Posted by Elena del Valle on March 28, 2008
America Beyond Black and White book cover
In America Beyond Black and White Immigrants, Fusions, and the Radical Reconfiguration of American Culture (Perseus Distribution Services, Inc., $29.95), Ronald Fernandez, Ph.D., a professor of sociology in the Criminal Justice Department at Central Connecticut State University, examines the issue of race in America.
Fernandez makes an impassioned argument for reassessing America’s understanding of race and ethnicity. He believes that for the first time in U.S. history, the black and white dichotomy that historically defined race and ethnicity faces a cultural revolt from minorities, the fastest-growing and arguably most vocal segment of America’s people. Fernandez believes this population segment is breaking down and recreating the definitions of race.
Improve your outreach programs by understanding
how Latinos see themselves – listen to
“Latino Identity and Situational Latinidad ” audio recording
Presenters Diana Rios and Ph.D., Federico Subervi, Ph.D.
Find out
• Who is Latino
• Assimilation, acculturation and pluralism
• Hispanic culture dynamics affecting Latino
• Role of Latino identity
• Three factors that contribute to Latino identity
Click here for information on Latino Identity and Situational Latinidad
In addition to the introduction, the hardcover 285-page book published in 2007 is divided into eight chapters: A Historical Opportunity, Dead End, Murals and Mexicans, Asian Americans, The Other Others, The Caribbean, The Question Marks, and A Heart Transplant.
The author relied on interviews with Americans who don’t fit conventional black and white categories to make his arguments. Fernandez, with his wife’s help, conducted hundreds of in-person interviews, in English and Spanish, over the three year stretch that it took to research and write the book.
They interviewed attendees at: Intercollegiate Conference of Multiracial Students in Claremont in 2004, Unity Conference of Journalists in Washington in 2004, and 75 anniversary of the Japanese American Citizen’s League in Hawaii. He also included findings gathered during three student trips to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica.
Between 1995 and 2004, Fernandez was director of the University of Connecticut’s Center for Caribbean and Latin American Studies. From 2000-2002, he served as a monthly op-ed columnist for The Hartford Courant. He has published 13 books and his articles have been published in Newsday, and The New York Daily News and Viva New York!
Click here to buy America Beyond Black and White:
Comments:
Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on March 21, 2008
Days of the Embassy and Los días de la Embajada book covers
Photos: RJ Gagnon Publishing Video: Rogues Harbor Studios
In 1980, Argelio “Alejandrin” Del Valle was one of 10,800 desperate people who sought refuge in the Embassy of Peru in Cuba. More than 20 years after this life changing experience and now settled in a new country he shares his tale of sorrow and despair in English and Spanish in two books. Scroll down to see a clip from Shoot Down, a recent movie.
After three weeks without food he surrendered to the communist government. Harassed by communist gangs, and forced to run a gauntlet of attackers, Del Valle reached the shores of America via the Mariel Boatlift a few weeks later. In his books, Days of the Embassy (RJ Gagnon Publishing, $13.95) and Los días de la Embajada he describes his views on the differences between democracy and communism.
Author Argelio “Alejandrin” Del Valle
Del Valle was born in a suburb of Havana ten years before the communist revolution in Cuba. Under Castro’s rule, he was indoctrinated into the communist mentality, despising capitalism, and the American way of life. As a young adult, he began to question the communist doctrine after he was denied further education because of his disagreement with the communist doctrine. After many failed attempts to escape Cuba he was caught and awaiting trial when the opportunity to seek asylum at the Peruvian Embassy presented itself.
In 1987, he wrote and obtained copyrights to Los días de la Embajada in Spanish although the book was only published in May 2007. Convinced many second and third generation Hispanics are better able to read in English than Spanish, he found a small English language publisher. The book was rewritten, edited and published in English first.
Following the publication of the English edition, Del Valle and two Spanish professors converted and edited the English version into Spanish in late 2007. Del Valle, in the U.S. since 1980, works as a Volkswagen technician in West Palm Beach.
Click here to buy Days of the Embassy
Click here to buy Los dias de la Embajada
Comments:
Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on March 14, 2008
The Immigration Solution cover
In a book published in 2007, three authors, two senior fellows from the Manhattan Institute and a senior fellow from the Hoover Institution, share their perspectives on the issues affecting immigration today. Heather Mac Donald, Victor Davis Hanson, and Steven Malanga propose an alternative immigration policy that welcomes skilled and educated people to the United States on the basis of how they can benefit the country in the 197-page hardcover book The Immigration Solution A Better Plan Than Today’s (Ivan R. Dee, $24.95).
