film starring Eva Longoria about a fully assimilated Mexican American woman, saying there is nothing particularly "Latina" about an educated, professional shopaholic from Texas; meaning, the character is "too American" for audiences to believe as "Latina". (Meanwhile, Texas is no longer a majority-white state, and most Latinos there speak English…)<br /> <br />In 2005, <a href="www.centertheatregroup.org">The Taper Forum</a> in Los Angeles dismantles all four of its minority playwright development programs.<br /><br />In 2008, <em>People</em> magazine puts Latina singer <a href="www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4416516a5620.html">Christina Aguilera on the cover</a> and sees the average number of copies sold.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.grammys.com/Latin/">Latin Grammys</a><a href="http://www.grammys.com/Latin/">,</a> created in 2000 with a mainstream English-language CBS audience in mind, have since been downgraded to Univision only, in part due to protests from anti-Latino viewers.<br /><br />In 2007, ABC decides to <a href="http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/05/15/george-lopez-blasts-abc-for-cancelling-his-show/">pull the plug on "The George Lopez Show," </a>even though the show had better ratings than at least two other series that were renewed; he is replaced by a short-lived sitcom about cavemen.<br /><br /></p></p> </div> <a href="/blog/30982-latino-artists-feel-burn-of-anti-immigrant-fires">Continue reading</a> Si Se Puede Cambiar (Yes We Can Change) http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/30007-si-se-puede-cambiar-yes-we-can-change 2008-06-15T03:10:19Z ZP Heller <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-ky8Hvq-F0U&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-ky8Hvq-F0U&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/30007-si-se-puede-cambiar-yes-we-can-change"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/32310" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p><p>This video, written and performed by Andres Useche, is a must-see.  </p><p>Check out more videos by <a href="http://youtube.com/UnitedForObama">United For Obama</a>. </p></p> </div> <a href="/blog/30007-si-se-puede-cambiar-yes-we-can-change">Watch the video</a> Mr. Obama? Latino America Has a Dirty Little Secret... http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/29110-mr-obama-latino-america-has-a-dirty-little-secret 2008-06-12T08:40:37Z Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez <div class="post_content"> <p>First, I'd like to congratulate Barack Obama on <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&amp;sid=aLDrGXQTlMJw&amp;refer=home">his wins </a>in the past eight primaries for the democratic presidential nomination. I support Mr. Obama, and get chills thinking of him replacing that lying sack of guano we currently cringe against in the White House.<br /><br />Second, I would like to address the fact that Senator Obama's presidential campaign finally seems to have figured out (after avoiding "pandering" to various minority groups) that reaching out to Latinos in Texas - a state that, according to the U.S. census bureau is 48 percent Latino - might be a good idea.<br /><br />As many of us know, Obama's camp released <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/021308dnpolspanishads.3aa1e84.html">a Spanish-language TV ad</a> this week in Texas. It's a start. But it ain't good enough, for reasons listed in Numero Tres. <br /><br />Third, I would like to tell Mr. Obama about Latino America's dirty little secret, at risk of humiliating Latinos coast to coast by outing the vast majority of them as the <span>worst Spanish-speakers, ever</span>.<br /><br />Simply put: Most Latinos in the United States, contrary to public perception (brought to you care of the bow-tie dumbass US newsroom crowd) <a href="http://pewresearch.org/pubs/644/english-language-usage-hispanics">do NOT speak Spanish</a>. At all.<br /><br />Oh, we <span>pretend</span> we can speak Spanish, Mr. Obama. Many of us pretend. I cannot <span>tell</span> you how many Latino events I've been to, where one or another Latino luminary takes the stage in a glittery prom gown or too-short tuxedo and proceeds to butcher the Spanish language with the grace of a landlocked walrus with machete tusks. I can give you <span>names</span>. Names of <span>famous people</span> who think that just because their "bunuelos dias" fools whitey it can fool <span>me</span>. But I won't. And not because I'm nice like that. It's because it's too early in the day to start on another migraine.<br /><br />Ah, yes. We Latinos pretend to speak Spanish because many of us are made to feel ashamed - <span>by our own people</span> (most of whom speak crap Spanish themselves)- for not speaking it. This happens because too many Americans, Latino and otherwise, still seem to believe that language and culture are passed down genetically. I like to call this mangled mothertongue <span>"Chicanobonics"</span>.<br /><br />You see, Mr. Obama, we are just as confused about ourselves as your campaign is about us. It's not <span>your</span> fault you decided to try to reach us in <span>Spanish</span>, when most of us don't speak the language well enough to write a Valentine's card to a dog in it. It's <span>our</span> fault. Because we continue to lie to ourselves, and you, and everyone else, thinking the lie makes us...special. In a country that marginalizes us otherwise at almost every turn. Hey, you gotta feel good about somethin', right? Even when it ain't true.<br /><br />Most of the time? Those Latinos among us who masticate their Spanish in public, with the fangs of good intentions? They can get <span>away</span> with it. I have seen it. I have <span>been</span> it. In newsrooms, in boardrooms, the non-Latinos among us are always impressed when we break out a choice phrase or two. Wow, they seem to say. How exotic. It is expected of us, and few of us have enough cojones to admit that...we're just not that interesting. <br /><br />Note: I have heard "cojones," which means "testicles", botched by at least two such Latinos in public, as "cajones," which means "boxes." Our lame Spanish can, at the very least, amuse; but it cannot get you votes in Texas.