HISPANOS
Rashel Diaz CONTENTS C O N T E N I D O www.saludos.com Publisher Saludos Hispanos Inc. Managing Editor Rosemarie Garcia-Solomon Webmaster Monte Hamilton Editor Kimberly Garcia Solomon Editorial Coordinators Elizabeth Pereda Creative Director Michael Tong Contributing Writers Kimberly Garcia Solomon Carlos Sanchez Translation Angel Figueroa Advertising Carlos Sanchez Saludos Hispanos magazine is published and distributed nationally. Our goal is to provide Hispanic youth with career, educational and motivational information. Editorial and portfolio submissions can be sent to: Saludos Hispanos, 31938 Temecula Parkway, #A324, Temecula, CA92592. Internet access may be achieved via e-mail: info@saludos.comor by a visit to our Web site at http://www.saludos.com. For advertising information call: (800) 748-6426. © Saludos Hispanos Magazine, 2006 HISPANOS SALUDOS Lin-Manuel Miranda
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S It seems like Selena Gomez is doing everything, everywhere all at once. The Gen Z multitasker is only 31, but she’s been in the spotlight most of her life and has become of the most globally and culturally celebrated artists, actors, producers, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists of her generation. She is also a social media superstar and was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. As a GRAMMY nominated recording artist, Gomez has sold more than 210 million singles worldwide and has over 45 billion global streams. Her acting career has been just as successful, and as a television producer, her projects have included the controversial Netflix series 13 Reasons Why; the lauded Netflix docu-series Living Undocumented+ ; and her popular cooking show Selena + Chef for HBO Max and Food Channel. Currently, Selena executive produces and stars in the critically acclaimed Hulu series Only Murders in the Building opposite comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short. Gomez received a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series as well as a SAG Award nomination for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series. In addition, last year she became only the second Latina to receive an Emmy nomination for executive producing a comedy series. The list of projects and accomplishments goes on and on for this hardworking pop princess. In 2019, Gomez pursued her entrepreneurial and philanthropic interests by launching her beauty line Rare Beauty. The brand embodies her maturing sensibility. As Gomez says, “Being rare is about being comfortable with yourself. I’ve stopped trying to be perfect. I just want to be me.” As part of the line’s partnership, Gomez created the Rare Impact Fund, pledging to raise $100 million for mental health services for individuals in underserved communities. Gomez is also the cofounder of a website called Wondermind that helps people take care of their mental health.
Gomez has been open about her own struggles with both anxiety and depression. She began pursuing therapy in her early twenties and has checked into treatment facilities and has taken breaks from social media when she needed to. In April 2020, she revealed she has bipolar disorder. Born July 22, 1992 in Grand Prairie, Texas, Gomez began her career as a child actress, starring on the children's television series Barney & Friends in the early 2000’s. Her career took off when she emerged as a teen idol in her leading role as Alex Russo on the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place (2007–2012). For five years in a row, Gomez won the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite TV Actress. She currently holds the record for the most Kids' Choice Awards wins (12) for an individual. As a teen idol, she signed her first record contract in 2008. She formed the pop rock band Selena Gomez & the Scene, and released a few fairly popular albums. But Gomez’ music career really took off when she began releasing solo studio albums in 2013, all of which have debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200. Her music is mainly pop, dance, electropop and a bit of R & B. Saccording to Billboard. In 2017 Gomez was named Billboard's Woman of the Year, in recognition of her influence and commercial success. She is still one of the moststreamed artists on Spotify globally. In fact, six of Gomez's songs have reached over one billion streams on Spotify, and two of her music videos have reached over two billion views on YouTube.according to Billboard. In 2017 Gomez was named Billboard's Woman of the Year, in recognition of her influence and commercial success. She is still one of the most-streamed artists on Spotify globally. In fact, six of Gomez's songs have reached over one billion streams on Spotify, and two of her music videos have reached over two billion views on YouTube. She has won over 240 awards including: an American Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, 16 Guinness World Records, an Alma Award, two iHeartRadio Music Awards, six Latin American Music Awards (she is the third most-awarded female artist), two MTV Video Music Awards, three MTV Movie & TV Awards, and four People's Choice Awards. She’s been nominated for four Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year as featuring artist) and a Latin Grammy Award. Gomez released her first Spanish-language project, an EP titled Revelación, in March 2021. The record blends reggaeton, Latin pop, R&B genres with urbano elements. It received universal acclaim and became one of her bestreviewed projects. It was nominated for Best Latin Pop Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. It also received Latin Pop Album of the Year nominations from the Billboard Latin Music, Latin American Music and Lo Nuestro award ceremonies. While Gomez was pursuing her musical career, she also continued her acting career and has starred in multiple feature films, including voicing the character of Mavis in the highly successful Hotel Transylvania film franchise (2012–2022).
