Judge Sonia Sotomayor, future US Supreme Court Justice

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Phil Velez

I am extremely excited about President Obama’s United States Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who would be the first Latina to hold a seat on the highest court of the land. There has been much written about Judge Sotomayor since her nomination was made public on Tuesday, May 26, 2009. As a person of Puerto Rican descent I strongly support Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination, not only because her family is Puerto Rican, but because she is also qualified to hold the position and will bring a unique legal and personal perspective to our judicial branch of government.

According to Wikipedia, Hispanics/Latinos constitute 15.1% of the total US population or 45.4 million people. Hispanics/Latinos have lived in the US since the 1565 founding of St. Augustine, Florida by the Spanish, the longest among European American ethnic groups and second–longest of all US ethnic groups, after American Indians. The Latino presence can even be said to date from half a century earlier than St. Augustine, if San Juan, Puerto Rico is considered to be the oldest Spanish settlement, and the oldest city, in the US.

There have been a total of 110 Supreme Court Justices, of which two were African-American and two have been women. We are long overdue for a Hispanic person on the US Supreme Court. There have already been several negative stories published about Sotomayor’s Latina pride and temperament and some Republicans have even gone as far as calling her a member of the Latino KKK. This is a desperate Republican tactic and shows us how low some conservatives may go to fight Sotomayor’s confirmation. I hope all Latinos and like-minded allies will come together to rebut these smear campaigns and ensure that Judge Sotomayor’s nomination is confirmed.

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New Ways to Search Online

Posted on May 17, 2009 by Phil Velez

Many companies continue to try to catch up with Google to become the premiere internet search engine. However, Google continues to improve its search capabilities and is the present leader in the internet search field. Two relatively new companies are making searching the internet a bit more fun and interesting.

Kosmix is a web search organizer. Put in a search term and Kosmix searches Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, and several other online resources all at once. It’s pretty cool.

Wolfram|Alpha is a computational knowledge engine that can tell you what day of the week you were born or give you some real data on your home town. It can also provide you with information on the popularity of your last name. Wolfram|Alpha officially debuts tomorrow but you can give it a try today.

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YERBABUENA at the Nuyorican Poets Café

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Phil Velez

Last Saturday my sister and brother-in-law invited me to see Tato Torres and YERBABUENA at the Nuyorican Poets Café. I hadn’t been to the Nuyorican Poets Café in years and felt it was the right time to revisit the legendary stronghold of the Nuyorican art movement in New York City. The Nuyorican Poets Café, a non-profit organization in Alphabet City, has become a forum for poetry, music, hip-hop, video, visual arts, comedy, and theatre.

I learned of YERBABUENA (which means “good herb”) a few months ago from reading blog posts but did not know much about the group. YERBABUENA plays Boricua (Puerto Rican) roots music and is composed of musicians, singers, and dancers from the New York City area who share an intense passion for the musical traditions of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

A new Boricua generation is embracing the group’s music that promotes the Puerto Rican musical traditions of bomba, plena and música jíbara. Seeing and feeling YERBABUENA for the first time at the Nuyorican Poets Café stirred a strong sense of cultural pride. It was like being around family you hadn’t seen in a long time. People danced in the aisle and I could not help but move to the music. I’m now a fan. If you get a chance, check out Tato Torres and YERBABUENA.

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U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez

Posted on May 3, 2009 by Phil Velez

Nydia Velázquez is a Latina of many firsts. She has been a member of Congress since 1992. She is the first Puerto Rican woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives. The Congresswoman, who represents sections of Brooklyn, Queens, and Lower Manhattan, was also the first Latina to hold a seat on the New York City Council. Velázquez is Chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and was named Chair of the House Small Business Committee, making her the first Latina to chair a full Congressional committee.

As Chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus she is setting an agenda to ensure that Latinos are leading the way “Towards 2030,” when the Latino population will make up 25 percent of the U.S. population. U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez is the subject of a recent political biography written for EL BORICUA, an electronic monthly cultural publication for Puerto Ricans. I will be writing future articles on Puerto Rican island politics for EL BORICUA. If you have a topic you would like to read about please feel free to contact me via email or leave a comment on my blog.

EL BORICUA’s website and monthly magazine are dedicated to Puerto Rican descendants – where ever they might be – so that they can remember our culture, learn about their roots and history, and be proud to call themselves Boricuas and Puertorriqueños.

(Photo courtesy of Sourcewatch.org.)

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Posted in latino, politics, puerto rico | 1 Comment

My Take on “What is Twitter?”

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Phil Velez

There are thousands of articles and blog postings on “What is Twitter?” This is my humble take. I joined Twitter about three weeks ago and so far I can see why the networking service has become extremely popular. Twitter can be something different for every one. Marketers use it to sell a product or service and news companies use it to get information instantly out to Internet audiences. But anyone, from Ashton Kutsher to the girl next door, can use Twitter to let people know what they’re up to, where they are, and what they’re thinking. Twitter can be used to find like-minded people who share your interests and passions, or it can be used to get a different perspective on things by following people anywhere in the world.

Twitter is like your own personal news wire. You can use to communicate with many people at once or directly to one person. You can use it to promote yourself or a charitable cause. You can follow people you find interesting and others can follow you. You can use it to increase traffic to your website or blog, or to find a job. You can use Twitter to keep up to date with trends in your industry of expertise or learn from people who are already successful in the field you want to enter. Twitter, along with other social media, has the potential to revolutionize traditional media. Imagine news and information being created and sent out by millions of people just like us? Newspapers may not be the only traditional media going out of business.

Each Twitter update is called a Tweet and if you Tweet you are called a Twitterer. There’s lots of Twitter lingo out there and you’ll catch on along the way. One of my favorite Twitter terms is Twitterican.

If you are new to social networking sites then I would suggest getting started with Myspace of Facebook before moving on to Twitter, but of course the choice is yours. Twitter is the hottest networking site right now and it may be so for quite some time.

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