El sonero ha llegado

by Eileen Rivera

The first time I ever met Don Sonero, aka Gilberto Velazquez, was at the filming of the, eagerly anticipated, Being Latino PSA. After he read the cue cards, Gilberto started singing acapella and the hairs on my neck stood up. All I could think was, “This man has a voice on him!”

The second time I saw Don Sonero, there were a dozen women who agreed with me and kept trying to dance for him, while blocking my view. Naturally, I used what my Mama gave me and not-so-gently got them out of my way. That evening, he was singing cover songs, previously recorded by other Salsa greats, and I found myself looking forward to see what he would do with original material.

A bit of Hawai’i comes to Philadelphia

by Eileen Rivera

Being Latino was recently invited to take a sneak peek at this year’s Philadelphia International Flower Show . The event was put together by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp and was held at the Eventi Hotel in midtown Manhattan. This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill press event and that was quite apparent as one walked down the hallway. We were about to enter Hawaii: The Islands of Aloha.

The day the music died

Every generation has its memorable moment in music. For some it was the British invasion, when The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, and others, crossed the Atlantic. For another it was the hair bands like Bon Jovi and Whitesnake. And then there was the envied generation (sarcasm noted) who got to grow up with the boybands like NKOTB and N’Sync. Those who grew up in the 50s actually saw the birth of Rock and Roll and the end of danceable music.

Planned Parenthood loses funding

Many women in need of medical services have only one place they could rely upon for free, or discounted care, Planned Parenthood. They are able to get cervical and breast cancer screenings they couldn’t otherwise afford. Planned Parenthood isn’t only a place to get contraceptive products.

One last “Love, peace and soul”

For people of a certain age, the news of Don Cornelius’ death felt like another piece of our adolescent years died as well. How many Saturdays were spent watching “Soul Train” and imagining our younger selves dancing down the line. How many of us strained muscles trying to perform those dance splits? Oh, you didn’t? Ok, let me speak for myself, that hurt!

The immigration debate continues

We’ve all seen a plethora of articles regarding Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, her stance on immigration, and her signing of the controversial law in 2010. Civil rights leaders, immigration advocates, church leaders, and fellow Governors have criticized the law.

Even President Obama weighed in on the debate, when he said that the law threatened, “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”

Keeping an eye on future Latino politicians

By now you already know it’s an election year. I just thought I would remind you, in case the plethora of televised debates hasn’t already clued you in. While there are no Latinos on this year’s national ballot, we present you 10 Latinos to keep an eye on, for the future. Keep your eye on Marco Rubio, Hilda Solis, and Julian Castro; just to name a few.

When marketing meets psychology

Have you ever noticed that when you watch a movie involving a car chase, a commercial comes on trying to sell you on an allegedly safe car? Yea, I didn’t notice that either. How about how most OTC sleep aids are a pale blue color? That one also passed me by.

Your favorite fast food place might now deliver

The “dead of winter” (whatever that is) has set in and we have become people who run from place to place in order to get out of the cold. The puniest of us use auto-start to warm up our cars, exercise indoors and shop at warehouse stores so we won’t have to shop for the rest of the month. Winter, especially for those in the north, tends to make us just a bit lazy and we have learned how to hibernate on weekends.

When kids repeat naughty words

It isn’t easy raising children in today’s rude, crude world. We all giggle when naughty words escape from our children’s angelic faces, we’re embarrassed when it happens a second time and absolutely mortified when it happens in front of our parents. There are many euphemisms for naughty words, and we learn them very quickly when speaking in front of children, but we’re not always successful.