"Smoking hookah," otherwise known as inhaling flavored tobacco product through a hose affixed to an elaborate water pipe, is growing in popularity, particularly among Florida high school students. Moreover, it's increasing in popularity among Hispanic Florida high school students. The habit is replacing the trend of traditional cigarette usage, and has become a favorite among teenage boys and teenage girls. The Florida Youth Tobacco Survey has indicated that the rate at which teenage girls smoke hookah has caught up to boys. Hispanic teens are leading that trend, as they are most likely to try and then continue the habit.
Spanish is the second most used language in the United States, and according to the 2012 U.S. Census Bureau, it is the primary language spoken at home by 38.3 million people age five or older -having doubled since 1990. Latinos and non-Latinos, alike, are obliging to the growing need to speak and understand Spanish, as it's a valuable skill in most fields -even in Hollywood.
Sports dominate as one of America's greatest pastimes; the nation loves witnessing competitive physical activity that involve baseball bats, boxing gloves, hockey sticks, golf clubs, rackets and various sized balls. Spectator sports dominate Sunday, Monday and Thursday evenings, and hours go into fans researching and keeping up with their favorite sports teams and sports celebrities. Sportsmanias, an innovative twitter-based website, helps fans to better connect with their favorite teams and their favorite players.
Colorado's Rocky Mountains and Great Plains have lost national interest in favor of the large deposits of Pierre Shale that dwells deep beneath the soil. Pierre Shale is a fossiliferous, dark-grey rock formed 66 million years ago when the North American Inland Sea receded. Oil and gas companies, who want to frack, and opposing environmental groups are at odds in Colorado, and Latinos are being lured to both sides of the argument, as they make up a good chunk of the state's population.
Julia Navarro, a 58-year-old Utah woman, is preparing to give birth to her granddaughter -acting as a surrogate for her own daughter, Lorena McKinnon, who was having difficulty becoming pregnant.
Earlier today, Lossip.com wrote an article and a subsequent tweet that congratulated Natalie Albino for giving birth to a baby boy. Albino is a member of the musical duo Nina Sky -- which is comprised of Natalie and her identical twin sister Nicole. "However, Natalie's Instagram account seems to deny that the delivery took place, as she did a screenshot of the tweet, and wrote beside it, "WAIT, WHAT?! WHEN?!!!"
Zoe Saldana will star as the lead in NBC's four-hour miniseries Rosemary's Baby. The title was made most famous by the 1968 psychological film, which was written and directed by Roman Polanski, and starred Mia Farrow and Josh Cassavetes; but the mini-series will be an adaption of the 1967 horror-suspense novel of the same name, written by Ira Levin.
The Harlem ballroom scene was once ablaze with Latinos and African Americans performing the highly stylized, modern house dance called Vogue or voguing. While Madonna's video "Vogue" (1990) popularized the model-like poses, the history of the dance began in the early 1960s -though competing reports state that Drag (Queen) balls can be dated back to the 1930s, which was referred to as "Spectacles in Color" by Langton Hughes. The dance scene evolved into the "intricate and illusory form" that it is recognized as today. Vogue magazine was inspired by the dance; as well as Malcolm McLaren's "Deep in Vogue"; America's Best Dance Crew dance group Vogue Revolution; as well other mediums of performance and art. The 1990 film Paris is Burning documented the creative phenomenon.
Latinos' experiences continue to grow in America and abroad; history's hand collectively grasps at information while generations of Latinos look to the past to uncover the traditions, practices and creations of their ancestors. For this, museums are perfect. They act as time capsules, and able to offer patrons polarized frames of existence. Salvador Dali's painting The Persistence of Memory and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel Cien anos de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) solidify a time, a place and an experience, without an explicit announcement of placement.
“The Brazilian Bombshell” to some and “The Chiquita Banana Girl” to others, Carmen Miranda (born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha) was a bonafide star to all who knew her name. Frequently clad in exotic costumes and hats made of fruit, the Portuguese-Brazilian singer and actress rose to fame in Brazil before she became an international film and stage star.
The Sicilian and Irish populations have been able to assimilate; pour directly to the racial and ethnic melting pot that is America without missing much of a beat. However, African Americans, Native Americans and Mexican Americans will never be able to assimilate, according to conservative Jason Richwine, co-author of a controversial immigration study, and numerous others. America’s title as a melting pot was earned from breaking ties with old countries, learning a new culture, and learning a new language.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), universally known as Obamacare, opened enrollment for insurance on Oct. 1, 2013. This came as a relief to low income individuals –- particularly members of the Latino community, which has the highest rate for uninsured adults in the county. In some states, more than a quarter of adult women don’t have insurance. In 2010, 30.7 percent of the Hispanic population is uncovered by health insurance, compared to 11.7 percent of the non-Hispanic white population.
