Afro-Latinos Who've Influenced American Culture (SLIDESHOW)

 
Hispanic Heritage Month is about celebrating diversity -- acknowledging one of the many different identities that flow within the melting pot that is the United States. But the term holds true even within the Latino community.

With the Spanish and British crowns’ arrival to the ‘New World’ came more than just settlers -- the Americas required labor to grow economically, a demand that would be fulfilled by the millions of victims that were brought through the Middle Passage.

Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr explored the African diaspora in Latin America in his 2011 PBS series ‘Black in Latin America.’ His research showed that the slave trade brought more individuals to Latin America than the U.S.

"There were 11.2 million Africans who came to the New World in the slave trade and of that 11.2 million, only 450,000 came to the United States," Gates, Jr told Latina.com.

These Africans were instrumental in the development of traditions and customs -- of culture -- across Latin America and the Caribbean, which in turn have made their way into the U.S. through successive waves of immigration. From Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia and Peru, from the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Central America as well.

Today, Afro-Latino influencers grace the covers of major magazines, star in hit TV shows, lead art and literary movements, and excel at America's pastime. But as illustrated in an interview with The Huffington Post, Puerto Rican actress Lauren Vélez -- who will soon portray Afro-Cuban singer ‘La Lupe’ in a biopic -- admitted this wasn’t always the case in Hollywood.

“Somebody asked me about what it was like when I was first auditioning as an Afro-Caribbean woman; I couldn’t get an audition as a Latina. People didn’t know what that was, they just said, 'Well our vision of a Latina looks more Mexican, or Central American, or Spanish.' And that was an interesting journey to take and something that I had to struggle with initially.”

Despite the continuing struggles against prejudice, the slideshow above shows 27 Afro-Latinos who have left their mark on American culture. Who else should be on the list?

 

Mystery giant eyeball found on Fla. beach

Credit: Carli Segelson/Fla. FWCC

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A giant eyeball that washed up on a Florida beach this week is probably that of a large squid, wildlife experts said of the softball-size peeper.

The mysterious eye washed up on Pompano Beach where it was found by a beachcomber who gave it to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday, National Geographic reported.

FWCC scientists put the impressive eye on ice and forwarded it to the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla.

GIANT EYEBALL PANIC ends: Oceanic peeper identified

The giant eyeball that washed up on a Florida beach last week has been identified, quelling fears of a new monster swimming in the vasty deep.

Researchers at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) report that the eye has been positively identified as coming from Xiphias gladius, or as it is more commonly known, the swordfish, which is fished privately and commercially off the Florida coast.

Social Security receivers face tiny raise

Don’t spend it all in one place: average monthly benefit likely to grow less than $20

On Tuesday, people collecting Social Security checks are likely to get some bad news. Their annual cost of living raises for 2013 may be quite small, experts say. 

Shutterstock.com

Several nationally renowned organizations have made predictions about next years’ Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA), which the government will announce formally on Oct. 16 and which will take effect in January. The American Institute of Economic Research (AIER), a nonpartisan economic research organization, predicts that seniors will get a 1.5% to 1.7% raise; the Congressional Budget Office, a government agency that reviews congressional budgets, 1.3%; and the Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan senior advocacy group, about 1.4%.

For the average Social Security beneficiary, who gets about $1,130 per month, this isn’t much: A 1.4% raise would only raise the monthly check by about $15.80.

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When Sergio Valdez saw his 1000-pound client, Marya Rosales, in bed for the first time, he almost mistook some of her folds of fat for pillows.

"We've all seen obese, heavyset people. You have not seen obesity at this level," Valdez said in "Half-Ton Killer?" a TLC special airing Oct. 10 about Rosales, a woman bedridden from obesity, who claimed she accidently crushed and killed her two-year-old nephew.

Rosales reportedly weighs nearly 1,100 pounds, enough to qualify her as one of the world's fattest women, but Valdez says even knowing she weighs more than five average men, doesn't prepare anyone for her sheer massiveness.

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Listeners Take Stock Of Affirmative Action

NPR via Wordle

A word cloud of listener responses to the question, "Is there still a place for affirmative action in 2012, and why?"

October 10, 2012

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Fisher v. University of Texas, a case that could put an end to policies that take race into account in college admissions decisions.

NPR's All Things Considered recently asked listeners if there is still a place for affirmative action policies in America today. Below are just a few responses from among the more than 50 received.

Attention Disorder or Not, Pills to Help in School

Bryan Meltz for The New York Times

Amanda Rocafort and her son Quintn in Woodstock, Ga. Quintn takes the medication Risperdal. More Photos »

CANTON, Ga. — When Dr. Michael Anderson hears about his low-income patients struggling in elementary school, he usually gives them a taste of some powerful medicine: Adderall.

The pills boost focus and impulse control in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although A.D.H.D is the diagnosis Dr. Anderson makes, he calls the disorder “made up” and “an excuse” to prescribe the pills to treat what he considers the children’s true ill — poor academic performance in inadequate schools.

“I don’t have a whole lot of choice,” said Dr. Anderson, a pediatrician for many poor families in Cherokee County, north of Atlanta. “We’ve decided as a society that it’s too expensive to modify the kid’s environment. So we have to modify the kid.”

