Cristela Alonzo to Take Part in “America’s Changemakers” Event to Kick Off Five Nights of Presidential Inauguration Festivities

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Cristela Alonzo is preparing for a presidential presentation…

The Biden/Harris Presidential Inaugural Committee announced additional programming in advance of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on January 20, with the 42-year-old Mexican American comedian/actress taking part in the festivities.

The theme of the now five consecutive nights of events is “America United.”

On Saturday, January 16, Alonzo will take part in America United: An Inauguration Welcome Event Celebrating America’s Changemakers.

The event will “celebrate America, reflect and honor our history, and highlight the incredible diversity of the nation” and kick off the five days of programming.

In addition to Alonzo, the roster of participants includes Whoopi Goldberg, actor Nik Dodani, musician Darren Criss, Representative Grace Meng, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the Resistance Revival Choir will participate. The Welcome Event will feature a special performance by Adrian Quesada and his Grammy-nominated Black Pumas. It’ll stream live from 7:00-8:30 pm ET at bideninaugural.org and on Presidential Inaugural Committee social media pages.

Also announced is United We Serve: A Celebration of the National MLK Day of Service on Monday, January 18. According to the news release, thousands of volunteers across the country will participate in the National Day of Service, which will then be celebrated by entertainers and inspiring speakers like Aloe Blacc, Rev. Dr. Bernice King, Martin Luther King III, Chesca, Rep. Sharice Davids, Rosario Dawson, Andra Day, Yo-Yo Ma, Rev. Al Sharpton, Sean Patrick Thomas, Diane Warren, Lynn Whitfield and Bebe Winans. The event will stream live from 8:00-9:00 pm ET at bideninaugural.org and on the inaugural committee’s social media pages.

Other events include the Memorial and Nationwide Tribute to Remember and Honor the Lives Lost to Covid-19 on Tuesday the 19th. At 5:30 pm ET, a D.C. ceremony will feature a lighting around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The inaugural committee has invited cities and towns around the country to join in illuminating buildings and ringing church bells.

Inauguration Day events include President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris laying wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery with former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and the former First Ladies in attendance.

Tom Hanks will host the primetime Celebrating America special that will culminate the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Along with appearances from the 46th POTUS and 49th VPOTUS, the Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss-produced 90-minute show will feature “The Star-Spangled Banner” courtesy of Lady Gaga; a “musical performance” by Jennifer Lopez, the details of which were not disclosed; and performances from Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato, Ant Clemons and longtime Democrat supporter Jon Bon Jovi.

Celebrating America will air on multiple networks. Starting at 8:30 pm ET, the unity-aiming special will be carried by ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC and CNN. Additionally, the Weiss-directed show will be seen on Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft Bing, NewsNOW from Fox, and AT&T DIRECTV and U-verse, as well as the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s social media feeds.

President-Elect Joe Biden Nominates Isabel Guzman to Lead Small Business Administration

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Isabel Guzman is joining the Biden administration…

President-elect Joe Biden has tapped the Latina small business advocate to lead the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Guzman is the director of California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate, a post she has held since April 2019.

Previously, Guzman worked at the SBA under former President Barack Obama as deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to the administrator.

Small businesses have been hit particularly hard due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the SBA under President Donald Trump was in charge of accepting applications for loans through the popular Paycheck Protection Program.

Guzman, if confirmed, would oversee any extensions to the loan program, which was intended to provide small businesses with forgivable loans to keep their businesses afloat and keep employees on their payrolls.

The program just received a $284 billion injection from the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill passed in December.

Guzman’s nomination is a win for the Latina community who has called for more representation in Biden’s Cabinet. Following his election victory in November, the former vice president promised to create a “Cabinet that looks like America.”

Small Business for America’s Future, a coalition of small business owners, congratulated Guzman for the nomination.

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez Celebrates Passage of Legislation to Establish National Museum of the American Latino

Posted on December 27, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Bob Menendez is celebrating a big win for Latino history in the United States.

Congress has passed a massive legislation package that green-lights the establishment of a long-awaited Smithsonian museum dedicated to American Latinos.