<br /><br />The sad truth is: Most of us Latinos are not exotic at all, even if we look exotic to you and others. Most of us are just like everyone else, with the difference being that many of us <span>want</span> everyone else to <span>think</span> we're exotic because it gives us an identity that connects us to each other. It's....well, it's the Rey's New Ropa. Or somethin'. <br /><br />The minute the Obama campaign figures out the PPD - The Pathetic Pocho Dynamic - at work in our communities (and especially in border states like Texas), the better able they will be to actually <span>reach</span> Latinos in America.</p> </div> Frank Rich on the Clinton campaign's "bigoted lie" http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/28690-frank-rich-on-the-clinton-campaign-s-bigoted-lie 2008-02-10T20:31:33Z jgilliam <div class="post_content"> <p><p>Frank Rich in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/opinion/10rich.html">this morning's op-ed</a>: </p><blockquote><p>Last month a Hispanic pollster employed by the Clinton campaign pitted the two groups against each other by <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/01/21/080121fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=3">telling</a> The New Yorker that Hispanic voters have “not shown a lot of willingness or affinity to support black candidates.” Mrs. Clinton then <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22682821/">seconded the motion</a> by telling Tim Russert in a debate that her pollster was “making a historical statement.”</p><p>It wasn’t an accurate statement, historical or otherwise. It was a lie, and a bigoted lie at that, given that it branded Hispanics, a group as heterogeneous as any other, as monolithic racists. As the columnist Gregory Rodriguez <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rodriguez28jan28,0,5950176.column">pointed out</a> in The Los Angeles Times, all three black members of Congress in that city won in heavily Latino districts; black mayors as various as David Dinkins in New York in the 1980s and Ron Kirk in Dallas in the 1990s received more than 70 percent of the Hispanic vote. The real point of the Clinton campaign’s decision to sow misinformation and racial division, Mr. Rodriguez concluded, was to “undermine one of Obama’s central selling points, that he can build bridges and unite Americans of all types.”</p><p>If that was the intent, it didn’t work.</p></blockquote></p> </div> Mr. Obama? Latinos knocking? Anyone Home? http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/28356-mr-obama-latinos-knocking-anyone-home 2008-02-14T12:54:13Z Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez <div class="post_content"> <p>Let me preface this entire post by saying I am aware that what I am about to write is going to come across to many as arrogant. I apologize in advance for that, and if it is any consolation, I went back and forth about writing it at all.<br /><br />That said, I want to talk a bit about my own personal experience in trying to help Barack Obama with Latino - and specifically Latina - voters, the very voters many news stories lately have said made a big impact on helping <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18718803">Hillary Clinton win the California primary and other important Latino blocks.</a><br /><br />After watching the Clinton campaign kick Obama's ass in outreach to Latinos in general - albeit misguidedly and almost entirely in Spanish, in spite of the fact that most Latino voters in the US speak only or mostly English - I decided to try to help Obama reach "us" too. (Did you notice that every six seconds Univision seemed to be airing that annoying "Estamos Con Hillary" commercial?)<br /><br />I wrote an email to Obama's "people," the ones responsible for his Latino outreach, and told them about myself. That I'd sold more than half a million books, mostly to Latinas, and was a NY Times bestseller, USA Today bestseller, and BookSense pick. That I had an online reader "fan club" <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sucias/">of more than 600 members</a>, coast to coast, almost all Latinas, many of whom were willing to put their names on a national endorsement of Obama, from "the nation's largest Latina book and networking club." That I was named one of <a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1093632,00.html">Time magazine's 25 "most influential Hispanics"</a> in America. That I was the only writer to get an award from the Hispanic Congressional Caucus. That I was one of a small handful of Latina TV and movie producers on the rise. That I had name-recognition and influence in New Mexico and Arizona, two of the states where Latino votes really mattered. "Use me any way you can," I said.<br /><br />The response was tepid, at best. The woman wrote back to ask me to volunteer at the local Phoenix office, <span>doing phone banking</span>. At first I thought it was a joke. After all, Toni Morrison's endorsement of Obama was being trumpeted far and wide in press releases by his team. Now, I am not - repeat <span>NOT</span> - comparing myself in quality or skill or fame to Toni Morrison. But I do think that among Latina writers in the United States, I am at the top of the short list of those of us who have any "fame" at all.<br /><br />Funnily enough, the Clinton Latino outreach people contacted me earlier in the campaign, to ask if I'd endorse her. They invited me to events. They called just to chat. They flattered me and were very cool. That said, I could not endorse her. But the difference in approach between the two camps, toward me alone, was astonishing.<br /><br />Time magazine did a list of the <a href="http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050207/">most influential Evangelicals</a> in the country, round about the same time it did the influential Hispanics list. I had to wonder, if one of the evangelists from that list had reached out to, say, Mike Huckabee, or Mitt Romney, and said, "I've got followers, let me led them to you," whether their campaigns would have responded with a generic email suggesting the evangelist drive down to Nashville to volunteer in phone banks. Methinks not.