Bill Richardson to Travel to Russia for Talks to Free Detained WNBA Star Brittney Griner

Posted on July 10, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Bill Richardson is hoping to help free Brittney Griner.

The 74-year-old Mexican-American politician and former New Mexico governor is planning to travel to Russia for talks aimed at finding a deal to free the detained WNBA star, according to ABC News.

He’s expected to go to Moscow in the next couple of weeks, the source said.

The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Richardson has a long history of working to free Americans wrongfully detained overseas. He most recently played a role in a prisoner exchange that saw Russia release former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed after nearly two and a half years in captivity.

Richardson is currently representing the Griner family, as well as the family of Paul Whelan, another former Marine held by Russia for three and a half years.

Griner has been in detention in Russia since mid-February, when she was stopped at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport and accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. Griner pleaded guilty to bringing hashish oil into Russia earlier this week, telling a judge that she had done so “inadvertently” while asking the court for mercy.

ESPN sources say the guilty plea was a strategy to help facilitate a prisoner swap that could bring Griner home, and it also was recognition that there was no way she was going to be acquitted. Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of large-scale transportation of drugs.

The State Department issued a statement on Thursday saying it continues to work for Griner’s release. Asked to comment on Richardson’s potential visit, the White House National Security Council told ABC it was in contact with Richardson and valued his efforts, but declined to say more.

Richardson does not represent the White House. In Reed’s case, he approached Russia’s government and the Biden administration separately to try to feel out what both sides might accept as any possible deal. He then relayed what he had heard back to both sides.

Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, said she had requested the Richardson team’s help and would support a trip if it took place.

“We asked the Richardson Center to help and I’m encouraged that he might be going,” Cherelle Griner said in a statement to ABC through Griner’s agent Lindsay Colas.

Raúl Yzaguirre to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

Posted on July 1, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Raúl Yzaguirre is being feted by the White House…

The 82-year-old Mexican America civil rights activist is among this year’s 17 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the White House has announced.

Presented to individuals who have “made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace or other significant societal, public or private endeavors,” the Medal is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Yzaguirre served as the Chief Executive Officer and president of the National Council of La Raza for 30 years. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic under President Barack Obama.

Former The University of Texas at Brownsville president Dr. Julieta García is also being honored.

The Mexican American education executive was named one of Time magazine’s best college presidents. Dr. García was the first Hispanic woman to serve as a college president and dedicated her career to serving students from the Southwest Border region.

Other recipients this year include Denzel Washington, Simone Biles, the late Sen. John McCain, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and Olympic gold medalist Megan Rapinoe.

The awards will be presented at the White House next Thursday, July 7.

Here’s a look at the individuals who will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom:

