The origin story of Los Lobos is getting the Hollywood treatment…
The Mexican-American four-time Grammy-winning rock band, which has helped bring Chicano music to the masses over the last 50 years, will be the subject of the feature-length documentary with the working title Los Lobos Native Sons, currently in production and slated for a 2025 release.
The film features testimonials from George Lopez, Linda Ronstadt, Tom Waits, Dolores Huerta, Bonnie Raitt, Flaco Jimenez and Cheech Marin, among others.
Formed more than 50 years ago in East Los Angeles, the group is unique and versatile, able to play roots rock, Musica Mexicana, soul, folk and a galaxy of other styles.
The film is co-directed by veteran filmmaker, producer and editor Doug Blush and photographer/filmmaker Piero F. Giunti, and produced by Robert Corsini and Flavio Morales.
Blush says, “Los Lobos, as much as any modern band, has expanded and re-defined what’s possible in American music, and in their phenomenal half-century and counting, they’ve created a global fan base that proves that the wolf is very, very alive.”
The group was founded by David Hidalgo (vocals, guitar), Louie Pérez (drums, vocals, guitar), Cesar Rosas (vocals, guitar) and Conrad Lozano (bass, vocals, guitarrón). They played revved-up versions of Mexican folk music in restaurants and at parties.
The band evolved in the 1980s as it tapped into LA’s burgeoning punk and college rock scenes, sharing bills with the Circle Jerks, Public Image Ltd., and the Blasters, whose saxophonist, Steve Berlin, would eventually leave that group to join Los Lobos in 1984.
A major turning point came in 1987 with the release of the Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba. The quintet’s cover of Valens’ signature song topped the charts in the U.S. and the U.K. Rather than capitalize on that massive commercial success, Los Lobos instead chose to record “La Pistola y El Corazón,” a tribute to Tejano and Mariachi music that won the 1989 Grammy for Best Mexican-American Performance. The group has moved from strength to strength in the years since, receiving everything from a Hispanic Heritage Award to transforming their song “Kiko” into a surreal skit about Elmo on Sesame Street.
Eva Longoria is urging on world leaders to take action to end the ongoing coronavirus pandemic…
Tuesday morning, just before President Joe Biden addressed the United Nations for the first time, more than 80 celebrities and entertainment figures, including the 46-year-old Mexican American actress, producer and activist, issued an open letter to world leaders calling for them to end “the COVID-19 pandemic now.”
The letter, which mentioned the United Nations General Assembly Session specifically, was posted on the website of CARE, an organization dedicated to ending poverty worldwide.
It was signed by a raft of boldfaced names including Longoria, Debra Messing, Alyssa Milano, Anne Hathaway, Malin Akerman, Debbie Allen, Jordana Brewster, Connie Britton, Ciara, Peter Dinklage, Richard Gere, Dolores Huerta, Joel McHale, Iman, Edward James Olmos, Laura Linney, Julianna Margulies, Joel McHale, Idina Menzel, Ana Ortiz, Adam Shankman, Michael Sheen, Adam Shulman and Sarah Silverman.
Specifically, the letter calls COVID-19 “a manmade pandemic of apathy.” It states that “Only 2% of people in low-income countries have received a single dose.” The signatories call on “global leaders to make 7 billion vaccine doses available before the end of 2021, and an additional 7 billion doses by mid-2022 to fully vaccinate 70% of the world by next summer.”
Those are lofty goals given the world’s most highly vaccinated countries, like the U.S., remain well under 70%.
It also asks leaders to “invest in last-mile delivery systems, public education, and frontline healthcare workers to get vaccines from tarmacs into arms.”
Here’s the full letter:
An open letter to world leaders on ending the COVID-19 pandemic now.
None of us are safe until all of us are safe.
We call on leaders gathering at the United Nations General Assembly Session to boldly act
together to end COVID-19 everywhere.
COVID-19 is now a manmade pandemic of apathy. Only 2% of people in low-income countries have received a single dose, leaving the world’s most vulnerable to face COVID with no
protection. This situation also lets new variants, like Delta, emerge and ravage the lives of
millions.
We are joining with CARE to call on global leaders to make 7 billion vaccine doses available before the end of 2021, and an additional 7 billion doses by mid-2022 to fully vaccinate 70%
of the world by next summer.