Mac Donald believes there is an epidemic of crime, gangs, and illegitimacy that is resulting in a new Hispanic underclass; and that the Mexican government aids and abets illegal immigration to the United States and thwarts state and local attempts to resist it. Malanga, who argues that Hispanic immigrants produce a net cost to the American economy rather than a net benefit, proposes an immigration policy he believes would be liberal and in America’s interest. Davis Hanson writes about his own experience growing up in California’s farm country and watching the Hispanic immigrant influx transform his state for the worse.
“Segmentation by Level of Acculturation” audio recording
Presenter Miguel Gomez Winebrenner
Discusses
- Assimilation versus acculturation
- Factors that affect Latino acculturation
- How to know if someone is acculturated
- Number of years necessary for acculturation
- Effects of immigration debate on acculturation
- Three main ways of segmenting Latinos
Click here for details about “Segmentation by Level of Acculturation”
Mac Donald authored five of the book’s nine chapters titled as follows: Seeing Today’s Immigrants Straight, The Illegal Alien Crime Wave, The Immigrant Gang Plague, and Hispanic Family Values? Davis Hanson and Steven Malanga each authored two of The Immigration Solution’s chapters: Do We Want Mexifornia? and Mexifornia Five Years Later; and How Unskilled Immigrants Hurt Our Economy and The Right Immigration Policy respectively. Earlier versions of the chapters were published between 2002 and 2006 in City Journal, a quarterly publication of the Manhattan Institute.
Mac Donald is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of The Burden of Bad Ideas and Are Cops Racist? Davis Hanson, a syndicated columnist, is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of A War Like No Other. Malanga, also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, recently published a book, The New New Left.
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research is a conservative market think tank established in New York City in 1978. According to their website, the organization’s mission is to “develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility.” The Hoover Institution is a think tank based at Stanford University and dedicated to research in domestic policy and international affairs.
Click here to buy The Immigration Solution
Make your ads resonate with Hispanics
Listen to C&R’s Research Director Liria Barbosa in
“Hispanics’ Perspective on Advertising” audio recording
Liria Barbosa gives a presentation and participates in an extended Q&A discussion about
• Type of ads Latinos prefer
• Latino top media choices
• Percent of Latinos who tried products because of ads
• Percent of Latinos who purchased products because of ads
• What makes an ad “Hispanic”
• If ad language is important for bicultural Latinos
• What to keep in mind when targeting bicultural Latinos with ads
Click here for information on Hispanic Perspectives on Advertising
Comments:
Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on February 22, 2008
Who We Are Hispanics cover
Photo: New Strategist Publications, Inc.
In the first edition of Who We Are: Hispanics (New Strategist, $89.95), three editors of New Strategist Publications gathered data about Hispanics generated by United States government agencies, created charts and tables with it and published a 262-page softbound book. Part of a three book series including Who We Are Asians and Who We Are Blacks, the book was designed to assist researchers and business people to generate product ideas, develop marketing insights, and create innovative policies.
Who We Are: Hispanics includes detailed estimates of the number of Hispanics nationally, by state and metropolitan area. The book is divided into 10 chapters on Education, Health, Housing, Income, Labor Force, Living Arrangements, Population, Spending, Time Use, and Wealth.
“Segmentation by Level of Acculturation” audio recording
Presenter Miguel Gomez Winebrenner
Discusses
- Assimilation versus acculturation
- Factors that affect Latino acculturation
- How to know if someone is acculturated
- Number of years necessary for acculturation
- Effects of immigration debate on acculturation
- Three main ways of segmenting Latinos
Click here for details about “Segmentation by Level of Acculturation”
Data sources for the book included the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, Federal Reserve Board, National Center for Education Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, and the American Community Survey.
According to promotional materials, the New Strategist’s editorial team, which has been analyzing consumer trends since 1991, spent one year and hundreds of hours on websites, compiling numbers into meaningful statistics, and creating tables with calculations revealing significant trends. New Strategist plans on updating Who We Are: Hispanics every two years.