Simone Biles is the most decorated American gymnast in history, with a combined total of 32 Olympic and World Championship medals. Biles is also a prominent advocate for athletes’ mental health and safety, children in the foster care system, and victims of sexual assault.
Sister Simone Campbell is a member of the Sisters of Social Service and former Executive Director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice organization. She is also a prominent advocate for economic justice, immigration reform, and healthcare policy.
Dr. Julieta García is the former president of The University of Texas at Brownsville, where she was named one of Time magazine’s best college presidents. Dr. García was the first Hispanic woman to serve as a college president and dedicated her career to serving students from the Southwest Border region.
Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate, serving first in the Arizona legislature and later in the U.S. Congress. A survivor of gun violence, she co-founded Giffords, a nonprofit organization dedicated to gun violence prevention.
Fred Gray was one of the first black members of the Alabama State legislature since Reconstruction. As an attorney, he represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP, and Martin Luther King, who called him “the chief counsel for the protest movement.”
Steve Jobs (died 2011) was the co-founder, chief executive, and chair of Apple, Inc., CEO of Pixar and held a leading role at the Walt Disney Company. His vision, imagination and creativity led to inventions that have, and continue to, change the way the world communicates, as well as transforming the computer, music, film and wireless industries.
Father Alexander Karloutsos is the former Vicar General of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. After over 50 years as a priest, providing counsel to several U.S. presidents, he was named by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as a Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Khizr Khanis a Gold Star father and founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Center. He is a prominent advocate for the rule of law and religious freedom and served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom under President Biden.
Sandra Lindsayis a New York critical care nurse who served on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic response. She was the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials and is a prominent advocate for vaccines and mental health for health care workers.
John McCain (died 2018) was a public servant who was awarded a Purple Heart with one gold star for his service in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam. He also served the people of Arizona for decades in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and was the Republican nominee for president in 2008.
Diane Nash is a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who organized some of the most important civil rights campaigns of the 20th century. Nash worked closely with Martin Luther King, who described her as the “driving spirit in the nonviolent assault on segregation at lunch counters.”
Megan Rapinoeis an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women’s World Cup champion. She also captains OL Reign in the National Women’s Soccer League. She is a prominent advocate for gender pay equality, racial justice, and LGBTQI+ rights.
Alan Simpson served as a U.S. Senator from Wyoming for 18 years. During his public service, he has been a prominent advocate on issues including campaign finance reform, responsible governance, and marriage equality.
Richard Trumka (died 2021) was president of the 12.5-million-member AFL-CIO for more than a decade, president of the United Mine Workers, and secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. Throughout his career, he was an outspoken advocate for social and economic justice.
Brigadier General Wilma Vaughtis one of the most decorated women in the history of the U.S. military, repeatedly breaking gender barriers as she rose through the ranks. When she retired in 1985, she was one of only seven women generals in the Armed Forces.
Denzel Washington is an actor, director, and producer who has won two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globes, and the 2016 Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also served as National Spokesman for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for over 25 years.
Raúl Yzaguirre is a civil rights advocate who served as CEO and president of National Council of La Raza for thirty years. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic under President Barack Obama.

Enrique Murciano to Star in Second Season of Netflix’s “The Night Agent”

Posted on February 1, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Enrique Murciano has a new agent…

The 48-year-old Cuban American actor has been cast as a series regular opposite leads Gabriel Basso and Luciane Buchanan in The Night Agent, Netflix’s political conspiracy thriller series.

Murciano, known for his work in Bloodline, appears on a roster of new cast additions that includes Hong Chau, DB Woodside, Fola Evans-Akingbola , Eve Harlow, Phoenix Raei and Sarah Desjardins

Created by Shawn Ryan, the series is based on author Matthew Quirk’s 2019 New York Times bestseller.

The Night Agent is a sophisticated, character-based, action-thriller centering on Peter Sutherland (Basso), a low-level FBI agent who works in the basement of the White House, manning a phone that never rings — until the night that it does, propelling him into a fast moving and dangerous conspiracy that ultimately leads all the way to the Oval Office.

Murciano plays Ben Almora, the measured, steady hand who guides the Secret Service in the White House.

Seth Gordon is set to direct the first two episodes of the series, which hails from Sony Pictures Television Studios, where Ryan and Gordon are under overall deals. Ryan will serve as showrunner of the 10-episode series, which he’ll executive produce via his MiddKid Productions. Gordon will executive produce through his Exhibit A banner.

Camila Cabello Performs Mariachi-fied Version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” at White House

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Camila Cabello is bringing a little sabor to the White House this holiday season…

The 24-year-old half-Mexican Cuban-born singer joined a star-studded list of performers for PBS‘ In Performance at The White House: Spirit of the Season on Tuesday — and brought along a full mariachi group for her rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

Julia Garner and Jill Biden introduced for her performance from the Grand Foyer as Cabello rocked an all-red jumpsuit and matching gloves.

“Such an incredible honor to perform again at the white house,” Cabello tweeted with a clip for her performance of the Bing Crosby 1943 classic. “Wishing you all a wonderful holiday with your loved ones.”

Among the other performers were Eric Church, Jonas Brothers, Pentatonix, Billy Porter, along with Andrea Bocelli and his children Matteo and Virginia.

This isn’t the first time Cabello has visited the White House. During her time in Fifth Harmony, the group performed “All I Want for Christmas” for Barack Obama‘s National Tree Lighting in 2016, and also sang “Happy Birthday” to Michelle Obama‘s Let’s Move campaign during the White House Easter Egg Roll in 2015.

Cabello previously performed the song (alongside a mariachi) during NBC‘s Michael Bublé’s Christmas in the City earlier this month.

