Grammy- and Latin-Grammy-nominated Latin jazz pianist Chuchito Valdés, has followed in the footsteps of his famed father, Chucho Valdés and grandfather Bebo Valdés — all acclaimed piano players from Havana, Cuba.

Last week, Chuchito, also a composer, recorded his next album — which is planned for release this summer — with a 14-piece Latin jazz band, in front of a live studio audience at WNYC in New York City. It is a tribute to his grandfather Bebo, who passed away this past March, at age 94.

“I had a lot of respect for my grandfather,” says Chuchito. “He was the motor of my family. He was way ahead of his time. Bebo did a lot of arrangements for world-famous musicians.”

In this album, the third-generation musician explains his mission is to celebrate Bebo’s legacy and impact around the world by going back to the beginning and performing his grandfather’s arrangements from the Tropicana Nightclub in Havana, where Bebo played the 1950s.  Chuchito, however, is throwing in a splash of his own more contemporary notes.

“When there’s a mix, everything is delicious,” says Chuchito, who can’t help but sing from emotion while he leads his orchestra. “This is something he would have been very proud of and humbled by, since despite his greatness, he was a very modest man.”

This week, Chuchito’s father, Chucho, will be performing his new album “Border-Free” as part of the Blue Note Jazz Festival, also in New York City.

That’s where Alba Colon is the program manager of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Chevrolet Racing.  She oversees the engineers who test engines and designs that can shave milliseconds off a driver’s time. In her current position, Colon supports all of Chevrolet’s race teams with technology, simulations and parts design.

Colon says she can’t reveal how many engineers she oversees, because it would divulge her secret to her competitors.

“There’s a lot of competition among engineers,” she says laughing. “What I love is the challenge. That passion to be the best. I love to work with the teams to be sure we are the best, and that we accomplish the win — we are here to win races.”

It’s the love of that challenge that wakes her up in the morning, and her drive has kept GM in the winner’s circle. For nearly two decades, her expertise on engines and aerodynamics has had a significant impact on the success of Chevrolet, which is now approaching its 700th victory, the most of any manufacturer in the history of the sport.

The  latest study shows 38 percent of U.S. Latinos say they are at least “casual” fans of NASCAR, though there is a presence of Latino drivers such as, Victor Gonzalez, Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya and Aric Almirola– all racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this Sunday.

“When I came to the sport, there were not too many women engineers, and no Hispanics,” says Colon, who is still the only female brand manager from a manufacturer working in NASCAR. “I came in saying, ‘I am just one of the guys.’ They were just not used to seeing someone like me, but I am one more of them. It doesn’t matter what I look like or come from.”

Life on the Road from GMNext on Vimeo.

Colon got her mechanical engineering degree from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez. In 1991, she helped build race cars when she participated in the Formula SAE competition, an automotive design contest for students. General Motors offered her a job in 1994, and she has been with the company ever since.

Born in Spain but raised in Puerto Rico, she says her first dream as a girl was to be an astronaut, and one of her first inspirations was her dad.

 “My father is a medical doctor,” she says. “Science was always in the house, and he was fascinated by space and the theory of relativity. I would discuss math and science with him always.”

Education, she says, was the major factor leading to her successful career.

“Education opens doors,” says Colon. “That’s my biggest advice to everyone — once you have that key, you have to work hard.”

Colon’s job requires her to travel nearly every weekend from February until November. She averages approximately 100,000 miles on the road per year.

“It seems like I’m always traveling — my week starts on Thursday afternoon, and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I am at the racetrack,” says Colon, who works on marketing and reports, and meets with engineers the rest of the week. “We work on strategies to make designs better. What we do takes most of the year. The weeks go so fast.”

But she is not complaining.  In fact, Colon sounds as excited as a kid in an amusement park. Although she is married, she never had children, but she calls the drivers and her crew her kids.

“You are blessed when you can wake up and love what you do,” says Colon. “To know I can make it a better sport — I just love it. Racing is my calling. I don’t plan on retiring any time soon.”

“If I had a babysitter, I’d never see them,” says Moraga, adding that his girlfriend and mother of the boys, works during the day. “I really don’t get a break. It’s a busy schedule, but I wouldn’t change it.

He treasures every moment he spends with his sons, because he knows what it’s like not to have a father make time for him.