To get this done the world community must also invest in last-mile delivery systems, public education, and frontline healthcare workers to get vaccines from tarmacs into arms. Millions
of doses could go to waste because low-income countries don’t have the support they
need to get vaccines to vulnerable people.
We can save millions of lives — and trillions in further economic damage — by meeting this moment with the resources and political will needed to end COVID-19 for everyone,
everywhere. Because none of us are safe until all of us are safe.
Malin Akerman
Debbie Allen
Dorothy Amuah Morena Baccarin
Adriana Barraza Troian Bellisario
Bobby Berk
Jordana Brewster
Connie Britton Karamo Brown
Gloria Calderón Kellett Ciara
Tena Clark
Kim Coates
Madison Cowan
Alexandra Daddario
Peter Dinklage
Melinda Doolittle
Tan France
Richard Gere
Duff Goldman
Tony Goldwyn
Fiona Gubelmann
Anne Hathaway Ingrid Hoffmann Anders Holm Dolores Huerta Osas Ighodaro
Joel McHale
Iman Edward James Olmos Sonam Kapoor Ahuja
Ellie Krieger
Iskra Lawrence
Annie Lennox
Lola Lennox
Esther Lewis
Laura Linney
Kimberly Locke Eva Longoria Anja Manuel
Julianna Margulies
Catherine McCord
Joel McHale
Spike Mendelsohn
Idina Menzel
Debra Messing
Alyssa Milano
Sepideh Moafi
Tamera Mowry-Housley
Yvette Nicole Brown Christina Ochoa
Ana Ortiz Helen Pankhurst Jessica Pimentel Julie Plec
Adina Porter
Zac Posen
Leven Rambin
April Reign
Holland Roden
Sheila Shah
Adam Shankman
Omar Sharif Jr.
Michael Sheen
Adam Shulman
Sarah Silverman
Hannah Skvarla
Todd Snyder
Kimberly Steward
Curtis Stone
Christy Turlington Burns
Laura Vandervoort
Gabby Williams
Michelle Williams
Kimberly Williams-Paisley
Russell Wilson
Scott Wolf
Kelley Wolf
Bellamy Young
Rachel Zoe
Dolores Huerta is living legend in the Latino community… And, now she’s being heralded as a girl hero.
The 90-year-old Mexican American labor leader and civil rights activist, who co-founded the National Farmworkers Association (which later became the United Farm Workers) with Cesar Chavez, will be one of the honorees at this year’s Girl Up #GirlHero Awards.
Huerta, television super-producer Shonda Rhimes, #metoo and Founder Tarana Burke for their work on gender equality at its third annual ceremony, which will take place on International Day of the Girl.
The virtual event will take place online on Thursday, October 29 at 12:00 pm ET with Girl Up Champion Nigel Barker as co-host.
In addition, Girl Up executive director Melissa Kilby will highlight Girl Up’s Gen Z leaders fighting for change while special guests will make appearances on the event’s virtual red carpet.
“Today we’re celebrating gender equality giants, at a time when there’s a lot at stake for girls and women,” said Kilby. “We’re honored to stand with them in building a brighter, more equal movement by relentlessly showing that girls are and have always been leading us toward a better future.”
The awards will honor lifelong civil rights advocate Huerta, who models how standing for a cause can change the world. Rhimes will be honored for her work as a storyteller that explores the most relevant topics of our time, reflecting the world as we know it onscreen with dynamic characters; and Burke who founded #metoo, a movement that kicked off a worldwide wave of women taking a stand against violence and discrimination.
The honorees will participate in conversations with Girl Up’s own girl changemakers Ina Bhoopalam, Alliyah Logan, and Rym Badran as they share their work for gender equality.
The one-on-one conversations will highlight advocates, allies, and activists shaking up accepted norms and changing the trajectory of global gender equality over the course of their lifetime.
Honorees of last year’s #GirlHero Awards in Los Angeles were Cara Delevingne, Jameela Jamil and Kate Hudson.
Stephanie McMahon, Pamella Roland, LaVerne Council, Amanda Fata, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Michelle King, Alexandra Trustman, Shaun Robinson, Tracy Shaffer and Chantelle Siegel will serve as this year’s co-chairs of the event.
