Here is an interesting article that looks into the second generation Hispanic culture.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/11932898.htmWhy is it that people expect famous minority to be activist? Why must every well known, or influential Latino be an activist, advocate or something of that sort? Cannot a man or woman just be successfully, and enjoy the rewards of their hard work?
Lopez, Gross says, is ''very conscious'' of this dynamic. But in her case, he says, the connection is ``not about her work -- it's her story.''
To begin with, her biography, which she repeats in every interview, reads like an immigrant archetype: Raised in a working-class part of the Bronx by a computer technician and a kindergarten teacher, Lopez started out as a backup dancer and, by dint of hard work and determination, became a powerhouse -- a $12 million-a-picture film star, a recording artist who's sold 35 million CDs, an entrepreneur whose clothing line and fragrance businesses People magazine estimated to be worth $350 million.
To some, like Wong and Rivera, this is inspiring. To others, infuriating.
''When she first came out, it was electric,'' Mulligan says. ``I was in college and to see someone with a wide nose and a big (rear) -- I felt like I was being born. That simply didn't exist before in popular culture. But I've been so disappointed.''
She cites Lopez's relative lack of activism compared with Latino actors such as Jimmy Smits and Edward James Olmos and suggests the entertainer pales next to tour-de-force Moreno. ``I just had a long conversation about this in Los Angeles. . .''
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