Over the years, she's also worked on major and indie films with directors Woody Allen, Jim Jarmusch and many others. She executive produced two films in 2020; the romantic comedy The Broken Hearts Gallery, released in September 2020, to positive reviews, and the teen comedydrama This Is the Year. Around the same time, she produced her popular cooking show Selena + Chef for HBO Max which became a hit during the pandemic. Each episode highlights a food-related charity and features a different guest chef. It ran for four seasons till September 2022, and was nominated for Outstanding Culinary Series at the 50th Daytime Emmy Awards. Gomez won a Critics' Choice Real TV Award for her work on the program. Last year, Food Network had ordered two new projects to be hosted by Gomez. The first —Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays, a four-part holiday special also produced by Gomez, premiered in winter 2023. An interactive cooking series will premiere in 2024. Last fall, Apple TV+ began streaming Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary captures glimpses of her life and her struggles, and spans her six-year journey into a new light. The documentary was praised for mental health transparency also won the MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Music Documentary. The journey for Gomez has not been easy. She was diagnosed with Lupus as a teen, had a kidney transplant in 2017 and she has checked into treatment facilities more than once to focus on her mental health and other issues. She has also had to grow up in the glare of the social media spotlight. At times, she was the most followed person on Instagram, and became the first person to reach 100 million followers on it. Gomez said she "sort of freaked out" and has since taken several extended breaks from social media, due in part to intense scrutiny of her appearance, private life, and people’s negative comments. In February 2023, she regained her status as the most-followed woman on the platform and became the first woman to reach 400 million followers on it the following month. Gomez is still the most-followed woman on Instagram, in 2024. She knows her posts have power, so she often tries to use her platform to spread positive, empowering messages to her many followers. Gomez pursues her philanthropic interests with the same energy as her career. She works with various charity organizations, focusing on raising awareness about mental health, gender, racial, and LGBTQ+ equality. She also has been a UNICEF ambassador since 2009. Gomez has played an active role in advocating for the world's "most vulnerable children" by participating in several campaigns, events, and initiatives on behalf of the organization. And in addition to the Rare Beauty proceeds, she is also donating 10 percent of the net proceeds from her collaborative cookware line collection with Our Place to support her own Rare Impact Foundation. Next, Gomez will next star opposite Zoe Saldaña in the musical crime comedy Emilia Perez, and she is also set to portray Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic based on her life. Hulu has announced that Only Murders in the Building is scheduled for another season. Gomez is so busy with acting and producing, she has hinted that her days as a pop diva may be coming to an end. But she has recorded a new studio album which will be released soon. Her determination to pursue her creative interests knows no bounds. Selena Gomez says, "Whenever you have a goal, whether you want to be a doctor or a singer, people will find a way to bring you down. I always tell people that if you have something you're really passionate about, don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it." Saludos Hispanos
Chita Rivera Dies at 91 Chita Rivera, the Broadway legend and Latina trailblazer has died at age 91. She was best known for her energetic performances in such Broadway musicals as West Side Story, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman. She also appeared in many notable films and TV shows including big screen adaptations of the musicals Sweet Charity and Chicago. Born Delores Conchita Figueroa in Washington D.C., she was a trained ballerina, dancer, singer and actress who received numerous accolades during her lifetime including ten Tony nominations, two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, and a Drama League Award. She was the first Latina and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. President Obama presented her that prestigious Award, the Nation's highest civilian honor, given to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. She also won a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018 in recognition of her long-running 60 year career on Broadway.
Rivera continued to work into her 90’s. Her autobiography, Chita: A Memoir was published in 2023. Her most recent screen credit was in Netflix’s 2021 movie Tick, Tick… Boom! in which she appeared in a sequence among other stage musical luminaries. The movie was directed by fellow Puerto Rican Lin-Manuel Miranda, who has called Rivera “the trailblazer for Puerto Rico on Broadway.” Rivera was married to Tony Mordente, a fellow dancer who she met while filming her most famous film, West Side Story. They divorced in 1966, and have one daughter, Lisa. In 2021 Rivera offered advice to the younger generation with an interview on ABC’s 20/20, “Be yourself, work hard… and just think you can do everything and anything until you find out you can’t.”
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S Rashel DiazA New Day Rashel Diaz is best known as one of the hosts of the 2-time Emmy winning morning show "Un Nuevo Dia" (A New Day) on Telemundo. The actress, host, model, and mother of two enjoys wide popularity among Latino audiences. She communicates primarily in Spanish, and that is a contributory factor to Rashel’s fan base. Her personality, beauty, style and high profile hosting duties make her one to watch on Spanish language TV. Voted as one of People Magazine's (Spanish version) 25 Most Beautiful People (2001),and more recently as one of the People En Espanol “Los 50 Mas Bellos” issue, Rashel is also a top entertainment reporter and host who has hosted and reported on many special events such as “The Red Carpet at the Billboard Awards”, “Reventón VIP”, “Road to the Crown, Miss Universe,” “10 Years at the Red Carpet Billboard Awards,” and “Count the Billboard.”