America Ferrera is galvanizing the influence and power of the country’s Latinas.
The 36-year-old Honduran American actress and former Ugly Betty star has partnered with Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria to launch She Se Puede, a digital lifestyle community created for Latinas.
Ferrera, Longoria and a group of powerful Latinas have high hopes for the new destination for the modern Latina.
“It’s a media platform that … inspires and affirms and informs Latinas on how to leverage our power in a way that transforms our lives, our families and our communities,” says Longoria.
Inspired by Dolores Huerta’s enduring phrase, “Sí, se puede!” the nonprofit initiative was also founded by experts in the political, entertainment and organizational worlds: Alex Martínez Kondracke, Carmen Perez, Christy Haubegger, Elsa Collins, Jess Morales Rocketto, Mónica Ramírez, Olga Segura, and Stephanie Valencia.
The site will cover fashion, health, culture and politics, an important subject during this election year.
Latinos account for 32 million eligible voters, the country’s largest ethnic voting block. She Se Puede, says Longoria, aims to “build a culture that allows Latinas to see that power, believe in that power and see that full potential released.”
The platform’s launch also comes amid a pandemic in which 34 percent of essential workers are Latino and communities of color have been hit hardest by job losses and lack of health care, as well as a divisive presidential election that sees Joe Biden trailing in the Latino vote in Florida, according to one poll. “We all truly know who’s on the side of Latinos, and it’s definitely not Trump,” she says. “This is the man whose administration is locking kids up in cages, who creates travel bans from countries that are poor, who wanted to sell Puerto Rico and exchange it for Greenland.
She Se Puede is a community where Latinas can find information that addresses our unique needs and supports us to move ourselves, our communities, and our country forward. To learn more, visit shesepuede.org.
Gomez, one of nine Latino/as to make this year’s list, has been recognized for “unabashedly spreading her wings and influence into whatever lane her passions lead her,” writes America Ferrera in an essay about the artist.
“He’s opened up the doors for Latino artists everywhere by making the world hear and fall in love with our culture, our sounds and our spirit,” says pop star Camila Cabello in an essay about the man born as José Álvaro Osorio Balvín. “What I truly admire and love the most about José is that he is just himself. He’s himself to the world, he’s himself to his friends and his peers, and he’s got the kind of heart that makes him a person everyone is rooting for. When he wins, we all win.”
Anne Hidalgo has been named to the Time 100.
The 61-year-old French–Spanish politician, who has served as Mayor of Paris – is the first woman to hold the office – since 2014, is being recognized for being a leader in the movement to solve the global climate crisis.
“Even in the midst of confronting the global pandemic, Mayor Hidalgo has turned Paris into a shining example of how cities can lead the transition to cleaner, healthier and more prosperous societies,” writes former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. “She is transforming the city’s landscape to make it friendlier to pedestrians and bikers, cutting car traffic and making the air safer to breathe.”
Dr. Cecilia Martinez is also being recognized for her environmental work…
“As a leader in everything from international projects to grassroots organizing, Cecilia Martinez has dedicated her impressive career to a moral imperative: the pursuit of environmental justice and the inclusion of equity and justice in environmental policy,” writes U.S. Senator Cory Booker about the co-founder and executive director at the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy (CEED).
Bonnie Castillo, the 60-year-old Latina registered nurse and executive director of National Nurses United, has earned her spot on this year’s list for support of frontline health workers.
“She was among the first to call attention to the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) available to nurses across the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, and fought layoffs and pay cuts that nurses faced despite their vital frontline work,” writes civil rights activist and United Farm Workers of America co-founder Dolores Huerta. “Bonnie’s commitment to the labor movement and unions is unwavering; she states that unions are the foundation of a democratic society. Bonnie does not just work to heal patients; she works to heal society.”
Felipe Neto has also made this year’s list…
The 32-year-old Brazilian social media star, who has 39 million YouTube subscribers and 12 million Twitter followers, is considered the most consequential digital influencer in Brazil and possibly in the world.
