Hidalgo's Research: December 2012

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Dominican Republic’s mountains mean money, top official says

Dominican Republic joined yesterday’s International Mountains Day celebrations with several activities to mark an event held since 2003, when the United Nations set aside every December 11 to raise awareness on their sustainable use, DominicanToday.com reports.

Environment minister Bautista Rojas said, the government seeks to harness the potential of the country’s eco-mountainous territory as part of a national strategy to promote ecotourism, whose economic contribution he affirms are significant for any State.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Video: Depression in Our World

Reblogged from BROTHA WOLF:

Thanks New Black Man

This video describes the stigmas and struggles of people in black communities dealing with depression. The panel includes Bassey Ikpi, director of the Siwe Project; Dr. Jeff Gardere, psychologist and author; and Terrie Williams, author of "Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting."

Higher Ground

Reblogged from Ourstorian:

The extraordinary global musical collaboration featured below is Episode #52 from Playing for Change, a foundation dedicated to providing music education for students in impoverished communities. Be sure to check out their blog for tour information, fundraisers, and other Playing for Change activities and events.

POC as Costumes

Reblogged from BROTHA WOLF:

Recently, famed tennis star Caroline Wozniacki appeared on a tennis court with the bra and shorts stuffed to make herself look curvy. It is said that she did it to impersonate another famed tennis star Serena Williams, particularly her natural curves. Many people were amused by this stint. Others, call it being racist. Word on the street is that it's not the first time female tennis players mocked Williams' figure by doing similar things.

UN's Ban launches bid to stamp out cholera in Haiti

Reblogged from Repeating Islands:

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a $2.2 billion initiative on Tuesday to stamp out cholera over the next decade in impoverished Haiti, where an epidemic has killed thousands of people and been blamed on U.N. peacekeepers, Reuters reports.

Cholera has killed some 7,750 Haitians and sickened almost 620,000 since October 2010.

An independent panel appointed by Ban to study the epidemic issued a May 2011 report that did not determine conclusively how the cholera was introduced to Haiti.

Ricky Martin at the U.N.: On Stigma, Fear and the Dangers of Homophobia

Reblogged from Repeating Islands:

Recently (December 11, 2012), Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin proclaimed at a U.N. conference on homophobia that he wishes he could come out again so he could tell people struggling with their identities that “it’s just beautiful – you find love.” Martin said that “for many years, I lived in fear … because I was hating myself, because I grew up listening to a very crooked concept: `You’re gay.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Letter: Response to ‘Weekly column promotes ignorance’ – CollegiateTimes.com

Letter: Response to ‘Weekly column promotes ignorance’ – CollegiateTimes.com.

My letter to the editor.

I meant to be clear that satire and comedy are indispensable for sustaining a fair society, but as a laugh could help level power, it could also help in the opposite direction if steered toward marginalized people.

The original article, which attempted to produce laughs out of Puerto Rico‘s latest plebiscite, had the title of “Puerto Rico, America’s ugly stepchild” before the editors changed it on the online version.

Danny Mota’s response last week came from his heart, and as such is a good example of the effect this type of bad taste “satire” produces in others.

Both of our reactions did not attempt to address the issue of Puerto Rico’s status. Instead, it was about how “funny” can become “sour” when not meant for constructive criticism.

But perhaps we were not clear enough in saying that not all laughs are made the same. Our reactions to the article are not because hypersensitivity, but because we have seen where this path leads to.

Filed under: Media, Unites States

Monday, December 10, 2012

Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution – Simon Schama – Google Books

Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution – Simon Schama – Google Books.

Schama, a well-known art historian, jumped ships to write a highly evocative and detailed history that should be central to the Black Atlantic. He did so after his popular work on A History of Britain, which should have given him the research background he needed to have written this work. It is arguably a history that only a British scholar could have written, and thus, a much needed one against the blinding American patriotic narrative. We should expect that his critics are not a few–we will get to that later, and mostly from the United States’ side.

I regret not having read it before.

In a way, this is a “British Atlantic History” done in reverse to what has been happening from the United States shores, which has emphasized the position of the former British North American colonies (i.e., 13 colonies) within the broader context of the English-speaking Atlantic. Schama, instead, raises the voices of those who has been writing about Blacks outside of the traditional U.S. patriotic paradigm by showing, more evocative than most, how for Blacks the rhetoric of freedom was clearer from the British than from the U.S. Patriots’ side. In doing so, he is able to help revise U.S. Black History.

Filed under: Abolitionism, Atlantic World, Caribbean, Colonialism, Historiographical Research, Imperialism, Slavery Tagged: Slavery

Dominican Republic Pledges to Cut Emissions by 25%

Reblogged from Repeating Islands:

Dominican Republic stated its commitment at the UN Summit on Climate Change in Doha to cut its emissions by 25% before 2030, calling it “an ambitious goal” for a developing country. It is also the third country in Latin America to approve a carbon tax.

In a news conference held the last day of the UN Summit on Climate Change, Dominican delegation chief Omar Ramirez said his country will reduce its emissions of 3.6 tons per capita per year, with a population of 10 million, to 2.8 tons by 2030.