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S Born on July 3, 1973 in Havana, Cuba, she has been living in Miami for most of her adult life. As a young woman, she studied journalism and she has had an interest in broadcasting and being on TV since she was a child. Rashel made her career debut on the famous long-running show “Sabado Gigante,” with veteran host Don Francisco. More recently she hosted “Decisiones de Mujeres” (Decisions of Woman). She is also known for her appearances on popular shows such as “Despierta America,” “El Gordo y Flaca” and “Escandalo TV.” The beautiful Rashel is often praised for her stunning looks and great legs. She is tall, with a great figure, shiny hair and a lively smile. Also, she enjoys a youthful look that belies her 43 years. She has also been celebrated for her magnetic personality. She is also a spokesmodel for advertising campaigns for brands such as Baume & Mercier, AT&T, Macy’s y Colgate, and several others. It’s no wonder the Emmy award winning host has been featured in "Los 50 Mas Bellos" issue People En Espanol, more than once, and she recently made it to the front cover of the Selecta magazine. And on top of that, she has also been voted as one of the Top 5 sexiest women in the world by MenzPoll. Rashel keeps much of her past and her personal life private, but she has talked about coming to America from Cuba. “My dad has lived in this country since the 80's and I really wanted to meet him. But my mother did not want to leave Cuba and, of course, as long as Mom did not move from there, I was not leaving. I remember when we left there, I was already 20 years old, we were alone and holding hands, leaving behind our country, crying and crying. When we arrived here, we promised never to part and, whatever happened, we would always be together and we would never forget our roots. That was a before and after in our lives.”
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S “What has been fundamental in my success? My mom. When I have to travel for work, she is my right hand; I can say ‘Mommy, please come and take care of the kids.’ For her I have fulfilled many dreams that alone could not have been achieved…From my mother I learned not to let the negative eat my positive soul ... without knowing it, I created that habit and still today I put it into practice.” Last year Rashel married Carlos Garcia, a firefighter at the City of Miami Fire Rescue. Rashel has highly praised Carlos for his physicality, nobility, faith in religion and family orientation. They had been serious for some time before Carlos surprised Rashel with a Hot Air Balloon ride where he proposed with a giant banner held up by their friends and family. Obviously this very special moment is a major highlight on her social media! In a 2014 interview with Mamá Beauté she spoke in Spanish about her most important job. “Being a mom is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you but it is also a great responsibility ... especially for the times that we are living in. Raising a child is hard. We Latinos think about the famous American dream and come to work, work, and work and sometimes neglect the everyday. In my case, I try to balance the time I spend with them. I never miss the sporting games of my son, who is already 16 years old and is a teenager… You must be clear that the priority is them above all things.” I show them that family comes first. I have a big family and we are close.” Achieving the balance between career and family wasn’t easy but she always tried to adjust her career schedule to theirs as they grew up.
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S A strong work ethic and solid values are important to her. “I have tried to teach them the value of things and what it has cost Mom to get to where she is, which has not been easy ... nothing has been given to me. Everything I achieved with my own efforts.” She also emphasizes to them the importance of education, of being prepared in school, of good grades. “Thank God, both are good students,” she says. This is the description on Rashel’s Instagram official profile: “Enamorada de mi familia, mis hijos, felizmente casada y fiel seguidora de Jesus” And this is her description on her Facebook official profile: “Antes me preocupaba el futuro, hoy me ocupo del presente, para ser feliz cada segundo porque me lo merezco. Lo que mas me gusta conservar es la honestidad que todos llevamos dentro, y tratar de no juzgar al que esto no le interesa, un trabajo arduo pero no imposible.” One does not have to speak fluent Spanish to understand that she talks about her faith and the core values of honesty and family-- the important virtues in life.
In celebration of National Teacher Appreciation Week, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona wrote in an op-ed in the Huff Post about his own experiences as an educator and of his hopes for the teaching profession. The full text of the op-ed follows: Twenty-five years ago, I was a newly minted college graduate brimming with excitement for the teaching profession. So excited that I spent $450 of my own savings on crayons, notebooks, and decorations for Room 160—my first classroom. To welcome my class of fourth graders, I designed a wall banner with a rocket ship that said, "let the journey begin." On that day, the journey began for me, too. We, educators, live for those moments when our students feel a sense of belonging in our classrooms and start to believe in themselves. Those moments when a student discovers a love of writing, a knack for numbers, an ear for music, or an eye for art that they didn't know they possessed. Those moments when students don't just meet your highest expectations but surpass them. Especially during National Teacher Appreciation Week, I want to thank you—America's educators. You build relationships with students and set a high bar for their growth. You believe in their potential, even when they don't see it quite yet themselves. It's not an exaggeration: you change lives. As we celebrate you, know this: the Biden-Harris team and the Department of Education see you. We know appreciation can't just be a box of donuts dropped off in your breakroom. You deserve action that shows America truly values you. In this moment, you're facing unprecedented challenges. A public education sector that lost nine percent of its jobs amid the pandemic has left you with growing workloads and less time to provide students with individual attention that you know they need. Salaries are far below what most professionals with graduate degrees earn. Politicians who've never studied the science of learning are trying to tell you what you can teach and attempting to drive a wedge between you and families. U. S. Secretary o f Education Miguel Cardona Let's Give - Our Teachers - a Raise
Teaching is the profession that enables all other professions. And teachers deserve respect. That's why, as your Secretary of Education, I'm pushing for what I call a focus on "the ABCs of the teaching profession." Agency. Better Working Conditions. Competitive Salary. That's what President Biden and I are fighting for. Agency means making sure you're part of conversations that impact the work you do. Thriving school communities incorporate the voices of teachers along with students, families, and school leaders. Agency means treating you as professionals with pathways to advance in your career, and earn more, while still doing what you love—teaching. Competitive salary means recognizing that no one pursues a career in education to get rich, but no teacher should qualify for your state welfare program. In the last 25 years, wages for college graduates have gone up by 28 percent while weekly wages for teachers have gone up by a measly 2 percent. That's an increase of $29 per week for teachers, and a $445 Better working conditions means giving you the support you need to do your job effectively, including time for planning and collaboration with your peers. And it means finally moving past "one-and-done" professional development and prioritizing jobembedded learning, coaching, and mentoring. increase for other professionals with college degrees. It can feel sometimes like a teacher tax. You deserve better.
