Latino challenges The Kennedy Center Honors

2013 may be the year for Latinos at The Kennedy Center Honors

By Adrian Perez, Publisher

This past week The Kennedy Center Honors, presided by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, recognized several individuals with what is perhaps most prestigious distinction an artist can receive in America today.  Recognized for their lifetime artistic contributions were Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, Buddy Guy, Natalia Makarova, and rock group Led Zeppelin. Overlooked for their lifetime achievements, again, were Rita Moreno, Carlos Santana, and many other Latino American artists.

This has been an ongoing issue for Felix Sanchez, Chairman of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA), whose battle with The Kennedy Center Honors goes back a couple of years when he initiated a letter writing campaign.  However, it wasn’t the letter writing that may bring change to the annual event, but a telephone conversation that was heard across the nation.

Founded in 1997 by Actors Jimmy Smits, Sonia Braga, Esai Morales, Merel Julia and Sanchez, the purpose of NHFA is to advance the presence of Latinos in the media, telecommunications, and entertainment industries.   Sanchez, an attorney and former Congressional staffer, serves as Chairman on a pro bono basis and has lead the organization to produce an annual quantitative review of how Latinos are portrayed on primetime network TV.  In addition, the NHFA has awarded over one million dollars in scholarship grants to Latino students pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.

The Kennedy Center Honors was established in 1978 and is comprised of six Honorary Chairs (the current and former First Ladies), six Officers (including Kaiser), and a Board of Trustees.  The Trustees are comprised of 53 individuals, with 32 members appointed by the President of the United States, and 21 serve as Ex-Officio members representing key government departments and Congress.  The only Latina is Giselle Fernandez who was appointed by the President, otherwise there are no other Latino Americans on the Board. 

The Center receives $37 million in federal funds, raises millions of dollars each year to develop and promote its programs, and is named after late President John F. Kennedy.  Since 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors has recognized over 170 honorees, of which only two have been Hispanics - Placido Domingo, the Spanish tenor, in 2000; and Chita Rivera, the actress, singer and dancer of Puerto Rican descent, in 2002. 

Many would figure that any organization with the late President’s name, whose photo can be found in many Latino households across America and whose brother walked with Cesar Chavez for the plight of farm workers, would be sensitive to Latinos.  But the Kennedy Center Honors’ management appears out of touch.  Couple that with a nebulous selection process and a Board of Trustees that doesn’t reflect America today, it is no wonder why we have not seen more Latino honorees.

When the 2012 Honorees were announced on September 12, 2012, and no Latinos were named, Sanchez called the President of The Kennedy Center Honors Michael M. Kaiser to complain.  To his surprise, Kaiser actually called him back and shared a few choice words that expressed his dislike of Sanchez’ call.

Sanchez described their conversation as blunt, lasting only three minutes, asking Kaiser “How can you continue to exclude Latinos from the Kennedy Center Honors?”  Kaiser responded “hotly,” according to Sanchez, defending his record of promoting Latino arts and artists and ended the conversation by telling Sanchez to “go f--- yourself.”

Sanchez, being well connected to the media, shared his conversation with them and within days, major outlets, like the Washington Post, carried the news that Kaiser had told one of America’s Latino leaders to “go f--- yourself.”  Over the following two weeks Kaiser did not deny the accuracy of the discussion and by then, 30 leading Latino national organizations were demanding an apology.  Kaiser was pressured to issue an apology, which continued to display his ignorance of the contributions made by Latino American artists.

"One of the challenges with Latino artists is that so many are so young and it's a lifetime achievement award," Kaiser said. "I believe you're going to see more and more and more because the Latino contribution to the arts has been growing and growing and growing."

Kaiser’s apology prompted a meeting between Sanchez and The Kennedy Center Honors Board Chairman David M. Rubenstein.  Although their discussion was not made public, it is known that at its next Board of Trustees meeting it was agreed to establish a committee to review the selection process for honorees.  In addition, two members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Representatives Charles Gonzalez and Ruben Hinojosa both Texas Democrats, who served as Chairman and First Vice Chairman respectively, wrote to Kaiser, expressing their "concern with the lack of Hispanic representation."

Perhaps in the next couple of years The Kennedy Center Honors will recognize the lifetime contributions of Rita Moreno, Joan Baez, Carlos Santana, Ruben Blades, Julio Iglesias, Gloria Estefan, Cristina Saralegui, Raquel Welch, Edward James Olmos, Luis Valdez, or Pedro Almodovar, all recommended over the years by the NHFA.

