AIDS is a Latino problem more than ever.

That's the analysis of a new report, The Crisis of HIV/AIDS Among Latinos/Hispanics in United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, released today by the Latino Commission on AIDS. Researchers found that “Hispanics in the United States are the second most affected community, it is estimated that more than 200,000 individuals had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS."

When stated in this manner, the impact of the disease on the Latino population can't really be appreciated, but if we view it as: Latinos represent only 15.3% of the U.S. population but comprise 22% of the HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed in 2006 — well that should catch everyone's attention.

Unfortunately, these numbers may only be the tip of the iceberg. Officials with the Latino Commission on AIDS say that the numbers could actually be much higher and will be known when the Center for Disease Control (CDC) releases their analysis on Sunday. However, officials caution that because the CDC doesn't count some states, which are known to have high numbers of Latinos, the information may yet still be incomplete.

No matter how it's looked at though, statistics like these underscore how the disease has reached crisis proportions in the Latino community. Where at one time great emphasis was placed on caution and prevention, those days are history for those in the Latino community today who are most at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS —

New infections among young Latino gay men are increasing at a rate that has not been seen in years.

AIDS cases among Latina women continue to climb at alarming rates with no apparent slowdown.

Heterosexual Latino men are emerging as a significant portion of those infected with HIV/AIDS, but the stigma of testing and being diagnosed keeps many away from accessing health care.

Yet, even with all the advancements that have been made in treating HIV/AIDS, Latinos are the least ones able to benefit from them. According to the report, "the most disturbing data from the diagnosed cases set out above is that Latinos were almost three times as likely as non-Hispanic Whites to die of HIV disease."

Another disturbing revelation is that while undocumented immigrants are always falsely accused of bringing diseases into the county, the fact is they are contracting HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and transporting the disease back to their native countries.

Infection rates in Guatemala have shot through the roof compared to those of the United States or Mexico.

While the United States’ HIV rate is 0.6 percent, twice Mexico’s rate of 0.3 percent. Guatemala’s HIV rate of 1.1 percent, nearly four times that of Mexico, even though Guatemala has a far smaller population, 12.7 million people - than that of Mexico, 108 million, and the United States, 301 million.

The sad and crucial impact of immigrants taking HIV/AIDS back to their native countries is that those countries aren't as medically equipped to handle them and the cultural stigma attached to the disease is much more prevalent in those countries than in the U.S.

That's why next week's International AIDS Conference in Mexico City is such a fitting place to discuss the status of the disease and its impact on traditional and emerging at-risk populations and what more needs to be done for people to realize that everyone can get it.

Today's immigration debate is a hard issue to wrap the mind around. Sometimes it feels like it's even warping the brain cells. For some, the issue is just so out in outer space that they don't even try to understand what the arguing is all about.

For those people, a clever, new animation may put everything into perspective. It's created by Breakthrough.tv, the creators of the game ICED.

The animation, "Don't Deport Me, Scotty" takes the old Star Trek classic and pits the crew against the most threatening adversary to face them in their exploration of the universe — and it's quite amusing too.

Women helping women. It's not a new concept and one that is practiced on a daily basis in every neighborhood around the world. Yet, it's not as often that women from around the world come together to lend their support and voice for a particular group of women, who by the constraints of their own culture, politics or geography, have had their voices drowned out on the global stage.

It's precisely that reason that a special group of women are now visiting the Thai-Burma border, South Sudan and Chad. They are the Nobel Women's Initiative's (NWI) women's rights delegation and they are visiting this region of the world to "amplify women’s efforts for peace and justice, with a view to promoting effective resolutions to the political crises facing both Sudan and Burma."

Nobel Women's Initiative visits and listens to Burmese women.
(Source: NWI)

This group of special women includes: Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate (1997), Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Laureate, 2004 and Mia Farrow, activist and actor. Delegation members include: Dr. Sima Samar – United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Sudan Qing Zhang – Chinese Labour Activist Reverend Gloria White-Hammond – co-founder of My Sister’s Keeper, a humanitarian women’s group that partners with women in Sudan.

The delegation is gathering testimonies from women who are survivors of a recent cyclone, along with, members of women's groups, prisoner rights groups and civil society organizations. The delegation is hearing stories that all too often never leave the region of these respective countries.