The 66-year-old Cuban American politician, currently serving as the U.S. Senator from New Jersey, was the lead sponsor of the U.S. Senate bill.

Menendez, a longtime advocate for a Latino museum said that the museum’s passage is the “culmination of decades of hard work, advocacy, successes and setbacks in the movement to recognize Latino contributions to America’s history, economy and culture.”

Though the museum could take years to conceptualize, curate and build, U.S. Congress‘ approval is a victory for the museum’s advocates whose efforts date back decades.

The American Latino museum will “illuminate the story of the United States for the benefit of all by featuring Latino contributions,” decades after the Smithsonian issued a report finding that it displayed a pattern of “willful neglect,” excluding and ignoring the presence and contributions of Latino Americans in both its workforce and exhibition halls.

“With this vote, Latinos and Latinas across our nation will finally have their stories, struggles, and impact on our country validated by the United States Congress,” Menendez said in a statement.

Menendez said he “cannot wait until the day when I can take my granddaughters to visit the National Museum of the American Latino in our nation’s capital.”

Half of the museum’s funding will be provided by federal funds and the other half from private donations. The museum has two years to designate a site.

In 2011, a 23-member presidential commission estimated that a “Smithsonian American Latino Museum” would cost $600 million divided between private donations and congressional appropriations.

The Democratic-led US House had approved the bill to establish a Latino museum in July by voice vote.

In the US Senate, however, passage of the bill by unanimous consent was blocked by Utah Senator Mike Lee, who argued that the country doesn’t need “separate but equal museums.”

The Smithsonian Institution “should not have an exclusive museum of American Latino history or a museum of women’s history or museum of American men’s history or Mormon history or Asian American history or Catholic history. American history is an inclusive story that should unite us,” Lee said in remarks made earlier this month.

Gina Torres & Her “Suits” Co-Stars to Reunite for “Suit Up For Georgia: A Game Night”

Posted on December 26, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

It’s game on for Gina Torres…

The original cast of USA Network’s hit series Suits, including the 51-year-old Cuban American actress, along with fan-favorite recurring players and creator Aaron Korsh, will headline Suit Up For Georgia: A Game Night reunion.

Hosted by Suits star Patrick J. Adams and his wife, Pretty Little Liars actress Troian Bellisario, the Democratic Party of Georgia event will be held on Sunday, December 27 at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT.

Adams and Bellisario will be joined by Suits regular/recurring cast members Torres, Rick Hoffman, Gabriel Macht, Sarah Rafferty, Rachael Harris, Amy Acker, DB Woodside, Denise Crosby, Amanda Schull, Max Topplin, David Costabile and Ray Proscia, Suits creator and executive producer Korsh, and special guests.

They are not expected to include original co-star Meghan Markle who, as a member of the British Royal family, has refrained from taking sides in an U.S. election.

“There is no better reason to revisit the world of Suits than to help turn out the vote for the Senate runoff election in Georgia,” said Adams. “I’m looking forward to bringing Mike Ross back to life for a fun night with Troian and my Suits friends, new and old, in support of such a crucial effort.”

To watch the reunion, fans can make a donation of any amount at SuitUpforGeorgia.com, with all proceeds and efforts going towards getting out the vote for Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock and flipping the U.S. Senate. They will include Adrienne White, Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia.

“As a longtime fan of the show, I’m thrilled to have so many members of the Suits cast join us here in Georgia to host a virtual game night,” said White. “With New Years’ and January 5 just around the corner, Georgia Democrats are determined to go into 2021 with momentum in these runoff elections. The grassroots donations and volunteer sign-ups from this event will give us the boost we need, and I’m so thankful to the cast of Suits for their support.”

President-Elect Joe Biden Nominates Miguel Cardona to Serve as U.S. Secretary of Education

Posted on December 23, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Miguel Cardona could soon be helping the nation’s children get back into the classroom…

President-elect Joe Biden has nominated the Puerto Rican educator and politician to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education in his cabinet, calling the Puerto Rican politician, Connecticut’s education commissioner, “brilliant” and saying he’ll play a key role in his administration’s efforts to reopen schools forced online amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Cardona, whose parents moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, would be another high-profile Latino in the Cabinet if confirmed by the US Senate.

