Obama arrives in Havana for historic visit to former Cold War foe
President Barack Obama arrived in Cuba on Sunday, March 20, 2016, on a historic visit, opening a new chapter in U.S. engagement with the island’s Communist government after decades of animosity between the former Cold War foes.
Obama landed at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport aboard Air Force One, the presidential jet with “United States of America” emblazoned across its fuselage, a sight almost unimaginable not long ago.
Outrageous Things Donald Trump Has Said About Latinos
Donald Trump’s affront against the Latino community reached new heights after Mexican-American journalist Jorge Ramos was forcibly removed from the presidential candidate’s Iowa press conference.
But it wasn’t the first time Trump has offended Latinos.
His anti-Latino remarks have cost him several business partners since the launch of his campaign in June, including NBC Universal, which aired Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice” and co-owns the Miss Universe Organization. Several prominent figures in the Latino community have also spoken out against Trump; actress America Ferrera and singer Ricky Martin published scathing op-eds condemning Trump’s actions and rallying Latinos to unite against him.
Even though only 18 percent of Hispanics take Trump seriously as a presidential candidate, the Republican has vowed that he “will win the Latino vote” if nominated.
If Trump wants to win the Latino vote, he might want to learn from past mistakes.
Here are 9 of the most outrageous things the presidential candidate has said about Latinos
He Called Latino Immigrants “Criminals” And “Rapists”
He Said Mexicans (And Other Immigrants) Were “Killers” Too
He Insisted The Mexican Government Intentionally Sends Their Criminals To The US
He ‘Provided Evidence’ That Latino Immigrants Were Rapists
He Took A Jab At Jeb Bush Over His Mexican-Born Wife
He Brought Up Jeb Bush’s Wife Again Less Than Two Months Later
He Said His Followers Were “Passionate” After Being Told Two Men Beat A Hispanic Man In His Name
He Kicked Jorge Ramos Out Of A Press Conference
He Blamed Blacks And Hispanics For Violent Crime Across The Country
Carolina Moreno Latino Voices Editor, The Huffington Post
The Taíno are an Arawak people who were indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and Florida. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (presently Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles, the northern Lesser Antilles, and the Bahamas, where they were known as the Lucayans. They spoke the Taíno language, one of the Arawakan languages.
“IOTD” is image of the day, a concept I came up with. I teach visual meditative therapy – or in easy terms – a mini mental holiday. For some people it is very difficult for them to get their image right. I post an image a day for people to use in their mini mental vacay. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are just beautiful!”
Inspiring Latinas Who’s Contributions To Their Fields Have Changed The World
International Women’s Day is March 8
It is a day that has been observed since the early 1990’s. At first, it was called International Working Women’s day, and the purpose was and is to raise awareness of the struggles of women worldwide and examine them in a hopeful manner. Also, it’s a day to celebrate women’s economic, political and social achievements. There are many women that, throughout the years have succeeded in their fields, creating major social change one way or another. On this day, we would like to honor the Latinas who represent their culture and heritage by highlighting it in everything they do, and who have achieved major recognition for paving the way to a more equal world.
Although there are so many Latinas whose work in changing the world remains anonymous, there are a lot who have been pushed into the spotlight. And of all of those we know, we’re only choosing 15. We are aware that there are thousands of Latinas out there working hard every day so women can enjoy a better environment in politics, the arts, businesses, literature, the fashion world, entertainment, and even in space. And may their example inspire thousands more to educate themselves and grow personally and professionally. Scroll through our gallery to see the 15 Latinas we chose, who are changing the world with their work and commitment.
~15 Inspiring Latinas~
Take a look at some inspiring Latinas who are an example for women thanks to their hard work, dedication and success.
Reuters, Mezcalent, Latin Times
Dolores Huerta
Huerta is a labor leader and civil rights activist who, along with César Chávez, co-founded the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW). She has received numerous awards for her community service and advocacy for workers’, immigrants’, and womens’ rights.
(Reuters)
Celia Cruz
One of the most popular salsa artists of the 20th century, she earned twenty-three gold albums and was renowned internationally as the “Queen of Salsa”, “La Guarachera de Cuba”, as well as The Queen of Latin Music. Her career lasted a span of nearly six decades. The late singer was also a strong voice for freedom in Cuba and was strongly against Fidel Castro’s regime.
