Carey Returns to the Recording Studio

It’s no DaydreamMariah Carey has gone back to work…

The 42-year-old part-Venezuelan Grammy-winning singer—who recently performed a song she’d penned for President Barack Obama at a fundraising event in New York City—has returned to the studio to record songs for the first time since the birth of her twins Moroccan and Monroe in April 2011.

Mariah Carey

Carey announced her back-to-work status via Twitter, saying ”Summer 2012… Been in the lab, mixing up some concoctions for you, hope you like it!!

”Still working in the studio with friends o plenty! I love this new song 🙂 (sic)”

Carey last released an album, Merry Christmas II You in 2010. She most recently collaborated with Justin Bieber last December on the re-release of her holiday hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

Meanwhile, Carey’s husband Nick Cannon previously revealed that the couple’s children were inspiring her songwriting.

”My beautiful wife is planning to make her return to the music scene after taking time off to focus on the pregnancy and the birth of our two wonderful babies, Moroccan and Monroe,” he wrote on his official website earlier this year. “’She’s rejuvenated and ready to start sharing some of the amazing new music she has been making in the studio! Our new family has definitely given her a great new source of inspiration and creativity. I’m so proud of her and can’t wait for her to release more phenomenal music!”

No word yet on when Carey, who has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, plans to release her 14th studio album.

Carey Pens & Performs “Bring It On Home” for President Obama

Mariah Carey didn’t just host a fundraiser for President Barack Obama recently… She also performed a new song that she wrote in his honor.

Mariah Carey

During the star-studded event at New York City’s Plaza Hotel on Thursday night, the 42-year-old part-Venezuelan singer performed “Bring It On Home,” a triumphantly inspirational ballad, similar to Carey’s hit “Hero.”

Mariah Carey

“Just finished performing Hero, We Belong Together and BRING IT ON HOME — a song I wrote especially for the event,” Carey tweeted, posting a photo of herself in a black ball gown.

Before the Plaza party, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attended Sarah Jessica Parker‘s presidential fundraiser at the actress’ Manhattan home.

Meryl Streep, Project Runway judge Michael Kors, Vogue‘s Anna Wintour and Bravo‘s Andy Cohen were among the celebrities in attendance.

Parker introduced Obama at the event, giving him a hug and kiss and saying those in attendance were gathered “hopefully, with enormous enthusiasm.” She also called Michelle Obama “radiant and extraordinary” and said she had been doing “amazingly important things these last four years.”

Obama Awards Huerta the Medal of Freedom

She’s a political and cultural icon in Latino community… And, now Dolores Huerta is the recipient of the nation’s highest civilian honor.

President Barack Obama presented the 82-year-old Mexican American labor leader and civil rights activist with the Medal of Freedom on Tuesday at a special ceremony at the White House.

Dolores Huerta

Huerta—one of 14 recipients of the award this year, including novelist Toni Morrison, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low—co-founded the National Farmworkers Association with César Chávez. It later became the United Farm Workers (UFW).

“I’m deeply gratified in receiving the Medal of Freedom. The freedom of association means that people can come together in organization to fight for solutions to the problems they confront in their communities. The great social justice changes in our country have happened when people came together, organized, and took direct action,” said Huerta about receiving the honor and her experience as a civil rights leader. “It is this right that sustains and nurtures our democracy today. The civil rights movement, the labor movement, the women’s movement, the equality movement for our LGBT brothers and sisters are all manifestations of these rights. I thank President Obama for raising the importance of organizing to the highest level of merit and honor. It is a unique honor and privilege to be included in this group of distinguished individuals being honored here today and the communities they represent.”

Dolores Huerta

Huerta’s sense of justice developed from an early age. Raised in Stockton, Calif., Huerta watched her father work for little pay in the fields, while her mother managed a hotel that often let poor migrants stay for free, according to the Daily Beast.

Using strikes, marches, boycotts and hunger strikes, the UFW has defended the interests of farm workers, including many immigrants, and pressured businesses to sign collectively bargained contracts. The union’s tactics often met resistance. Huerta has been arrested 22 times and been beaten for her activism.

Despite her run-ins with the law, Huerta has been influential in passing far-reaching legislation. Her accomplishments as a labor rights activist include helping pass California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 and helping secure disability insurance for California farmworkers.

Today, the UWF boasts 27,000 members, powerful political allies, and is active in the states of California, Oregon and Washington.

Huerta’s special award— presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the national interests of the United States—comes just two weeks after the farm workers union celebrated its 50th anniversary.

In 2002, Huerta launched the Dolores Huerta Foundation with the mission of supporting community organizers and budding political leaders.

