Latest news with #MarioGarcia
The Herald Scotland
06-05-2025
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Cinco de Mayo 2025: Mexican holiday's meaning, origin explained
Americans, including people of Mexican American heritage, along with our neighbors in Mexico, celebrate with parades, festivals, music and food. This year, Cinco de Mayo falls on Monday, May 5. While Cinco de Mayo honors Mexico's resilience and bravery in the face of strife, the holiday has also become, for some, an excuse to party. "Everyone thinks that it's just party time, it's Corona time," Mario Garcia, a Chicanx historian from the University of California at Santa Barbara, shared in a May 2023 interview with USA TODAY. "It's OK for people to go out and have a good time on a holiday like Cinco de Mayo -- at least they have some sense that it's some kind of a Mexican holiday," Garcia said. "But we should go beyond that. We should have Cinco de Mayo events that go beyond partying and drinking, where we call attention to what the history is." Here's what to know about the origins of Cinco de Mayo, and how it's celebrated in the U.S. today. Why is Cinco de Mayo often confused with Mexico's Independence Day? Though many might know the lore behind Cinco de Mayo, it is often confused with Mexico's Independence Day, which falls on Sept. 16. It is known as the Dia de la Independencia in Mexico. Part of the confusion about what Cinco de Mayo celebrates likely stems from the names of the two holidays, which might be harder for some English speakers to say. Cinco de Mayo is much catchier than the day of Mexico's independence (Diez y seis de Septiembre), Garcia said. Another issue is that not enough American schools teach the importance of Chicanx history and its peoples' contributions to the U.S. "When you study the history of Chicanos and Latinos, of course, they've been history makers," Garcia said. "They've been involved in all aspects of American history, not to mention the wars ... In World War II alone, almost half a million Latinos - mostly Mexican Americans - fought in the war. And they won a disproportionate number of congressional Medals of Honor." The Battle at Puebla also occurred more than 50 years after the country broke free of Spanish rule. The reason the battle happened in the first place was because French Emperor Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to claim Mexico for himself. The French sent troops to force President Benito Juarez and the government out of Veracruz, Mexico. An outnumbered band of Mexican soldiers faced 6,000 French troops at daybreak in Puebla, a city in east-central Mexico, on May 5, 1862. Mexico, miraculously, was able to claim victory by the evening, at which time Juarez declared May 5 a national holiday. The victory also helped prevent the French from settling in and helping the American Confederacy in the Civil War, according to Why is Cinco de Mayo more popular in the U.S. than in Mexico? Cinco de Mayo celebrations do occur in Mexico, most notably in the City of Puebla; those events don't compare to Dia de la Independencia celebrations, Garcia said. Meanwhile, in the U.S, it's become an annual celebration of Mexican American culture. It began as a form of resistance to the effects of the Mexican-American War in the late 19th century. The holiday gained popularity during the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. "It becomes a Chicano holiday, in many ways, linked to the Chicano movement, because we discover Mexicans resisting a foreign invader," Garcia said. "They link the struggle of the Chicano movement to Cinco de Mayo." Companies, especially beer companies and restaurants, began commercializing the holiday in the 1980s, offering customers "Cinco de Mayo" specials and cocktails. The holiday is now known to some as Cinco de Drinko, and to Garcia as "Corona Day." This Cinco de Mayo, Garcia hopes everyone enjoys their Coronas, but perhaps with a little history lesson to wash it down. Cinco de Mayo celebrated around the U.S. San Diego: San Diego's Cinco de Mayo celebrations were held May 3 and 4 in Old Town San Diego. Activities included live music, folklorico, dining and drink specials. Denver: The Mile High City hosted several holiday-related activities over the weekend of May 3 for Cinco de Mayo Denver, from a community parade to chihuahua races. Events were held May 3-4 at Denver Civic Center Park from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. St. Paul, Minnesota: St. Paul's annual Cinco de Mayo celebration was in the city's West Side neighborhood and was one of Minnesota's largest Latino events. This year, festivities were held May 3 and included live performances, a car show and pro wrestling. San Antonio, Texas: Fiesta San Antonio is a 10-day celebration of state history and culture with parades, fairs, art shows, music and food. Festivities continued until Sunday, May 4. Los Angeles: Fiesta Broadway, one of the largest Latino and Cinco de Mayo festivals in the world, runs down four blocks in downtown Los Angeles. The annual festival happened this year on April 27, according to event organizers. Contributing: Emily DeLetter, Jordan Mendoza and Maria Jimenez Moya, USA TODAY
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Forbes
How ‘Scent Of The Human' Leaves A Sensory Trail Amid AI-Content