The book contains a table of contents, list of tables, list of illustrations, introduction, executive summary, glossary, bibliography, and index. It is available in hardcopy and in a searchable PDF that is linked to spreadsheets of all tables in the book, allowing researchers to create their own charts and PowerPoint presentations.
The New Strategist editorial staff is headed by editorial director Cheryl Russell, a demographer and author who previously served as editor-in-chief of American Demographics magazine, executive editor of The Boomer Report, and contributing editor to Money magazine. She dedicated 10 months and 300 hours to the Who We Are: Hispanics project.
Click here to buy Who We Are Hispanics
Comments:
Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on February 15, 2008
Manifest Destinies The Making of the Mexican American Race cover
Photo: New York University Press
New Mexico lawyer and author Laura E. Gomez examines the history of Mexican Americans in that part of the country in her new book Manifest Destinies The Making of the Mexican American Race (New York University Press, $35). In the book, she outlines the westward expansion of the United States 150 years ago and the permanent annexation of land from what was then northern Mexico. The acquisition of new land nearly tripled the United States territory and added 115,000 Mexican American citizens to our country.
What few people today talk about is that, according to Gomez, most of the former Mexican citizens joined American society involuntarily, not as immigrants, but as people conquered in war. She examines, in the 243 pages of the book, the origins of Mexican Americans as a racial group in the United States, and the irregular meanings of race and law in the nineteenth century.
Gómez focuses on the area that is now New Mexico to explore “the central paradox of Mexican American racial status as entailing the law’s designation of Mexican Americans as ‘white’ and their simultaneous social position as non-white” in society. She describes
the strong emotions that pushed and pulled the people of that time: the Mexicans, Indians, and Euro-Americans, the region’s three main populations who defined and dealt with racial and social relations.
Gómez, who was born in Roswell in 1964 and grew up in Albuquerque where she attended public schools in the North Valley, is a graduate of Harvard and Stanford universities. At Stanford, she completed a law degree and doctorate in sociology in six years. She went on to become a tenured professor at University of California, Los Angeles, where she taught for 12 years. In 2005, Gómez returned to New Mexico to join the University of New Mexico faculty as professor of Law and American Studies.
Click here to buy Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race
Comments:
Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on February 8, 2008
Hyperborder The Contemporary U.S.-Mexico Border and its Future cover
Photos: Alfonso Caraveo, Colegio de la Frontera Norte, LAR/Fernando Romero
The Mexico-United States border, with one million daily crossings, is one of the busiest borders in the world. The ninth longest in the world and the fourth longest in the Americas, it has an area bigger than some countries like Spain or Sweden and a population greater than Portugal or Guatemala.
Mexico City resident and architect Fernando Romero, with the help of nine project staff including two designers, interviewed academics, researchers and organizational representatives in North America to write about the United States-Mexico border from multiple points of view reflective of varied disciplines. In his recently published 317-page paperback book, Hyperborder The Contemporary U.S.-Mexico Border and its Future (Princeton Architectural Press, $35) he dedicated 15 chapters to the topic.
Target Latinos effectively by anticipating changes in the market with
“Hispanic Projections with 2007-08 update” audio recording
Presenter Roger Selbert, Ph.D.
Find out
- About Latino buying power growth in the future
- How Latino market growth compares with other markets in the U.S.
- What drives the rise of Latino economic clout
- Who should target the Latino market
- What is the size of the Hispanic affluent market
- If the luxury Latino market is growing
Stay ahead of your competition with “Hispanic Projections”
In the book, he describes the U.S.-Mexico border as “among the most contrasting borders in the world” and “a dynamic site that encompasses modern global issues.” He uses the term hyperborder to describe a geographical and political boundary as well as a demarcation line for culture and economic conditions.
Romero’s book is peppered liberally with black and white photos, maps, graphs, charts and bright orange accents to highlight and emphasize content. He starts from far away; looking at borders in other parts of the world to provide a comparative understanding of what makes the United States-Mexico border special. He dedicates several chapters to border data, reactions to the border and the relationship between the two neighboring countries and its significance.
Fernando Romero, author, Hyperborder
He examines 12 themes he believes will play a pivotal role in the future of the border and the two countries that share it. These are: security issues, drug traffic, informal sector, migration, education, trade and economic development, transportation, energy, environment, health and urbanization.