The Biden-Harris team understands this. We've been putting our appreciation for you into action. That's why the President has secured a $1.9 billion increase in funding for schools serving low-income communities, which can help with teacher pay. It's also why the Department of Education is partnering with state and local education leaders to improve teacher salaries. And we're seeing progress. The Indianapolis Public Schools agreed to a combined six-percent increase in teacher pay. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill that increased base salaries, on average, by 20 percent for New Mexico's teachers. And Governor Kay Ivey enacted a pay increase that boosts compensation for Alabama educators by at least four percent, with those with nine or more years of experience earning five to 21 percent more. We need more leaders taking bold actions like these. And at the federal level, we've worked to make it more affordable to be a teacher by helping educators get student loan forgiveness. The Biden-Harris team's improvements to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program have resulted in $42 billion in forgiveness for over 615,000 public servants—including educators. And our proposed income-driven repayment plan would cut monthly payments for undergraduate borrowers in half and create faster pathways to forgiveness. We've also secured $2.65 billion to grow and support a pipeline of educators that is diverse, talented, and effective. We're fighting for additional resources to train and hire teachers in hard-to-fill areas, including special education and multilingual education. And we're empowering teachers to focus on teaching by providing students with access to better mental health supports. In addition to all the vital work you do, you should not be expected to also serve as your schools' counselors or psychologists; yet you understand that the wellbeing of your students directly impacts their learning. I'm proud President Biden has secured unprecedented, bipartisan investments to build safe and healthy schools, including by training and hiring more school-based mental health professionals. As a result, the number of counselors in our schools is up 10 percent and the number of social workers has jumped 48 percent since prior to the pandemic. As a first-year teacher, I was interviewed by a local reporter in my hometown. I told her "I was really blessed" to enter the teaching profession. I knew then what I know now: teaching is the best profession. My love for teaching is inseparable from my admiration and respect for the people drawn to this work. So, let's give you—our teachers—a raise. Let's lift up your profession. And let's show you the respect you deserve. Let that journey begin with renewed commitment today! ###
NEUROSURGEON COMES FULL CIRCLE The skinny little kid who got beat up in his Montebello neighborhood made his way through Harvard Medical School and now performs complex, painstaking spine operations at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He also does research aimed at using new young cells to fix crushed or crumbling spinal disks, and he’s working to organize a back-care program at a free clinic in the East Los Angeles area where he grew up. Big opportunities didn’t knock often in the tough, predominantly Latino neighborhood where neurosurgeon Frank L. Acosta, Jr., M.D., got his start. But Acosta, 35, the son of a now-retired police detective and a legal secretary, found strengths in himself that propelled him through medical school and gave him compassion for the patients in his care. He was an easy target most of his younger years, ending up bloodied and bruised often. Even the “cool” friends of his younger sister – she’s now a nurse at Cedars-Sinai – made fun of him. “I was short and skinny and had big glasses. The only thing I can remember being able to control that made me feel good about myself was getting good grades. For some reason, I just knew that if I wanted to get a better life, the best thing I could do was get good grades,” says Acosta, director of spine deformity in Cedars-Sinai’s Department of Neurosurgery. His parents divorced when Acosta was 3, and his dad moved to West L.A. His mom, who did her best to work and to raise two kids, couldn’t always be home when her son needed support. “I often had to console myself to get through difficult times, and I think I developed some good coping skills I can share,” he says. “I know how tough it is to not have someone around who understands, and I get satisfaction when I can say to my patients, ‘I’m here for you.’” Acosta took advanced classes, earned excellent grades in high school and applied to about 15 colleges – all the Ivies and prestigious colleges in California. He was accepted by all and chose to go to Harvard – at age 17. “This was a real affirmation of my efforts and it had a lot of impact on my self-esteem issues. Getting on that plane to Harvard was everything I had wanted up until then. It was exciting, and it was nerve-racking. I knew I wasn’t the typical person going to Harvard. I had never been outside of L.A., had never seen snow, and I hadn’t been around many people outside of my ethnic group,” Acosta recalls. When the excitement wore off, he quickly felt out of place in the tradition-bound Ivy League institution, where his first roommate was a third-generation Harvard student. SALUDOS HISPANOS
SALUDOS HISPANOS “I went from wanting to get out of East Los Angeles to really missing it. I missed my family but also, before I left, I had started to become accepted by some of the more popular kids in my social group. I remember thinking maybe I should have gotten a job on a construction site instead of going to Boston,” he says. “But in my junior and senior years, I had this realization that my life was going to take a different course,” he adds. “I accepted it and started to accept Boston and Harvard, and I stayed there for medical school because I grew to like it so much.” He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1997 and earned his medical degree in 2002. Acosta loved science as a kid and “wanted to have a career in something that was respected.” He imagined himself an engineer, a basic scientist or a doctor. Becoming an expert in complex spine surgery was an evolutionary process. “When I went to college, I explored engineering and science classes and ultimately decided that part of