<br /><br />I have to wonder: Is Obama's campaign's apparent disinterest in Latinos accidental? An oversight? Is it part of the same lack of awareness of our numbers and importance that prompted progressive talk-show host Randi Rhodes yesterday to say something idiotic, like "the Latino vote? Who cares? Let's talk about the Eskimo vote. How 'bout that?" Do these people really not understand that 40 million is a large number of people? <br /><br />Or is it worse than that? Is Obama's apparent lack of interest in us <span>intentional</span>? Is it part of a strategy to "unite" all of us, that whitewashes everyone? I tend to think that's it. That, in an effort to appear united as Americans <span>only</span>, in an effort to appear race-free, the Obama campaign has chosen NOT to highlight ethnicity or race in any way, for <span>anyone</span>, lest such actions make Obama seem "blacker" than he already is, to white voters on the fence. <br /><br />While this strategy might make sense for reaching racist "white" voters, it is backfiring among some Latino voters, who simply don't know who this man is because he's not made any real effort to tell them. <br /><br />I ask: Can only white candidates afford to be seen as reaching out to minorities? Is it too risky, politically, for a minority candidate to be seen as forging ties to minorities who are proud of being Americans, yes, but different kinds of Americans? The Obama campaign squandered a terrific opportunity not only to reach out to Latinos, but to educate and forge bridges between the African American and Latino communities that share so much (including DNA) but have been misled by the US media to think we have nothing in common.<br /><br />I still think Obama would be a good president. And hundreds of my "fans" have written to say they'd join me in doing some kind of outreach. <br /><br />It's just too damn bad the Obama camp could care less. And it's not just about me that they don't care. Time and again, from coast to coast, I've heard <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-latinos-for-clinton-feb07,1,1196139.story?ctrack=1&amp;cset=true">similar stories of prominent Latinos, be they politicians, artists or musicians, who have reached out to the Obama camp, only to be ignored, or slapped away.</a><br /><br />Many of us noticed long ago that Oprah rarely had Latinos on her show. We wondered if there was a reason for that. If maybe the propaganda intended to divide and conquer had gotten to her, and she, like many other non-Latino blacks, had come to view "us" as a threat rather than as allies. <br /><br />And now, I really want to ask Mr. Obama: <span>Et tu, Brute?</span><br /><br />What gives?</p> </div> Latinos become focus for US army recruitment http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/15555-latinos-become-focus-for-us-army-recruitment 2008-06-15T21:31:04Z aljazeera <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VzYmC8XvDDM&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VzYmC8XvDDM&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/15555-latinos-become-focus-for-us-army-recruitment"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/15388" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>The US military says it has met its recruitment goals for 2007. However, signing new soldiers is getting more difficult, with an unpopular war in Iraq and open-ended commitments both there and in Afghanistan. </p> <p>New figures reveal there has been a 40 per cent drop in African-Americans signing up for the army. The Pentagon wants to expand the size of the army to 547,000 soldiers by the year 2010, and are counting on Hispanics to fill the gap. To do so, recruiters are turning to incentives to bolster their numbers. Mike Kirsch explores the sometimes questionable tactics being used to entice Latino recruits into the US army.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/15555-latinos-become-focus-for-us-army-recruitment">Watch the video</a> Gov. Richardson talks to Hispanic leaders in Iowa http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/11136-gov-richardson-talks-to-hispanic-leaders-in-iowa 2008-06-17T09:40:40Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/W1mqnWeXSQI&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W1mqnWeXSQI&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/11136-gov-richardson-talks-to-hispanic-leaders-in-iowa"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11298" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Gov. Bill Richardson delivers the keynote address to Wells Fargo HOLA Leadership Conference.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/11136-gov-richardson-talks-to-hispanic-leaders-in-iowa">Watch the video</a> Mi Familia con Richardson: Felipe Fuentes http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/11090-mi-familia-con-richardson-felipe-fuentes 2008-06-17T15:30:04Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0TLKi1bBa-M&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0TLKi1bBa-M&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/11090-mi-familia-con-richardson-felipe-fuentes"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11241" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Asambleísta del estado de California Felipe Fuentes habla del comienzo de Mi Familia con Richardson.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/11090-mi-familia-con-richardson-felipe-fuentes">Watch the video</a> Mi Familia con Richardson: Alex Padilla http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/11086-mi-familia-con-richardson-alex-padilla 2008-06-17T15:29:57Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oL8v_OT_8_4&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oL8v_OT_8_4&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/11086-mi-familia-con-richardson-alex-padilla"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11237" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Senador del estado de California Alex Padilla habla de Mi Familia con Bill Richardson.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/11086-mi-familia-con-richardson-alex-padilla">Watch the video</a> Mi Familia con Richardson: Christine Trujillo http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/11085-mi-familia-con-richardson-christine-trujillo 2008-06-17T15:30:22Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mYTaRlxWSvE&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mYTaRlxWSvE&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/11085-mi-familia-con-richardson-christine-trujillo"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11236" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Christine Trujillo es la presidenta de la Federación Estadounidense del Trabajo- Congreso de Organizaciones Industriales de Nuevo México. Trujillo describe Mi Familia con Bill Richardson.