Black leaders call out Trump's criminal justice contradictions as he rails against guilty verdict
Donald Trump lambasted the guilty verdict of his hush money trial this week from the same Manhattan courthouse that was the site of one of the most notorious examples of injustice in recent New York history that he had a part in.
'Blue Beetle' director รngel Manuel Soto says the DC film is a 'love letter to our ancestors'
โBlue Beetle,โ director รngel Manuel Soto says that he didnโt think too much about the โLatino side of thingsโ when visually crafting the film alongside Mexican screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.
Gov. Greg Abbott embraces โinvasionโ language about border, evoking memories of El Paso massacre
In the days since Abbott was reelected for a third term, he has embraced the word like never before, using it in a letter to President Joe Biden, echoing the intensifying language many Republicans have adopted in recent years.
At one last reunion, veterans of La Raza Unida political movement pass along their torch
Born from the Chicano movement of the 1960s, La Raza Unida helped coalesce Texas Latino power and briefly formed the stateโs third political party. Although the organization is long gone, its imprint on the state is unmistakable.
Dems: Discovery, AT&T merger will hurt diversity, workers
House Democrats are raising concerns that the proposed merger of Discovery and AT&Tโs WarnerMedia, a $43 billion effort to conquer the world of streaming, could affect diversity efforts in Hollywood and particularly hurt Latinos, who are already deeply underrepresented.
Barbers, artists help defy vaccine myths for people of color
A new wave of public health advocacy that is multilingual, culturally sensitive, entertaining and personal is rapidly replacing mundane public service announcements in the battle to stamp out the disinformation around COVID-19 vaccines in communities of color.
Inside the effort to add โSelenaโ to the National Film Registry
Lawmakers are hoping to boost Latino representation in the U.S. media by adding โSelenaโ to the National Film Registry, NBC News reported. The 1997 blockbuster movie starring Jennifer Lopez directed by Mexican-American filmmaker Gregory Nava has been nominated to be included in the registry by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, chaired by Texas U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro. โAnd this is one effort to make sure that Latinos are represented in the telling of American culture and the retelling of American culture, and part of that includes American films.โThe film touched important cultural identity themes that depicted Mexican-American communities living between bilingualism and navigating personal connections between the two cultures, according to Castroโs letter. He felt there was a โrenewed sense of urgencyโ to bring Latino representation in question after the El Paso shooting in 2019 that killed 23 people, NBC News reported. Castro told NBC News he will continue to push for more Latino representation in media and film to the U.S as congressman after his term as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus ends this weekend, hoping to tackle the invisibility of the community he represents.
US population growth smallest in at least 120 years
(AP Photo/Donald King, file)The U.S. population grew by the smallest rate in at least 120 years from 2019 to 2020, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau โ a trend that demographers say provides a glimpse of the coronavirus pandemicโs toll. Population growth in the U.S. already was stagnant over the past several years due to immigration restrictions and a dip in fertility, but coronavirus-related deaths exacerbated that lethargic-growth trend, said William Frey, a senior fellow at The Brooking Institutionโs Metropolitan Policy Program. โI think itโs a first glimpse of where we may be heading as far as low population growth," Frey said. Among the states, Idaho had the largest single-year population increase, growing 2.1% to 1.8 million residents. Sixteen states lost population, including California, the nationโs most populous state, which declined 0.18% to 39.3 million residents.
Utah senator blocks national museums for Latinos, women
WASHINGTON โ A lone senator from Utah has singlehandedly blocked the bipartisan approval of two new national museums to honor American Latinos and women, arguing that โlast thing we need is to further divide an already divided nation.โRepublican Sen. Mike Lee objected Thursday to the creation of the two proposed Smithsonian museums, stalling two projects that have been in the making for decades and enjoy broad bipartisan support. Senate approval would have sent the legislation approving the Latino museum to President Donald Trump for his signature. The Senate was attempting to pass the measures by voice vote, which requires every senator's consent. Lee said he sees an exception for museums dedicated to American Indians and African Americans that already sit on the National Mall. โWe have been systematically excluded, not because this senator said so but because the Smithsonian itself said so,โ Menendez said.