Jets fans calling to oust Latino quarterback

MARK SANCHEZ, NEW YORK JETS QUARTERBACK, IS THE LAMB BEING LED TO THE SLAUGHTER FOR TEAM'S POOR SHOWING! by Joe Ortiz

There is now a big hue and cry by NFL media pundits that the New York Jets need to dump Mark Sanchez, former USC quarterback who has been the NY Jets QB for the last four years.

 All of you "anti-Mark Sanchez" idiots need to get a life. Sanchez, among the few quarterbacks in NFL history to take their team to the playoffs in his first two years, was vilified by pundits throughout those two years. OK, so his record the last two years are not impressive. Neither have the entire Jets team risen to the occasion. The Tim Tebow (savior) affair is a joke. But, there has to be a fall guys for their miserable play these last two seasons. Sanchez has had to deal with coaching changes, two of the Jets top players being injured (Revis and Holmes), has had no protection up front, yet the New York (spoiled) Jets fans are calling for the Latino Lamb to be slaughtered because of the idiotic mistakes by coaches and lackluster players; etc., etc.

 Here is the list of the top quarterbacks that have accomplished what Sanchez did for his first two years: The list isn’t large. In fact, it’s only nine, and it only dates back to the 1983 season.

§ John Elway started 10 games as a rookie in 1983 for the Denver Broncos, going 4-6 and leading his team to a first round Wild Card loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

 § Dan Marino started 9 games as a rookie in 1983 for the Miami Dolphins, going 7-2 and leading his team to a first round BYE and a second round loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

 § Bernie Kosar started 10 games as a rookie in 1985 for the Cleveland Browns, going 4-6 and leading his team to a first round BYE and a second round loss to the Miami Dolphins.

 § Dieter Brock started 15 games as a 34-year old rookie in 1985 (fresh from a long career in the CFL) for the Los Angeles Rams, going 11-4 and leading his team to a first round BYE, a second round win over the Dallas Cowboys, and an NFC Championship loss to the Chicago Bears.

 § Ben Roethlisberger started 13 games as a rookie in 2004 for the Pittsburgh Steelers, going 13-0 and leading his team to a first round BYE, a second round win over the New York Jets, and an AFC Championship loss to the New England Patriots.

 § Matt Ryan started 16 games as a rookie in 2008 for the Atlanta Falcons, going 11-5 and leading his team to a first round Wild Card loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

 § Joe Flacco started 16 games as a rookie in 2008 for the Baltimore Ravens, going 11-5 and leading his team to a first round Wild Card win over the Miami Dolphins, a second round win over the Tennessee Titans, and an AFC Championship loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

 § Mark Sanchez started 15 games as a rookie in 2009 for the New York Jets, going 8-7 and leading his team to a first round Wild Card win over the Cincinnati Bengals, a second round win over the San Diego Chargers, and an AFC Championship loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

 § Andy Dalton started 16 games as a rookie in 2011 for the Cincinnati Bengals, going 9-7 and leading his team to a first round Wild Card loss to the Houston Texans.

It's becoming more clear why legendary twice-Super Bowl-winning coach, Tom Flores, has not been inducted in the NFL Hall of Fame after contributing more than 50 years of professionalism as a quarterback for the Oakland Raiders, assistant coach for the John Madden-led Super Bowl Champion Raiders in 1977, twice Super Bowl Champion coach for the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders, former General Manager of the Seattle Sea Hawks, and current color commentator for the Oakland Raiders. How many NFL players can make claim to possessing 4 Super Bowl rings?

Hang in there Mark, your football career will be redeemed and many NY Jets fans and players will say in the future, "Why, or why did we let Mark Sanchez go?"

 

Joe Ortiz is President of The Official Tom Flores Fan Club

Allstar Latino cast heads up Hallmark movie

What happens when a mother's love truly knows no boundaries?

Golden Globe and EMMY nominated actress Sonia Braga and 'Ugly Betty' star Tony Plana lead an all-star ensemble cast in "Meddling Mom," a Hallmark original movie premiering February 16.