To share what they are learning, a blog has been set up at the NWI website with links to delegation photos posted online.

Women's rights is a topic that should interest all women. The NWI is asking all women to support the delegation by reading their blog posts, supplying ideas on how to promote the delegation to local networks and joining the NWI on Facebook.

In the latest blog post, delegation leader Jody Williams reflects on one stop along her route which underscores the need for the rest of the world's women to be the voices for those who aren't heard:

The sky is full of clouds and it is raining this morning in Addis – not a surprise as this is the rainy season here and no one should complain given the famine gripping parts of Ethiopia because of the drought that has hit the eastern and southeastern parts of the country bordering Kenya and Somalia.

The combination of lack of rain devastating food production in the region and skyrocketing global food prices which affect relief operations makes for a very dismal situation. Some reports indicate that over ten million people are in varying degrees affected by the drought. Ethiopia’s population is 80 million. I don’t know if the rain is finally reaching the drought-affected areas, but hope that it is the case.

As I sat down to start writing, I could hear the sound of the morning call to prayer wafting through the air from a distant mosque somewhere in the city. To me it sounded a bit mournful, but it was also beautiful.

In this Internet age, everyone averages at least 5-10 passwords. When it comes to remembering passwords, words are a lot easier to remember than a number combo, unless it's a special date.

So, news that there is now a device that lets people set words to unlock it versus rotating the cylinders to create a unique number combination makes sense. It also makes sense that since Spanish is the second most spoken language on this side of the world, that there would be a Spanish version of this "wordlock."

Wordlock is a device that operates under the same premise of the number locks that we use to lock our school lockers, bikes, luggage, etc. The company has been around for about a year but they've only now released a Spanish version of the device.

Rahn Basche, president of Wordlock, tells Latina Lista:

You probably can spell some Spanish words with the English language lock, and vice versa. But the Spanish lock was designed so that you can make thousands of word and letter combinations specifically in Spanish. We use patented technology to create our locks so that the lock will make , or NOT make certain words (we always take out as many “bad” words as possible….it makes teachers and parents happier).

Why did we create a lock for those who speak Spanish? Because a large percentage of people in the US are Spanish speaking, and a large percentage of people in the world speak Spanish. At Wordlock we want to make personal security more accessible, secure, and even fun, and we want to reach as many people as possible so they can enjoy what we believe is the wave of the future in personal security. Words, NOT numbers, are easy to remember in any language!!

Seeing that not everybody speaks Spanish in the U.S. either, a lock with a Spanish word as its password probably even enhances the security of the lock even more — one more argument as to why being bilingual is a good thing!

The locks are available online at Amazon and if you live in Puerto Rico, at Walgreens.

Andeano Coffee is a company that specializes in importing specialty colombian green coffees. The Miami-based company's relationship with its Colombian coffee growers has always been personal. It's this carefully cultivated relationship that the company credits to the success of its business and an unique program that it has established called the Andeano Relationship Program.

Young Colombian girl shows off her family's coffee bean produce.
The year-old Relationship program pairs U.S. coffee roasters with Colombian coffee-growing families. "Through this relationship the roasting company buys the entire year crop from a small coffee growing family in Colombia producing high quality coffee, the growers are paid a price that far exceeds local coffee prices and many other coffee related social programs which in turn ensures the improvement of their well being."

A cool fact of the program is that even the consumer can get in on the act of helping Colombian coffee growers. Part of the money the final customer pays for a cup of Joe goes directly to these families.

According to the program organizers, there are more Colombian coffee growing families who are waiting to participate in the program. All they need is the support of more coffee roasters and everyone who likes their dose of java.

The relationship program not only is providing an income to these families that will enable them to stay on the coffee plantations and continue to grow coffee but it also helps them to keep growing coffee instead of turning to growing plants to fuel the drug trade in the country.

In addition, the program funds other programs that help the coffee growers improve the quality of their lives, and in turn, produce the kind of coffee we all appreciate.

The most common criticism of the illegal immigration debate is why doesn't Mexico help their own people.