Longoria Ready to Hit the Campaign Trail as Obama’s National Co-Chair

Eva Longoria is taking her role as a national co-chair on President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign seriously…

“As soon as the show wraps, I’m going on the campaign trail and going to the swing states,” the Desperate Housewives star told The Hollywood Reporter at a pre-Oscar bash, which she co-hosted with Vanity Fair. “Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and I’m probably going to Florida as well.”

The 36-year-old Mexican-American actress, a loyal Obama supporter who hosted a special Latino fundraiser for the president in Los Angeles last year, says she’s planning to focus her campaigning efforts on influencing two key groups that hold close ties to her heart.

“Just really messaging to not only to the Latino community, but the female community,” she explained.

Obama may have won the Latino vote in 2008, but in recent years some activists have been disappointed in the president’s indecision on the issue of comprehensive immigration reform. And, other one-time Obama-supporters have also started to think differently about their choice.

“I always find that really odd,” said Longoria. “Because he’s really made some bold promises and he’s kept them.” The actress went on to explain promises she believes the president has kept, including healthcare and “holding Wall Street accountable for their contributions to the economy.”

“There are so many things that he has delivered on that I find people overlook,” she continued. “And I think the rhetoric against him is so sharp from the primaries, that it’s dangerous for people to buy into the misinformation that’s out there.”

So what’s Longoria’s message to undecided voters?

“I think people really just have to educate themselves on what he has done, what he is still doing and what he is going to do.”

Longoria Named National Obama Campaign Co-Chair

She’s a longtime and unwavering supporter of President Barack Obama… And, now Eva Longoria is stepping up to help with Obama’s re-election campaign.

The 36-year-old Mexican-American actress, who hosted a special Latino fundraiser for President Barack Obama in Los Angeles, has been named a national co-chair on Obama’s campaign.

Considered an indication of the incumbent’s strategic thinking as his campaign shifts into high gear, Obama’s appointment of Longoria and 34 other strategic supporters as “co-chairs” serves as a roadmap not just to where the president and his advisers see his support, but also to where they hope to strengthen or expand it.

The appointment of the Desperate Housewives star, who vigorously campaigned for Obama the last time around, recognizes Longoria’s personal loyalty to the president and shines a spotlight on the importance Obama and his strategists are attaching to Hollywood in this crucial stage of their reelection campaign. They’ll be looking to the entertainment industry for both contributions and high visibility celebrity endorsements like the ringing one provided by Longoria.

But Longoria isn’t the only Latina/o on the co-chair list… In all, seven of the appointees are of Hispanic descent.

The Latino vote went to Obama in 2008, but hard economic times have battered many communities of recent immigrants — like Los Angeles — and some activists have been disappointed by the president’s lukewarm engagement with the issue of comprehensive immigration reform.

This week’s appointments indicate that Obama’s reelection campaign is determined to shore up its Latino base with appointments ranging from San Antonio’s popular mayor Julian Castro to Los Angeles chief executive Antonio Villaraigosa and local labor leader Maria Elena Durazo of the AFL-CIO.

According to the Obama reelection campaign, the new co-chairs will act as the president’s electoral ambassadors with a special emphasize on getting out the vote in all 50 states.

Villaraigosa to Serve as Chair of the Democratic National Convention

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is preparing to shine bright in the national spotlight…

The 59-year-old Mexican American politician has been tapped to chair the Democratic Party’s national convention this summer in Charlotte, N.C.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who serves as the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, announced in an email to DNC members that Villaraigosa will be nominated to chair the September convention.

Chairing the national convention, where Democrats are expected to nominate President Barack Obama for a second term, will place Villaraigosa in a national spotlight. Overseeing the gathering will also place the Latino mayor front and center as Democrats attempt to woo Latino support for Obama and other candidates.

Wasserman Schultz tells DNC members that Villaraigosa has empowered people during his career and will encourage engagement from Americans across the country.

Meanwhile, Villaraigosa, one of the nation’s most prominent elected Latino officials, said he expected to play a role in the campaign’s outreach to Latino voters. The White House is counting on strong Latino turnout, especially in battleground states such as Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Florida. But the mayor said he planned to speak “to a broad cross section of people, not just to Latinos.”

Villaraigosa was elected mayor in 2005 and re-elected in 2009.

Muñoz Named White House Domestic Policy Council Director

She’s served as the director of intergovernmental affairs and the President’s point person on immigration… But now Cecilia Muñoz is expanding her role in Obama’s administration.

The 49-year-old Bolivian-American, a longtime civil rights advocate, has been named the new director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Muñoz’s new position will now place her among the president’s top aides, overseeing policy making on issues like education, health care, and immigration.

Cecilia Munoz

In adition, the new role will elevate Muñoz, already the highest ranking Hispanic in the White House, to a publicly prominent policy position during a political year in which the Latino vote will play a critical role.