“My dad was around, but we saw him every other weekend,” says Moraga, who is from Phoenix, AZ. “He had to work a lot so we didn’t see him too much.”

His father had custody of him and his sister since age 8, because his mom was put in a mental hospital.

“We felt like no one cared about us,” says Moraga. “I was out on the streets since I was six. I don’t feel like my parents raised us.”

It wasn’t until he was a sophomore in high school, he says, that his life changed for the better.

“My high school security guard got me into wrestling,” says Moraga. “I would go hang out with him during lunch time. He became like a father figure even though he was only five or six years older than me.”

 Moraga says the school security guard, Richard Fimbres, who was also the wrestling coach, and Frank Saenz, the other coach, really went out of their way to make the team members feel like family.

“They did a lot of good for a lot for us,” says the Mexican-American fighter, who went to the same school as Olympic wrestling champion Henry Cejudo. “Big Frank did a lot with us outside of school…he was more a grandfather figure. He would pick me up on Saturdays to run in the mountains in the morning, and then to eat or go to the movies.”

RELATED: Olympian Henry Cejudo trains kids to wrestle and reach for success

He says his male role models kept him out of trouble and allowed him to stay on the right path through high school and into college. Moraga ended up studying at Arizona State University.

Now his priority is being a role model to his kids, and just being present.

“I want to be there for my kids to get advice from,” says Moraga, adding he wants to teach his kids by example. “It’s important for me to just be there. I just want them to know that I love them, that I support them and to work hard in whatever they do — there are no short cuts.”

He says he’s a different person because of the way he grew up. He had learned to build emotional walls to deal with the pain. However, his kids broke down those walls.

“When I was younger, I didn’t care about consequences, because I wasn’t losing anything,” says Moraga. “Having kids made me grow up overnight. I feel like my kids saved me.”

Jose Rodriguez always had trouble learning, especially reading and writing. In 2003, when he was 13, Jose joined the New Jersey Special Olympics — Olympic games for people with intellectual disabilities.

At StoryCorps, Jose told his former coach, Charles Zelinsky, what his life was like before he found the games.

Recorded in Trenton, NJ.

“We lost a great man and a dear member of our family, who will be missed greatly,” said Bob Unanue, current president of Goya Foods, in a statement. “Uncle Joe always believed in the importance of family, which helped us to lay down the foundation of what Goya stands for. He was an iconic businessman not only within the food industry, but among the Hispanic community, and most of all to La Gran Familia Goya.”

Goya Foods, the nearly $1 billion Hispanic food product empire employing 1,200 employees, was founded by Unanue’s father, Prudencio, in 1936 after emigrating from Spain. Prudencio died in 1976, leaving the company to his four sons. Joseph A. Unanue began working at Goya in 1952 and served as president of the Secaucus, NJ-based company from 1976 to 2004. During this time, with the help of his brother Frank, the company grew from a regional food company to a global brand with 15 manufacturing and distribution facilities worldwide. After 27 years as president, he handed over leadership of the company to relatives in February of 2004.

RELATED: Goya and Beech-Nut team up to create baby food with Latin flavor

Unanue and his wife, Carmen Ana, described as devout Catholics, dedicated much of their lives to philanthropic causes, including founding the Joseph A. Unanue Latino Institute for Latin American Studies at Seton Hall University, named after a son who died at age 41 from cancer.

The couple have also contributed generously to El Museo del Barrio, a museum dedicated to Latino arts in New York City.

“Joseph Unanue was an unique, extraordinary figure in Latino philanthropy,” says Tony Bechara, artist, chairman of the board of El Museo del Barrio, and a friend of Unanue. “He was an outstanding representative of his generation, a WWII hero, a modest and graceful man. El Museo del Barrio is today what it is thanks in great part to the generous contributions of Mr. Unanue and his wife, Carmen Ana.”

According to his family, he was very proud of having served in the U.S. Army during WWII and even received a Bronze Star for his heroic service and conduct during the Battle of the Bulge.

Unanue is survived by his wife, Carmen Ana, three daughters, Mari, Maribel, and Mimi, and his son Andy; as well as 16 grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Claudio I. Remeseira contributed to this report.