“A decade ago, from his family’s humble Rio de Janeiro home, he began creating content for YouTube and quickly found fame, a huge and loyal young audience, and lucrative endorsements,” writes Brazilian congressman David Miranda. “What has changed—radically—is how Neto uses his platform. His early notoriety was generated by standard fare for online adolescents: video games, celebrities and girls. But with the 2018 election of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and the empowerment of his proto-fascist movement, Neto, risking his brand and safety, repurposed his popularity to become one of Bolsonaro’s most effective opponents.”
For the second year in a row, Jair Bolsonaro has been named to the Time 100.
“The story of Brazil’s year can be told in numbers: 137,000 lives lost to the coronavirus. The worst recession in 40 years. At least five ministers sacked or resigned from the Cabinet. More than 29,000 fires in the Amazon rain forest in August alone. One President whose stubborn skepticism about the pandemic and indifference to environmental despoliation has driven all these figures upward,” writes Time’s international editor. “Yet the number that really matters is 37—the percentage of Brazilian society that approved of Jair Bolsonaro in a late-August poll, the highest rating since he took office early last year. Despite a storm of corruption allegations, and one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls in the world, the right-wing firebrand remains popular with a large section of Brazilians.”
Sister Norma Pimentel is being heralded for her work with immigrants…
“Sister Pimentel has been on the front lines of mercy for three decades, supporting migrants who are seeking refuge in the U.S. along Texas’ border with Mexico. As executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, she directs efforts to provide shelter, food, sanctuary and comfort to people often treated as less than human. Her organization has housed and assisted well over 100,000 people at the border,” says former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro. “Her work has taken on greater importance in the era of Donald Trump, and for good reason. As he has acted with cruelty toward migrants, she has acted with compassion. As he has preyed on the vulnerable and sought rejection, she has preached community and acceptance. As he has promoted fear, she has taught love.
Gabriela Cámara is being recognized for being “more than a chef—she is a Renaissance woman on the front lines of our industry,” writes chef Jose Andres about the Mexican chef.
Through her visionary career, Camara has become one of Mexico’s leading culinary diplomats, both in spirit and in practice.
“Not only does she run two of the most iconic kitchens on the continent—Contramar in Mexico City and Cala in San Francisco—offering the very best of her cultural heritage, she is also an adviser to the Mexican President, showing by example how food can have an impact far beyond the walls of a restaurant kitchen,” continues Andres.
The 35-year-old Honduran American actress and former Ugly Betty star is among the A-list celebrities who’ve signed a letter to support the Latino community in light of recent deadly attacks and political targeting.
Ferrera is among 200 actors, musicians, artists, activists, and labor and civil rights leaders that have signed the letter, which has been published in newspapers including The New York Times, El Nuevo Herald, La Opinión and El Diario.
Other top names include Eva Longoria, Diane Guerrero, Alex Martinez Kondracke, Mónica Ramírez and Olga Segura, along with Jennifer Lopez, Gina Rodriguez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Carmen Perez, Anthony D. Romero, Wilmer Valderrama, Zoe Saldana, Salma Hayek Pinault, Ricky Martin, Rosario Dawson, Diego Luna, Dolores Huertaand Sandra Cisneros.
This comes amid a raft of incidents including the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas that left 22 individuals dead and injured 24 others, the sweeping ICE raids that took 680 individuals into custody in Mississippi, the continued separation of families, and the inhumane living conditions of those detained.
Over 200 Latinx leaders have come together to send a message of love and solidarity to our community during these dark times and to call on all of us to speak out & fight for the humanity of all people. Read the letter, share the love and declare yourself an ally. #QueridaFamiliapic.twitter.com/w6cIDuD0BX
“As a Latina, my heart breaks with every attack on our dignity, humanity and lives. And as an American, I fear for the future of my country when our culture and policies lack a basic decency and respect for human life,” said Ferrera. “We all have a responsibility to show up in this moment and demand decency for one another and for our country.”
“We’re facing a moral crisis in our country, and we chose to use this moment to raise our voices, and speak up,” said Longoria. “Integrity starts with looking in the mirror and this letter calls on everyone, not just our community, to choose humanity and decency over hate and violence.”
“This piece is to remind us of our shared humanity,” added Orange Is The New Black star Guerrero.
“We don’t have to look far to see what family separation and hateful rhetoric is doing to the people in our country. If we do not act, we will be complicit in one of history’s greatest tragedies.”