As the director of intergovernmental affairs, Muñoz has been serving as a liaison between the White House and mayors, governors, tribal leaders and other officials. But it is for her role as the Obama Administration’s point person on immigration that has garnered her the most attention.

Before working in government, Muñoz served as senior vice president at the National Council of La Raza—the nation’s oldest civil rights organization—where she focused on education, health care and immigration advocacy.

The child of Bolivian immigrants to the United States, she was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2000 for her work on immigration and civil rights.

“Over the past three years, Cecilia has been a trusted advisor who has demonstrated sound judgment day in and day out,” President Obama said of Muñoz in a statement. “Cecilia has done an extraordinary job working on behalf of middle class families, and I’m confident she’ll bring the same unwavering dedication to her new position.”

Obama Attends Latino Fundraiser Hosted by Eva Longoria

President Barack Obama’s support among Hispanics may be slipping, but that hasn’t stopped some of the biggest Latino celebrities from showing their support for the commander-in-chief.

In what’s been dubbed “the first ever Latino fundraiser for Mr. Obama,” Mexican-American actress Eva Longoria hosted a special event at the home of Spanish actor Antonio Banderas and his wife Melanie Griffith. The goal: rally Latino support for Obama.

Longoria hosts Obama fundraiser

Obama won 67% of the Latino vote in the 2008 election. But poll figures this summer showed his support among Latinos, hit disproportionately hard by unemployment and upset over the president’s failure to reform immigration laws and hit disproportionately hard by unemployment, had
dropped to less than 50%.

But Longoria wasn’t afraid to show her support for the president.

“[Obama] speaks to the Latino community because he knows he’s the president of all Americans,” said Longoria, who beamed with pride when introducing the president, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Other Latino celebrities present included Mexican-American comedian George Lopez, as well as Mexican-American journalist Giselle Fernández and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. In all, 300 entertainment industry leaders, elected officials and Obama supporters attended the $5,000 per person event—which drew some criticism from within the Latino community, with some saying he should be meeting people struggling with unemployment or facing deportation or the loss of their homes rather than actors and celebrities.

During his speech, Obama pledged to deliver on his promises on immigration reform.

“We have a system that is broken,” Obama said, according to THR. “We are doing everything we can administratively to try to lessen the pain and hardship that it’s causing. The borders need to be secure, but the people need to recognize that immigrants are helping make the country better and stronger.”

The president reportedly urged the people in attendance to become his “community ambassadors.” And he vowed to keep on fighting.

“Don’t weary. Don’t get tired,” he said. “Because I’m not tired. I may be gray, but I’m not tired.’’

“Amazing night with our great President #ObamaBaby!” said Longoria via Twitter this morning.

Image provided by Eva Longoria via Twitter.

 

Shakira Joins Obama’s Administration…

In his quest to step up outreach to the Latino community, President Barack Obama has named Colombian pop superstar Shakira to a special presidential commission on education for Hispanics.

The 34-year-old Grammy-winning singer—who has been involved in promoting early childhood education in Latin America for years—will serve on the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, which advises Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan on issues of educational success related to Hispanic students.

“This is a tremendous honor for me. I am humbled that my philanthropic experience could be helpful or that my voice can be used to amplify the message and work of the President and this Commission,” she told The Huffington Post. “Latino youth are the fastest-growing group in America, yet more Latino children are living in poverty — 6.1 million in 2010 — than children of any other racial or ethnic group. As I have seen in my own Foundation work, the only road out of poverty is education.”

The announcement comes after Shakira’s meeting at the White House on Monday with policy officials on early childhood development.

This afternoon, Shakira is expected to attend a swearing-in ceremony and discussion on a broader White House Hispanic education program.

In addition to singer/songwriter, the president appointed three other members to the commission:

Nancy Navarro, the only Hispanic member of the Montgomery County Council and a former Montgomery Board of Education president.

Adrián A. Pedroza, executive director of the Partnership for Community Action, a grassroots, community-based organization that works to build community leadership around issues of immigration, education reform and public health.

Kent P. Scribner, superintendent of Union High School District #210 in Phoenix, Arizona.

President Obama’s Hispanic Roundtable…

In his quest to improve his lackluster approval rating among Latinos, President Barack Obama held an online Hispanic roundtable in the White House on Wednesday to discuss some of the issues most important to the Latino community.

Currently only 48 percent of Hispanics approve of the job the President is doing, down from 60 percent at the beginning of the year, according to Gallup. With Latinos making up potentially decisive voting blocks in key 2012 states like Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico, Obama is hoping to turn the tide.

During the hour-long round table conversation with representatives from Yahoo Español, MSN Latino and AOL Latino/Huff-Post Latino Voices, President Obama addressed questions on several key subjects. Topics included: immigration, education, Social Security and the American Jobs Act.

So what do you think of President Obama’s Hispanic roundtable?