Arturo Rodriguez, the second president of the UFW after Chávez, says approximately 80 percent of farm workers are undocumented immigrants. He just came back from his weekly trip to Washington, DC to meet with various senators who are working together, over the next few months, to get the comprehensive immigration legislation passed, “so we can get them to understand the urgency of doing this for the agricultural industry in the U.S.,” says Rodriguez.

Rodriguez joined the UFW in 1973, slightly after he graduated with a Master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan. That’s when he met Chávez. For the next 40 years, Rodriguez has been organizing boycotts and fighting for civil rights in the agricultural community.

“The majority of farm workers are undocumented workers, and they are all immigrants, so they come to this country not being able to be part of society, and because of their undocumented status, that often makes them prey to employers that want to exploit them,” says Rodriguez. “It’s a tough situation and it’s tough for them, especially if they had to cross the border and pay some coyote thousands of dollars. They come here deep in debt,” Rodriguez adds.

Besides working so hard without benefits, farmers risk their lives and live day to day worried about their families, says Rodriguez. And today, the number of undocumented farm workers is much higher than ever before.

Rodriguez explains the proposal that the Senate is currently reviewing will allow current farm workers in the U.S. to gain legal status if they can demonstrate they worked 100 days in agriculture from 2011 through 2012. In five years, they can gain permanent residency and can go back and forth to see their families.

“Eventually after five years, they will not only be able to get their green card but be able to apply for citizenship,” says Rodriguez. “The visa program that will be established for temporary workers requires employers to pay for their transportation, have access to legal protections in the event that employers try to violate their rights, and they will be provided with housing by their employers, or housing allowance to cover the amount of money they need for their rent,” he explains.

Rodriguez says the proposed legislation also guarantees a certain wage for coming to work here — well above minimum wage.

“We’ve worked very, very hard to negotiate this agreement, and it looks like everyone is committed to doing it in the agricultural industry,” says Rodriguez. “We’re working very hard for the Senate to pass the bill this month, and then for Congress to do the same thing over the coming months. By far, that will be our biggest accomplishment.”

Rodriguez says he has always loved feeling like he was really making a difference.

“I’ve worked in about every position you could think of in this organization,” says Rodriguez. “I always wanted to be of service to people. I’ve had lots of opportunities to go and be part of businesses, but what appealed to me more than anything is how to bring respect to the people in this nation.”

Fighting for those who don’t have a voice, he says, is something impressed upon him by Chávez.

“I knew that he was tired. I knew he was exhausted. I knew that he could have just rolled over and stayed in bed, but he was always so driven by the needs of the farm workers that he would be there every single day to make a difference,” says Rodriguez. “I saw that time and time again, and that’s what impressed me  – that’s what we inherited from César.”

He also adds that Chávez would not allow any excuses, not even money, to stop him.

“You figure out how you get it done…if you’re not willing to do that, you’re not going to be successful,” says Rodriguez.

Tagged: Arturo Rodriguez, cesar chavez, farm workers, immigrants, immigration reform, migrant farm workers, UFW, undocumented workers, United Farm Workers of America ]]> http://nbclatino.com/2013/06/14/40-years-fighting-for-farm-workers-the-ufw-president-after-chavez-is-not-done-yet/feed/ 0 ArturoRodriguez-UFW kristinapuga http://nbclatino.com/2013/06/13/video-200-cartas-a-bilingual-romantic-comedy-about-love-and-identity/ http://nbclatino.com/2013/06/13/video-200-cartas-a-bilingual-romantic-comedy-about-love-and-identity/#comments Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:42:58 +0000 Kristina Puga http://nbclatino.com/?p=73137 Read More]]> Puerto Rican-born actor and director Bruno Irrizary says it was something rather unexpected that landed Lin-Manuel Miranda the leading role in his latest film, “200 Cartas.”

“I told him your Spanish is so bad, I want you to be my lead actor,” laughs Irrizary, adding that he’s also a brilliant actor and performer.

The semi-autobiographical romantic comedy is Irrizary’s only second feature film, but it is already breaking boundaries — as it is fully bilingual. It tells the story of a Nuyorican comic book artist who falls in love with a Puerto Rican girl, Maria Sanchez, who was visiting New York City. Miranda travels to Puerto Rico with his best friend to look for her, and in their search self-discovery happens. The film will be screening in New York City, for two weeks, starting Friday, June 14.

