1	In the News The headlines of Hispanidad. read more...
2	UPFRONT Ruben Navarrette, Jr. Lou Dobbs and his immigration obsession. read more...
3	Dr. Eduardo Padrón Using art to truly “see.” read more...

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In the news

publishing

The mouse that roared
Something that speaks volumes about the new American demographic: Disney has launched its first Spanish-language magazine.
The inaugural issue of Disney en Familia was scheduled to be mailed on July 14 to some 350,000 hand-picked Latino families with children between the age of 4 and 12.
The magazine is being produced by the same team responsible for Disney’s award-winning FamilyFun and Wondertime magazines and will include specially tailored content for Hispanic readers. It will include celebrity interviews, parenting tips, party ideas, advice on preserving cultural traditions—and, of course, Disney promotions.
“Disney En Familia will provide Latina moms the inspiration and support they need to raise a happy, healthy family in the U.S.,” Gilbert Davila, Disney’s vice president of multicultural marketing and the new magazine’s publisher, said in a statement. “For advertisers, it’s the perfect vehicle for reaching young, affluent Latino families.” Plans call for another issue in November before it begins quarterly publication in 2009.

AIDS awareness
Raising a ruckus
Recording star Kat DeLuna was recently named the International Ambassador for the Latino Commission on AIDS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting the spread of HIV.
DeLuna, who is emerging as one of the defining faces of pop’s next generation, takes over the role from actor Gael Garcia Bernal. “Now is the time to call attention to the problems this disease is bringing to Latino communities across the U.S. and Latin America,” DeLuna said in a statement. “Together as a community we can better stop the spread of the disease and provide better care for people living with HIV.”
When she’s not making noise about HIV/AIDS, DeLuna’s sound blends together hip hop, R&B, meringue, pop, Latin jazz, electronic and dance music. She has been honored as MTV Tr3s’ Best New Artist and nominated for a Latin Billboard Award.

entertainment
Celebrity roll call
A number of Hispanic entertainers and athletes claimed their place on Forbes magazine’s list of the 100 most powerful celebrities.
Among them: Cameron Diaz, who at No. 14 was listed as the highest paid actress in Hollywood. Diaz appeared with Ashton Kutcher in the movie What Happens in Vegas this spring.
Others on the list included New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez (No. 24); Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho (No. 38); Spanish racecar driver Fernando Alonso (No. 43); actress Jennifer Lopez (No. 54); actress Eva Longoria Parker (No. 70); and LPGA’s top-ranked golfer Lorena Ochoa (No. 88). Forbes bases its The Celebrity 100 listing on earnings and fame. Earnings take into account contracts, endorsements, movies or other ventures. The fame measurement considers web hits on Google, overall press mentions and the number of times a celebrity’s image appeared on the cover of 55 consumer magazines.

the arts
New ventures
Denver may soon become the home to the world’s newest international art biennial, planned as a celebration of contemporary art and ideas from throughout the Americas. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper recently announced the city has received a $2 million grant from the Colorado-based Boettcher Foundation to help launch the Mile High City’s inaugural Biennial of the Americas. Scheduled for the summer of 2010, the two-month-long curated event will feature two major cultural exhibitions, one focusing on the contemporary arts of the Americas and a secondary program, an “ideas pavilion,” exploring themes ranging from science to urban planning. “From the tip of the Tierra del Fuego to the Northern Hudson Bay,” Hickenlooper said, “we will bring together and showcase the best contemporary artists of all the Americas in what will become one of the major art celebrations in this part of the world.” The anticipated budget: $5 to 6 million.

buzzwords

"This election could well come down to how many Latinos turn out
to vote"
Democratic presidential hopeful sen. Barack obama, addressing the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Republican Sen. John McCain also addressed the group. —Los Angeles Times

"I don’t feel comfortable here, but I can’t even fill the tank on the U.S. side."

George Terrazas, an El Paso maintenance worker among the growing flood of American “gas tourists” crossing the border for significantly lower subsidized gas prices in Mexico.
—New York Times

“You can’t really replace the experience of growing up in two cultures simultaneously. Many of us are first-generation Americans. That’s what connects us so much.”
Actress Andréa Burns, on the shared experiences of the Hispanic cast of Tony Award-winning In the Heights.
—The Miami Herald.

"He could smell a hit. He loved radio. And he changed radio. He was the one who started what you
hear today."
Veteran radio personality Polito Vega, remembering Hispanic broadcasting pioneer Raúl Alarcón, Sr., founder of the Spanish Broadcasting System. Alarcón, who died on June 11 at the age of 82, started SBS with one station in 1983; today it counts 21 radio stations, the MegaTV network, LaMusica.com and the Megafilms production company.
—New York Daily News

“We are all in the middle of an economic slowdown, the first since 2003, but this slowdown is having a much harder impact on Hispanic workers.”

Rakesh Kochhar, author of a Pew Hispanic Center study showing the slump in the construction industry has caused a dramatic reversal in the economic gains made by Hispanics in recent years. The study found the U.S. unemployment rate for Hispanics rose to 6.5 percent in the first quarter of 2008, well above the 4.7 percent rate for non-Hispanics. —Orlando Sentinel

health
Teens taking risks
Today’s high school students are less likely to engage in many risky behaviors than high school students in the early 1990s, according to a survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, Hispanic students have not matched the progress made by black students and non-Hispanic white students. “We are pleased that more high school students today are doing things that will help them stay healthy and avoiding things that put their health in danger. Unfortunately we are not seeing that same progress among Hispanic teens for certain risk factors,” says Howell Wechsler, director of CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health.
While there were significant decreases in the percentage of black and white teens having sex, the percentage of Hispanic teens having sex has remained constant since 1991, according to the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The survey also found that Hispanic students were more likely than either black or white students to attempt suicide, use cocaine, heroin or ecstasy, ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, or go 24 hours or more without eating in an effort to lose weight. The survey, which included 14,000 teens, underscores the need for education and prevention efforts targeted specifically to Hispanics.