Well, a quick review of the country's history shows just how embedded corruption and discrimination are in Mexico's government that it makes it hard for anything to be done for the people who need the most help.

With 53 percent of the population living in poverty and the country's economic and political systems only supporting the top tiers of the population, the rise of the Zapatistas, led by their mysterious leader, Subcomandante Marcos, was a natural outgrowth of the years of suffering experienced by this class of people.

However, this part of Mexico's politics has mostly been obscured from the rest of the world — until now.

A new documentary produced by Choices Video, entitled The Other Mexico brings the history of the Zapatista political movement to life.

The Other Mexico focuses on that nation's poor and indigenous citizens who have no voice in the political system. Many of them have gravitated to the growing Zapatista movement led by its leader "Subcomandante Marcos".

Some feel Marcos is a true folk hero while others view him as an opportunist seeking personal fame. Leading journalists and scholars debate the pros and cons of the movement as it tries to organize the country's disaffected before the 2006 Presidential election.

What is particularly cool about this documentary, aside from the subject matter, is that while the DVD version costs a steep $99, a "streaming version" can be bought for only $4.99.

Along with the film is a downloadable guidebook for educators that include background on Mexico's political party system and an interview with Subcomandante Marcos.

The film is in Spanish and Italian with English subtitles.

Video footage is powerful and personal and tells the story that goes too often under-reported.

Subcomandante Marcos, who acts as the voice for Mexico's indigenous people, claims that the U.S. efforts to secure the southern US border is creating a volatile pressure cooker in Mexico which will explode as the country's poor cannot find work to feed their families and themselves.

It's a situation that is a ticking time bomb, according to Marcos. This film illustrates why he may not be exaggerating.

While some of us are waiting for the fall start of our favorite network TV shows, after the drought in programming since last year's writer's strike, there's news that we won't have to wait till September for at least one new network show.

Gemini Division starts August 18 but it won't be on television — it will be on the web.

NBC is partnering with Electric Farm Entertainment for the sci-fi web series starring Rosario Dawson as New York City detective Anna Diaz.

The show's producers like to say that the show is set 5 minutes into the future and it's about how Dawson's character falls for a guy too-good-to-be-true — who turns out to be exactly that. The series' storyline centers on how the government has created "simulant soldiers" to fight the war in Iraq.

After successfully fighting, 217 of these "biologically fabricated" soldiers go AWOL and NATO creates a classified task force called Gemini Division to track the rogue soldiers down and kill them off.

To complicate things, you guessed it, Dawson's character falls in love with one of the simulants.

The series will only be seen on the NBC website, unless of course it develops a fan-following who clamor for it to be on traditional TV (the secret wish of every web producer).

But in the meantime,we will have to be satisfied to watch a strong Latina character flex her muscles in a virtual world on a desktop screen.

It's been government policy that everyone needs a passport to leave the country. Up until now, that passport has been the traditional dark blue book that is small enough to fit into a pocket but not small enough to be really handy to tuck inside a wallet.

Well, starting this month, people can now buy the Passport Card that is actually the same size as most driver's licenses, and the best part, costs less than the bookish variety.

While the passport card is convenient, it does have its limitations. For one thing, it can't be used to fly into another country. It's only good for land and sea travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda — for short trips or daytripping excursions.

The cost of the passport card is less than the traditional passport ($45 versus $100) but showing that they have learned from corporate America, the government is offering a discount on the passport card if you are a first-time applicant and applying for both at the same time — Adults: $120; Minors: $95.

If you already have your passport and just want the convenience of the passport card, the cost is only $20 for adults.

Since the passport card is just a scaled down version of the traditional passport, the same documents — birth certificate, etc. — must be shown to qualify to receive it. However, those who already have a traditional passport can apply for the new card through the mail accompanied by 2 photos and the traditional passport.

Given the propensity for things to get lost in the mail, mailing the traditional passport with the application is a scary proposition but hopefully it won't take too long.

Just don't count on it for any late summer getaways. Though production of the new passport cards started on July 14, 2008, there have already been 350,000+ applications received. The State Department is cautioning those who put in their orders before July 14 to not expect their cards until sometime in September.

It's nice to know that finally after all these months of making travel a tedious ordeal, somebody's finally thinking of the traveler.

