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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
José Griñán, longtime Houston Fox 26 news anchor, dies at 72
José Griñán, the longtime Houston news anchor for Fox 26, has died. He was 72. The Houston affiliate, where Griñán worked for 30 years, announced his death in a news report Monday. No cause of death was revealed. "Beloved former FOX 26 Houston anchor José Griñán has died," Fox 26 wrote Monday on social media. "Though José may no longer be with us, his legacy will continue to shine brightly in the stories he told, the lives he touched, and the city he loved." In 1993, when Griñán began working with the station, he became the first male anchor of the channel's morning show. He anchored his final broadcast for Fox 26 in June 2023. Read more: KABC's Ellen Leyva signs off after 30 years in moving final broadcast: 'I'm really lucky' The news anchor took an extended break from the station in 2022 after getting diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica — an inflammatory condition mostly affecting people over 65 that causes stiffness and pain in the joints and muscles, according to the Mayo Clinic. Reflecting on his time at Fox 26 at the end of his broadcast career, Griñán told Houston's in 2023 that he deeply valued how his job helped him help others. "Working at the station has allowed me to, in a sense, provide life saving information for someone who was searching, and comfort someone who may have thought that the world was coming to an end, but letting them know that things are under control," he said. Read more: Aaron Brown, news anchor who helped CNN viewers through Sept. 11 attacks, dies at 76 Griñán was born on July 24, 1952, in Tampa, Fla., to a Cuban father and a first-generation Cuban American mother. Before appearing on-screen as an anchor, he worked as a cinematographer and documentary filmmaker for the U.S. Army. His first anchor role came in 1975 at a news station in El Paso, Texas. From there, Griñán held jobs in his hometown of Tampa, Miami, New York City and Dallas before landing in Houston in 1993. He held decades-long memberships to both the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Griñán is survived by his wife, Kathy Griffin Townsend Griñán, his two daughters and three stepdaughters. Get our Latinx Files newsletter for stories that capture the complexity of our communities. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Contributor: Under the Trump administration making art can feel futile. How do we keep doing it? (Comic)
Does art even matter anymore as this administration continues to push a fearmongering agenda against our communities? Here's what some artists across the country had to say. Julio Salgado (@juliosalgado83) is a digital illustrator based in Long Beach. Get our Latinx Files newsletter for stories that capture the complexity of our communities. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Fans, drag queens remember Paquita la del Barrio
Periodically, the Latinx Files will feature a guest writer. This week, we've asked De Los contributing columnist Alex Zaragoza to fill in. If you have not subscribed to our weekly newsletter, you can do so here. The world has lost its greatest soldier against machistas, malagradecidos and inútiles. Música Mexicana legend Paquita la del Barrio died in her home in Veracruz, Mexico, announced in a heartfelt statement released via her official Instagram page on Feb. 17. She was 77. 'A unique and inimitable artist who leaves an indelible mark in the hearts of all those who knew her and enjoyed her music … Rest in peace,' the statement reads. 'Your music and legacy will live on forever in our hearts.' Born Francisca Viveros Barradas in 1947 in Alto Lucero, Veracruz, Paquita became an icon across Latin America — particularly in her native Mexico — with anthemic rancheras and boleros delivered with an impassioned venom that became her trademark, along with her electric blond coif and darkened chin mole. She became a beacon to women who have been wronged, telling it like it was with ferocity. With 'Rata de Dos Patas,' she gifted scorned women the ultimate spite jam to be sung loudly, lately and with breath thickened by tequila. On 'Tres Veces te Engañe,' she confronts a useless partner with a guttural '¿Me estás oyendo, inútil? ' and lets him know he's deserving to be cheated on. It's no wonder why her music was a constant in the kitchens of generations of women tired of cleaning up after ungrateful men. But it's not just señoras who felt a kinship with Paquita. Drag queens and Latinx celebrity impersonators have long brought their version of the late singer to the stage, mimicking her slow, creaky walk, elegant posture and rage-filled vocal delivery with affection. 'If you do somebody like Paquita, you have to understand her mannerisms and her way of standing there commanding a stage,' explained drag queen Torta Jugosa, who performs as Paquita at the Long Beach location of the famed drag restaurant Hamburger Mary's. She hosts a drag show called Mujeres Chingonas, where she and other queens honor Latinx divas like Paquita, Jenni Rivera and Selena. 'And the mole is a staple. When you think of Paquita, you think of the mole.' 'For me, impersonating Paquita, you have to get yourself in that position mentally, like 'I'm heartbroken. I just want to unleash on someone,'' added Carlos Friel, who performs as Carla and has been doing Paquita drag in L.A. for the last year. 'It's kind of limited because she didn't dance. There was not a lot of choreo. You have to perform with your face, with your hands, and you have to really feel the song. You have to believe it. 