El veinticinco de marzo/March 25th

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Photo from imdb.com. Click HERE. 
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Laz (Lázaro) Alonso! (1974-      )

An actor who has been in movies such as Avatar, Fast & Furious, Jarhead, This Christmas, Miracle at St. Anna, Detroit, and Straw Dogs, along with many television shows, Alonso was born in the United States to Cuban parents who had immigrated in 1959 (or 60), just as Fidel Castro came to power. He grew up speaking Spanish at home (hear him talk - in Spanish - about how his mom wouldn't give him cereal if he asked in English in this interview) and says he is now grateful. He also grew up raised by his mother, who worked jobs in catering, housekeeping, and even "video recoding" to help support the family, as his father was an alcoholic, and he studied business at Howard University with the goal of being able to support himself and help her after graduation. He landed a job with Merrill Lynch in New York City. "I was making money in Wall Street, but God said, you're making the money but are you happy?" Alonso told an interviewer at Jet magazine in 2014 (click HERE for story), "It was a guaranteed paycheck, but my heart wasn't there." Alonso took an acting class and started auditioning for roles. He began his career hosting shows in the BET network. He got his big break, starring in Avatar, after being dropped from a show that had been picked up for ABC,  causing him to marvel that he is exactly where God wants him, even when facing disappoints (also from the Jet Magazine interview, see link above). Alonso speaks about his identity as a Black Latino American in this interview (in English) for the WHUT channel (#LatinosWHUT).

 For a Spanish class lesson on Laz Alonso with Preterite/Imperfect Practice, Click HERE

Other March 25th birthdays:

Jaime Sabines (1926-1999): Poet from Chiapas, Mexico who Octavio Paz called "One of the greatest contemporary poets of our language." Sabines considered his poem Algo sobre la muerte del mayor Sabines, about the death of his father, his finest work.

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