Misinformation, ignorance, difficulties gaining access, fear of maltreatment, and worries over violations of privacy are some of the obstacles that keep Latinos from visiting healthcare facilities and/or sex and reproductive health clinics.
She's most famous for her masterful portrayal of cut-throat Police Captain Maria LaGuerta on the bloody hit Showtime drama Dexter; also, for a long run as Dr. Gloria Nathan on OZ and a reoccurring role as Elena on the much-adored show Ugly Betty. After Velez's character's fatal exit from Dexter, the dynamic Puerto Rican actress Lauren Velez has moved on to interesting and exciting projects and opportunities.
Student exchanges, sports exchanges, professional exchanges and other international exchange programs lead to the development of cultural understanding, exploration of varied terrain, public diplomacy, and the strengthening of empathetic global concern.
Latin music genres, with their varied influences from Europe, Africa and the Caribbean, were sewn, crafted and mended using unique rhythms and tribal beats. Those sounds made their way from their places of national origin to the United States, keeping with tradition, but gaining bits of modernity throughout time.
Nuyorican prize-winning poet and children's book author Willie Perdomo is Spanish Harlem's El Barrio-born and a native to all things awe-inspiring. He has been published in New York Times Magazine and Bomb. The writer of Clementine!, Where a Nickel Costs a Dime, Postcards of El Barrio, The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon, and Smoking Lovely, he's won a number of literary awards and notable mentions, recognized for his incredible creative contributions to the world of poetry.
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are five countries that comprise BRICS, a network of nations with major emerging national economies. These newly industrialized countries set themselves apart with their budding nominal growth, and their great influence on global and local affairs. Also G-20 members (group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governor from 20 major economies), the five countries represent an estimated $4 trillion (US) in foreign reserves and a combined grossed domestic product (GDP) of $16.039 trillion (US).
The Hispanic Access Foundation summoned prominent Latino religious leaders from several Western states for a conference regarding the environment, conservation, and energy development. The multi-denominational Christian group established an inter-faith alliance called Por la Creacion, which plans to encourage religious education, and foster a sense of responsibility in this and future generations.
Spanish-speakers have a distinct advantage in the workplace, able to converse openly with Anglophones and Hispanophones, which allows for connections to a larger customer-base. The same is true of Political candidates, who intend to beckon the interests of Latino voters.
Mounting minority populations led to the development of Little Italys, Koreatowns, Little Havanas, Little Manilas, Jewish quarters, Chinatowns, Ghettos, Barrios/Bairros and ethnic-isolated pigeon-holed areas. Latino-American ethnic concentrated areas that breed on self-sufficiency and have a defined identity are popular throughout the United States.
Bi-national creative effort Aztec of the City is a comic book series that chronicles the lives of two Mexican-American cousins in San Jose, Calif. who become superheroes. Widely known as America's first, and one of the only, Chicano/Latino superhero comic book series, it was developed by creator Fernando B. Rodriguez, and later illustrated by Ernie Polo. The cousin protagonists, Tony Torres and Tony Avalos, come from two very different strides of life, but narrow to a single path because of a desire to do good.
Archbishop and Papal Nuncio Jozef Wesolowski is the latest member of the Catholic faith to face allegations of child sexual abuse. Dominican Republic prosecutors investigating the former man of the cloth have concluded that he sexually abused at least five boys under the age of 15. Santo Domingo, the country's capital city, is where allegations first aired on a local program, stating that Wesolowski paid to have sex with minor boys.
Throughout Latin America, gift-giving etiquette differs, varying depending on customs, cultures, traditions and climates. Presenting an item to someone without expectation or payment; or exchanging with the expectation of reciprocity isn't specific to the holiday season or Latin Americans, but the mutual exchange of money, goods, gifts and kindness is something that is shared in the Latin American community, and it speaks to the tradition of Spanish culture and nonverbal communication.
Crème de coconut and choice liquor are necessary... no, essential when crafting a pitcher of flavorful and potent Puerto Rican Coquito, particularly in the Collazo household. Roberto Collazo Jr., a Warehouse Associate at an automotive manufacturing facility, learned the recipe from his father, who learned it from his father before him. Hand-over-hand, the multi-generational holiday favorite was passed down from one man to the next; the drink inheriting the traditions of the older man, but the changing tastes and interests of the younger one.