“I wanted to pay tribute to my Mexican heritage with this Christmas cover of I’ll be home for Christmas,” she wrote on Instagram about the tribute. “Luis [Miguel] did it first and in Spanish, but I wanted to bring it to an audience that normally doesn’t get to hear the beauty of Mariachi music.”

In Spanish, she added: “Much love to Mexico and to the beautiful music of my country. Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy this cover that’s now available on Amazon Music.”

Cabello first introduced a mariachi to her music during Latinx Heritage Month for her NPR Tiny Desk performance, when she performed a track called “La Buena Vida.”

“I’m gonna sing a song called ‘La Buena Vida’ which is part of my upcoming album Familia and this is one of my favorite songs on the album so thanks for having me and I hope you guys enjoy it, let’s get it,” she said as she was joined by the band.

https://twitter.com/Camila_Cabello/status/1473675680424542217

Earlier this month, during a conversation with Kid Cudi, Anderson .Paak and the Sparks Brothers for The Hollywood Reporter‘s Songwriter Roundtable, the Fifth Harmony alum opened up about how writing a song for her Cinderella film helped her with her mental health.

“I don’t think I know how to write in any way that isn’t personal to me,” she said. “When I was working on ‘Million to One‘ for Cinderella, to be totally honest, I was going through a really hard time with my mental health.”

“It was just a period of a lot of anxiety and sadness for me, and that song had me feeling like, ‘I can overcome this. I know that I can make my life better.’ I feel like I channeled my personal journey into the one of the character. The character was super confident — everybody was telling her no, but she knew,” Cabello added.

Camila Cabello to Perform on PBS’ “In Performance at the White House” Special

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Camila Cabello is headed to the White House…

The 24-year-old Cuban Mexican is set to take part in PBS’ In Performance at the White House, which will return with a holiday season special to air on network on December 21.

But Cabello isn’t the only Latina to participate.

Kirstin Maldonado and her Pentatonix group mates will also perform during the special.

The program will be taped from December 11-14.

Jennifer Garner will host the special, with performances by Andrea Bocelli, Matteo Bocelli, Virginia Bocelli, Eric Church, the Jonas Brothers, Norah Jones, Billy Porter, Northwell Health Nurse Choir, Voices of Service and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will deliver remarks, and the event, titled Spirit of the Season, will highlight the holiday decor of the White House.

This will be the first In Performance since 2016, as none were held during the presidency of Donald Trump. The special also will be different in that the performances will be taped over a span of a few days, rather than a concert in the East Room, as has been tradition. That is because of Covid-19 protocols.

“We look forward to sharing more special performances recorded at the White House to capture the essence of our nation at its best,” Sharon Percy Rockefeller, president and chief executive officer of WETA-TV, said in a statement.

The Northwell Nurse Choir is a group of frontline nurses that formed last year as their profession faced the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic. Voices of Service is a quartet that has used their platform to show the impact that music can have on service members recovering from post traumatic stress disorder.

The In Performance specials began in 1978 with an East Room recital by pianist Vladimir Horowitz.

The special is produced by WETA, in association with Ken Ehrlich Productions. Executive producers are John F. Wilson and Ehrlich, with producer Renato Basile and director Toré Livia.

Carlos Valdes to Appear in Starz’s Watergate Drama “Gaslit”

Posted on October 16, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Valdes’ latest project is (gas)lit!

The 32-year-old Colombian actor and singer is set to appear opposite Julia Roberts and Sean Penn in Starz’s Watergate drama Gaslit.

Valdes will appear in a heavily recurring role alongside Patton Oswalt, Nat Faxon, Erinn Hayes, Patrick Walker and Raphael Sbarge.

Also joining in recurring roles are Anne Dudek, Chris Conner, Brian Geraghty, Nelson Franklin, Reed Diamond, Johnny Berchtold, Adam Ray and Billy Smith.

Based on the first season of the Slate podcast Slow Burn, Gaslit is a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal – from Richard Nixon’s bumbling, opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.

The story will center on Martha Mitchell (Roberts). A big personality with an even bigger mouth, Martha is a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to Nixon’s loyal Attorney General, John Mitchell (Penn). Despite her party affiliation, she’s the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, causing both the presidency and her personal life to unravel. As attorney general, Mitchell is Nixon’s most trusted adviser and best friend. Temperamental, foulmouthed and ruthless – yet hopelessly in love with his famously outspoken wife – he’ll be forced to choose between Martha and the president.

