"So when did you learn you were Mexican?" a longtime friend once asked over drinks, his cigar dangling dangerously close to my tequila. Given my surname is Sanchez, the question might have seemed a bit odd. Especially because the friend pushing the query also had a red-flag last name and was also of Mexican lineage. His intent was to tweak me for not speaking fluent Spanish, for never having exp...

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez isn't fond of labels. Prolific. Borderline genius. Mom. Girly nerd. Savvy. She'll take those. Who wouldn't? But they're the labels that slot people into corners. They're the words that box her in and make her crazy. With that frustration is a give-and-take. Some of those same words have propelled her success as a best-selling author, torchbearer for publishing's chica-l...

They're not just rocking the vote -- they're salseando, perreando and mariachi-ando it. Latino musicians, actors and celebrities are getting involved in the U.S. presidential campaign to an unprecedented degree this year, from voter-registration campaigns to online music videos for Barack Obama, the candidate drawing the most support from young Latinos. Such star action could play a significant ...

MIAMI (Billboard) - More than any other genre in Latin music, regional Mexican has been buffeted by market conditions both broad and specific. The genre has been affected by developments ranging from the crackdown on illegal immigrants and the nation's economic downturn to the uncertainty over the impact of the recent sale of Latin powerhouse Univision Music Group to Universal Music Group. And ye...

Ailing in a hospital bed in 1999 after his second heart attack and the quadruple bypass that followed, Tejano singer Sunny Ozuna was certain his time in this world was up. Best known for his 1963 hit “Talk to Me,” which he recorded with his band the Sunglows (later the Sunliners), and for being the first Tejano musician to perform on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand that same year, Ozuna had led a...

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo blasts presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain for his secret meeting with Hispanic leaders in Chicago last week and challenges the Senator from Arizona to stand firm on border security, regardless of the audience he's addressing. In a letter sent to McCain on Tuesday and released by the Associated Press, the congressman from Colorado chastises McCain for r...

INDIANAPOLIS - About half of Hispanic high school students in Indiana would be the first in their families to attend college, and most feel they can't afford a higher education, according to a new survey. Learn More Indiana's annual survey of high school freshmen and juniors found that most students expect to earn a four-year college degree. But fewer Hispanic students expected a four-year degre...

Smithsonian focuses on Lone Star State, and El Paso will be there to helpThis week, about a million visitors to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., are going to discover what many in Texas already know.The Lone Star state not only is diverse in geography and population, but also is home to some of the best food, music and wine in the nation. And while they're touting the state in "Te...

MIAMI (Billboard) - Around the Miami headquarters of Rowland Coffee Roasters, the parent company of Cafe Pilon and Cafe Bustelo, it was a piece of history that had acquired the air of an urban legend. In 1951, Pilon ran an ad on Cuban TV that featured a jingle performed by the late salsa queen Celia Cruz, who was still living in Cuba at the time. The black-and-white spot kicked off with the word ...

Leading an all-star comedy cast, Martin Lawrence is talk-show sensation RJ Stevens, who left behind his modest Southern upbringing and family name to transform into a self-help guru dispensing his "Team of Me" philosophy to millions of adoring fans.  With a reality-TV-star fiancee and money to burn, there's no piece of the Hollywood dream RJ hasn't achieved.  After his parents request th...

Enter the Wu-Tang "Latino" that is.  Rayroq Acosta, President/CEO of Wu-Latino is bringing Latino back!  Wu-Latino has just launched "La Nueva Estrella" contest, a nationwide search for the next Latino music superstar. The competition is open to all Latin music genres and will tour the country in search of "La Nueva Estrella".  This talent competition will give local undiscovered La...

WASHINGTON -- It was called "un mensaje personal a Puerto Rico," a television spot in which Barack Obama spoke to the camera in stilted but effective Spanish. "I was born on an island," he said, "and I understand that food, gas, and everything costs more." Obama got trounced in the Puerto Rico primary this week. But the advertisement, with the candidate's personalized appeal and willingness to t...

