Nuevos Compañeros

So here I am introducing the best of the best…

They will make you laugh, think, laugh some more and then go do something

Ricardo from U N L O A D E D

Ricardo is a Puerto Rican Jewish Playright. The first time I cam across his blog U N L O A D E D Ricardo had a post thanking a friend for describing him as a sexy Puerto Rican blooded beast .

link to his screenplays

• There’s not many of us out there but we are a dedicated, determined few as far as Latino Jews go. You’re addressing some very real issues in acciones plasticas. These projection do exist and it can be a big waste of daily energy to push them back so they can finally get to the real you. If I sat down and thought about it, I could probably conjure up some characters that show the projections on to me as well. At least some that I experienced while growing up. I think we’ve made some big strides in shedding the stereotypes, but the work is never really done. Hence the need for work like yours. I’ve never been good at this type of performance work you’re doing however. I’ve always toyed with the idea of doing something similar to what your doing from a guys perspective, a one man show locally here, but I’m not there yet.

in another email

I came very close once to putting my picture up on Jdate but couldn’t do it. I could definitely see lots of guys, intoxicated by by the likes of Selma and Penelope or J-Lo, wanting to bring you home for a one night stand and brag to their friends about how they “took a dip in some salsa.” We men are terrible in this regard but I can imagine it would be very frustrating for you. You ought to be appreciated for what you’ve done artistically, academically and politically because those things are what create the whole person so to speak. But I bet these men wanted to hear none of that and just wanted you to talk dirty to them in Spanish, again we men are awful but in my opinion these men are also very insecure. Why? Because they lack the social skills to get past the stereotypes and engage you for who you are. If they really wanted to know more about the Latin culture there are tons of better approaches that are not so lame like “muy picante.” I mean really, I would not say that seriously no matter how drunk I was. Just talk to people as equals.

Now as far as respect from the others in the Latin community, cherish it. Often times there is resentment if you are accomplished. While you are loved, I am usually hated. First off people can’t always place my ethnicity. I get everything in the book before they get to Puerto Rican. Yeah I don’t have an accent, so what? I don’t speak it but my family came here in the 20’s, what do you expect? Things fade. I do understand it however so if someone’s talking smack about me, I know. Artistically, hated by some in my family because I don’t write or perform about racial issues. If I’m compelled to do so and it feels right, then I will. I’m not close with them anyway so it doesn’t mater.

I have no shame in who I am but if I’m expected to act a certain way for the appeasement of the ethnic police, then arrest me because I am who I am and feel no need to apologize for it.

Now if women wanted to use me for a latin sex toy…Maya…I’ll be honest, I’ll be her Toys R Us if she’s she’s got the stuff. But men don’t really get used this way. Not in America at least. Europe would be a different story. But even that would grow old in time I suppose, a very long time but still 😉

Daniel aka theMULatino

Daniel is a Mexican American Graduate Student at Missouri University. Daniel is the self-proclaimed token minority at MU.

from his blog

• Next, let’s talk about Jewish people. Actually, wait a minute. Let’s not. Cause I don’t really know many Jewish people. However, a new study released by the American Jewish Committee indicates that Hispanics harbor more anti-Semitic feelings than non-Hispanics. So, according to the “research”, I guess I’m supposed to hate Jewish people. Now (sigh)…..I don’t mean to debunk anyone’s intellectual efforts here, but I don’t think it’s fair to Jewish people or Hispanics to waste time on such mindless activities like being anti-Semitic. It’s pointless. It’s ignorant. It’s un-American. SO, let’s not hate Jewish people…. let’s hate WHITE people. If you ask me, it’s completely unnecessary to begin dividing up white folks into groups and hating them by ethnicity. We should unify and hate them all equally. (Okay, you idiots. I hope you realize I’m joking here.)

This video was my first introduction to theMULatino.

after seeing that hilarious video and reading his blog I had no choice but to post a response video.

To get the ball rolling I asked them to answer the following questions:

• Where you see yourself going?
• What is your goal as an artist/educator/politician/writer…?
• In what facets (if any) do you plan on serving the latino and or jewish community?
• What do you hope to achieve using the internet as a means of communication?
• What do you want people to know about you?
• As a minority (that is a public figure), who is more effective in creating change?