Mexico City born Romero is the founder of Laboratory of Architecture (LAR), a Mexico City-based architecture firm established to address society through a process of architectural translation and urban study.
Click here to buy Hyperborder
Comments:
Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on January 18, 2008
Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans & Vagabonds cover
Photo: John Nelson
Los Angeles syndicated op-ed columnist Gregory Rodriguez dedicated two years to researching and writing a book, the recently published Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans & Vagabonds: Mexican Immigration and the Future of Race in America (Pantheon Books, $26.95), to expose the relevance and influence of Mexicans in the United States. In the 336-page hardcover book on the legacy of Mexican-Americans, the largest Hispanic subgroup, he examines the influence and evolution of Mexicans in America from 1519 to the present.
In the heavily researched book (there are 39 pages of references at the back of the book), Rodriguez espouses a concept that is likely to make many conservatives cringe. He believes the Mexicanization of America will transform the U.S. into a mestizo culture and broaden the country’s belief in the melting pot.
Rodriguez follows the conquest of Mexico and the northward movement of the mestizo population to modern day America; he examines the rise of a new Mexican American identity in the 1930s in the wake of mass repatriations and deportations and offers a revisionist history of the Mexican presence in America’s Southwest. He describes the origins and culmination of the Chicano Movement, and looks at the importance of Mexican-American confidence and integration.
Gregory Rodriguez, author, Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans & Vagabonds
In the book, he focuses on a topic many have been discussing of late, the increasing racial and cultural blending nationwide. He explores the idea that America is changing. In the Preface he promises: “…Mexicans, who have always confounded the Anglo American racial system, will ultimately destroy it too.”
The book is divided into nine chapters: Birth of a People, The Rise and Fall of the Spanish Colonial Racial System, The Spaniards Venture North, Mexicans and the Limits of Slavery, The Anglos Move West, Caught Between North and South, Becoming Mexican American, The Chicano Movement and Mongrel America and the New Assimilation.
Rodriguez is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and a former MSNBC political analyst. His work has been published in The New York Times, The Economist, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek. He is the director of the California Fellows Program and a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, a non-partisan public policy institute.
Click here to buy Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds
Target Latinos effectively by anticipating changes in the market with
“Hispanic Projections with 2007-08 update” audio recording
Presenter Roger Selbert, Ph.D.
Find out
- About Latino buying power growth in the future
- How Latino market growth compares with other markets in the U.S.
- What drives the rise of Latino economic clout
- Who should target the Latino market
- What is the size of the Hispanic affluent market
- If the luxury Latino market is growing
Stay ahead of your competion with “Hispanic Projections”
Comments:
Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on December 21, 2007
Click on image to enlarge
Photo: The Hispanic Center
The Hispanic Center, Inc./El Centro Hispano, Inc. published Pittsburgh’s first Spanish service directory. Sponsored by 84 Lumber and 28 other project supporters, the 302-page Directorio de Servicios Para la Comunidad Latina (Spanish Service Directory for the Latino Community) was launched with great fanfare at the Duquesne University Bayer Learning Center earlier this month.
Hispanics in the area, 11,000 in Allegheny County and 6,500 in greater Pittsburgh, according to Center representatives, will be able to find information in Spanish on services in their community in the new directory. The Hispanic Center printed 5,000 copies of the directory which is available free of charge to area residents who pick up a copy in person.
“The directory is pretty comprehensive; on top of that, it is a bold move to The Hispanic Center, considering the size of the Hispanic population in this area. We did the right thing (market leaders). But guess what? As it is happening all over the US, the Latino population here is the only one that presents a significant growth, while all other population types are either unaltered or has a negative growth,” said Pedro Paulo Bretz, executive director, The Hispanic Center, Inc.
Find out which Latino markets are booming with
“The Next Step: Secondary Latino Markets” audio recording
Presenter Dora O. Tovar, MPA
Click here for information on Secondary Latino Markets
There are three main target audience groups for the book. They are new Spanish speaking residents in the Pittsburgh region, human resource managers seeking a diverse workforce, and people who want to learn about the Hispanic community in Pittsburgh or who wish to learn Spanish as a second language.
The directory is divided into 20 sections that cover emergency assistance, identification, police, social services, culture, health, employment, education, religion, community organizations, legal services, Latino restaurants and stores, and professional services.