The internet has long been associated as the (forgive the pun) domain of the United States, or English-speaking countries.

Why? Well, for one thing — the language.

Creating domain names in English is no big deal. English is straightforward using only letters. There are no tildes or accents that hover above and which can make all the difference in how a word is pronounced.

So, it wasn't too surprising, seeing that mainly English-speakers developed the online world, that no one would have given a second thought as to how to incorporate such grammatical necessities of Latin-based countries such as accents and tildes.

Thankfully, cultural sensitivity and technology have evolved to the point where it is now commonplace to be able to include these specialized grammatical marks in domain names, but what happens to all those Spanish-language sites whose domains should be accented but they couldn't because of the technology at the time?

If they're lucky, they were able to change their domains to include the new marks but for one Spanish-language site, it took a trip to the World Intellectual Property Organization to establish their domain rights.

Back in 1998, when monografías.com registered their domain, it was impossible to include the accent mark over the "i." Yet today it can be done, but not before a cyber-squatter decided he was going to register the domain with the accent. And so he did.

As is the case with most squatters, they're just out to make a fast buck by capitalizing on a well-known name to drive traffic to their own questionable site. The squatter in this case saw that the original monografías was not registered with the accent and immediately registered the name with it, in essence creating a new domain.

It wasn't until about two years ago that the creators of monografías realized the problem. Since then, they've been feverishly working to get their rightful domain back.

Finally after about seven months, spending between $1,500-2,000, assembling all the paperwork on the statistics of their web site, proving that the squatter acted in bad faith, establishing the fact that their domain was their brand and waiting for a review of their case by three arbitrators, a decision was finally delivered on May 28 that the domain with the accent mark belonged to the monografías web site.

Lucas Morea, founder of monografías.com, tells Latina Lista that the win is "pretty significant."

For Morea, it's an important win because it's preserving the brand he has so carefully built and grown over the years. For the rest of the Spanish-speaking population, it will remain to be seen how retroactive this ruling can be for all those sites that sprung up and conformed to the technology of those times because there was no choice.

Now, with choice, there is a true democratization of cyberspace — just as there should be.

The man who brought an end to apartheid in South Africa turned 90 today.

Nelson Mandela celebrates his birthday with his grandchildren.
(Source: NYTimes)

Nelson Mandela will always hold a special place in history for what he did for his country and his people in terms of civil rights.

He leaves a legacy that subsequent leaders are finding hard to continue as the shoes of the man who spent 27 years in prison are proving too big to fill.

Yet, there is hope. Because of Mandela's success in getting more blacks to move out of poverty and illiteracy by empowering them to dream, more and more are aspiring to do more, be more and have more.

As Mandela proved, it takes a leader to make real change happen.

The editor of The New Yorker magazine has been making the rounds of talk shows - morning, noon and night — to explain that people just don't get his magazine's satire (translation: people aren't smart enough to understand their kind of satire that only The New Yorker can draw up) of the issue showing Obama dressed in Muslim gear and his wife sporting an Afro and gun.

Even nationally syndicated columnists have opined that those of us who don't like or are offended by the magazine's cover are nothing more than a bunch of "yahoos."

Who has ever said that all satire is good? Just because satire highlights what's wrong with a particular topic, and in the process, pokes fun at it, we're supposed to still believe there's something wrong with us because we don't laugh?

Well, maybe the reason is that while the drawing is nicely done, the satire it is trying to invoke just isn't that good.

It has nothing to do with the readership of The New Yorker and the assumption that people of different socio-economic classes are bound to get the satire more than others.

True satire, like cartoons, should be universally understood without the need for translations or apologies.

It could be true that our sensibilities have evolved and that what is labeled satire by some is nothing more than an unfunny caricature of a deeper problem that is reflected back at us through the looking-glass of our media.

And when the picture is unflattering, nobody likes to look.

No, the editors at The New Yorker should have taken a few hints from the Internet kings of political satire, JibJab.

These guys know not only how to make their message universally understood but also how to make people laugh.

Can't quite remember but they may utter a few "yahoos" in their films too.

