On Latino Unity
By Latino Rebels
However, Latinos (remember we come from 21 countries) get into issues. Issues of coming from different countries, social issues, racial issues, economic issues, cultural issues, religious issues, and so forth. In general, Puerto Ricans mock Dominicans. Dominicans mock Haitians. All of Central America sees Mexico as a big arrogant neighbor. Chileans and Argentines drive each other crazy. White Latinos go against Black Latinos, and vice versa. And don’t get us started about Spain!
Add to the mix that US Latinos might not be in general the most bilingual of people and you get problems. All these problems speak to what is wrong: in an effort to get our voices heard, we unwittingly trample those around us. Our egos become bigger than our hearts, when it fact it is our hearts that will save the day.
There is a running joke that Latinos are jealous of success, especially when it comes to other Latinos becoming successful. We find that sad, quite frankly. Instead of celebrating our accomplishments, we fall into traps, the same traps that were engrained into our cultures for centuries. In the end, we claim unity and the mainstream media tell us that we are a social force, but the truth is that we are divided and resentful. Last time we checked, that won’t get us anywhere.
Here at Latino Rebels, we try to be unique. We are 30 people strong and our mission is a simple one: to use media, comedy, commentary, analysis, satire, discussion, debate, and community to TRULY UNITE LATINOS. Do we do a good job? You tell us. In the end, we will continue to do what we do and be ourselves.
Of course, we are not the ONLY Latino-themed company on the Internet today (there are thousands of them!), and in fact, there are so many groups that share the same vision of Latino unity that it actually gives us hope. Some groups have more followers and more numbers, while other groups are just starting and getting a fan base.
With that said, we will say this: ANY LATINO PAGE online that shares our vision is PART OF OUR FAMILY. We will ALWAYS promote content that speaks to the nirvana of Latino Unity. That is the end goal here. That is how we will move mountains.
Soon, the Rebels will be producing a new show called “Seamos Sociales” on Mundo Hispano TV, which will be a nationwide Spanish-language cable network by Latinos and for Latinos. We will use our show to share our universe with our viewers. We will promote other groups and causes with no expectations. We want to help anyone who wants the promotion. And yes, we will also have a blast doing the show! So as we move into the next exciting phase of Latino Rebels, we take a moment to shout out those pages that we have grown to love. ¡Qué viva la unidad latina!
Drum roll, please:
- Latinos in Social Media (LATISM): the gold standard of social media organizations.
- News Taco: our favorite news source for US Latino issues today
- MyLatinoVoice.com: another news and entertainment page that is near and dear to our hearts
- P’Alante Latino: a bunch of awesome bloggers and writers who churn it out each day
- Sofrito for Your Soul: they had us at the name, but also because they have been doing this since the late 90s!!!
- The Daily Refried: they also has us at the name
- Fox News Latino: yeah, we said Fox. Trust us, they produce some of the best news around for Latinos.
- Papa Heroes: hey, we are parents too and this page is amazing
Sure, there are other pages that do the same thing, and no one page is better than the other. We leave the pissing contests to the egos. In the end, by having thousands of pages collectively producing good content and authentically connecting with people and each other, by working together instead of against each other, we will achieve that dream that has eluded us for so long. Will we be up for the challenge? Will you?
¡Qué vivan los Latinos!
[Photo By Rex]