A Peek Inside

Specific categories within the three-volume Encyclopedia of Latina and Latino Popular Culture in the United States include crafts and technology, folklore, literature, labor, actors and performers, geography and place, sports, films, and politics.

Pop culture icons with Latino roots:
Cameron Diaz— Born in 1972 in San Diego, California. The daughter of a Cuban-American father and an Anglo-German mother. Popular Films: The Mask, My Best Friend“s Wedding, There“s Something About Mary.

Roberto Clemente—Born in 1934 in Puerto Rico. 1966 National League baseball“s MVP and first Latino to win the National League batting championship. Died in a plane crash delivering supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

Desi Arnaz—Born in 1917 in Santiago, Cuba. Immigrated with his family to Miami, Florida when he was 16. Co-star of I Love Lucy, with wife and actress Lucille Ball and major innovator of television film techniques.

Food Facts:
The South American molcajete is a utensil found in many homes and restaurants. From the Nahuatl language, the word is derived from molli, meaning salsa, and caxitl, meaning bowl. The molcajete is a mortar made of volcanic stone. The bowl with three short legs is used with a pestle or mano, made of the same stone material. The molcajete is used to pound or grind spices, chile, and other herbs.

The first definition for tortilla in most Spanish language dictionaries describes an egg dish cooked with potatoes, seafood, and other ingredients and served in pie wedge slices. The familiar thin, flat, round bread tortilla of the Americas is the cousin of this pie-like food of Spain. The name is borrowed from Spanish and native South American Indian customs. Early Spaniards who conquered Mexico in the 1500s named the flat corn bread a tortilla when it was filled with other ingredients. The name stuck.

Music Notes:
La Bamba is not just a catchy 1950s era tune by Chicano singer and songwriter Ritchie Valens. The song has been recorded at least 150 different times by various artists including Trini Lopez in 1966, The Plugz in 1979, and Los Lobos in 1980. Based upon a regional song form called son jarocho from Veracruz, Mexico—and American rock ‘n roll—it“s also the title of a 1987 Hollywood movie about the life and musical career of Valens.