Valdes will portray Paul Magallanes, one of the FBI Agents assigned to the Watergate case. He and his partner, Angelo Lano (Chris Messina), come up against the full force of the White House as they investigate the events of June 1972.

The series is created and executive produced by Robbie Pickering. Matt Ross will direct and executive produce.

Valdez best known for his role as Cisco Ramon / Vibe on The CW television series The Flash and other Arrowverse-related projects.

Alvaro Bedoya Nominated to Serve on Federal Trade Commission

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Alvaro Bedoya could be trading up…

The Peruvian-American privacy advocate and visiting professor of law at Georgetown University, has been nominated as one of five commissioners to the Federal Trade Commission.

The White House announced Joe Biden’s nomination of Bedoya on Monday.

If confirmed, Bedoya likely will be another staunch advocate of taking robust action to rein in the power of big tech platforms.

He’s the founding director of the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law. The White House noted that his Bedoya’s research and report on facial recognition technology that paved the way for new restrictions on the use of the practice.

Bedoya would succeed Rohit Chopra, who Biden has selected to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Biden nominated another advocate of strong enforcement, Lina Kahn, who has been critical of the growth of large tech platforms, and appointed her to chair the commission after her confirmation. Among other things, the FTC is reviewing Google’s proposed acquisition of MGM.

Bedoya previously served as the first chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.

He is a naturalized citizen born in Peru, and co-founded the college scholarship Esperanza Education Fund. He’s a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.

Justino Diaz Among This Year’s Kennedy Center Honors Recipients

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

It’s an Honors of a lifetime for Justino Diaz.

The 81-year-old Puerto Rican operatic bass-baritone is among the recipients of the Kennedy Center’s Kennedy Center Honors this year, as the organization plans to return the ceremony to its traditional time and format in December.

In 1963, Díaz won an annual contest held at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, becoming the first Puerto Rican to obtain such an honor and as a consequence, made his Metropolitan debut in October 1963 in Verdi‘s Rigoletto as Monterone.

Diaz’s big roles throughout his career were in the operas of Mozart, taking on the title role of Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro a total of 27 times in his Met career.

He was also a renowned Scarpia and Iago in his time. He was famously picked by Franco Zeffirelli to take on the villain in his film version of Verdi’s final tragic masterwork; Scarpia was the last role he sang on the Met stage.

In addition to Diaz, the recipients for the December 5 event will be singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, actress and singer Bette Midler, Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, and Motown Record founder and producer Berry Gordy.

CBS will broadcast the 44th annual ceremony, and it will be live streamed on Paramount+ and available on demand.

The Kennedy Center Honors traditionally takes place in the first weekend of December, with events at the White House and the State Department preceding the ceremony at the Kennedy Center Opera House. But because of Covid-19, the most recent honors were postponed until May this year, with the ceremony spread out over several days with a mix of indoor and outdoor events, some in person and some pre-taped. Instead of a White House reception, President Joe Biden had a smaller gathering of the honorees.

In a statement, Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter said, “After the challenges and heartbreak of the last many months, and as we celebrate 50 years of the Kennedy Center, I dare add that we are prepared to throw ‘the party to end all parties’ in D.C. on Dec. 5th, feting these extraordinary people and welcoming audiences back to our campus.”

Alexis Valdés to Star in HBO’s Limited Series “The White House Plumbers”

Posted on July 19, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Alexis Valdés has landed a plum(ber) role…

The 57-year-old Cuban actor and comedian will star in The White House Plumbers, HBO’s five-part limited series that revisits Watergate, one of the biggest political scandals in American history.

Valdés will star alongside Corbin Bernsen, Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux.

The series, now in production, hails from Veep executive producers Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, David Mandel and Frank Rich.

Created and written by Gregory and Huyck and directed by Mandel, White House Plumbers is based part on public records and the book Integrity by Egil “Bud” Krogh and Matthew Krogh. It tells the true story of how Richard Nixon’s own political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds, E. Howard Hunt (Harrelson) and G. Gordon Liddy (Theroux), accidentally toppled the presidency they zealously were trying to protect.