Hispanic Business magazine has released its annual list of the top 500 Hispanic businesses in the nation. During this turbulent economic time, it's expected that these businesses would be suffering hardships along with the rest of the country — construction, automotive and wholesale are especially hard hit now.

The magazine reports that revenues for the Hispanic 500 have slid back to lows not seen since 2002 and only for the third time in the directory's 26-year history.

Yet, editors at Hispanic Business have found some glimmers of light among the dismal news:

The service sector outperformed all sectors nationwide. Also, while some pockets of the country posted decreased revenues, "companies in California and Texas posted rising revenue of 10.6 percent and 16.3 percent, while companies in the Northeast made strong gains in revenues, 34 percent in New York and 21 percent in New Jersey."

However, what the list really shows is that even in those sectors hardest hit by the economy there are a few who are able to break through and actually post success stories because they have a fundamental understanding that hard times call for creative solutions.

The top ten of the Hispanic Business 500 are:

1. Brightstar Corp. — Wholesale

2. Molina Healthcare Inc. — Service

3. The Burt Automotive Network — Automotive

4. The Related Group of Florida — Construction

5. MasTec Inc. — Construction

6. International Bancshares Corp. — Finance

7. Ancira Enterprises Inc. — Automotive

8. The Diez Group — Manufacturing

9. Greenway Ford Inc. — Automotive

10. Lopez Foods Inc. — Manufacturing

Have you ever wondered what you'd look like as an M&M?

Latina Lista shows off her "Inner M."

Well, Latina Lista couldn't resist finding our "Inner M" at the "melt-in-your-mouth-not-in-your-hand" candy site.

Choosing our signature pink for our body color and gloves, some fashionable sandal heels and a handy video cam - for posting videos on Latina Lista, of course - Latina Lista now lives on in the alternate candy universe.

In fact, the folks who own the M&M brand want more Latinos to find their "Inner M." They've launched a new ad campaign, in conjunction with their sponsorship of the ALMA awards, targeting Latino outreach.

As part of this new campaign, there will be a couple of Latino celebrities strutting their candy-coated colored shells on the red carpet of the ALMA awards as part of the promotion for the Live Like a Star national sweepstakes sponsored by the candy makers.

The sweepstakes' grand prize winner will win a trip for two to Los Angeles, California to attend this year's ALMA awards. In addition, the winners will be feted to VIP treatment — from attending a rehearsal to mingling with celebrities, walking down the red carpet and attending pre and post-parties.

But that's not the only winner. There will also be 1st, 2nd and 3rd-place winners drawn but perhaps the best news of all is that each week, there will be 50 instant winners! To enter, visit the contest's web site and fill out an application, but you'll have to know how to read Spanish since the contest, for some odd reason, is only available in Spanish.

Also, there's not much time left — the contest ends July 21, 2008.

Hurry before your chances melt away!

Ever since PBS came under siege from Latino organizations when Ken Burns failed to note Hispanic contributions in his original WWII documentary, the public broadcaster has tried to present a more culturally sensitive side towards Hispanics in its programming.

The latest olive branch is an amazing four-hour documentary that "tells the story of the rise of new American music forged from powerful Latin roots and reveals the often overlooked influence of Latin music on Jazz, Hip Hop, Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll - and on all of American culture."

The title is Latin Music USA and is scheduled to premiere nationally on all PBS stations on January 21, 2009.

The series is divided into two parts:

Wednesday, January 21, 2009 (9:00pm-11:00pm) on PBS

-- Program One: The first program traces the rise of Latin Jazz and the explosion of the Mambo and the Cha Cha Cha as they sweep the US from East to West. Latin Music infiltrates R&B and rock & roll through the 1960s.

-- Program Two: Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in New York reinvent the Cuban son and the Puerto Rican plena, adding elements from soul and jazz to create Salsa, which becomes a defining rhythm for Latinos the world over.

January 28, 2009 (9:00pm-11:00pm) on PBS

-- Program Three: In California and across the Southwest, a new generation of Mexican Americans, raised on rock, rhythm and blues surrounded by country and western music reaffirm their cultural identity in Tejano, Chicano rock, and Latin Rock.

-- Program Four: The last program in the series looks at the Latin pop explosion of the turn of the century, focusing on the success of artists like Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and Shakira in the English-language market in the context of an increasingly Latinized US.