what made me happy was being able to physically interact with people,” he says. “I started to lean toward medicine because I thought it would be a good way to apply this interest in science and have human interaction. I shifted toward surgery because it provides immediate gratification – you can look at a scan of someone’s body and see the results of your work. Neurosurgery is sort of pushing the edge of what we know about the human condition, touching on the brain and spirituality. It is intellectually challenging and to some extent unpredictable because everyone’s brain and anatomy is different. Neurosurgery bridges science and art.” While in medical school, Acosta attended a presentation in which Keith L. Black, M.D., chairman of Cedars-Sinai’s Department of Neurosurgery, described the brain tumor research taking place at the medical center. Acosta applied for and received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship, which enabled him to spend a year conducting research with Black’s group. “This was a perfect opportunity to come back home, to spend a year doing very interesting research, and to work for Keith Black. All the pieces fell into place,” Acosta says. After finishing medical school, he completed a general surgery internship and a neurosurgery residency at the University of California, San Francisco, before undertaking a fellowship at Northwestern University in complex and reconstructive spine surgery. Acosta, who thrives on “big, challenging cases where you’re in surgery for eight or 10 hours,” joined Cedars-Sinai in 2009. The following year, he was named one of the 50 best spine specialists in America by Becker’s Orthopedic and Spine Review. “I wanted to come back home to be close to my family and to help the community I grew up in. That made L.A. attractive,” he says. “Also, Cedars-Sinai is becoming a very significant leader as a model of health care, and a huge factor was getting to work with Keith Black again. This is sort of coming full circle, as a student and now as a colleague.” “I wanted to come back home to be close to my family and to help the community I grew up in. That made L.A. attractive,” he says.
Kayden Phoenix Kayden Phoenix is a young writer, director, and creator currently producing a series of comic books titled “A La Brava” based on Latina superheroes that use the power of their culture to fight against villains. Phoenix is a third generation Chicana who grew up in Boyle Heights, a Hispanic neighborhood in East LA. She received a full ride scholarship from Loyola Marymount University where she acquired a BA in Business Administration, with an Emphasis in Marketing. She also became interested in film studies. When she began her film career, the first thing she noticed was the glaring shortage of Latina heroines and superheroes. In response, she became a firm advocate for diversity both in front of and behind the camera. Her passion for equity and inclusion can be seen in her unique storytelling and graphic presentations. Phoenix has said “A big part of my life’s purpose is to give voice to stories as multifaceted, atypical, and diverse as the people we find in the real world.” Phoenix and her books have been in great demand and that may soon lead to seeing her powerful female characters on the silver screen as well.
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S Writer, Composer, Lyricist, Actor, and Rapper Lin-Manuel Miranda has revolutionized Broadway with his Tony award -winning show Hamilton. With a record-setting 16 Tony Award nominations, the show recently won 11. Miranda conceived, wrote and stars in this breakthrough masterpiece, and at the age of 36 has already earned a place for himself among the greats of our time. Awards for himself and the show include an Obie, the Edward M. Kennedy Prize, a MacArthur genius grant, a Grammy (and the album is certified gold), and, a Pulitzer. The show has generated a level of excitement that Broadway hasn’t seen in years. Miranda used his exceptional creativity to craft the story with words and music that manage to make history relevant to contemporary audiences. It has struck a chord with audiences young and old. Although scoring a ticket to the show is next to impossible. Hamilton has garnered so much attention and buzz in the mainstream media, tickets to see Miranda in the role are going for $20,000 in July of 2016 during the final days of his appearance in the show. Lin-Manuel Miranda American Revolutionary
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S The musical, based on the life of Alexander Hamilton and the early days of American democracy, brilliantly uses rap style music and a young multicultural cast to tell the story. Hamilton is one of our Founding Fathers, but he’s also a guy most of us only know from seeing on the $10 bill. If you paid attention in History class you might remember something about his duel with Aaron Burr. In fact, he is a fascinating character with a very interesting life. With music, Miranda tells the story of how Hamilton came to America, pulled himself out of poverty on the strength of his writing, had a life worthy of a novel, and helped shape the United States at every turn. Among other things, Hamilton was George Washington’s right hand man, a promoter of the Constitution (by writing “The Federalist Papers”), our first Treasury Secretary and the architect of our financial and banking system. He might have been President if not for a scandal that damaged his reputation. His life ended in a dramatic duel. In 2007, while on vacation Miranda read the book “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow, and was inspired. He was drawn into the drama of the biography and realized that that Hamilton’s story was quintessentially “American” and in a way, also paralleled the stories of many of his rap heroes. Hamilton was illegitimate, a penniless orphan, a 15 year old from an island in the British West Indies who somehow managed to get to America because he was able to use his intelligence and writing skills to create a vehicle to escape from poverty. As he was reading, Miranda began to create rap songs in his head that related to the story. That created the initial spark for the musical. Miranda had already achieved much on the Broadway stage, and was well experienced and widely acclaimed, so when inspiration hit he was able to spend 7 years developing his idea to perfection.
