Comedy: Latino "rant" on cultures (video)

Joanna Hausmann (Race/NPR.org, 3-5-16); Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

Venezuelan white Latina comedienne makes funny videos for Univision's "The Flama," which focuses on Latino culture (Derek Gabryzack and Diana Molina/Courtesy of Joanna Hausmann).

 
Latinos in the U.S. are "just put all in one group" [when we're not all Mexicans], says Joanna Hausmann, who is using big time comedy videos to show that all Latinas and Latinos are actually all different even when the dominant U.S. culture lumps them all together.

Comedian "rants" on different Latino cultures

The media portrayal of Latinos and Hispanic culture has come a long way. But the producers of comedy videos at the website "The Flama" [flame] still see room for improvement.

 
The Flama is a website from Univision and Bedrocket Media "created by, for, and starring young Latinos."

The site features a slew of comedy videos with people talking about things like Latino culture, food, or something off the wall like what presidential candidates would look like as characters in "The Hunger Games."

 

Joanna Hausmann is a Venezuelan comedian, writer, and a full-time video creator for the site. One of her roles there is hosting a recurring video series called Joanna Rants, which covers everything from types of Spanish accents to political correctness. More + AUDIO

• VIDEO (and Pacifica audio): Jimmy Dore Comedy

Thai court convicts 66 migrants of illegal entry

Ambika Ahuja

Rohingya migrants look out from the window of a police van before being transported to provincial court to hear illegal entry charge at Paknam police station in Ranong province, southwestern Thailand Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009. A group of 62 barefoot, disheveled Rohingya migrants went before a Thai court Wednesday, pleading not to be sent back to Myanmar where they said they were beaten, whipped, and warned not to return by the junta's soldiers (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong).

RANONG, Thailand – A Thai court on Wednesday convicted 66 barefoot, disheveled migrants detained at sea of illegally entering the country, raising the prospect they could be sent back to Myanmar despite fears they would be persecuted there.

A Ranong provincial court judge sentenced each defendant to five days in prison after none of them was able to pay a 1,000 baht ($30) fine. Four were brought to the court from the hospital, one carried by two men because his legs were broken.

The Thai navy detained the Rohingya migrants on Monday after their rickety boat was found adrift in the Andaman Sea off Thailand's southwestern coast. The Thai government contends the migrants do not qualify for refugee status, and a police official said they could be expelled after they served their sentence.

"Please kill me here if you are going to send me back," migrant Kamal Hussein begged in an interview with The Associated Press. "If I go back, there is no land, no food, no safety. The (Myanmar) junta hates us." More>>