As studios focus on star-driven pop, Latino youth gravitates toward urban fusions - Spanish rap and Reggaeton - while rising numbers of Latinos entering the US create new markets for Mexican regional music and Rock en Espanol.

Aside from the subject matter of this long overdue film, what makes it rather unique is the fact that it was produced in partnership between Boston's WGBH station and the BBC. However, the partnerships don't stop there.

PBS is co-producing the series with WGBH and has struck up a partnership deal also with "People en Español" magazine which will feature interviews, concert footage and other editorial content relating to the series in both their print magazine and online site.

PBS is also working with the Smithsonian Institution's Latino Center to create programming celebrating US Latino culture. A part of that celebration is a symposium about the series on January 27, 2009. The symposium will feature "program producers, musical artists, musical historians and others who will talk about the film and highlighted artists."

While "People en Español" is a well-respected magazine, it's only in Spanish. Seeing that this is a history of Latin music in the USA, it should be noted by PBS officials that not all Latinos speak or read Spanish. Our younger generations, who most likely are not fluent in Spanish, will miss out on the added content that will enrich this viewing experience if it's solely in Spanish.

We hope that PBS rethinks this strategy and includes more English outlets so that all Latinos can enjoy and take pride in learning how Latino music has impacted the American sound.

If you've been trying to stay cool this summer by catching up on your reading with a visit to your neighborhood book store or library, you might have wondered why aren't there more titles by talented Latina/o writers.

Well, a little-noticed report released last month, "Artists in the Workforce 1990-2005" by the National Endowment for the Arts clues us in — Among artists under 35, only writers remain over 80 percent non- Hispanic white.

The good news is that Latinos and Asians have actually increased their presence in the arts from 9 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2005.

Though it's not really thought about much, the contributions artists make to society are priceless in terms of economics and culture. The report says that there are nearly two million Americans who are full-time artists.

Overall, the artist life for most artists is one plagued with being underpaid though having more education that the rest of the labor force.

A few more interesting tidbits from the report are:

Women remain underrepresented in several artist occupations. Men outnumber women in architecture, announcing, music, production, and photography. Women outnumber men in the fields of dance, design, and writing.

Unique regional concentrations emerge. New Mexico has the highest share of fine artists, Vermont has the highest proportion of writers, and Tennessee, the highest proportion of musicians.

Artists are entrepreneurial – 3.5 times more likely to be self-employed.

Among artist occupations with the highest educational attainment levels are architects, writers, and producers.

Writers were among the fastest growing artist occupations from 1990 to 2005—growing at twice the rate of the total labor force.

Wonder if they counted bloggers among those writers?

Across the country, indie (independent) films haven't just been gaining in popularity because of their originality but for their creativity in the venues where they're showing.

Some "studio movie grills" have sprung up where you can order a dinner and eat it while watching an indie flick. Now comes word from New York City-based Rooftop Films that filmgoers can actually watch a new indie film from, where else — a roof, or a park, or a pier, or - you get the idea.

Indie film lovers gather on the rooftop of El Museo Del Barrio in 2007.
(Photo: Sarah Palmer)

Rooftop Films summer series is all about matching the uniqueness of indie films to places that are equally independent of traditional theatres. This Friday (July 11), the series heads over to the roof of El Museo Del Barrio in East Harlem for the screening of two short documentaries from Colombia and Peru.

Since you obviously can't watch a film in light, the series doesn't kick off until 8:30 p.m. While waiting for the first stars (heavenly, that is) to appear live Latin music will play till 9.

According to Jessica Barbosa of Rooftop Films,

The films highlight how the varied peoples of Latin America are bound by a common, turbulent history that of colonization by the nations of Europe and cynical manipulation by the United States, twin afflictions which have stymied national and class unity and interfered with the potential for the men and women of the region to take pride in their lives and culture. Both of the documentaries in this program speak to these imprisoned hopes in different, but equally beautiful and uplifting ways: one is a brilliantly poetic sketchbook and travelogue about a trip through the mountains of Peru; the other an inverted success story about an annual beauty pageant in one of Colombia's women prisons.