Like Alexander Hamilton, Miranda is a powerful reminder that greatness comes from unlikely places. Lin Manuel Miranda grew up in the New York City neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Inwood. He spent his summers in Puerto Rico with his grandparents. His father is a former political advisor who advised New York City mayor Ed Koch and his mother is a clinical psychologist. From a young age,he loved performing and listening to his parents’ collection of show tunes and Broadway-musical records. He had his first taste of the stage in a 6th grade musical review. Highly intelligent, he was able to attend Hunter College High School, and college at Wesleyan University where he graduated in 2002. While there, he formed Freestyle Love Supreme, a freestyle rap group, while in college and his sophomore year he wrote the first iteration of “In The Heights. “ He later continued to work on his musical with friends Quiara and Tommy Kail while working as an English teacher. They managed to get the show into the Public Theater. He played the lead character Usnavi. The show was well received and it went on to Broadway, and won two Tonys. It won the Awards for Best Musical and for Best Original Score. It also won the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Also in 2009, Miranda was asked to perform at the White House for the Evening of Poetry, Music and Spoken Word and although he was invited to perform something from” In the Heights,” he decided it would be more timely to perform the first song in what was then his proposed concept album/mixtape about the life of Alexander Hamilton. We were in the midst of the financial crisis and President Obama was at the beginning of his Administration. Although Miranda was nervous, his new songs went over very well. Encouraged to develop the idea further, that “album/mixtape project” eventually turned into Hamilton: The Musical by January 2015 when it debuted in the Public Theater. It subsequently went to the Richard Rodgers on Broadway and opened on August 6, 2015. The rest, you might say is history. S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S What will he do for an encore ? Lin Manuel Miranda is a creative genius and a true artist. His Puerto Rican parents’ collec tion of Broadway-musical records was as strong an influence during his New York City upbringing as the hip-hop he would come to love. The disparate elements that he h as mixed and synthesized, elevated and celebrated, has created something profoundly mo ving and completely original. He has redefined the musical and made us see anew the origins of the remarkable experiment called democracy. At the same time, he is able to brilliantly reflect on contemporary life and the melting pot culture we are living in today.
Mia St. John is a five time World Boxing Council Champion as well as an IBA and IFBA lightweight champion. She is also a model, businesswoman, and taekwondo champion. Now she is the author of “Fighting for My Life” a new book that chronicles her life, loves, and the unbearable loss of her son to suicide and also the unexpected loss of the father of her children, Kristoff St. John longtime star of the “Young and the Restless.” Mia’s memoir takes readers through her life’s journey from a young Mexican American kid growing up in Idaho who fled to California when she was 18 determined to follow her dreams to show the world she was a champion. She took up boxing at a time when very few women were involved in the sport. She made her professional debut in 1997 and eventually signed a lucrative contract with world famous boxing promoter Don King. Over her career she accomplished the fantastic record of 70 professional fights and 5 world championships. After her son’s suicide, she created the Mia St. John “El Saber Es Poder” Foundation to help empower individuals dealing with mental illness, addiction and poverty. She created an innovative holistic youth development program that addresses the most severe challenges facing Latino youth and their families. Mia joined forces with Representative Grace F. Napolitano and basketball star Metta World Peace (Ron Artest) to reintroduce the Mental Health in Schools Act and to encourage awareness of mental health initiatives. Mia already had a strong background in the field; in her youth, she attended California State University, Northridge, earning a degree in psychology. CNN has named her a “Mental Health Warrior.” Mia St. John, at 54 years old remains a champion and a great example of female empowerment. Mia St. John Mental Health Warrior
Jessica Alba has appeared on TV and in the movies for almost three decades, but she admits to being nervous when she stood on the global stage on May 5, 2021 ringing the opening bell at the NASDAQ to mark The Honest Company's highly-anticipated entrance into the stock market. The company sells household, personal,baby and beauty products with natural, organic, eco-friendly and ethical formulas. The Honest Company is Alba’s baby, and over the past decade, it has grown far beyond her and her partners expectations, boasting a current valuation of $1.5 billion. That figure means Alba, who reportedly owns between 15% and 20% of the company, may be sitting on a fortune of $200 million. She's on her way to earning a spot on Forbes' new ranking of America's Richest SelfMade Women -- just $50 million shy of Beyoncé and Judge Judy, who are tied at number 49. Alba began to form the idea for her “clean and non-toxic” brand in 2008. By 2011, her company was selling cute, affordable diapers free of harmful chemicals online and later on, in stores like Target. In 2012, Honest hit $12 million in revenue. Today, the company offers a range of 99 personal care, beauty, baby, and household products that are free from "a list of over 2,500 chemicals /materials we choose not to use," according to the brand website, and the products are available online and in more than 32,000 retail locations across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Last year, sales were estimated at around $350 million. It all began when Alba broke out in a rash after hand washing some of the “onesies” that she was gifted at her baby shower. As a child, she had suffered from various illnesses, allergies, and ailments which often sent her to the doctor’s office and the ER, and she wanted to try and spare her child from harmful chemicals and any adverse reactions. As a result, according to Forbes she spent many “late nights on Google and Wikipedia researching the contents not just of the offending detergent but also of everything in her bathroom cabinet and under her kitchen sink. What she found terrified her: petrochemicals, formaldehydes and flame retardants in everyday household products from floor cleaners to mattresses.” Jessica Alba S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S
