Written by: Linda
Nieves-Powell for Latinoflavored.com
While surfing the net one day for cool Latino sites, I happened to stumble
onto a popular Latino portal that on it’s homepage asked the question: Is Ricky
Martin’s Music Really Latin Music?
I sat there amused and confused, thinking how funny is this? This site is
asking me, a proud Latina, looking for a friendly place to connect with my
people,(even if it is on an e-spiritual level), to participate in a survey that
was obviously conceived by a fellow Latino with a "player-hater" problem and a
popular debilitating Latino disease called "Yo No Se Quien Yo Soy, So I’m Going
to Mess With Your Head"!
I decided that I would not partake in the demise of a fellow boricua who I
felt deserved a tremendous amount of accolades for his talent and good-looks and
who works his little "bon-bon" off to entertain me and the rest of the world. I
did not want to cast my vote and play the segregation game. (A popular Latino
"bored" game) Because it did not matter to me whether his music was or wasn’t
considered Latin music.
All that mattered was his music was making white girls, black girls, Asian
girls, every color in the rainbow girl, including some pastel-colored machos,
scream with erotic delight. He was doing his job and bringing folks together. My
boricua brother was doing something that most politicians and so called leaders
will never be able to do and that is; unite one nation. Even if it is under a
percussive groove.
So while you sit there complaining about how Jennifer isn’t Mexican enough to
play Selena or Thalia doesn’t have a clue how Puerto Ricans live on 113th street
and Lexington, or how Latin Urban Marketing is a degrading and ridiculous
low-budget concept rather than the multimillion dollar business that it is, the
rest of us will have moved on to bigger and higher more reality-based things.
That survey in a "nutshell" (because it definitely was a "nut" who even
decided to publish that) made me realize that as a community we are so not
united. Not in the least.
There is work to be done people. Much work. And in order to do it we must
seriously look at who we are and examine our place here on this earth. As
cornball as it may sound, we must learn to respect our Latino brothers and
sisters no matter where they come from or no matter what color they are. And
please, please, stop the hypocrisy! Here’s what I mean:
LATINO FRIENDS
"The One Where They All Get Dogged"
FADE IN:
Boricua: That Sammy Sosa is something.
Cubano: He’s the best.
Mexicano: Better than Fernando Valenzuela.
Dominicano: We are so proud!
Dominicano leaves the room.
Boricua: Yeah, proud of eating platanos.
Mexicano: Valenzuela is the best!
Cubano: Hee, hee, hee.
Mexicano leaves the room.
Cubano: El Duque!
Boricua: Latino Power!
Cubano leaves the room.
Boricua: Boricua Power!
Unity in the community. Is it possible? Only the truth will set us
free!