(Reuters)
Sonia Sotomayor
Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. Sotomayor is the Court’s first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976 and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979. She was an advocate for the hiring of Latino faculty at both schools. She played an active role on the boards of directors for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the State of New York Mortgage Agency, and the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
(Reuters)
Rigoberta Menchú
Menchú has worked her whole life to publicizing the plight of Guatemala’s indigenous peoples and to promoting indigenous rights in the country. She received the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize and Prince of Asturias Award in 1998.
(Reuters)
Carolina Herrera
Carolina is a renown fashion designer. She has made a name for herself by dressing numerous celebrities and First Ladies, from Jacqueline Onassis to Michelle Obama. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2008 and “Womenswear Designer of the Year” in 2004. Herrera is a recipient of The International Center in New York’s Award of Excellence as well as Spain’s Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, which was presented to her in 2002 by King Don Juan Carlos I. She was awarded the Gold Medal of the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in 1997, and those are only few of her achievements.
(Reuters)
Alicia Alonso
Alicia is Cuba’s prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer.She runs the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and is most famous for her portrayals of Giselle and the ballet version of Carmen. (Reuters)
Isabel Allende
Allende is a Chilean writer who’s famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts. She has been called “the world’s most widely read Spanish-language author.” She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004 and in 2010, she received Chile’s National Literature Prize. Her novels are often based upon her personal experience and pay homage to the lives of women.
(Reuters)
Rita Moreno
The only Hispanic and one of the few performers to have won an EGOT: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award.
(Reuters)
Selena Quintanilla
She was named the “Top Latin artist of the 90’s” and “Best selling Latin artist of the decade” by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits. She was called “The Queen of Tejano music” and opened the doors for that music genre. At the peak of her career, Selena visited local schools to talk to students about the importance of education and also donated her time to civic organizations.
(Mezcalent)
Mirabal Sisters
Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal were three Dominican sisters who fought against the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. They were one of Trujillo’s major concerns and he had them killed in Nov. 25, 1960. Their fight for a democracy earned them recognition from the UN, who, in 1999, designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in their honor.
(Screenshot/ YouTube/ AARP)
Sylvia Rivera
She was an American bisexual transgender activist and trans woman. She is often credited for adding the “T” to LGBTQ. She was a founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance and helped found Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a group dedicated to helping homeless young street drag queens and trans women.
(Screenshot/ YouTube/ Randolfe Wicker)
Ellen Ochoa
Ochoa is the first Latina astronaut. She is the current Director of the Johnson Space Center. Her technical assignments in the Astronaut Office includes serving as the crew representative for flight software, computer hardware and robotics, Assistant for Space Station to the Chief of the Astronaut Office, lead spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in Mission Control, and as acting as Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office. A veteran of four space flights, Ochoa has logged nearly 1,000 hours in space. She was a mission specialist on STS-56 (1993), was payload commander on STS-66, and was mission specialist and flight engineer on STS-96 and STS-110 (2002). All that without mentioning all her breakthrough research in spacecraft technology.
(Reuters)
Frida Kahlo
Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.
(Reuters)
Shakira
Besides being a singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, choreographer and model, we added the Colombian singer to this list mostly because of her work with children through her foundation “Pies Descalzos” and her activism. Her organization builds schools for poor children all around Colombia, but she’s also a UNICEF ambassador, advocating for the well being of children all over the world.
(Reuters)
Cristina Saralegui
Saralegui is one of the most iconic journalists and talk show hosts in Latin America. She began her career with the magazine Vanidades, later taking on the role of editor in the Spanish version of Cosmopolitan, to finally jump to TV with “El Show de Cristina,” which aired for over 20 years.
“Surrender is faith that the power of Love can accomplish anything even when you can not foresee the outcome”.
~~Deepak Chopra~~
Omar Akram is a Grammy Award-winning Afghan-American recording artist, composer and pianist.