Seeing that there was a real need in the marketplace for clean, non-toxic, honestly labeled goods for personal and family use, Alba was inspired to get involved. Soon she was lobbying in Washington, D.C. for updated legislation. She was -- and is -- particularly focused on reforming the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, which has allowed more than 80,000 chemicals to remain in household products untested. Only five are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency; just 11 are banned from consumer goods. (In Europe that figure is more than 1,300.) "Enough people have to get sick or die from a certain ingredient or chemical before it's pulled from the marketplace," says Alba. Some were listed on the ingredients label plainly, with others disguised under the catchall of "fragrance," which is entirely legal. Alba founded her company and began formulating her own products not only in an effort to make wellness and personal products free of unnecessary chemicals, but also more transparent to the consumer with regard to ingredients. Once she began to create the foundation for The Honest Company, Alba’s husband Cash Warren, an Internet entrepreneur, helped to find partners and investors. Over the years they were able to raise several more rounds of venture capital as the company grew. They took the long, hard road of maintaining control of their own company, rather than going with a corporate partner or signing a celebrity endorsement deal. S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S The company's IPO, or initial public offering, is when a private company "goes public" by selling shares that essentially anyone can purchase on the stock market. Shares have gone up and down over time, fluctuating from day to day, but the company actually grew during the pandemic and is currently valued at about $1.5 billion. There have been snags and stumbles along the way, and a few years ago recalls and lawsuits raised questions about some of the claims in Honest's products. But the company has managed to recover and course correct while maintaining its own high standards. "There was so much work put into bringing us to this point," Alba said recently. "But in a lot of ways, this is the beginning of really becoming that company that I always felt like we should be." At 40, and as a mom of three, Alba reaches a demographic that marketers across the consumer-goods segment want to capture: the affluent millennial parent. Often online and focused on wellness and their own environmental impact, these consumers spend a lot of money on household goods for their new families. The Honest Company had built in name recognition with Alba. And as to marketing efforts and advertising, the company is very adept at using social media and various online platforms to its advantage. Alba has over 19 million Instagram followers and upwards of 10 million on Facebook. Alba was born in Pomona, CA on April 28, 1981. Her mother is of Danish-European ancestry, while her paternal grandparents, who were born in California, were both the children of Mexican immigrants. She has a younger brother, Joshua. Her father’s Air Force career took the family to Mississippi and Texas before returning to California when she was 9. Alba has described her family as being a "very conservative family – a traditional, Catholic, Latin American family" and herself as very liberal; she says she had identified herself as a "feminist" as early as age five. Alba also expressed an interest in acting from the age of five. In 1992, after much pleading, the 11-year-old Alba finally persuaded her mother to take her to an acting competition in Beverly Hills, where the grand prize was free acting classes. Alba won the grand prize, and took her first acting lessons. An agent signed her nine months later. Her first appearance on film was a small role in the 1994 feature Camp Nowhere. She was originally hired for only two weeks, but her role turned into a two-month gig when one of the
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S other actresses dropped out. Alba worked regularly from then on, and soon earned worldwide recognition playing a genetically engineered super soldier in the lead role in the Fox TV series Dark Angel from 2000-2002. She also received a Golden Globe nomination for the role. She has starred in numerous box office hits throughout her career, including Honey (2003), the Fantastic Four (2005) based on the Marvel comic books, and Little Fockers (2010). She is a frequent collaborator of director Robert Rodriguez, having starred in Sin City (2005), Machete (2010), Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011), Machete Kills (2013), and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014). Alba most recently starred in the Spectrum action crime series L.A.'s Finest which has just been renewed for a 2nd season. Alba continues to act, but for the past few years she has spent much of her time at home with her husband and three kids, while also focusing on her expanding business empire. She is set to host and executive produce a new documentary series for Disney+ called "Parenting Without Borders" which will examine how cultural beliefs shape parenting and families around the world. Alba recently told Allure magazine, "For me, success is quality of life," Alba says. "I think being able to look up at the end of the day and just feel like today was a good day. Not every day is going to be great. But you know what, you did your best and your heart's in the right place. And for me, I can go to sleep every night feeling like all of us, we did our best. We all are trying to do the right thing. And we're all trying to really drive the mission of the company. And that to me is really what success is about." As for how the IPO factors into her success? "I'm still pinching myself," she says. "It's all so surreal." On the Value of Diverse Hiring "It's hard for people in a lot of these sectors to do anything differently because they haven't seen it," Alba says about hiring practices that reverberate throughout various parts of business. "We hope to be one of those companies that can kind of defy the status quo…once you get more comfortable seeing women in leadership roles, a Mexican woman founding a company, the more of that is allowed — and that's part of the conversation — I think it opens more doors for more people of color, more women, to have that seat at the table."