HOLLYWOOD, CA -- A matchmaking matriarch learns to mind her own business when three-time Golden Globe® and Emmy® nominee Sonia Braga (“Angel Eyes,” “Páginas Da Vida”) and Tony Plana (“Desperate Housewives,” “Ugly Betty”) lead a long list of dynamic performers in the World Premiere of “Meddling Mom,” a Hallmark Movie Channel Original on Saturday, February 16 (8p.m. ET/PT, 7C). Joining Braga and Plana are Mercedes Renard (“NCIS”), Ana Ayora (“Marley & Me,” “Phoenix Falling”), Saundra Santiago (“One Life to Live,” “The Sopranos”), Rose Abdoo (“2 Broke Girls,” “Gilmore Girls”), George Contreras (“The O.C.”), Rafael Amaya (“Doctor Mateo,” “Ugly Betty”) and Rob Mayes (“Jane By Design”).

Take Carmen Vega downtown and book her! Carmen (Braga) is guilty as charged of scheming with her two best friends, Marisol and Valeria (Abdoo and Santiago) to stick her nose in everything in her two adult daughter’s lives. From secretly leaving baby books out for recently wed daughter Yolanda (Ayora) and her husband Rico (Contreras) to manipulating youngest daughter Ally (Renard) into a doomed date with best friend Marisol’s son Pablo (Amaya), Carmen can’t stop interfering. Now, the notorious mother of good intentions with equally hideous results is about to get a crash course in butting out!

A widow, Carmen is happier to intrude on her daughter’s love lives than start one of her own, but Yolanda and Ally are tired of their mother’s meddling and start scheming to set Carmen up with Luis (Plana), a handsome ballroom dance teacher who’s crush on Carmen is no secret. Just as her family believes Carmen’s finally got a life of her own, Carmen proves her nosy habits die hard when she accidentally gets Ally’s new boyfriend Ben (Mayes) in trouble with his strict boss (John Nielsen, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”). Suddenly, all the Vega women’s relationships are on the line. Will Carmen ever learn her lesson?

“Meddling Mom” is The Konigsberg Company in association with Silver Screen Pictures production. Frank Konigsberg, Kyle Clark, Lina Wong, Patricia Clifford and Iris Dugow are executive producers. Eileen Fields is the producer. Patricia Cardoso directed from a script by Nina Weinman.

Hallmark Movie Channel, the second linear channel from Crown Media Holdings, Inc., simulcast in SD (Standard Definition) and HD (High Definition), is a 24-hour cable network dedicated to bringing viewers family-friendly movies with a mix of classic theatrical films, presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library, original Hallmark Channel movies and special events. In today’s crowded television landscape, the network is a unique and captivating entertainment experience, providing programming families can watch together. It is now available in 48 million homes. Crown Media also operates Hallmark Channel, which provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment to a national audience of nearly 87 million subscribers.

Austin Latino Music Fest expands

Pachanga Latino Music Festival expands its reach with year-round concert series at ACL Live.

By Caitlin M. Ryan, Culture Map Austin

Los Lobos

AUSTIN, TX -- Pachanga Fest, the infectious Latino music festival that so many Texans have come to love as a celebration of rich heritage, is expanding into a concert series at ACL Live next year.

Festival founder Rich Garza hoped to extend the reach of the festival year-round, and smartly saw the opportunity to capitalize on the growing promotion of latin music and culture in the mainstream owing to organizations like Univision and ACL Live itself.

The "Pachanga Presents" concert series will kick off with Grammy Award-Winning American Chicano rock band, Los Lobos, on January 18, at which point the Pachanga team hopes to put on one concert each quarter.

"The programming will run the gamut like anything you might find at Pachanga from the traditional to the alternative," Garza tells CultureMap. "[The series] gives us some energy and will give the shows some continuity."

Where the festival has become known for its family-friendly atmosphere and celebration of art and food in addition to music, Garza says he expects the atmosphere of the concert series to adapt and evolve on a show by show basis.

"Who knows, we could do a 'niños' version," he explains. "But I think by and large, you're going to see a very traditional kind of vibe."

The 2013 Pachanga Festival dates were recently confirmed as May 11-12, and there's certainly not any intention to move resources away from the weekend festival.

"The concert series just gives us another platform to put this music in front of more people, it creates more opportunities for artists and fans," says Garza. "The Pachanga brand has opportunities to live beyond one great day, and we'd like to have other touch-points throughout the year."

Latino film director comments on Argo

Ben Affleck's Argo and the White-Washing of the Mexican-American

By Moctesuma Esparza, National Institute for Latino Policy

Editor's Note:  This commentary first appeared on the National Institute for Latino Policy website.