Needless to say, this next installment of the summer film series will have a definite Latino flavor. Something tells us that regardless of the weather or when the movies are over, the show will go on and on and on …

Wal-Mart, the Arkansas-based discount department store, has never been known for its sensitivity in regard to its corporate strategy of pushing mom-and-pop stores out of business in those markets it wants to dominate but when it comes to its products, it has shown that it understands who its buyers are — Latinos.

From selling CDs of music by various Latino artists to dedicating grocery store aisles to Hispanic comida, Wal-Mart has been sensitive to its Latino buyers. This sensitivity has allowed them to conquer some markets in Mexico.

Yet, it's important to note that U.S. Latino buyers are different from Mexican buyers. On this side of the border, Latinos are assimilated into a culture that strives to be sensitive to all ethnicities — that's not the case in most Latin and Central American countries.

Mexican comic book character Memin Penguin

A prime example is the Memin Penguin comic book character. The character, with its dark skin and "buffoonish" features resembles a black child. According to its creator, the character is supposed to be Cuban.

That the character is abused by white or lighter skinned characters says as much about the historical role of prejudice and discrimination in Latin and Central America than how this character has evolved into a beloved icon in these same countries.

Perhaps it was because of this iconic stature that Wal-Mart thought it was ok to carry the comic books in their stores on this side of the border. Needless to say, complaints poured in from African Americans. This morning, Wal-Mart decided to pull the comic books.

A wise move.

It's one thing to cater to the tastes and culture that ethnic groups bring with them to this country but it's a different matter when aspects of that culture are better left behind in the old country.

This is where companies can show real sensitivity to the greater good of everyone concerned and understand that, regardless of the ethnicity, we are all Americans.

Whenever there is talk of immigrants, it's always about how they want to achieve the "American Dream." Well, a second part of that Dream is how these same immigrants help their families left behind. Usually, it's in the form of remittances sent back to the families but sometimes it's bigger than that.

This is one of those times.

Daisy Ramirez, founder and president of North Carolina-based Potencia Energy drink, is originally from Honduras. She has spent the last ten years working towards her American Dream. It was a dream she planned to share with her family back in Honduras but, unfortunately, tragedy recently struck Daisy when she lost her father Juan Ramirez.

Daisy always knew that she wanted to help her home country and with the death of her father she knew what she had to do. She's channelled her grief in the creation of the Juan Ramirez Foundation.

As Daisy says:

Our Foundation is dedicated to bringing better heathcare to all children and seniors alike in Tegucigalpa Honduras. We will work hard to be sure everyone who needs a wheelchair or walker gets one. Anyone who needs medician gets it, anyone who needs healthcare finds it and remind people that no one is unimportant!

We will also take your donations to children with no shoes, children with no clothes will be clothed and we will work to bring knowledge and love to those who need it most.

We will even bring your donated toys and gifts to those who are without. We will brighten the smiles of all the beautiful children and let them know they are loved and there are people who care .

The Foundation has a wish list of items that they would like to see donated for those in need in Honduras and, of course, money is always helpful in paying for shipping costs and buying extra items.

Daisy's creation of this Foundation in her father's honor is a perfect example of how migrant prosperity earned in the US should be used to elevate the quality of living back in these countries that suffer third world conditions and which are on the doorstep of the United States, but too often below the radar of most Americans.

There's a new campaign underway to register as many Latinas as possible who are as yet unregistered to vote come November.

The Latina Vote campaign spearheaded by the Southwest Voter Registration and Education (SVREP) organization has been building momentum over the past several months. It now has a dedicated web site and a challenge to Latinas everywhere: To register, at least, ten Latinas!

The tagline for the campaign is: Vota Una Latina Vota Una Familia. As the SVREP explains:

SVREP believes, when a Latina votes, she inspires her family and friends to vote, too - together we can make a new family tradition!

There is truth in that statement. After all, everyone knows that Latinas are listas!

Recent rumblings in the Latino blogosphere have focused on why sponsorships promoting Latino talent or events always seem to be by the big alcohol companies.

Well, in a refreshing twist, a new mobile art exhibit promoting Latino artists is being sponsored by two companies whose products are found in communities in the Southwest, and they don't have anything to do with alcohol.

