According to Latina.com, Marvel Comics is gearing up to debut a new character, replacing Peter Parker as Spider-Man. Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino teen, is helmed to take over in the role of the arachnid super hero as part of the Marvel Ultimate Spider-Manseries September relaunch.
Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Alex Alonso shared insight on the New York City teen hero in a broader context. “What you have is a Spider-Man for the 21st century who's reflective of our culture and diversity,” he said. “We think that readers will fall in love with Miles Morales the same way they fell in love with Peter Parker.” (excerpt from Latina.com)
I am not a comic fan, never really read them growing up and was only marginally entertained by the Hollywood renditions on the big screen. But this is still an interesting choice, especially considering race relations in the comic world. So what do you all think? Are you excited to see this new character? Do you agree that it reflects diversity in our culture or is it a gimmick?
I just read an interesting article over on Latina.com and wanted to get your opinions. Here is an excerpt:
"The latest Census results released last week tell us that 1 in 6 people in the U.S. is Latino, and that Latino kids number just over 17 million, or 23 percent of the 17-and-under U.S. population..."
“I just feel like there’s no excuse to not speak Spanish,” she (Odette Yustman) said. "It’s like Canada — they’ve got English and French — that’s what we need to do.”
"Odette tells us she also plans to pass down Spanish to her kids one day. “It’s important because living in the U.S. it’s so easy for kids to forget the language because you go to school and the kids speak English...“I was so fortunate because I learned Spanish first, so that was my first language....You just gotta carry that on, ya know?" (Click here to read the article in its entirety.)
I love Spanish. I learned to speak Spanish in school. I even majored in Romance Languages concentrating in Spanish as an undergrad. My husband was raised in South America and my son will hopefully be bilingual as well. All that being said, do I think we need to be officially blingual in this country? I don't know. I do know that many people feel the US is English speaking only and always should be.
So, after reading the article, this raises two questions in my mind:
1) Should all Americans learn Spanish, become bilingual and willingly adopt Spanish as our national language (in addition to English)?
and
2) Are you any less latino/a if you don't speak Spanish?
You may think this issue does not apply to you if you are not hispanic/latino(a) but I think A) if you live in the USA you are well aware of the growing Spanish-speaking population and B)whether it be race, gender, sexuality or HAIR, we can all relate to issues of identity and image. For example, question 2 could easily be replaced with "Are you any less Black if you don't wear your hair in its natural state" or some other like phrase.
So what do you all think?
Click here to read an older post about Black-Latino Identity.
I just saw this on Racialicious, one of my favorite sites. Go over, check it out, then come back and tell me what you think. Oh, and don't forget to read the comments, sometimes they are the best part about a controversial post. I have not read the article yet, but the pics alone made me shudder a bit...
***UPDATE***
To get more about this strange and provocative image popping up in CA and ATL, click here, here, and here. Did it start HERE?
I ended up staying awake way past my bedtime a few nights ago. I turned on the tv and Philadelphia, the 1993film revolving around HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and homophobia, was playing, still in the first half. I knew immediately that any plans I had for sleep would be put on hold and I would be glued to the screen for the next hour and a half.
I have seen the film countless times over the years but each time I watch it, something new jumps out at me and I am moved in a different way.
It astonished me how sad the film really is. Obviously, right, there is a man who dies from AIDS and fights against the law firm which fired him for having the disease and being gay. But this time around, it really struck me how horribly people are treated who are not heterosexual in this country.
Much like racism, heterosexism is less blatant as it used to be but continues to permeate our society. Some of the things that were said to Tom Hank's character, in a court of law no less, were astounding. It literally brought tears to my eyes.
In these times, where young boys are hanging themselves in closets because of taunting at school regarding their sexuality, it makes me say STOP! This is crazy! I personally have no issues with homosexuality and I wish we lived in a world where people let other people live. It is one thing to disagree with what someone else does, or not wish to participate in something yourself. But it is entirely another thing to have the audacity to think only certain people deserve civil rights and equal treatment under the law.
Watching Tom Hanks as he portrayed a man dying with AIDS made my heart ache. They way people hurled insults and basically said he deserved what he got for being gay made me sick. There is a woman in the film who also has AIDS but because she is straight and contracted the disease from a blood transfusion, she was to be pitied as opposed to despised. She didn't "deserve" AIDS according to some, as if anybody deserves AIDS, as if AIDS is God's punishment to those some consider to be sexually deviant and perverse.
Denzel Washington's portrayal of a lawyer defending his gay client was also very moving. You saw his own struggle with understanding gender and homosexuality as he tried to defend someone who he knew had been illegally terminated from his job. He disagreed with what he saw to be an alterative lifestyle while also feeling completely adament that the law had been broken and descrimination had occurred. He eventually came to see that his client was not a gay man with AIDS, but just a man like himself who had a love, a career, and a family.
In the end, I hope we continue to evolve as a society in our understanding of people who do not fit the White, male, straight, Christian mold. I hope all people are able to marry under the law and receive equal civil rights as a result. No matter what you believe in, all of us live in this one society and we all deserve to be treated with fairness, justice, and respect. We all have the right to feel safe and protected by the law.
I know this is a touchy subject for some people but I would love to hear what you all think about Gay rights, this movie, or whatever you would like to add. I would only ask that you be respectful in your comments and understand that even if you don't agree with each other, you can still express your opinion in a respectful way.
This is a clip from the film where Tom Hank's character is talking about his love for a particular opera. Instead of prepping for his trial, he takes this moment to explain the story behind the music with his lawyer. This is the same night that he and his partner hosted a gay party and Denzel's character had attended. Here, he's begun to see that Tom Hank's character is a real person with desires, values, feelings, likes, and emotion. It is pretty moving.
Stop the violence! That's how I feel about what is going on in Mexico right now. Yes, there is violence everywhere but I ran across this article on Latina.com that made my stomach knot.
So many people are being kidnapped, beheaded, raped and only God knows what else along the southern border of the US and in Mexico. Cartel members are becoming increasingly violent and many are suffering. What used to be thought of as just a Mexico problem is becoming a US problem with craziness like 'Rape Trees' popping up in places like Arizona. Apparently, these cartel members are raping women under these trees then 'decorating' them with their victims' undergarments as a way to commemorate the event. This is infuriating and scary!
A few weeks ago I watched Bordertown, a 2007 film featuring Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas, which attempted to shed light on the brutal rapes and murders of women in the Mexican city of Juarez. These killings have been going on for more than a decade and the police have yet to find the murderers. These young women are genrally poor. This is an excerpt from an article explaining the situation: "The problem has grown beyond the serial murders. In the past decade, more than 300 women have been killed in Juarez. Every type of homicide against women is common in the city, especially domestic and drug-related killings."
The violence not only affects women: "Juarez is headquarters to a major drug cartel, with its attendant violence and lawlessness. For every one woman killed in Juarez, four men die violently," Burnett says.
Lastly, and I wish I had known this before, February 14th is V-Day, a campaign to raise awareness and funds for charities looking to prevent violence against women. One V-Day event was a worldwide march where thousands of people around the world joined to raise money for the Juarez victims' families. This is an amazing movement to help women around the world be liberated from violence and fear. Next V-Day I'll be ready to help. If you are interested, click here to find out how you can too.
