She wanted to marry a Latino and fell for a white guy

by OH HELLS NAH via Jezebel

In college there was no doubt in my mind that I would marry a Mexican. I didn’t want my culture to be diluted. I wanted to live in a Spanish-speaking household. I wore Ché Guevara berets with rebozos and Tehuana blouses. I just stopped short of wearing a poncho and purchasing a donkey just to really make a point. I wanted my partner to understand my family, and not judge them for being so incredibly loud.

Fast forward seven years and I am living with my white boyfriend. Throughout my early 20s, I avoided white guys. I didn’t want to “sell out” (though it can be debated that I always was a “sell out”). I didn’t want to live in fear of them saying something racist. I didn’t want to be their “Latina college experience.” Sometimes I believed they wouldn’t even find me attractive. I also didn’t want to have to explain what a “chancla” was or what I meant when I said I was “empachada.” I also didn’t want to explain my Chespirito references (like when I get “la chiripiorca“).

Everything you wanted to know about grad school politics

by Nick Baez

Whenever I reflect on my years in grad school, I often get into the habit of saying, “Man, I wish I knew then what I know now.” Many fail to realize that once admitted, there may also be intra-organizational dynamics at play that can serve to produce, for some, a very tumultuous experience. Rather than presume to know what your experience will be like, I will instead spend this short time describing some potential difficulties you may encounter. Learning about the existence of these, and subsequently, how to effectively navigate them, is an essential part of having a successful graduate school experience.

Refresh your summer with agua de sandia

Agua de Sandia/Watermelon Water

Makes about two quarts or more if you add more water

4 cups diced watermelon–seedless, if your watermelon has seed, strain

Cold Water just enough to loosen the watermelon and help the blender along.

1/2 tbsp sea salt

1 lime, juiced

Losing ourselves in each other

by Nicolle Morales Kern

The balance of life and society can be a hard one to maintain, especially when you’re a part of a powerful group. This was never more evident this month than when the San Francisco police shot down a man who ran from them when they asked to see his train transfer.

Expert writing tips from non-experts pretending to be experts or how a Being Latino article is born

Being Latino’s Department of Celebrity Writing Experts Procurement (really, we have one) is proud to host a Q&A moderated by Staff Writer, Ulises Silva and Chief Content Officer, Libby Juliá Vázquez with a respected guest who will answer your writing questions. Our expert brings several thousand years of experience, and is the author of the award-winning blog, “Grammar, Flexible It Is.” Please welcome, Jedi Master Yoda.

Q: Where do you go for inspiration when the well is dry?

E-books or print books: which will win?

by Catarina Rivera

As I ride the subway downtown, I see more e-readers than ever before. The Kindles, Nooks, and iPads seem to be taking over. Yet, I still see a lot of riders pull out print books. I am curious about the future of reading. Will print die and electronic versions take over? What’s the carbon footprint of e-readers vs. printed books? Will we lose the satisfaction of holding a book in our hands?

Who’s behind MTV Tr3s’ new Latino program?

by Nathalie Molina Niño

Tomas Cookman

Earlier this month MTV and Nacional Records announced a new late-night music show in the tradition of Yo! MTV Raps and 120 Minutes, called “La Hora Nacional,” with a focus on Latin Alternative music. According to MTV Latin America’s VP, Marc Zimet, having Tomas Cookman, the founder of the Latin Alternative Music Conference and president of Nacional Records –the label of artists like Manu Chao and Aterciopelados, gives the show the “ultimate stamp of credibility.”

Naturally, we at Being Latino were excited to hear the news and especially to speak directly to Tomas. What follows is the first in a series of excerpts from a lively chat with this famous Puerto Rican tastemaker and serial entrepreneur.

Catching up with Prince Royce

by Nancy Sepulveda

His debut album has gone double platinum, he’s been honored with four Latin Billboard awards, and his hit Corazon Sin Cara is currently sitting comfortably at the #1 spot on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart and #2 on the Billboard Latin Songs chart. But Geoffrey Royce Rojas, known musically as Prince Royce, is simply a man with uncontainable rhythm in his feet. Energetic and effervescent, Royce periodically breaks into impromptu dancing and shimmies, accompanied by tunes from his self-titled 2010 album streaming throughout the venue. “I can’t help it – gotta move when I feel the beat!” he explains.

Creating Latin American Entrepreneurs

by Carlos Solorio

When I was little, my dad used to tell me a short story about the Americans and the Latin Americans. It starts with two buckets full of cangrejos on the side of the road, one bucket is full of American crabs and the other has Latino crabs. The crabs shuffle glibly trying to escape their metal prisons. In the Latino bucket, a crab pushed his weight against the other crabs and was able to latch on to the edge. Just as he pulled himself over, another crab caught the escapee’s leg and dragged him down, shouting, “Ven pa’ca.” The same thing happened in the American crab, but instead the other crabs pushed it forward and in turn the escaped crab pulled everyone else out.

Sucked back in

by Eileen Rivera

How many of our mothers and grandmothers made sure that dinner was done, eaten and the kitchen cleaned up just in time for their evening novela. My mother, who came to NYC at the age of eight, never watched a novela in her life. Her mother was another story. My grandmother lived and breathed novelas; when one finished, another began and that house better be quiet (except for when she was yelling at the heroine.) I’m glad that novelas have become a bit more modern and accessible because, dammit, I’ve been sucked back in.