Over the past few years, we have intersected many times in our travels. Then, just recently, my fellow traveler suggested lunch the next time I was in New York. And so, with no agenda other than to satisfy my own curiosity, I sat down with Mario Garcia, an adjunct professor in Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and CEO of Garcia Media, a consulting firm to understand his concept of the 'scent of a human'. The author of 16 books—his latest two, AI: The Next Revolution in Content Creation (2024) and The Story(2019), about the art of storytelling in today's mobile culture—Mario has an impressive curriculum vitae that could be turned fairly easily into a factual article. In fact, for illustrative purposes, I asked ChatGPT to do just that: 'As the Senior Adviser on News Design and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, he plays a pivotal role in shaping modern media narratives… Throughout his illustrious career, Mario has been instrumental in redesigning over 700 publications across 120 countries, including prominent names like The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post…' There is much more to this Cuban-born, youthful 78-year-old with an engaging smile. Only by describing my first-hand experience of spending time with Mario can I convey the ideas he explained to me and reflect on how that conversation made me feel. This is what Mario calls 'the scent of the human'—the evidence of 'I was there' that leaves an imprint to let readers know that what they are reading was created by a human. During our lunch, Mario described the evolving world of journalism, in which AI is used for basic, factual reporting—faster, cheaper, more efficient. With AI doing mundane tasks and assisting with background research, human writers have more time and energy to write. Mario grew animated as he discussed front-page stories on global news events in which only a human writer can describe a scene compellingly, and lifestyle features that evoke emotions by drawing on memories and senses. Suddenly, sitting in that restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side, I saw how his concept of the scent of the human (which he sometimes calls 'scent of the writer' or 'scent of the artist') adds another dimension to what I have always believed about AI in the professional world. Rather than being viewed as a competitive threat, AI and machine learning can and should be used as tools to gain efficiency and expediency. Without question, generative AI continues to make advancements, helping organizations enhance productivity, improve workflows, speed processes, and enable human learning. For example, at my company, Area9 Lyceum, we use AI to deliver a personalized learning experience, showing the most relevant content to a particular learner at a given time. For all that AI can do, however, it has some significant deficits; namely, it cannot think, act, or create with the same intention as a human. As Mario explains, humans bring an 'emotional intentionality' to what they create, whether a news story, painting, poem, musical composition, or other creative work. This is a fundamental distinction from AI-generated content. In other words, no matter how facile AI is with output from data or summarized information, machines are driven by computer code—not the purely human desire to connect with others. Mario's views align with the arguments of scholars such as Sherry Turkle in her studies on the importance of human authenticity and the 'mimicry' of robotics and other machines, as well as artists such as musician and songwriter Nick Cave who, in a sharp critique of AI-generated lyrics, commented: 'Songs arise out of suffering … and, well, as far as I know algorithms don't feel. Data doesn't suffer.' Further, Mario believes this is an ethical line that should not be crossed, guarding what is machine-generated from ever becoming indistinguishable from uniquely human creativity. Even as he advocates for preserving and amplifying the human voice in content creation, Mario does see a role for AI to gain efficiency and improve cost-effectiveness in news reporting. 'See AI as a crane that can help with the data heavy-lifting, but also as a thinking companion that can assist and inspire,' he said. He's not alone in this view. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in a report on the future of journalism, observed that AI can be used in 'automated reporting' such as sports scores and weather summaries, and to assist in investigative journalism by analyzing large datasets quickly to uncover trends and insights. Mario sees such use of AI as a gift to journalists, allowing them the time and freedom to do what they do best. As he wrote in a recent blog post: 'As AI-generated content becomes increasingly prevalent, the qualities that distinguish human writing—authenticity, emotional depth, and creative intuition—are more valuable in ensuring that a writer's presence is felt throughout a narrative.' My discussion with Mario about the intersection of AI-generated data and human creativity reminded me of another conversation I had a few years ago about a far different field. Golf. Klaus Eldrup-Jørgensen, co-founder and CEO of Trackman, which creates radar and software analysis tools for golf swing and ball flight analysis, observed that the initial adopters among the top professionals in the field tended to be younger players who were fascinated by the technology as a learning aid. However, old-school pros were sometimes slower to catch on. For them the game was all about 'feel'—not data. That has completely changed in the meantime. As in other sports, data and analytics have become vital. As Klaus told me at the time, 'The 'feel' players now use the data and the analytics to learn. But to execute in the real world, they go back to 'feel'—and then they use data to analyze and learn from real-life mistakes.' Or, as Mario might have described it, a human must remain anchored in the process through the senses, such as sight, sound, smell. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Another component of the scent of the human is the driving force behind learning and innovation, alike: curiosity. This is our innate desire to find out why, which is so abundant in small children—in fact, I have called it the childhood trait that unlocks adult learning. Unfortunately, curiosity tends to get quashed as we get older. In the workplace, for example, the emphasis is too often on just getting the job done. Ironically, perhaps, AI could change that by taking over repetitive tasks. With more time and mental capacity, people could allow their curiosity to take them into new areas of experimentation and creation. This is the broader implication of the scent of the human—not only in journalism and storytelling, but also across the business landscape. We can let AI lay the groundwork with data and analysis to empower humans to follow their curiosity and engage their creativity to go beyond the facts, figures, and analyses of today's trends. In this way, business leaders can ensure that the scent of the human lingers along the path of entrepreneurship, innovation, and creative disruption.
