O.k., so Daddy Yankee announced this week that he supports Abuelo Yankee John McCain. (Witticism courtesy of poet/scholar Urayoán Noel.") (Further commentary on the endorsement by Marisol LeBron, Blabbeando and El Nuevo Día.)
Somehow, with all that back and forth of commentary on yesterday's blog post, I forgot one important detail. With all this discussion about Daddy Yankee and reggaeton's conservative potential and Latinos having anti-black tendencies... I forgot reggaetoneros/raperos Don Omar and Julio Voltio (among plenty of other Latino artists) endorsed Obama.
So we do have to be critical of the knee-jerk anti-blackness of many self-identified Latinos. But we also have to keep in mind those Latinos that have decided to support the Obama campaign. Lets take this video as an example: Alejandro Sanz, Paulina Rubio, John Leguizamo, Jessica Alba, Kate del Castillo, Cucu Diamantes (Yerba Buena), Pedro Martinez (Yerba Buena), Andres Levin (Yerba Buena), George Lopez, Luis Guzman, Don Omar, Voltio, Lila Downs, Lin Manuel Miranda, Frankie Needles, Huey Dunbar, Nydia Caro, Ivonne Caro Caro, Brazilian Girls, Carlos Marín and family, Carola Gonzalez, Viva Nativa, Jose Alberti...
Please lets not make Daddy Yankee more of a posterboy than he already is!
On a related note, I found Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's good critical take on a New York Times story on Obama and the Latino vote. "There are many things to admire about the New York Times. A complex and nuanced understanding of the vast diversity of Latino America is not among those things.[...] The sloppy, inaccurate story goes on for 32 agonizing paragraphs, using the terms 'black' and 'Latino' as though they were mutually exclusive – which they are not. Historians estimate that 95 percent of the African slave trade to the Americas took place in Latin America. [...] The story also erroneously portrays Latinos as a race unto themselves - an error egregious enough to be stated in our own census bureau's definition of Hispanic as a person 'of any race'. Including 'black'." And she writes plenty of other good stuff.
And one more thing, my little brother asked (after reading yesterday's blog) what I thought, in a nutshell, about all these political/electoral debates: "de ke se trata eso? ke piensas de eso?" So let me just say...
bueno, ya tu sabes: yo soy del Partido Contra los Cabrones. así que los políticos no son mi gente favorita. pero entre Obama y McCain, Obama es mejor por mucho. Bueno, quizás no por tanto, pero es que McCain es un verdadero espanto. McCain representa los intereses más anti-ecológicos, pro-guerra, pro-grandes negocios, pro-ricos, conservadores.
(well, you know: I'm from the Party Against the Cabrones [I don't have a good translation for that, sorry]. Politicians are not my favorite people.... but between Obama and McCain, Obama is better by far. Well, maybe not that far, but McCain is truly truly a nightmare. McCain represents the most anti-ecological, pro-war, pro-big business, pro-richfolks, conservative interests.)
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6 comments:
I love Urayoán Noel's comment about Daddy Yankee and Abuelo Yankee its astute and a hysterical pun. Its interesting because I got in a long conversation with someone because of DY's choice to name himself Daddy Yankee and Yanqui's connotations on the island, and his name trying to talk about having that kind of power.
Great post as always Raquel!
Did you see the el ñame "article" about it?
http://elname.com/2008/08/daddy-yankee-endosa-mccain-cacos-ya.html
"Phoenix, Arizona - En una movida que seguramente le asegurará la presidencia al candidato republicano John McCain, se reveló que el reggaetonero Daddy Yankee anunció su apoyo incondicional para con el ajado senador del estado de Arizona. Luego de la proclama del famoso intérprete de reggaetón, miles de cacos alrededor de la Isla respiraron aliviados al saber finalmente por qué candidato presidencial ellos no podrán ir a votar en las elecciones federales en noviembre."
Hah!
Daddy Yankee, despite having such a large presence on the island, has lost so much respect recently, mostly because of his attempts to stretch himself over the US (and thus ignore PR). This move doesn't help him. All the reactions I've seen from it so far have been really negative, anyways (I'm in PR for the moment).
Out of curiosity, were the reggaetoneros endorsing Obama from the primaries? Because it seems kind of ridiculous for them to be doing it now, unless they are counting on non-Puerto Rican voters to be influenced by their endorsement. Not that their opinions don't carry weight, of course, but anything they say is more likely to be carried by the Puerto Rican press than any others, where it does no good. Actually, out of the list of Latinos endorsing Obama I recognize quite a few of them as being unable to vote in the US (unless they own property in the states, in which case... my bad). And does Jessica Alba even count, considering all the incredibly derogatory and racist comments she's made about her own background?
Point is... this voting issue is a lot more complicated than any of those celebrities (or news articles) claim. So they should shut up, for the love of god. Yankee, go home (how's that for a loaded statement?).
Hey Raquel,
Check out this link that Andres at Blabbeando just put up from Politico that DY originally tried to endorse Obama but didn't make the cut...
A Democratic Party source tells me a representative for Daddy Yankee approached Obama's Latino outreach staffers earlier this year about possibly endorsing Obama. But he didn't pass the vetting, and Obama's aides said they weren't interested in his support. So, apparently, he moved over to McCain.
This story is like a reggaeton-election-telenovela -- DRAMA!
Puerto Ricans have always been suspect at best.
Daddy Yankee is having a horrible time regaining his publicity. Even reverting to these shenanigans. Celebrities are only good for getting their fans to vote. Even then the fans don't think for themselves. As for the video, it was definately scripted. Famous latinos who should have endorsed Obama a looong time ago are finally stepping up to the plate? That's bull. I was an Obamist since January '08 and now people only join in because it's popular. In January I asked people of Obama's chances in the November election (I even bet my friend) they beleived that he would die out like a candle in the Windy City. That candle has now become a bonfire and is still growing (plus I got $20 from my friend). It's practically unanimous now, Obama's going to win (That's what I've interpreted).
Here are some quotes from Daddy Yankee's Me Quedaria off El Cartel III:
"Ya me canse de este maldito gobierno"
"Las ordenes viene de Washington, la opposicion, que no les importa quien muera"
"Pero no aguanto el abuso d'el gran tirano, es un demonio disfraz'ao en cuerpo de humano"
"Es claro que El Tio Sam no me quiere de sobrino"
ES QUE YA PERDIO TODA SU GASOLIIINAAA!!!
YA NO TIENE GASOLIIINAAA!!!
phillystress says: "Puerto Ricans have always been suspect at best."
uh-huh. but no more and no less than anybody else.
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