El veintitrés de febrero/February 23rd

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¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Residente (René Pérez Joglar)! (1978-           )

"The radio right now, I'm in shock, everyone sounds the same. It's like junk food. You need to eat better, otherwise [you're] going to die a slow cultural death."

Photo from remezcla.com. Click HERE. 
A singer, rapper, and activist from Puerto Rico, Residente is now a solo artist but was a longtime member of the duo Calle 13, with whom he won 22 Latin Grammys (he has 3 Latin Grammys as a solo artist). His solo debut, Residente, was named one of the top 50 albums of 2017 by Rolling Stone Magazine (click HERE). His documentary of the same name, which follows the making of the album, took him around the world to places such as China, Burkina Faso, and Armenia as he traced his heritage (based on a DNA test) and collaborated with local musicians (Read more HERE). SPOILER ALERT - In the documentary we also see him discover that he is related to Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and star of Hamilton (they are third cousins). As Residente tells it,  he introduced Miranda to his family  in Puerto Rico when the two were there collaborating. Residente's mother thought Miranda looked very much like her grandfather, and DNA tests confirmed they were indeed related (Read more about that, as well as other aspects of Residente's new project, in this NY Times article, HERE). Residente has been involved with many projects of social justice, and he is an outspoken advocate for Puerto Rican independence from the United States (read more about his views in Puerto Rico in this interview with The Nation (in Spanish and English), HERE). In 2015, he won the Nobel Summit Peace Award for his work. He speaks about racism in America in this interview with The Guardian. His official website, residente.com (in English or Spanish), gives more information about his music, current world tour, and social justice movements with which he is involved.

The 2011 video for Calle 13's song Latinoamérica, with nearly 1 billion views on YouTube.

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Other February 23rd events of note:

1836 - The Battle of the Alamo starts in Texas. Mexico wins, and many Texans are killed in the fight.

1903 - In the Cuban-American Treaty, Cuba leases Guantánamo to the United States forever.

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