“It’s a film that will make many people happy, hopefully,” says the director, who considers both Puerto Rico and New York his home. He travels back and forth between the two places to this day. This part of his identity, he says, is what was his inspiration to make the film. “I wanted to embrace my reality.”

He first came to NYC 17 years ago, when he was 17, to pursue opera singing.

“I had a scholarship to go to the Manhattan School of Music, and that’s where I met my Maria Sanchez,” says Irrizary. “I was head over heels over her. I had gone back to Puerto Rico and returned to New York to look for her. For three years, I looked for her. In the back of my mind, I always thought, ‘Where is she?’”

That incident, he says, played a role in his self-discovery.  He also went back to his island when he was homesick, and rediscovered his earliest childhood memories.

Yolanda, the other leading lady, played by former beauty queen, Dayanara Torres, was also very important to the film.

“She represents the Puerto Rican women in my life — strong and independent,” he says. “She’s also an independent artist going through a journey. To make ends meet she works in construction with no makeup and boots. I wanted to create a character that was out of her comfort zone.”

Irrizary says it took him seven months to write the script (he naturally writes in English and Spanish), and two years to complete the film, which also includes a great deal of animation.

“I wanted to address things that still need to be worked on in Puerto Rico, but we can talk about our problems with a smile on our face,” says Irrizary adding that bringing the film to New York was made possible by the support of the Puerto Rico Film Commission.

For now, he says, he will continue to break ground by writing bilingual films.

“I think about Latinos all over the world, and I want to make sure to tell stories that are going to be engaging and going to reach them,” says Irrizary.

He also loves to reach people through comedy.

“I remember my mother being sad one day when I was six, so I started to play some music and doing pantomime, and she started laughing and laughing,” he says. “I realized at a young age that laughter could change your state. If I could make you laugh and make you forget what is troubling you, to me that’s wonderful.”

The fact that actors Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jaime Camil are just funny guys with great chemistry just made it simpler, he adds.

Irrizary just finished writing the script for a psychological thriller called, “La Puerta” (“The Door”) — another fully bilingual film and love story about a man who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and falls in love with a woman from a different reality.  He is also returning to Puerto Rico next month to direct a modern-take on opera — his other passion.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, he did find his Maria Sanchez years later.

“I was walking on the streets of New York City, and I bumped into ‘Maria Sanchez’ on the street,” he says excitedly. “We just hugged and cried. We are still friends to this day.”

“We started doing research on games, and when we looked at pre-teen games, every option out there was about having a makeover, or celebrity dating or boyfriends, or social climbing to become more popular — they were all just really bad,” says Guevara-Flanagan. “Young girls are very interested in gaming, and we feel they should have the same options boys have.”

“Wonder City” allows girls, ages 9 through 12, the opportunity to choose their own avatar (customizing it to their shape and color); and it also teaches them how to be a superhero or leader.

“The game picks up where the film left off,” says Guevara-Flanagan. “We are interested in the reputation of women in popular media, and we couldn’t fit all that inside the film.”

RELATED: A film shows how “Wonder Women!” inspired a generation

Guevara-Flanagan says she has always been interested in the gaming community, and in looking at the representation of women in comics.  She has always felt that female protagonists are often sexualized.

The filmmaker and video producer also found another area of concern through her research — the fact that women throughout history have become more involved in politics and the workforce, but they have not been rising in the ranks of leadership.

“That’s where we see huge disparities,” she says. “Very few CEO’s of businesses are women, so we wanted a game to develop leadership skills in women — to take a role in changing this landscape — one that would have a positive influence in that way.”

In addition to teaching girls about leadership, the online game also tackles how to recognize stereotypes and educates girls about important women in history. The game is also episodic, and more episodes will be developed as they are able to be funded.  They will also be working on an app.

“People are enjoying it,” says Guevara-Flanagan of users’ reactions since the game launched last month. “Right now it’s getting a lot of interest from teachers and librarians. Our film is currently being distributed to schools and libraries, so I’ve been talking about it, and we’ll be going to gaming conferences as well.”

That’s how Rodrigo Reyes, 29, starts his film about the diverse real-life characters surrounding the U.S.-Mexico border. “Purgatorio” has already had international success, and now will have its U.S. debut at the 2013 Los Angeles Film Festival this week.