Intellectuals, Comedians, Artists

How are they representatives of our society?
• Who actually sees their work?
  
  
• Ricardo’s Responses:
  1. I really hope to see myself in a position that I can write and direct my own films. When I sit down to write something I try and tell a story on how we, as people, use all the wrong ways to move and affect each other as opposed to honestly and openly communicating. To do the former is pave the way for a small scale but devastating human disaster. This is where the drama comes in and these dramas, these mini tragedies, are happening all around us each day. They go unnoticed because they don’t involve a bank robbery or high speed chase, but there is great emotion and compelling stories in these events none the less. These are not easy targets to hit when doing a screenplay or the like but they are challenging.
  2. In terms of serving the Latino community, I want to be able to show people out there that all of us have stories to tell that are universal in their appeal. While there will be Latino artist that contribute to breaking down racial barriers by doing race oriented fare, I want to do that by telling stories that transcend race. I want the fact that I’m Latino to be an afterthought because that means, to me, that they’ve accepted me as an individual and artist. And I think that’s happened to a great extent on my blog. It’s a very diverse group of readers that relate to the story. I’m not a gang member and I’m not going to steal your car. I’m a guy that thinks and works for a living just like you.
  3. As for the Jewish community, I want to show people that we too have the same hopes and fears as everyone else and we’re not out to take everyone’s money or control the media or whatever conspiracy theory of the day is out there. Again it goes back into the types of stories we tell and how we frame them. One day I’d like to be able to do a documentary that shows and how it’s like to be Jewish in America. All of us are not doctors and lawyers and all of us are not loaded. You’re a minority but not really a minority because people perceive that you have money and that cancels it out. But that’s the great myth. Being Jewish is about not fitting in and loving it. There’s got to be a way that I can show that.
  4. I think you need the Jon Stewarts, Dave Chappelles AND the Guillermo Gomez Pena/ Coco Fuscos of the world out there grinding it out. The approaches are different but there’s a lot of truth in each approach. These are the people that tap you on the shoulder and say “What you think is acceptable is really fucked up and here’s why.” And they show us this through their mediums and it hurts sometimes. These people shock you into looking at your reality in a new way and make you think.
  5. Humor is such a powerful and healing thing. I told you about about shocking people before but if you can get them to laugh at the shock then your on your way to enlightening some people. The laughter in a strange way is an acknowledgment. if they can acknowledge the issue then they can be moved toward learning more about it and possibly fixing it.

  Daniel’s Responses:

  1. To answer some of your questions the best I can, I think I first have to confess to honestly feeling like my life is a work in progress. I don’t always know what I’m doing. In fact, 99% of the time I don’t even know what I’m going to write or say until I actually do it. Being a writer and a student is just a natural extension of my process of self-discovery and my interest in sharing. I’ve worked in diversity in higher education since I was undergraduate, so that’s mainly my writing content now. However, the more years I put in, the more I’ve realized that while the thrust of institutional diversity is positive, it’s a political showman’s game just like everything else. At this point, I know that I’m paid to write, publicize, and document nice news, not real news. My goal with my writing is to someday have the financial stability to write something truthful that I don’t have to be concerned about getting fired over.
  2. My ethnic background is Latino, Hispanic, Chicano, and I grew up poor (who didn’t?) in Kansas City. My parents were Chicano activists in the sixties and seventies when they met in college. They’re both civil servants today. Although they’re divorced now, we all still live in the same neighborhood, except that I’m finishing up graduate school in Columbia, Missouri. My entire life has always included some element of community activism, so I really felt like a fish out of water when I moved to middle-Missouri. My long-term plan has always been to eventually head back home and participate in making my community a better place (aren’t I noble? barf). However, right now I have some more learning to do, things to see, people to meet, experiences to go through, you know the deal. I’m just trying to make the most of everything.
  3. I think that’s what my website is about; sharing, learning, exercising intellectual freedom, making the most of this experience, and not losing touch with my community back home. If I wanted people to know anything about me, it would probably just be that the irony inherent in that particular question is that I’m really just trying to learn about them.

  please feel free to share your responses