In “‘West Side Story’–Then and Now”, NY Daily News writer Dolores Prida looks at how times have changed for Latinos and how the musical ‘West Side Story,’ coming to Broadway in February, reflects those changes. I’ve made it a point to see plenty of the Broadway shows that feature Latino storylines on Broadway so you… Continue reading "West Side Story" Shows America How Far It’s Come
I had been kicking myself about the fact I have no schedule when I finally realized, I do have one, it’s just that I don’t like it. I can’t seem to tear myself away from the computer and work and intermittent instant messaging, emailing and Twittering when I need to be at the gym or… Continue reading Scheduling Myself Happy
For some reason, I’m always shocked to learn that a fellow Dominican didn’t grow up in Washington Heights. But according to the 2000 Census detailed in “Census Shows Growing Diversity in New York City”, that should come as no surprise since Dominicans and Mexicans make up 51% of the population in the Bronx. It might… Continue reading Dominican and Jewish Boom in New York City
I am sick of hearing people say they feel like they can’t understand “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” because of all those Spanish terms. Why didn’t Junot Diaz and his lovely publishers throw in some sort of glossary in the back? Just what were they thinking? We’ll never know. Luckily for all of… Continue reading The Oscar Wao Vocabulary Dictionary Glossary, You’re Welcome, Junot Diaz
http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhu4klb3i378896oQ1 Here is that Tyra Banks show clip that I mentioned in previous comments. All the mixed race women on the show only identify with one of their races because they hate one part of their racial identity.
Or should I say…Barack Obama isn’t only black? He’s biracial. He’s bicultural. He’s mixed race. But why do we keep identifying him as solely black? Is it because he looks black? Is it because America isn’t ready for mixed race identities? Are we still buying into the “one drop rule”? And what the heck is… Continue reading Barack Obama isn’t black!
“Mumbai and the Chabad Movement” is another great Op-Ed piece (this time in the Wall Street Journal) about the tragedy in Mumbai, this time focusing on the Chabad movement itself. I do disagree with the line that calls the movement somehow “endangered,” despite the recent physical attacks, there is already work to rebuild the Mumbai… Continue reading The Chabad Movement
My great-great grandmother was a nice girl from Spain. Was she Jewish? I still don’t understand why we weren’t allowed to eat pork growing up and why my mother wore a star of David. When I asked her as a kid about the former, she mumbled something about “the Old Testament.” I gave her a… Continue reading DNA Tests Lead to Questions: Jewish? Muslim? Catholic?
According to “Breast Cancer Study: Many Hispanic Women Have Jewish Ancestry”, a JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) study last year revealed a high incidence of a genetic mutation–the breast cancer gene, BRCA1–in Hispanic-American women, similar to the high incidence of that gene in Ashkenazic* Jewish American women. The study concluded that this was probably… Continue reading Can breasts be Jewish?
Who’s the monkey in the middle? Just what is a “playful humiliation”? Read Dacher Keltner’s “In Defense of Teasing” to find out. As a self-professed survivor of teasing, I’m just not buying his story. And I wonder if most Jews would after hearing time and time again that embarrassing someone is tantamount to murder.
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 