The message behind Texasโ Latino vote
HOUSTON โ During the November election, Latinos in Texas helped former Vice President Joe Biden secure his bid for the White House. However, Zermeno said, this doesnโt mean the Latino community isnโt engagedโWe are seeing a tremendous uptick in participation,โ Zermeno said. โThe Latino vote has always been kind of nuanced,โ said Michael Adams, PhD., chair of Texas Southern Universityโs political science department. โI think, too, both parties dialed in the Latino vote for this election,โ said Diaz. On the flip side, thereโs not an articulated approach to the Latino vote.โThe election-eve poll from the research firm Latino Decisions also ranked priorities in the Latino community based on answers.
To court Latinos, Democrats have to expand strategy in 2022
Latinos also now account for 24% of eligible voters in Arizona, compared with 19% in 2012, according to Pew Research Center. And how or whether Democrats can keep that enthusiasm in the 2022 midterm elections will require a lot of work. But itโs also incumbent on campaigns to prioritize Latino voters by spending time and money in their communities consistently, not just right before an election. โAnd thatโs something this administration hasnโt done.โTo sway Latino voters, she said Democrats need to take the tactics used in Arizona to other states. In Arizona, Democrats presented Trump as the boogeyman, getting voters to show up, while in south Florida, Republicans used socialism to drive voters to Trump, Shope said.
Confounding Democrats, Trump makes inroads with Latinos
And even in Nevada, where Democrats' strength among Latinos had powered the party to dominance, there were some signs of new Trump support among Latinos frustrated at the economic toll of coronavirus-related shutdowns. Democrats had hoped this would be the year when their strength among Latino voters would translate into victories in Florida and Texas, a game-changer that would reshape presidential politics. But Trump's margins dashed those hopes and prompted debate on whether the party was taking Latino voters' support for granted. Forty-one percent said they approved of the way Trump has handled the public health crisis, compared with 34% of Latinos nationally. The most dramatic shift in Latino voters came in Florida.
Residente signs with Sony Music to create TV, films and more
Residente, the most decorated winner in the history of Latin Grammys, has signed a multi-year deal with Sony Music Entertainment to launch 1868 Studios. Residente, the most decorated winner in the history of Latin Grammys, has signed a multiyear deal with Sony Music Entertainment to launch 1868 Studios. Under this new venture, which the company announced Thursday as โgroundbreaking,โ the Puerto Rican rapper and Sony Music Latin/Iberia will create, produce and globally distribute original content across multiple formats and in Spanish and Engish. 1868 Studios takes its name from the Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares,) the first major revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico on September 23, 1868. โIt is the only day that Puerto Rico has been independent, for eight hours,โ Residente noted.
Californians to vote on racial, gender preference programs
Jesse Jackson asks a crowd for donations to the advertising fund to stop Proposition 209 during a rally in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. The U.S. Supreme Court has long outlawed racial quotas, but it has ruled that universities may use tailored programs to promote diversity. Opponents include Ward Connerly, an African American businessman and former University of California regent who pushed for the 1996 ban. They say government should never discriminate by race or gender, and the only way to stop discrimination is to end it. The numbers of Latino and Asian American residents โ and voters โ have grown, although likely voters are still disproportionately white.
Wanted: Bilingual poll workers who reflect U.S. diversity
The coronavirus has upended how elections officials recruit poll workers, who are typically older and thus more susceptible to becoming seriously ill from COVID-19. The email came in at 7:54 p.m., desperately seeking 100 poll workers because of an expected shortage. During the August primary, nearly 25% of the county's 1,289 poll workers were bilingual; in the 2016 general, about 20% were. When early voting starts Oct. 13, three bilingual election workers will staff each of the county's 122 voting locations. Harvey Soto, the fund's democracy coordinator, said it has already recruited 300 poll workers for Miami-Dade County alone.