Intellectually Entertaining. Socially Relevant.
Book of the Month Join us as we delve into July’s Book of the Month: When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago. Esmeralda’s essays and opinion pieces have appeared in numerous publications, such as The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Along with a novel and a children’s book, she has written three Read More
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name/Would smell just as sweet.” I would like to think that I was invoking the words of the immortal Shakespeare when I started calling my newborn Chanchito. He was a glorious, fat baby, and I have always been charmed by the cuteness Read More
The Cuba Libre holds a special place in my heart, and it’s not difficult to understand why. It’s quick, it’s easy to make, and it does the trick. And discovering the drink’s history made me fall in love with it even more. It all began with the U.S. invasion of Cuba on June 22, 1898. Read More
Pigs are flying. This was the password for my bridal registry. I got married “late in life” and while this was not a point of anxiety for me, I noted with some amusement that my nuptials were of considerable relief to my parents who had been worried that I would languish alone without the protection Read More
Summertime means more family time, and for Latinos, this family often extends across national borders. Fellow Book of the Month members may remember the following lines: “Every summer Santo Domingo slaps the Diaspora engine into reverse, yanks back as many of its expelled children as it can…Like someone had sounded a general reverse evacuation order: Read More
Thousands of Puerto Ricans marched through Midtown Manhattan waving Puerto Rican flags of all sizes. Admittedly, I wasn’t there, but growing up in Humboldt Park, I know with certainty that the atmosphere was thick with puertorriqueñidad. The Puerto Rican Pride Parade (as it’s known) has been an annual feature in N.Y.C. since 1958 – a Read More
Today, June 12, marks 45 years since the U.S. government decided to end laws that made interracial marriage illegal in the historic case of Loving v. Virginia. Marriage is certainly an institution that is a part of society, but it is a topic that people debate about constantly. For a union that occurs between two Read More
Are you tired of giving your dad Father’s Day gifts you are super psyched about and then a couple of weeks later discovering those same gifts in the back of his closet? Father’s Day is upon us, but it’s not too late to find him a perfect, closet-proof gift. Help your dad get healthier in Read More
The Puerto Rican Day Parade is a time for moving and shaking. I had the privilege of seeing if first hand yesterday, June 10, as I joined the crew from Being Latino and Fox News Latino to celebrate nuestra isla y herencia. From the dance troupe representing Banco Popular to Geraldo Rivera, everyone on that Read More
Story Behind the Anthem The Cuban national anthem was written by Pedro “Perucho” Figueredo, a general in the Ten Year War, in the dawn of August 14, 1867. The music was composed by Manuel Muñoz Cedeño on May 8, 1868. It is known as Himno de Bayamo or La Bayamesa because it was first Read More