The mission of The Hispanic Center, a non profit organization, is to “Recruit, train, provide employment referrals services to, and retain individuals in Southwestern Pennsylvania (SWPA), by promoting skill enrichment, career opportunities and personal development of Hispanic individuals and their families.”
Hispanic Marketing and Public Relations Understanding and Targeting America’s Largest Minority book
“A must resource for practitioners/professionals expecting to reach US Hispanics; also valuable for college programs in marketing, public relations and communications. Highly recommended.”
Choice magazine
Click here for information on the Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations books
Comments:
Filed Under: Books
Posted by Elena del Valle on December 10, 2007
Cristina Benitez, author, Latinization
Photo: Cristina Benitez
A podcast featuring an interview with Cristina Benitez, author, Latinization: How Latino Culture is Transforming the U.S., is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, she discusses her book with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
Cristina is the founder of Lazos Latinos, a Chicago branding and advertising company specializing in Hispanic markets. Prior to founding her company in 1998, she was senior vice president, Ethnic Marketing, DraftWorldwide. Before that she was vice president at FOVA, Grey Advertising’s Hispanic marketing group. Her experience includes teaching secondary and college students Spanish for eight years. She is a board member of the Gateway Foundation, The Chicago Public Library, and The Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement and Luna Negra Dance.
In her recently released 128-page book, Latinization: How Latino Culture is Transforming the U.S. Cristina, a second generation Latina, relied on 20 years of Hispanic marketing experience and the input of 20 leaders.
Click here to purchase Latinization
In the book, she also included quotes and the insights of 14 men and six women in the arts and sciences, many from the Chicago area, in her efforts to define the influence of Hispanics on American culture. The leaders Cristina consulted include Hispanics and non Hispanics; entrepreneurs, authors, artists, performers, managers and the first woman to walk in space.
To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see the “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Cristina Benitez” click on the play button below or download it to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the December 2007 section of the podcast archive.
Posted by Elena del Valle on October 26, 2007
Beyond Translation cover
Photo: Moving Target Research Group
In her soon to be released book, Beyond Translation The Marketer’s Field Guide to Understanding Today’s Transcultural Consumer, Valerie Romley, chief research officer of Moving Target Research Group, promises readers insights and strategy for marketers to connect with consumers of the top three emerging majorities in the United States, Hispanic, Pacific-Asian and Asian-Indian markets.
The 242-page book, published by Moving Target Press, will be available online and in print October 29, 2007. Marketing professionals are invited to download a copy free at the company website. The general public can purchase a paperback copy for $24.95.
According to promotional materials, it is designed as a guide for marketers seeking to understand who, what, how and why consumers respond to marketing strategies. The author focuses on insights on culture and context that simultaneously drive conflicting behavior and prevent effective communication across cultures. She dedicates about half of the book to Hispanic market issues.
“Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Indian Americans are blurring the traditional symbols of ethnicity based on race, language, country-of-origin and culture,” said Romley. “They are rapidly evolving and challenging the definition of ‘ethnic’ or ‘multicultural’ marketing. The book goes beyond the language of debate, beyond ‘in-culture marketing,’ beyond the repurposed marketing clichés and gives marketers the tools necessary to understand the drivers behind behavior, so that they can develop relevant and effective connections that resonate with the core of today’s transcultural consumer.”
“Best in Class Hispanic Strategies” audio recording
Presenters Carlos Santiago and Derene Allen
-
Find out what makes 25 percent of the top 500 Hispanic market advertisers out perform the remaining companies
-
Discover what questions to ask, steps to take to be a Best in Class company
Click here to buy “Best in Class Hispanic Strategies” audio recording
In the book, she also illustrates marketers’ most common key failures and their effects on communication breakdowns. The field guide offers seven steps to help readers crack the multicultural code and connect with transcultural consumers.
Romley, founder of Moving Target Research Group, specializes in general and transcultural markets with consumer research and fieldwork. She describes Experiential Research as proprietary methodology that combines the cultural intelligence, contextual research, influencer and experiential marketing to connect brands with their target markets. Moving Target Research Group is a global brand research consultancy.
Click here to purchase Beyond Translation; The Marketer’s Field Guide to Understanding Today’s Transcultural Consumer
Comments:
Filed Under: Books