The 33-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Jane the Virgin star was honored Sunday by the ACLU of Southern Californiaat the group’s annual Bill of Rights dinner.
Rodriguez received the Bill of Rights award for her the tireless efforts she puts toward women’s rights and support for immigration as part of her work.
Throughout her career, Rodriguez has been backed up her beliefs in her professional work, with socially-conscious projects like Jane the Virgin, which earned her a Golden Globe, and upcoming shows like Femme, dealing with millennial feminists; and Illegal, dealing with the current climate surrounding immigrant families.
Last month, she fired both her agency and management company, APA and Primary Wave Entertainment, with both linked in the wave of sexual harassment and abuse scandals plaguing Hollywood, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Rodriguez was tearful in detailing what the ACLU recognition meant to her as a Latino representative.
“For those of us who make our living in Hollywood, the images that affect our fellow humans are our responsibility. So I accept this award and in doing so accept my responsibility to present a positive image to all those who look to me for inspiration. I will never stop trying to make this country a place where people of all races and ethnicities can feel accepted,” she said.
Others on hand lauded for their outspoken social advocacy included Oscar-winning actresses Viola Davis and Jane Fonda; producers Judd Apatow and Reginald Hudlin; and famed labor leader Dolores Huerta, who was given the Lifetime Advocate for Justice Award.
Dolores Huerta has been given her marching orders…
The 86-year-old Latina labor leader and civil rights activist is set to speak at the Chelsea Handler-organized Women’s March on Main, an event taking place Saturday in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival.
The march will coincide with post-inauguration marches being held nationwide including the March on Washington.
In addition to Huerta, the co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW), the list of speakers for the Park City event includes Aisha Tyler, Connie Britton, Mary McCormack, Benjamin Bratt, Laurie David, Jessica Williams, Maria Bello and local officials including Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski. Handler is an organizing committee member.
The event, which is not affiliated with the festival, will start at 9:00 am local time at 220 Main St.
Handler announced plans for the march earlier this month. The march is set for two hours, usually before Park City really begins stirring during the festival. But just in case, the city has set up a text-messaging system for updates on transit, traffic and road closures.
The 29-year-old Mexican-American hip hop recording artist’s politically driven track “Despierta (Wake Up)” has been named the official theme song for Voto Latino‘s new campaign “27 million,” which is aimed at Latino voters.
Along with influencers and activists including Dolores Huerta, Snow, whose real name is Claudia Feliciano, appears in the organization’s new video, which premiered on Friday (September 23), urging the 27 million eligible Latino voters in the U.S. to get registered and make their vote count in the upcoming November elections.
“For me, it’s important to be part of this campaign because young people need to wake up and worry about the future of our country,” Snow told Billboard exclusively. “People have been messing it up for years and it’s time for young people to fix it. Vote now, don’t complain later.”
Diego Luna’s latest directorial effort is set to premiere in Germany…
The 34-year-old Mexican actor/director’s biopic Cesar Chavez: An American Hero will have its world premiere next month at the Berlin International Film Festival, according to the movie’s production company.
The film about Latino icon Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) will be entered into the festival’s official program in the Berlinale Special section, which presents recent works by contemporary directors, as well as cinematic portraits of renowned personalities, Canana Films, which Luna co-owns with fellow Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, said in a statement.
The cast of the biopic is led by Michael Peña, who portrays the late migrant farmworkers’ leader and civil rights activist.
Golden Globe winning actress America Ferrera portrays Chavez’s wife, while Rosario Dawson plays Dolores Huerta, Chavez’s partner in founding the National Farmworkers Association (later renamed to the United Farm Workers).
“Cesar Chavez represents the largest non-violent protest movement in U.S. history; his goal was to achieve basic human rights for the more than 50,000 farm workers in California,” said the production company’s statement.
“We think the film will send the message that change is in our hands. Chavez did something that everyone thought was impossible with courage that inspired an entire nation.”
Cesar Chavez, which will hit U.S. theaters on March 28 and arrive in Mexico on May 2, was filmed in the United States and the northern Mexican state of Sonora.
It marks Luna’s second foray into directing, after his hit 2010 comedy/drama Abel.