Omar Akram: Grammy Award Winning Recording Artist, Pianist, Cultural Diplomat
The piano-driven, instrumental music of Omar Akram elegantly defies borders and has played a crucial role in defining modern New Age and World music. His songs have millions of plays on YouTube from fans across the globe, and his first two albums, Opal Fire (2002) and Free As a Bird (2004), hit the Top 15 on Billboard’s New Age chart. He became the first Afghan-American to win a Grammy award with Echoes of Love (2012), and his most recent album, Daytime Dreamer (2013), presents an enchanting blend of World, New Age and electronica music that lures listeners with masterful musicianship and his well-traveled wisdom.
Born in New York, Omar grew up the son of a United Nations diplomat living everywhere from France to Prague, Cuba and his ancestral home of Afghanistan. He details his multi-cultural upbringing and his youthful brush with Fidel Castro in his op-ed for the Huffington Post, “Can Music Promote Cultures and Bridge Peace?”
With powerful supporters like Paulo Coelho and Deepak Chopra, and diehard fans around the world, Omar is more than a world-class musician – he is an internationally recognized cultural figure who has been featured on BBC, Origin Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine.
In Omar’s interview with Origin Magazine, he concludes that his music is popular largely due to an absence of spoken language, and his openness to travel and world cultures,
“I create instrumental music because it is the most borderless form of expression I know. Since there are no words, it is not confined by any one language. This gives the power of interpretation to the listener, and my life’s work is connecting cultures and people through the universal expression of music.”
Playing for Change hit it out of the park this time. This is a very well known song in the Latin community. Its origins are in the island of Cuba. There isn’t a citizen of Latin America who doesn’t know the verses, the music and the meaning of this song.
~~THERE’S THE CHILL FACTOR~~
~~Origin~~
Playing For Change was born in 2002 as a shared vision between co-founders, Mark Johnson and Whitney Kroenke, to hit the streets of America with a mobile recording studio and cameras in search of inspiration and the heartbeat of the people. Producers Mark Johnson and Enzo Buono, traveled around the world to places including New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, India, Nepal, the Middle East and Ireland.
The music for the song is sometimes attributed to José Fernández Diaz, known as Joseíto Fernández, who claimed to have written it at various dates (consensus puts 1929 as its year of origin), and who used it regularly in one of his radio programs. Someclaim that the song’s structure actually came from Herminio “El Diablo” García Wilson, who could be credited as a co-composer. García’s heirs took the matter to court decades later but lost the case: the Supreme Court of Cuba credited Fernández as the sole composer of the music in 1993. Regardless of either claim, Fernández can safely be claimed as being the first public promoter of the song, through his radio programs.
~~Original lyrics and José Fernández~~
The lyrics to the song, as written by José Fernández, are about a woman from Guantánamo, with whom he had a romantic relationship, and who eventually left him. The alleged real story behind these lyrics (or at least one of many versions of the song’s origin that Fernández suggested during his lifetime) is that she did not have a romantic interest in him, but merely a platonic one. If the details are to be believed, she had brought him a steak sandwich one day as a present to the radio station where he worked. He stared at some other woman (and attempted to flirt with her) while eating the sandwich, and his friend yanked it out of his hands in disgust, cursed him and left.
He never saw her again. These words are rarely sung today.
Another history behind the chorus and its lyrics (“Guantanamera/Guajira Guantanamera …”) is similar: García claimed he was at a street corner with a group of friends and made a courteous pass (a polite pick-up line, like “your mother made you good” or “you came from a star”, piropo in Spanish) to a woman (who also happened to be from Guantánamo) who walked by the group.
She answered back rather harshly, offended by the pass. Stunned, he could not take his mind off her reaction while his friends made fun of him; later that day, sitting at a piano with his friends near him, he wrote the song’s main refrain.
~~Playing For Change – Guantanamera~~
~~Published on Jul 1, 2014~~
We invite you to watch and enjoy another Song Around The World from our new album: “Guantanamera“.
We started the song with Carlos Varela in Havana and it features over 75 Cuban musicians around the world, from Havana and Santiago to Miami, Barcelona and Tokyo. We recorded and produced this track with Jackson Browne, who explains that “traveling with Playing For Change across Cuba was one of the most rewarding and inspiring musical experiences of my life.”
Just another traveler on life's highway hanging out in the slow lane. It's quiet, it's peaceful. Beyond the horizon is rest calling my name. Green pastures, still waters, my cup runneth over.
We ALL are connected through MUSIC!! 