'I hate you right now, you are the one who hurt me.'' Despite Paquita's death, the impersonators and drag queens I spoke to doubled down on their commitment to honor her moves, music and, of course, the mole, keeping her alive for fans and introducing her for generations to come. 'I received a lot of calls the day that she died, sending me condolences as if she were my family,' said Rubén Cerros, a professional imitator of 14 years who is widely considered one of the best Paquita la del Barrio impersonators in the industry, having shown off his talent on the Colombian reality competition series 'Yo Me Llamo,' winning the grand prize in 2012. 'In reality, I did see her as family because I got to meet her personally,' he added. 'Without Paquita, without having imitated her, I wouldn't have been known to so many people. I've always done my imitation with respect to the lady and, because of that, her death has already changed life for me with more work and more blessings.' In body and scowl, Paquita radiated like the Disney villain Ursula — a character also inspired by a drag queen, famed actor and performer Divine — but in spirit and heart was far from the sea-dwelling witch who stole an innocent mermaid's voice. Quite the opposite, actually. For many women, particularly those who have been mistreated and disrespected by the men in their lives, Paquita gave them a voice to dress down a man who deserved their righteous ire. That's something important impersonators and drag queens have always wanted to channel. 'She wasn't afraid at all,' Jugosa said. 'With Paquita, she represented a lot of women and gave courage to them. Like, you can be who you want to be without having to have a man by your side. You can, as they say, wear the pants in the relationship. She was an advocate to women who didn't have a voice and gave courage to them to speak up and live their own lives the way they want to.' It's that fearlessness and unshakable sense of self that is inspirational to so many and now in death, bringing Paquita la del Barrio to life carries more weight. 'Now you have to honor her legacy,' said Friel. 'If you are performing Paquita now, you have to bring the best memories of her to people.' Years back, I went to a queer bar in Tijuana with my mom and her friend, Richi, a gay santero who after a reading in my mom's kitchen insisted we take in a drag show. Amid a thick cloud of cigarette smoke, we knocked back a cold Pacifico and watched the stage light up as a Paquita la del Barrio drag queen stepped onto the stage. She moved in her same slow, measured manner, as if weighed down by the aches of dealing with a-holes for too damn long. But behind the arthritic movements was the same fierceness emblematic of Paquita. If there were any rats in that room — four-legged or two — they didn't stand a chance. Venezuelans sue Trump administration for ending temporary legal protections A group of seven Venezuelans, along with advocacy group National TPS Alliance, are suing the Trump administration, accusing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of illegally revoking an 18-month extension of the protections for Venezuelans that was granted by President Biden before he left office. Puerto Rican artist iLe: 'I feel motivated to rescue our cultural history' In between recording her fourth solo studio album, Ileana Mercedes Cabra Joglar — better known by her artistic name iLe — has scheduled a handful of international tour dates, including Friday's show at the Wallis in Beverly Hills. 'The concerts help me to escape whenever the seclusion of working on an album becomes too much,' she tells contributor Ernesto Lechner. 'I'm working on the new record in small increments, trying to decipher a couple of things that I can't quite verbalize at this point. It's a process that requires a lot of energy, time and dedication. The challenge remains to continue learning and exploring, to get to know myself a little better through my own songs.' Column: Republican Latinos are rising in California. Now there's a caucus for them For his latest column, Gustavo Arellano spoke to State Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares and Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, founding co-chairs of the California Hispanic Legislative Caucus, a group created for Latino GOP legislators. TikTok's top artist Yeri Mua gets real on immigration, Bellakath beef De Los contributor Lucas Villa spoke to Yeri Mua, the fiery, red-haired reggaeton mexa star who recently became the No. 1 global artist on TikTok, about being a woman in a male-dominated space, collaborating with Rich the Kid, ending her feud with fellow musician Bellakath and her personal experience of being deported from the U.S. with her family at age 13. Comedy star Keyla Monterroso Mejia is only shining brighter Inland Empire native Keyla Monterroso Mejia has come a long way from living in her aunt's back house with her family. Her big break came after she was cast in the final two seasons of HBO's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' in 2021. She has since appeared on 'Abbott Elementary,' comedy films 'One of Them Days' and 'You're Cordially Invited,' and will be featured in Mindy Kaling's Netflix comedy series 'Running Point' (out Feb. 27), Seth Rogen's upcoming Apple TV show 'The Studio' (March 26) and the Season 4 cast of 'Acapulco,' a bilingual comedy series led by Mexican star Eugenio Derbez. ' Life surprises me every time with things that I didn't even think were possible for myself,' Monterroso Mejia told De Los staff writer Andrea Flores. 'So I feel like in that sense, I'm going to keep going. I'm ready to receive whatever you want to throw my way.'