Bernsen will play Richard Kleindienst, the Harvard-educated attorney general that is tainted by the ITT scandal and a contentious confirmation process. He refuses to use his power to shield the Plumbers from investigators.

Valdés plays Felipe De Diego, a Cuban-American real estate broker and yachtsman who participates in every Plumbers operation except the one which ends in their arrest.

Harrelson and Theroux executive produce White House Plumbers with Gregory, Huyck and Mandel. The limited series is a co-production between HBO and wiip.

Valdés’ previous credits include El juicio del PDO, Con Cariñito and 90 millas.

Huascar Medina Nominated for Membership on National Council on the Arts

Posted on June 25, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Huascar Medina may soon be joining the National Council on the Arts.

The Latino poet, writer, and performer, Kansas’ first Latino Poet Laureate, is among President Joe Biden’s intended nominees for the council.

The eight-person list, posted on the White House website, also includes choreographer and educator Christopher Morgan, executive producer of Harlem’s Apollo Theater Kamilah Forbes, the president of John Prine’s Oh Boy Records (and widow of the late folk music icon) Fiona Whelan Prine, and ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro.

Medina has worked as a freelance copywriter and as the Literary Editor for seveneightfive magazine publishing stories that spotlight literary and artistic events in northeast Kansas. His poems can be found in his collection How to Hang the Moon published by Spartan Press. He’s the winner of ARTSConnect’s 2018 Arty Award for Literary Art. His new collection of poems Un Mango Grows in Kansas is available at huascarmedina.com.

The National Council on the Arts was established in 1965, with members appointed by the president and approved by the U.S. Senate for staggered six-year terms, advises the National Endowment for the Arts on agency policies and programs, and reviews and makes recommendations on applications for grants, funding guidelines, and leadership initiatives. If approved, Biden’s nominees will join other members serving now.

Biden’s roster of nominees is:

Kamilah Forbes, executive producer at the Apollo Theater. A veteran stage director and producer, Forbes’ Broadway credits include The Mountaintop and Stick Fly, as well as Off Broadway’s By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, written by two-time Pulitzer prize-winning writer Lynn Nottage, among others. She served as associate director on the Tony Award-winning A Raisin in the Sun, and Emmy Award-winning The Wiz Live for NBC. Most recently, she directed Between the World and Me on HBO and HBO Max in November 2020. Forbes is set to direct a Broadway musical adaptation of Soul Train alongside producer Questlove, playwright Dominique Morisseau, and choreographer Camille A. Brown;
Christopher Morgan, choreographer, educator, facilitator, curator, and arts administrator. Morgan is Executive Artistic Director of Dance Place in Washington, D.C., and has directed Art Omi: Dance, an annual collaborative residency for international choreographers in New York;
Ismael Ahmed, co-founder of The Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and co-founder of Detroit’s world music festival Concert of Colors;
Kinan Azmeh, artistic director of the Damascus Festival Chamber Players, a pan-Arab ensemble dedicated to contemporary music form the Arab world;
Huascar Medina, the 7th Poet Laureate of Kansas. He currently works with the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission reimagining and developing innovative programming for the poet laureateship;
Jake Shimabukuro, the world-famous ukulele player who, in 2001, signed a historic deal with Epic Records/Sony Music that formed the basis of a string of hit albums and standing room audiences. He has played with world-renowned orchestras and at prestigious venues and events such as the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, and Sydney Opera House, Bonnaroo, SXSW and Fuji Rock Festival;
Constance Williams, who, with a background in publishing, marketing, and small business and financial consulting, was the economic development and small business coordinator for Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District. She has served as the Chair of the Board of The Philadelphia Museum of Art and is now Chair Emerita, and was also a trustee of the National Museum of American Jewish History;
Fiona Whelan Prine, President of Oh Boy Records, the country’s second-oldest independent record label still in operation. Prine oversees the multiple Grammy Award-winning recordings and publishing copyrights of her late husband, American songwriter John Prine, and serves as Founder and President of the newly established Hello in There Foundation, named after a classic song written by her late husband. In the last year alone, her community involvement has raised more than $1 million for important social causes, including those related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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