As the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement inches closer to its second month, I am intrigued by the differences in opinion shared by people across the country. Being Latino has talked about the Latino community’s role in OWS and OWS after its first month. I am more concerned, however, with the backlash coming from the very people that OWS is meant to benefit.

(continue reading by clicking the link below)

http://beinglatino.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/occupy-wall-street-divide-and-conquer-at-its-finest/

I think most people would probably agree that the World Cup (WC) is the best sporting event in the world. And if you’re like me, you simply can’t wait until June 2014 (assuming the world doesn’t end sometime around December 2012).

But how many of y’all ever paid attention to the tournaments before the tournament? You know, FIFA doesn’t just randomly select 32 teams to participate in the World Cup Finals. You actually have to qualify!

Of all the continent’s qualifying tournaments, none is better than South America’s. Why?  Continue reading and I’ll explain:

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http://beinglatino.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/%C2%A1camino-al-mundial-south-america%E2%80%99s-road-to-the-2014-world-cup/

Throughout generations, children have come together to play, thanks to some kind of toy. Previous Latino generations had their canicas, capiruchos (also known by bunch of other names), and trompos. Kids nowadays have iPods and, well, I think that’s all they need. My generation had their share of things too: yo-yos, paper football, and even the Tamagotchi.

All that stuff was great, but none of that could come close to the awesomeness of tazos. White kids had pogs, but tazos were our version of the same thing, and as far as we knew tazos were waaaay better.

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http://beinglatino.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/what-kids-did-before-ipods/

A couple months ago, we highlighted the rise of the political movement known as a The Tequila Party. As I began to learn more about the nonpartisan organization that aimed to ‘get out the Latino vote,’ I couldn’t help but think about a more militant political party that I learned about in my high school Government classroom.

La Raza Unida Party (RUP) was officially founded in early 1971 in Crystal City, Texas

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http://beinglatino.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/recordando-nuestro-pasado-la-raza-unida-party/#comment-11563

The Fugitive Slave Act, the most controversial bill of The Compromise of 1850, declared that all runaway slaves could legally be recaptured and brought back to their masters. The antebellum-era bill also made it a crime for any citizen to knowingly aid a fugitive slave (sound familiar?). As a result, all African-Americans, regardless of whether they were free or someone else’s “property,” lived their lives in terror.

Many free northern Blacks (in addition to thousands of runaway slaves) were subsequently captured and taken to the South; their only crime was the color of their skin. Any African-American that was captured was denied the right to a trial by jury. Instead, a “judge” was paid $5 if an alleged slave was released and $10 if the “fugitive” was sent back with their master. So, yeah, I guess you know how that went.

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http://beinglatino.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/parallels-in-history-the-execution-of-troy-davis/

I vividly remember a particular day as an undergrad at the University of Texas. Myself and a couple of friends involved in Latino community organizations were invited to attend a luncheon to honor the recipients of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s scholarship.

As we looked around the room at all of these young Latinos, we realized that we had never seen any of them at any of our community service events, a Latino Leadership Council meeting, or a mixer. We concluded that we were surrounded by Latinos that weren’t really Latinos. We were surrounded by coconuts.

“Brown on the outside, white on the inside, you’re a coconut.”

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http://beinglatino.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/brown-on-the-outside-white-on-the-inside/#comments

Yes. It’s that time of year.

You consider “unfollowing” and “unfriending” some of your friends due to the never-ending posts regarding names you don’t recognize: Peyton, Vick, Peterson. Your significant other cares more about the upcoming fantasy draft than your anniversary next week. Your coworkers speak in strange jargon: “over/under,” “point spread,” “I just need New York to cover on Sunday.”…

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http://beinglatino.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/the-nfl-is-back-all-is-well-again/

In the years following President Felipe Calderón’s 2006 election, drug-related violence in Mexico has soared to nearly unfathomable heights. It’s almost as if things can’t get any worse…and yet, they do. It’s to the point where doing everyday things like going to school or attending a sporting event has become a risky endeavor…

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http://beinglatino.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/alternate-consequences-of-mexico’s-drug-related-violence/

In a move that may change the way that sororities and fraternities operate across the country, David J. Skorton, President of Cornell University, has decided to eliminate pledging for all Greek Letter Organizations at Cornell. On the heels of the alcohol-related death of a 19-year-old Cornell student last spring, President Skorton felt he had no choice…

[continue reading by clicking below]

http://beinglatino.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/cornell-bans-pledging-by-greek-letter-organizations/