Obama approves the Dream Act

Well not really...close enough though. If the end of the world is scheduled for December 2012, then things are certainly changing. Announced today by President Obama and his executive staff, certain young people who were brought to the United States as young children, do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria will be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal proceedings. Not exactly the Dream Act but it's a start. Those who demonstrate that they meet the criteria will be eligible to receive deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal, and will be eligible to apply for work authorization.

A statement was provided by Juntos, "The vast majority of our communities are not getting a quality education due to an underfunded public education system which every year serves our students less and less. Many of our youth fall victim to the infamous School to Prison Pipeline and end up dropping out of school. Statistics show that out of school youth are much more likely to enter into the criminal justice system." Although this is just the beginning, some people might be a little ticked off. I'm sure the comments will continue including "taking our jobs" and "go back to your country." Remember though, it's a free country. We'are all given the same opportunities.

Opinion: When leaders leave their organization.

There comes a time when a person's executive role is one. Whether they skip town, retire or just move on to bigger and better things, their respective organizations come to a stand-still. In less than one month, two extremely important Latino non-profits are losing their executive directors. Both Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas and Artístas y Músicos Latino Americanos (AMLA) are seeking new leaders. While Veronica Castillo, current Raices ED, is retiring, Lucas Rivas, current AMLA ED, is moving on to Los Angeles, CA for an offer he could not refuse. So what are these organizations to do?

The easy answer is to just move on. Whenever a current leader resigns, they give the organization almost a month to seek new leadership. People are quick to judge and complain about why they resigned but that's life. Nobody likes change, but sometimes it does leave room for improvement. The ironic part is that both organizations recently launched new websites; and they look great. Who should replace them? I would hope it's someone local; someone who knows the market. I wish nothing but the best for Veronica and Lucas.

MundoFox hits the airwaves

It's evident the Hispanic market in the United States is growing and everyone is looking to take advantage. This pretty much means they want our dollars. Anyways, last May 2012, Fox Hispanic Media announced the launch of MundoFox. Competition will be fierce considering Univision and ABC launched a 24 hour news network and Telemundo is bringing some exciting and new original programming.

MundoFox is proud to have a diverse roster of quality programming that compliments its audience and echoes the interests of the 'New Latino' viewer. Source: PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1c254) Programming for the summer launch includes a combination of teleseries, telenovelas and unique weekly series created originally in Spanish in addition to a daily newscast, live sports and family and children’s programming. Program titles include El Capo, Kdabra, Corazones Blindados, Minuto para Ganar, Allá Te Espero, Santísimas, Los Pobres Ricos, El Joe and Amo de Casa.

MundoFox will be available this August 2012.

The London Olympics are coming!

In a little over a month the world stops to watch one of the biggest sports specials ever...the Olymipcs. NBCUniversal will provide 5,535 hours of coverage for the 2012 London Olympics across NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, NBCOlympics.com, two specialty channels, and the first-ever 3D platform, an unprecedented level that surpasses the coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by nearly 2,000 hours. Telemundo is the only Spanish-language station that will carry over 170 hours of games. This nearly equals the total coverage broadcast by NBC for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (176.5). Telemundo's coverage will begin at 6 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. This makes perfect sense since people need to watch their novelas. Follow Telemundo's Olympic coverage at @olimpiadasTLMD and Facebook.com/OlimpiadasTelemundo.

Here's something to put into perspective. Cuba leads Central/South America (Spanish-speaking countries) with 67 gold medals and 189 total. The United States has 929 gold medals and 2,302 total. Come on Colombia...you only have one gold medal.

For a sneak peak at this year's Olympics, watch Telemundo Philadelphia's interview with U.S. Olympic athlete Carli Lloyd.

UNO Branding wins the NMAL contest

We have a winner! A few days ago the National Museum of the American Latino (NMAL) had six finalists for their campaign contest. Luis Fitch, founder of UNO Branding (@UNOBranding), was the winner with "Many nations. Many cultures. Many colors". Fitch stated “At UNO Branding, we are very excited that our campaign poster design won. For us it is a great honor to help the Friends of the American Latino Museum continue to create awareness and support but mainly to accomplish the goal of one day having a museum to represent all Latinos in the U.S.”

The winning poster (pictured right) embodies everything I would want not only in a campaign...but a museum launch. It also doesn't highlight just one particular country (i.e. Puerto Rico, Colombia, Mexico, etc.). It's very important to be non-biased;  especially since we like to argue at times to see who's best. Can't wait to see the campaign and the actual museum opening.

Posters will be available throughout all of the museum's activities for the remainder of the year including their participation at the major Latino conferences and their national fundraising and awareness events. Posters will be also available at americanlatinomuseum.org and to attendees of the NCLR Conference in Las Vegas, NV.

Video: Carmen Febo (Taller Puertorriqueño) says she wishes...

For the last 88 days, uwishunu.com has been promoting the people that make Philadelphia a great city. The series, Philly 101,  asks 101 citizens what's one thing they wished people knew more about in Philly.  The videos have included chefs, executive directors, hotel concierge, marketing gurus and more.

A few days ago, the video series highlighted Carmen Febo-San Miguel, Executive Director of Taller Puertorriqueño. Enjoy!

Video: Obama attacks Romney with Latinos

Shame Shame. Reading/watching attack ads (whether they are paid for or not by the candidate) can be interesting. Isn't that what politics are about? Anyways, I'm not a political guru nor do I want to be one but I recently came across President Barack Obama's "attack" ad. It's actually pretty clever since it shows one man and one woman shaking their heads as Mitt Romney jokes about unemployment and being poor. The ad will air in Colorado, Nevada and Florida which would be good for Obama to win.

Although he does not need to "win over" Pennsylvania, the president will be in Philadelphia (tomorrow) for a fundraiser at the Franklin Institute. And in almost related political news, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio will be speaking in Philadelphia on June 20th at the National Constitution Center, 7pm. $25/ticket. Senator Rubio as you may be aware he may be tapped by Romney to be his running mate. *Dun Dun Dun*

See Maya 2012: Lords of Time for free

There are always those moments we wish we were able to visit museums. However, for some travelers and even locals, they are just too expensive; especially for those with 2+ children. Luckily there are some museums which give these wishful attendees the opportunity to enter at low cost (or none at all). Well this Wednesday, June 13 from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. the Penn Museum is offering a free community night. Not only will attendees be able to enjoy the museum's offerings, but they'll be able to view their latest exhibition, Maya 2012: Lords of Time.

Penn Museum
3260 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104