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/11085-mi-familia-con-richardson-christine-trujillo">Watch the video</a> Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson: Reynaldo Martínez http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/11014-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-reynaldo-mart-nez 2008-06-17T15:31:01Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yHFrVIwDgNI&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yHFrVIwDgNI&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/11014-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-reynaldo-mart-nez"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11154" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Nevada Campaign Chairman Reynaldo Martínez talks about Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/11014-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-reynaldo-mart-nez">Watch the video</a> Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson: Christine Trujillo http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/11011-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-christine-trujillo 2008-06-17T15:30:57Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bZmvT3C8pIg&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bZmvT3C8pIg&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/11011-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-christine-trujillo"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11151" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Christine Trujillo is the President of the New Mexico Federation of Labor- AFL-CIO. Trujillo describes Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/11011-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-christine-trujillo">Watch the video</a> Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson: Felipe Fuentes http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/11010-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-felipe-fuentes 2008-06-17T15:30:50Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z3tNJkOK4rQ&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z3tNJkOK4rQ&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/11010-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-felipe-fuentes"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11150" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>California State Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes talks about the launch of Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/11010-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-felipe-fuentes">Watch the video</a> Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson: Patsy Trujillo http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/11009-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-patsy-trujillo 2008-06-17T15:30:56Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UHHzfw4Zfi8&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UHHzfw4Zfi8&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/11009-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-patsy-trujillo"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11149" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Patsy Trujillo, NM Secretary of Aging and Long Term Care, talks about Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/11009-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-patsy-trujillo">Watch the video</a> Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson: Alex Padilla http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/10970-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-alex-padilla 2008-06-17T15:31:09Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0y9dy6cjcZE&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0y9dy6cjcZE&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/10970-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-alex-padilla"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11121" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>CA State Senator Alex Padilla talks about Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/10970-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson-alex-padilla">Watch the video</a> Gov. Richardson Announces "Mi Familia Con Bill Richardson" http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/10955-gov-richardson-announces-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson 2008-06-17T15:31:11Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fLpqpv-E0As&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fLpqpv-E0As&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/10955-gov-richardson-announces-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11106" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Gov. Bill Richardson announces the creation of Mi Familia con Richardson, a national grassroots Latino outreach program.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/10955-gov-richardson-announces-mi-familia-con-bill-richardson">Watch the video</a> Ask BIll http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/10892-ask-bill 2008-06-17T15:31:53Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/46Gs2EhLIoE&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/46Gs2EhLIoE&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/10892-ask-bill"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/11051" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Ask BIll12</p> </div> <a href="/blog/10892-ask-bill">Watch the video</a> Latinos support Richardson http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/5313-latinos-support-richardson 2008-06-07T15:31:46Z billrichardson <object width="375" height="308"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bUk2ZxNSzj8&border=0&rel=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bUk2ZxNSzj8&border=0&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="375" height="308"></embed></object> <a href="/blog/5313-latinos-support-richardson"><img src="http://bravenewfilms.org/pictures/medium/4584" width="140" height="105" border="0" align="left" style="border: solid 1px black;" /></a> <div class="post_content"> <p>Members of NALEO tell why they support Bill Richardson for President.</p> </div> <a href="/blog/5313-latinos-support-richardson">Watch the video</a>