Jay Hernandez races down the lush Hawaiian highway in a vintage red Ferrari, on his way to sort out some trouble in paradise. The scene may look familiar to those who remember the Magnum P.I. TV show from the 80's in which Tom Selleck starred as Thomas Magnum, a hunky but quirky, mustached private eye. Hernandez now stars as the updated Magnum, a decorated ex-Navy SEAL who, upon returning home from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator. The CBS show is a fresh update, but it also keeps many of the original elements intact. Jay Hernandez
The role is a plum one for Hernandez who is one of the few Latinos featured in a starring role on network TV. Hernandez knows he is fortunate, and “is also excited to represent the Latino community in a positive light on TV.” Sadly, that is still kind of a rarity, though things are slowly improving, because the networks and the entertainment industry are being pressured to change by advocacy groups and even more so by changing demographics. While there might be a few more roles for Latinos and other minorities these days, most are not positive or representative of the community. A recent study found that half of Latino men on television are shown engaging in criminal activity. Hernandez is well aware of the responsibility he has in this type of role. In a recent interview he said, "I think it's wonderful and smart, and kind of necessary to do something like this and have someone out there putting positive imagery on TV...Even if it's a subconscious absorption of something different, of some other idea of what it is to be Hispanic or some[one] a little different. I'm very excited and happy that people can have that now and I can add to the picture of what people carry around in terms of what they think of or perceive Hispanics to be." Hernandez has long been one of the few Latino leading men in the entertainment industry, and he has had the honor of working with some of the most in-demand writers, directors, producers and actors of his time. He looks much younger than his 40 years, but has become a familiar face to many over the past two decades starring in a number of major movie and television roles. His successful career actually got its start by chance in the late 1990's when he was looking for work as a model. As luck would have it, while riding an elevator in a high-rise in Los Angeles, Hernandez was approached by a talent manager who thought he had what it took to have a successful career in Hollywood. He enrolled Hernandez into acting school and sent his pictures to casting agents. The odds were against him; very few actors manage to find regular employment in the field and even fewer Latino actors succeed. But with hard work, talent and luck Hernandez has managed to build a career he can be proud of, working steadily over the past twenty years. He made his television debut in NBC's Hang Time, back in 1998 and made his film debut in 2001 opposite Kirsten Dunst in the romantic drama Crazy/Beautiful which earned him an ALMA Award nomination for Outstanding Actor. Hernandez’s recent film roles include portraying El Diablo in the DC Entertainment film “Suicide Squad” and appearances in both entries in the “Bad Moms” comedy franchise; all very successful at the box office. He has also appeared in other successful films like “Friday Night Lights,” “Hostel,” and in the Netflix fantasy-action film “Bright.” which premiered to a record-breaking 11 million plus viewers within the first three days. On television, he has also recently appeared in “Scandal,” “Nashville,” and “The Expanse.” S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S
S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S An LA native, "Jay" Javier Manuel Hernandez Jr. was born on February 20, 1978 in Montebello, CA. His mother was a secretaryaccountant and his dad was a mechanic. Both parents are third generation Mexican Americans. Hernandez has three siblings. He attended Don Bosco Technical Institute in Rosemead, California, but transferred to Schurr High School in Montebello his senior year. He is married to his high school sweetheart and fellow actor Daniella Deutscher. They met when he was 14 and she was 17. They are currently living in Hawaii while the series is shooting. When asked about the Magnum reboot and why it was time to do it. Hernandez said, "It's time. It's been long enough... also, as in the original show, Magnum is a vet. He was back from Vietnam, but now there are a lot of veterans back from the Middle East and it’s a good time to honor Vets and what they do and tell a positive story about them.” He believes the rollicking, action-packed, sometimes comic detective show offers something different on network television. "Along with the charm and heart of the original show, we have A LOT of action” Then, with a laugh he adds, “Also, right now maybe we just need to see a red Ferrari and some beaches!" The new Magnum series stays true to its roots in many ways, but Hernandez says there is one big thing they won’t try to recreate. We won't be seeing him in that mustache anytime soon. airs on CBS Mondays.
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