Biden said Cardona “understands that the deep roots of inequity that exist as a source of our persistent opportunities gaps. He understands the transformative power that comes from investing in education.”

Cardona said that as an education commissioner, a public school parent and a former public school classroom teacher, he understands how challenging this year has been for students, educators and parents.

“It’s taken some of our most painful, longstanding disparities and wrenched them open even wider,” Cardona said, speaking publicly for the first time as Biden’s nominee. He said that “for too many students, your zip code and your skin color remain the best predictor of the opportunities you’ll have in your lifetime.”

He added, “Though we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, we also know that this crisis is ongoing, that we will carry its impacts for years to come and that the problems and inequities that have plagued our educational system since long before Covid will still be with us even after the virus is gone.”

Biden on Wednesday reiterated that reopening schools safely would be a national priority for his administration and spoke of the challenges that students, educators and administrators have faced amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“They worry. They’re under stress. They stretch local budgets that have left educators out of work,” Biden said.

Cardona was appointed Connecticut’s commissioner of education by Democratic Governor Ned Lamont in August 2019. He came to the role with two decades of experience as a public school educator from the city of Meriden, according to the state’s government website, after beginning his career as an elementary school teacher and later serving for 10 years as a school principal.

In 2013, Cardona became the assistant superintendent for teaching and learning.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus had urged the President-elect to select him.

Alex Padilla to Become First Latino to Represent California in U.S. Senate

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Alex Padilla is the next senator from the great state of California…

Gov. Gavin Newsom is appointing the 47-year-old Mexican American politician, the state’s current Secretary of State, to fill Kamala Harris’ U.S. Senate seat.

Padilla will be the first Latino senator to represent the Golden State.

“Through his tenacity, integrity, smarts and grit, California is gaining a tested fighter in their corner who will be a fierce ally in D.C., lifting up our state’s values and making sure we secure the critical resources to emerge stronger from this pandemic,” Newsom said in a statement. “He will be a senator for all Californians.”

Newsom posted a video, taken on Monday evening, in which he asked Padilla whether he wanted to take the post.

“You serious?” Padilla says in the video.

“This is the official, this is the ask, brother,” Newsom says.

Near tears, Padilla says, “I’m honored, man, and I am humbled.”

Padilla will face an election in 2022.

Padilla was atop the list of possible successors to Harris even before she was elected to the vice presidency. He’s a former Los Angeles city councilman and state senator, and was first elected secretary of state in 2014. He was re-elected in 2018.

He also has longtime ties to Newsom, having been chair of his first gubernatorial campaign in 2009.

“Whether you voted for (Joe) Biden or (Donald) Trump… whether you live in the North State or the Southland… whether you grew up speaking English, Spanish, Korean or Cantonese… we are all Californians,” he wrote. “And I intend to be a Senator for all the people.”

Padilla emphasized his roots in the San Fernando Valley. The son of Mexican immigrants, he grew up in a three-bedroom house in Pacoima. “It wasn’t the safest neighborhood, but we had a backyard,” Padilla wrote.

Harris, the first California Democrat on a presidential ticket, hasn’t said whether she will resign her Senate seat before the President-elect Biden’s inauguration on January 20.

Lin-Manuel Miranda to Take Part in Online Fundraisers to Help Georgia Democrats Win U.S. Senate Seats in Upcoming Runoff Election

Posted on December 5, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Lin-Manuel Miranda is getting political…

The 40-year-old Puerto Rican acclaimed singer, rapper, composer, producer and playwright and other members of the cast of the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton, which he created, and Pearl Jam will headline online fundraisers to help Democrats win U.S. Senate seats in the coming January 5 runoff elections.

If Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win their races, the Senate will be at a 50-50 breakdown between the parties, but soon-to-be Vice President Kamala Harris would break a tie.

Pearl Jam will join Miranda for a conversation about their artistic inspirations, with Wayne Brady as the emcee. The event will take place at 8:30 pm ET on December 16 on the virtual platform Looped. Tickets start at $10 per person, with proceeds going to the Latino Victory Project, the Latino Community Fund of Georgia and the Hispanic Federation.