Dr. Anderson is one of the more outspoken proponents of an idea that is gaining interest among some physicians. They are prescribing stimulants to struggling students in schools starved of extra money — not to treat A.D.H.D., necessarily, but to boost their academic performance.

It is not yet clear whether Dr. Anderson is representative of a widening trend. But some experts note that as wealthy students abuse stimulants to raise already-good grades in colleges and high schools, the medications are being used on low-income elementary school children with faltering grades and parents eager to see them succeed.

2 American Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Two Americans shared this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for deciphering the communication system that the human body uses to sense the outside world and send messages to cells — for example, speeding the heart when danger approaches. The understanding is aiding the development of new drugs.

The winners, Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz, 69, a professor at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher, and Dr. Brian K. Kobilka, 57, a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, will split eight million Swedish kronor, or about $1.2 million.



Hacker cracks 4 million hotel locks with 'James Bond Dry Erase Marker'

This new hacker invention may look like a harmless dry erase marker, but in truth it's the ultimate electronic lock pick. 

In a post titled 'James Bond's Dry Erase Marker,' hotel hacker Matthew Jakubowski demonstrates how anyone can build this pocket-sized device which will open the lock on an estimated 4 million hotel rooms.

'I guess we wanted to show that this sort of attack can happen with a very small concealable device,' says Matthew Jakubowski, a security researcher with Trustwave, told Forbes. 'Someone using this could be searched and even then it wouldn't be obvious that this isn't just a pen.'

Ask Larry: Can a Thirty-Something in Good Health Collect Social Security?

Creative Commons Photo Courtesy of Flickr user Fabricator of Useless Articles

Larry Kotlikoff's Social Security "secrets" and his answers to your questions (here, here and here) have prompted so many of you to write in that we now feature "Ask Larry" every Monday. We are determined to continue it until the queries stop or we run through the particular problems of all 78 million Baby Boomers, whichever comes first. Kotlikoff's state-of-the-art retirement software is available here, for free, in its "basic" version.

34 Menopause Symptoms

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The symptoms of menopause usually last for the whole menopause transition (until the mid 50s), but some women may experience them for the rest of their lives. The most common symptoms are: Hot Flashes, Night Sweats, Irregular Periods, Loss of Libido, and Vaginal Dryness.

Profiles Of Courage: The Rich History Of African-American Firefighters

Alex Karras, Football Behemoth and Actor, Dies at 77

Nfl/LIEBB, via Associated Press

Alex Karras in 1968 as a member of the Detroit Lions.

Alex Karras, a fierce and relentless All-Pro lineman for the Detroit Lions whose irrepressible character placed him frequently at odds with football’s authorities but led to a second career as an actor on television and in the movies, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 77.

Karras had kidney disease, heart disease and stomach cancer, his family said in a statement announcing his death, as well as dementia. He was among the more than 3,500 former players who are suing the National Football League in relation to the long-term damage caused by concussions and repeated hits to the head.

To those under 50, Karras may be best known as an actor. He made his film debut in 1968, playing himself in “Paper Lion,” an adaptation of George Plimpton’s book about his experience as an amateur playing quarterback for the Lions, which starred Alan Alda as Plimpton.

His rendering of his own roguish personality led to several appearances on “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson,” and in the 1970s he played numerous guest roles on series television, on shows like “McMillan and Wife,” “Love, American Style,” “M*A*S*H” and “The Odd Couple,” in which he played a comically threatening man-mountain, the jealous husband of a woman who has become friendly with Felix (Tony Randall). Perhaps most memorably, he played Mongo, a hulking subliterate outlaw who delivers a knockout punch to a horse, in the Mel Brooks western spoof “Blazing Saddles.”

In 1975 he played George Zaharias, the husband of the champion track star and golfer Babe Didrickson Zaharias, in the television movie “Babe.” The title role was played bySusan Clark, who became his wife, and from 1983 to 1989, they starred together in the gentle sitcom “Webster,” about a retired football player who takes in a black boy (Emmanuel Lewis), the orphaned young son of a former teammate.

ABC/Photofest

Karras with Emmanuel Lewis in a publicity photo from the television series "Webster."

Seventh-grader receives in-school suspension for dying her hair pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month to honor grandmother who died from disease

Belton, S.C., school won’t bend dress code for girl honoring mother who recently found lump in her breast

Profiles Of Courage: The Rich History Of African-American Firefighters

The men and women who serve on the front lines as firefighters, rescuing citizens in harm’s way, should be saluted daily for their bravery. In one of the most-dangerous and selfless occupations in the world, firefighters risk their lives for the safety of others at a moment’s notice. Even though history has not been kind to the memory of African-American firemen, their contribution to firefighting is a significant one. Still, even with the most-dedicated research, it is difficult to ascertain who were the first African-Americans who took up the role as firefighters.

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Putin defends court decision as two Pussy Riot members are sent to prison camp (+video)

Though one Pussy Riot member was released, two other convicted Pussy Riot members are headed to prison camp in Siberia. Activists say the move is political theater.