The Sabrosura Art Tour is the culmination of a contest sponsored last fall by Dr. Pepper and Whataburger — two products well known throughout the Southwest.

The Grand Prize winning entry was painted by Maricela G. of McAllen, Texas. She says her inspiration was "los multicolores de la vida latina (the multitude of colors found in Latina life)...my mission is to promote art awareness, cultivate friendships and enrich lives through cultural art."
(Source: Saborsura web site/Maricela G.)

Student, amateur and professional artists created artworks showcasing the sabrosura (tastiness) flavor of Dr. Pepper and how it figures into Latino culture. The results were an amazing set of entries by Latino artists from around the country.

Twenty-three entries were chosen for the exhibit (because there are 23 different flavors in Dr. Pepper) with one chosen as the Grand Prize winner.

The exhibit is set to kick-off a tour of 38 Texas and New Mexico Whataburger locations on July 9 in Dallas, Texas and ending on August 24 in Houston.

What is really cool about the touring exhibit is that at each Whataburger location at least one artist will be on hand to autograph their artwork and at each event, an 18” x 24” reproduction of the framed art will be given away in a raffle drawing. Rounding out the exhibit will be music, interactive games and coupons.

If you're unlucky enough not to live near a Whataburger, you can check out the online gallery where all 23 winning entries are on display, along with, info about its creator.

Check the Sabrosura/Whataburger website for dates and locations of the mobile exhibit.

There's a popular saying that goes something like "everybody has at least one good story in them."

Well, if you're under 30-years-old, Latino/a and think you can tell your story in about ten pages in script format then the folks at Teatro Bravo want to hear from you.

The Phoenix-based theatre is accepting submissions to their UNDER 30: YOUNG LATINO PLAYWRIGHTS SPEAK OUT play competition.

The plays can be about any issue and written either in English, Spanish or Spanglish.

In addition to discovering new talent and promoting opportunities among young Latino playwrights, the competition is also "to uncover the issues in the minds of younger writers, and portray them on stage."

The selected submissions will be staged during the Latino Play Festival in 2009.

Deadline is October 1, 2008 and you can either mail or email your submissions to contest officials. There is no entry fee.

So what are you waiting for? Isn't it time you told that story?

P.S. If you've never written a play before, don't let that stop you. There are books that show you how to write in script format.

This Friday, in honor of the Declaration of Independence a new declaration will be drafted at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago.

It will be called the Declaration of Immigration and it's a new exhibit that focuses on the variety of viewpoints and experiences in attaining the American Dream that exist in immigrant communities across the country.

Over seventy artists from across the country participated in the exhibition which spans from July 4 - September 7.

The exhibit features not only striking visual images, some of which have become synonymous with the immigration debate, but also interactive elements such as an immigration symposium titled Sin Papeles (Without Papers) and featuring respected Latino panelists from Chicago and California; an immigration film series; various family educational workshops like a session where families share stories of their family's background and a wall installation that will serve to represent the U.S.-Mexico border wall currently under construction and comparing it with the Berlin Wall.

Team Mex: Copa inmigración a.k.a. deport-a-mex foosball; Artists Juan & Ricardo Compean
(Source: National Museum of Mexican Art)

The exhibit kicks off on Friday, July 4 with a special "co-cultural" ceremony where Chinese Lion dancers will perform, along with, Mexican folkloric and traditional dancers. During this reception, Angie Moreno, director of public relations for the museum, tells Latina Lista that "some staff members will approach unsuspecting visitors and ask to see their identification, as part of an interactive project that is meant to help visitors experience firsthand some of the moments immigrants have endured, while struggling to come to this country in search of the American Dream."

What is interesting to note about the exhibit is that it strives to present the unheard voices of all immigrants, regardless of citizenship status, and which are all too often disregarded in the national immigration debate on reforming the system.

Perhaps the Museum should create one more symposium — "Fixing the System — From those who lived through it." What better way to fix what's wrong with it than to include the voices of those who know firsthand what it will take to right the wrongs.

The Declaration of Immigration exhibit is open during museum hours from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Sueños Humedos/ Wet Dreams; Artist Juan Carlos Macías
(Source: National Museum of Mexican Art)