“During a time when we really have immigration on our mind as a nation, I think one of the key parts of the discussion is missing, and that’s the emotional aspect — really feeling the situation,” says Reyes. “I try to give you an x-ray of the border so you can really feel it, and then you can go off and talk about what’s going on.”

The filmmaker, who never went to film school but majored in international relations while at the University of California at San Diego, thinks that political parties are presently polarizing the conversation. Reyes doesn’t think, however, the debate is a matter of “good guys” and “bad guys,” it’s about people.

“The idea [of the film] was not to get into a news discourse, but to look at it as if we were in an epic poem, or epic novel,” says Reyes. “These characters exist outside of time, facts and figures. During the film, you never know what city you are in. We filmed from Tijuana to South Texas, but the spectators never know that.”

By focusing the movie on the real lives of immigrants — a man of God who leaves water and food in the desert, people living and dying in border towns, and even a Minuteman, he tells the story of Mexican immigration to the U.S. through a human perspective.

“By not feeling first and reacting afterwards, I think we are doing ourselves a disservice,” says Reyes. “I don’t want this to just be an immigration movie.”

Filmmaker of “Purgatorio,” Rodrigo Reyes.

Reyes himself immigrated, with his parents, legally and safely to the U.S. in a plane from Mexico City.  Yet he says he’s always been marked by crossing the border. His first movie, “Memories of the Future,” which he made around 2009, also took him around the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I was living and traveling in an old Dodge caravan, and of all the places I visited, the border was the place I kept thinking about,” says Reyes. “I knew my next film had to be about the border.”

He got a job as an interpreter in California’s criminal courts, where he still works by day, to save up the nearly $70,000 he needed to make the film. He says it will all be worth it if people walk away after watching it realizing that we are all human.

“This is something that we do — we divide each other from other humans, and we pretend we’re better than others,” says Reyes about human nature. “We create our own reality…Borders are so bizarre — It’s how we build our civilizations, and this film shows the dark side of that, and it also shows how we can overcome it…”

Reyes personally thinks without a doubt that the U.S. economy needs low wage labor provided by immigrants.

“The idea that people are coming to rob us blind is pretty ridiculous,” he says. “We need to sit down and discuss what our needs are economically and socially…I’m not advocating for borders to be completely open, but the situation is very self-deluding.”

The sisters raised $312,000 from 1,553 backers in a month-long Kickstarter campaign and launched a business: they repurpose military surplus and make high-end bags, which are made by veterans.

The Sword & Plough signature line includes messenger bags, totes, rucksacks, key fobs, T-shirts, iPhone sleeves and iPad covers, which are made out of repurposed sleeping bags, parachutes and tents — accented with leather and brass.

Emily, who is from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, traveled to Washington last week for a special trip. She was honored at the White House as one of 12 crowdfunding “Champions of Change.”  She took her sister and business partner, Betsy, with her.

Emily is a 2nd lieutenant in the Army who has just deployed to Afghanistan for a year, but her sister Betsy just quit her job in sales about three months ago to hold down the fort at Sword & Plough while Emily is away.

“It was a no-brainer,” says Betsy. “I am so incredibly inspired by my sister and our mission. This was my way of giving back and leaving a legacy in my work and leave a mark. Growing up in a military family, [daughters of retired Army Col. Joseph Nuñez] I’ve been very inspired by service members and how they give back — this is my way to give back. It’s also been amazing to get to work with my sister.”

Betsy, who oversees the operations for the business, says they try to work with veteran designers and use manufacturers who employ veterans to produce their products — which are all made in the USA.

“We are looking for more veteran groups to partner with and want to volunteer at veteran’s events,” says Betsy. “Community is very important to us, and empowering veterans is definitely part of our mission.”

Of approximately 1,200 startups that applied for this competitive program which will potentially award them with more funding, Sword & Plough was one of 128 startups to be accepted as finalists from all over the world.

 “Our hope in our first year is to recycle 20,000 pounds of military surplus, to get involved in communities, and expand the product line,” says Betsy, adding she is in the process of bringing on more interns and preparing for the MassChallenge 2013 Accelerator Program.

Betsy says Sword & Plough is currently comprised of five core members working from Denver, NYC and Boston, and they plan on beginning to take online orders hopefully around July 4th. They also hope to have items in local stores this fall or around the holidays.