palantelatino-blog

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Luis J. Rodriguez will become part of history when he is sworn in as the 89th president of the California State Bar in October "which regulates more than 237,000 attorneys in the state" 

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I hope this blog helps us see how opening up the door to our past can help us find a relationship to our present. Be it in words or actions. The fact is that ours is a rich and varied culture peppered with a multi-ethnic ancestry.

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Mexican Actress Vicky Araico Gives Immigrants A Voice In The UK. Through her one woman show called Juana In A Million , inspired by a report by the Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS), Araico Casas portrays a young Mexican immigrant that refuses to become invisible.

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This past April 15th, baseball celebrated 66 years since the debut of the first African American to play in Major League Baseball  in the modern era, Jackie Robinson. While we honored the importance of this historical event, we began to think of the many Afro Latinos who played in the league, and that is when we stumbled upon what we think has been a forgotten but significant piece of U.S. sports history.

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Sabías que..?  The original producer and director of Chespirito's 1970s television shows El Chavo de Ocho and El Chapulin Colorado, Enrique Segoviano, was born in the Dominican Republic to Spanish parents and raised in Mexico.  After El Chapulin, Segoviano went on to produce and/or direct a number of successful shows for Televisa including Anabel (1988), Odisea burbujas (1979), Nosotros los Pobres (1973), Hola México!!! (1984), 100 mexicanos dijeron (2001) and Todo el mundo cree que sabe (2009) among many others.  Pa'lante to Enrique Segoviano for producing and directing one of the most famous comedies in Latin America most of us have grown to watch or learned of through our parents.

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The first documented use of chocolate came when in 2007 archaeologists reported finding evidence of cacao use at a site in Puerto Escondido, Honduras dating from about 1100 to 1400 BC. When the Aztecs gained control they adop

ted chocolate into their culture for sacred offerings. Xocóatl, as the Aztecs called it, meaning "bitter water," was a drink "made from ground cacao beans boiled in water, flavored with vanilla and other tropical spices, and chilled with bits of snow from nearby mountain tops." Europeans adapted chocolate after Montezuma introduced it to the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in the 16th century. (http://www.mexconnect.com/).

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Flyweight Olympic boxer Marlen Esparza might have lost her semifinal Olympic match today, but she will forever live in the history books as the very first woman to earn a boxing medal for the United States.

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Oscar Figueroa Mosquera of Colombia wins silver in weightlifting bringing in the 2nd medal to the Latin-American country.

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Mexico's German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia win Silver in Olympic men's synchronized diving.

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The 2012 Olympics summer games will kick off tonight at 7:30 pm eastern time. There are roughly 1,054 competitors representing Latin-America and the Caribbean Islands. Can anyone guess (without using Google) which Latin-American country has the most competitors in the games?

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For Puerto Ricans, July 25th 1898 represents the fateful day when the United States invaded the island.  At the time, the goal was to become independent from Spain. However, the island’s political and economic infrastructure was broken and drained of  resources. Country folks had no idea who the newcomers were.  As most of us know, the 19th century became a turning point in history as many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean gained their independence from Spain and Portugal except for Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam and the Philippines.

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Puerto Rican and Mexican flags flying high at London's Olympic Village.

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This year the pioneer of modern dance and choreography José Limón will be honored with an official United States Stamp. The Mexican born dancer's most famous work is called The Moor's Pavane based on Shakespeare's Othello. Limón was born on January 12, 1908 in Culiacán, Mexico. In 1915 his family moved to Los Angeles, California where he attended UCLA as an Arts Major. In 1928 he moved to New York City to study at the New York School of Design under Doris Humphrey.  In 1946, Limón founded the José Limón Dance Company. The company does some of the most spectacular tours of the 50s and 60s, dancing through Europe and South America and being successful everywhere. In December 1972, at the age of 64, Jose Limón died from cancer. His collection was given to the New York Public Library Dance Collection by Charles Tomlinson and in 1997 he was inducted into the National Museum of Dance Hall of Fame.  http://www.contemporary-dance.org/jose-limon.html

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Did you know?  The three time NBA All-Star Glibert Arenas is of Cuban descent. Gibert's father, who had sole custody of him since the age 2 is Cuban.  Arenas was picked in the second round of the 2001 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors and a three time member of the All-NBA Team. He also was voted the NBA Most Improved Player in the 2002–03 season. Arenas currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies.

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Jazz Pianist Hilton Ruiz was just eight years old when he first played at Carnegie Hall. Born to Puerto Rican parents in New York City, Ruiz jammed with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard and Roland Kirk.  On May 19, 2006, Ruiz was found unconscious on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, where he had gone to promote a CD benefiting the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Ruiz was hospitalized in a coma and died without regaining consciousness.  Here's one of Hilton's numbers called "Michael's Mambo"http://youtu.be/qaYBR5OaPUA

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Only July 13th, 1854, General José María Yáñez stopped the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon in the batte of Guaymas, Mexico. On August 13th Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon was captured and executed by firing squad. In 1859 the national government elevated the town to city status as a reward for this action.  The international airport located in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico is named after General José María Yáñez.

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In Olympic news Puerto Rican Javier Culson won the 400m hurdle and Dominican Felix Sanchez also qualified for London by finishing 3rd with 48.56 seconds.