Moctesuma Esparaza

 Argo is a 2012 feature film Hollywood thriller loosely based on a memoir written by Antonio "Tony" Mendez, a CIA operative, who led the rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Tehran, Iran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film stars Affleck as Mendez, was co-produced by Affleck, George Clooney, and Grant Heslov, and was directed by Ben Affleck.

The film is well done and satisfying as a thriller, and is now being touted for awards consideration for the Golden Globes and Oscars. Although there are many issues with the historical accuracy of the plot as well as the portrayal of Canadians, and the Iranian people; and I understand these issues as I have made a career of producing historical films and biographies where I have striven to be as accurate as possible.  I get that dramatizations and inventions are part of the necessary compromises needed to create a historical dramatic entertaining film. However, what has been done in Argo falls into a different category of perpetuating ethnic and racial invisibility of Latinos in Hollywood.

Antonio "Tony" Mendez is an American hero of Mexican ancestry whose exploits are dramatized in the movie Argo. He was awarded the Intelligence Star for Valor for his role in the rescue.   He retired with the rank of SIS-2, the equal to a two star General in the military. He was also awarded the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit as well as the Intelligence Star and two Certificates of Distinction. Antonio Mendez was one of fifty officers awarded the Trailblazer Medallion from among all officer in the history of the CIA.

Antonio "Tony" Mendez

I have a tangential connection to the events portrayed in the movie as I was working for Jerold Rafshoon, President Carters' Communications Director in the White House during this time on the reelection media campaign.   I witnessed the impact of the Iranian hostage crisis on the reelection efforts.

The concern I am focusing on here is the director/producer's choice to portray Tony as if he is a white non Latino, so he could play the role. This is classic "brown face" at its worst. There is no reasonable justification for this choice as the film could have been cast otherwise without affecting its commercial viability. 

Not only did a Latino actor not play Tony, who clearly in real life looks like a Chicano, but his ethnicity is stolen from the Latino community at a time when Latinos have been demonized. Our real Latino national heroes if acknowledged would dramatize our patriotism and contribution to the United States. The film actually goes out of its way to obscure Tony Mendez' ethnicity. His name (Mendez) is mentioned only once and the character says he is from New York (Tony was born in Nevada from a mining family with six generations in Nevada and raised in Colorado). Nowhere in the movie does the viewer get that the hero is Mexican American.

Ben Affleck's portrayal of Antonio "Tony" Mendez was very contained and had very little range, I don't know what Tony personality is like to judge the portrayal but this did not impact the movie's success or failure. It was an excellent role that would have elevated a Latino actor like Benjamin Bratt or Michael Peña.

Instead, like with the story of Guy Gabaldon, whose extraordinary achievements in the WWII Battle of Saipan,  capturing, by himself, 1800 enemy soldiers, more than any other  American soldier in the history of our country, was similarly white-washed as Jeffrey Hunter played him in the 1960 film, "Hell to Eternity."  But that was more than half a century ago, Argo is now. 

Jimmy Carter congratulates a beardless Antonio Mendez on the successful Operation Argo in 1980

In the closing credits, the photos of the real people portrayed are presented side-b- side with the actors' photos showing the very close resemblance and care that was taken in the casting process to cast actors who looked like the real people. Yet, for the key role of Tony Mendez, the director/producer Ben Affleck chose a single long shot of Tony with President Carter where his image was not distinct or recognizable, breaking the pattern he had chosen for all the other real people depicted.

In Argo we have yet another instance where the public has been denied of an opportunity for all Americans to learn of an American Latino's valor, talent and patriotism.  This occurs because there has been no consequence to this behavior. It is time for a change.

Moctesuma Esparza is an award-winning producer, entertainment executive, entrepreneur and community activist. He is CEO of Maya Cinemas, a first run mainstream theater chain in the United States principally located in and serving Latino communities , and a partner of Robert Katz in the company Esparza/Katz Productions. He has produced over thirty films, and has won over 200 awards. He is the producer of such films as the Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1981), Selena (1997), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), Gettysburg (1993), Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders (1997), Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999),  Gods and Generals (2003) and Walkout (2006). A participant in the 1960s-era movement for the civil rights and equality of Mexican-Americans, Esparza remains committed to public service, donating his time to educational, cultural, and professional organizations, especially those that aim to educate Latinos in business and media. He was born in Los Angeles, California and received a B.A. of Theatre Arts-Motion Pictures, Television in 1971 and a M.F.A. of Theatre Arts-Motion Pictures, TV in 1973 from the University California Los Angeles. He can be reached at moctesumae@mayacinemas.com.