Miranda and other members of the cast of Hamilton also are participating in a December 13 fundraiser for Georgia Democrats, Ossoff and Warnock in a livestream set for 8:30 pm ET. Others scheduled to participate include Leslie Odom Jr, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson, Jonathan Groff, Javier Muñoz, Sasha Hutchings, Thayne Jasperson, Ariana DeBose, Sydney James Harcourt, Carleigh Bettiol, Andrew Chappelle, Alysha Deslorieux, Morgan Marcell, Austin Smith and Betsy Struxness. There is no set ticket price, but the invite suggests $30.

The Hamilton cast also reunited in October for a fundraiser for Biden’s campaign.

The last time there was such a 50-50 split was in 2001, with Republicans having control because the Vice President was Dick Cheney.

Xavier Becerra Emerges as Contender to Lead Department of Health and Human Services

Posted on December 5, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Xavier Becerra could be heading to The District in the coming year…

The 62-year-old Mexican American politician and current California Attorney General has emerged as a key contender to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, according to sources familiar with the process, as President-elect Joe Biden weighs who to tap for a role that will be critical to his administration’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The HHS secretary position has been a source of intrigue and confusion this week, with New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo being mentioned as contenders. Raimondo has said she’s no longer a candidate and Lujan Grisham’s status is now unclear.

But on Friday people close to the matter said Becerra has emerged as a “contender of interest” for the post. He’s also a top candidate for attorney general.

Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has also been mentioned as a potential pick to lead Health and Human Services, but the sources said she is being eyed for other posts as well.

News of Becerra’s emergence comes as Biden faces increasing pressure to deliver on his promise to build out a diverse Cabinet. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has said it wants Lujan Grisham to be Biden’s HHS secretary and has pushed Biden to select Becerra or Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez as attorney general. Members of the caucus expressed frustration in a meeting with leaders of Biden’s transition team on Thursday over how they believe Lujan Grisham has been treated in the Cabinet selection process.

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Incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier Friday that the transition team will announce key members of the President-elect’s health team early next week.

Alejandro Mayorkas to Become First Latino to Helm the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Alejandro Mayorkas is making political history…

U.S. president-elect Joe Biden has nominated the 61-year-old Cuban lawyer and former deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security as the first Latino to helm department.

Mayorkas will be tasked with rebuilding an agency that carried out some of the most draconian measures associated with President Donald Trump‘s hardline immigration policy, including family separations at the US-Mexico border.

The choice reflects Biden’s desire to construct a diverse Cabinet with experts versed in public policy and deep experience in government.

In taking over the DHS, Mayorkas faces the greatest domestic challenge.

The department became the enforcement arm of some of Trump’s most controversial programs.

His selection received an early endorsement from former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, who ran in the Democratic presidential primary and has emerged as a leading immigrants’ rights advocate.

“Alejandro Mayorkas is a historic and experienced choice to lead an agency in desperate need of reform,” Castro tweeted. “As an immigrant and a creator of the DACA program, he’s well suited to undo Trump’s damage and build a more compassionate and common sense immigration agenda.”

Teresa Leger Fernandez Becomes First Woman Elected to New Mexico’s Congressional District 3

Posted on November 4, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Teresa Leger Fernandez is celebrating a historic win on election night…

The 60-year-old Latina American attorney and first-time politician defeated Republican Alexis Martinez Johnson in New Mexico’s Congressional District 3 to become the first woman elected to the seat that is currently held by Rep. Ben Ray Luján.

Luján chose to seek election to the U.S. Senate seat that’s being vacated by Sen. Tom Udall. Luján was declared the winner of the Senate race on November 3.

“It was so emotional to actually realize that I am going to be going to Congress,” Leger Fernandez said during a virtual Democratic Party watch party.

But the history doesn’t end there…

Leger Fernandez and fellow winners Republican Yvette Herrell and Democratic U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland all won in New Mexico, making it the first state to elect all women of color to Congress, according to The Hill.

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