MIAMI (Billboard) - "Podemos con Obama," an all-Spanish-language video in support of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, features more than 20 Latin music acts saying things like "Obama is different" and "Obama is the future." But buried among them is a more pointed comment from Spanish musician Alejandro Sanz: "We need immigration reform." In the past year, Latin acts have incr...

MIAMI (Billboard) - Mexican chanteuse Julieta Venegas, who went from a quirky underground darling to a mainstream pop queen with her breakthrough 2003 album "Si," is seeking to solidify her international appeal with an "MTV Unplugged" set. "MTV Unplugged," which the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist co-produced, will be released June 17 in more than 15 countries, including such European mar...

Enthusiastic, big and a little clumsy, Po is the biggest fan of Kung Fu around...which doesn't exactly come in handy while working every day in his family's noodle shop.  Unexpectedly chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy, Po's dreams become reality when he joins the world of Kung Fu and studies alongside his idols, the legendary Furious Five -- Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey -- und...

MIAMI (Billboard) - Victor Manuelle, one of salsa music's brightest contemporary stars, is the first to admit that his way is not for everyone. That way is on his own label, after 14 years with Sony BMG. "Not every artist is an impresario, and I don't presume to be one," says Manuelle. "But you have to know when to make your move. My career is at its peak. There was no reason to wait." Manuelle...

MIAMI (Billboard) - After scoring the top-selling Latin album of 2007 with "El Cartel: The Big Boss," reggaeton star Daddy Yankee is beginning to pave the way for his next project with the track "Pose." The twist? "Pose" is being presented as the first single from "Talento de Barrio: El Soundtrack," the soundtrack to Daddy Yankee's upcoming film debut, "Talento de Barrio." This past March anothe...

New Latino-aimed teas cross demographic linesCompany has burst onto the beverage scene with more than $3 million in sales When the folks behind Tomandote say the bottled tea is "como t abuela lo hacma," they're not kidding. The most popular tea -- which features a lemongrass flavor with a touch of cane sugar -- reminds founder Frank Ruvalcaba of the tea his grandmother used to make. Apparently,...

A large segment of the American Hispanic community has historically shared conservative Republican values, even though today many of them vote Democrat. In fact, a close look at US history demonstrates that Hispanics have traditionally been closer to conservative Republican values than to those of the Democrat Party. The GOP needs to establish a clear agenda to reach and mobilize these millions o...

LOMA LINDA - Irma Vasquez is addicted to tamales. "I love them for breakfast, lunch and dinner," said the 51-year-old Redlands resident. The Mexican immigrant recently made the decision to cut back on her favorite food. She did it for her health. Vasquez is part of a small group of Latino diabetics who completed a free education course last week at Loma Linda University. The course was dev...

When it comes to boiling spaghetti, the first lesson that a young cook learns is to throw a string of it against something -- say, a wall or the side of a refrigerator -- to see whether the pasta is ready to be served Keep that in mind as we delve into immigration, ordinances and, yes, voting in Farmers Branch. Last week, after months of waiting, U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay in Dallas told Fa...

As good and marketable as she is, could Lorena Ochoa's status as the No. 1 woman golfer in the world attract more Hispanics to golf?Perhaps, if Ochoa stays on top long enough, but as yet locals in the golf community aren't seeing what might be called a "Tiger Effect." Remember those days a decade ago, when Woods first burst onto the PGA Tour scene, won the 1997 Masters by an astonishing 12 shots ...

FARMERS BRANCH — A federal judge found Wednesday that a Dallas suburb's rule prohibiting apartment rentals to illegal immigrants was unconstitutional and could not be enforced. In his decision, U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay concluded Farmers Branch didn't defer to the federal government in immigration matters. Instead, the city tried to create its own classification to determine which noncit...

SEGUIN — Nothing the protected know of civilian life approaches the shared experience of old soldiers who exchange a salute to comrades-in-arms. That’s especially true of fallen comrades, and that’s what Monday’s Memorial Day gathering of the American GI Forum — this nation’s largest representing the interests and values of Hispanic veterans — was about. This year, the local chapter of the AGIF ...