TAAC Bulletin
Volume 18, Number 1
Winter, 2001
Bad News and Good News
About the Digital Divide
Although recent numbers suggest the technological gap between African Americans and White Americans has narrowed a bit, the gap between rural and urban American communities is a wide chasm. And in rural Native American areas, the lack of access to technology is frightening.
Seventy-seven percent of the on the Navajo reservation have no phone service, according to a recent report published by the National Congress of American Indians and funded by AOL Time Warner. Sixty-eight percent of the people at the Lakota's Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota are without phone service. Ownership of a computer and access to the Internet among 48 rural native communities surveyed was less than ten percent in 1999, according to the Economic Development Administration. Approximately forty percent of city halls in Georgia do not have access to the Internet, according to Chuck Burris, mayor of Stone Mountain, Georgia. But in New Mexico, rural telecommunications cooperatives have provided broadband access via digital subscriber lines in towns with fewer than 2,000 people.
According to a story in the Albuquerque Tribune, small cooperatives in the state have used funds supplied by the federal Rural Utility Service and from Universal Service Fees—a surcharge levied on long-distance companies to help provide services to rural areas. High school students in Des Moines, NM, a community with a population of 177—are capable of completing their first year of college through an online link with a local community college, according to the Tribune article. Second graders are doing presentations in PowerPoint.
Source: Fred McKissack Jr., KRT Digital Divide is Not Just an Urban Thing Yahoo! News, December 13, 2001
Chinese American Population Increase Reported
Washington, DC—According to Census data from 2000, the Chinese American population has increased by forty-eight percent to over 2.4 million since 1990, leaving the Chinese American community with the highest population of any Asian ethnicity in the country. The Asian American population increased at about the same rate as the Chinese American population over that period of time. Current Census 2000 data detail the populations for the six largest Asian American communities:
- Chinese Americans 2.4 million
- Filipino Americans 1.8 million
- Indian Americans 1.7 million
- Vietnamese American 1.1 million
- Korean Americans 1.1 million
- Japanese Americans 0.8 million
The only one of these six Asian ethnic groups in America to see a decrease in population was the Japanese American community.
"OCA is encouraged by the large increase in the Chinese American population," said George M. Ong, OCA National President. "The remarkable growth in other Asian American communities is heartening as well. Our only hope is that with this growing population, we can continue to represent all Asian Americans and give each member of our community a voice."
The ten states with the largest Chinese American populations were:
- California (980,642)
- New York (424,774)
- Texas (105,829)
- New Jersey (100,355)
- Massachusetts (84,392)
- Illinois (76,725)
- Washington (59,914)
- Hawaii (56,600)
- Pennsylvania (50,650)
- Maryland (49,400)
In terms of percentage of population, the ten largest Chinese American communities are in Hawaii, California, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, Maryland, Nevada, District of Columbia, and Illinois. "These data prove what OCA has always maintained: that our community is growing every day and our needs must be addressed" stated Raymond Wong, OCA Executive Vice President. "We hope to mobilize our community as it expands and bring our concerns into future discussions about policy."
Source: Organization of Chinese Americans, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan civil rights organization with 82 chapters and affiliates across the country, was founded in 1973 to ensure the civil rights of the Asian Pacific American community. It maintains its headquarters in Washington, DC. May 29, 2001 Contact: Giles Li 202-223-5500
Presidential Appointments
to Presidents Committee
on the Arts and Humanities
On December 4th, 2001, President Bush announced his intention to appoint the following twenty-three individuals to serve as members of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. First Lady Laura Bush is the honorary chair of the Committee.
- Adair Wakefield Margo of Texas will serve as Chair
- Rebecca Smith Beach of Iowa
- Deborrah Kaye Allen of California
- William Edward Strickland of Pennsylvania
- Jeannette Naylor Cope of Washington, DC
- Phillip Roman of California
- Alice Clement Carrington of Texas
- Dixie Carter of Tennessee
- Lionel Chetwynd of California
- William Paul McCormick of Oregon
- Emilio Estefan of Florida
- James Farmer of Michigan
- Jaime Fonalledas of Puerto Rico
- Ralph Henry Kirshbaum of New York
- John Mason of Nevada
- Raymond D Nasher of Texas
- Emily Malino Scheuer of Washington, DC
- Mercedes B Paz-Slimp of California
- Caren Prothro of Texas
- Cindy Lynn Sites of Connecticut
- Elizabeth Myerberg Dubin of Maryland
- Laurie Ann Green Firestone of California
- Roxane Gatling Gilmore of Virginia
- Ralph McInerny of Indiana
- Burton John McMurtry of California
Earlier this fall, Henry Moran was appointed by President Bush to serve as the Committee's Executive Director. Before joining the Committee, Moran was Executive Director of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, where he served for over 20 years.
Source: Americans for the Arts, December 17, 2001
Chicano Exhibit
Opens in San Antonio
Celebratory Chicano Art Exhibit Features Cheech Marin’s Private Collection opened at the San Antonio Museum of Art this December.
Actor Cheech Marin’s vision of Chicano art and expression are being brought to life in a blockbuster museum exhibit duo collectively entitled, Chicano. The exhibits, presented by Target Stores and sponsored by the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge Brands of DaimlerChrysler, are a ground-breaking look at the rich history and contributions of Chicanos. Debuting in San Antonio, Texas, in December 2001, this unprecedented exhibit will visit 15 US cities within the next five years.
Although often overlooked, the influence and contributions of Chicanos to the American landscape cannot be ignored. Chicano, therefore, aims to present the many voices of today’s Chicanos via a traditional art exhibit Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge as well as a multi-media exhibit, Chicano Now: American Expressions. Chicano will also visit Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco with additional cities still to be announced.
Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge, the most comprehensive collection of Chicano paintings ever mounted, will showcase a wide variety of Chicano visual art. Marin’s own personal Chicano art collection, one of the largest in the world, forms the core of this presentation.
According to Rene Yáñez, Chicano Visions curator, easel paintings of oil or acrylic on canvas form the bulk of the exhibit. Images of urban life and the Chicano experience are recurring elements throughout the exhibit, which includes pieces by artists Carlos Almaraz, Frank Romero, GRONK, John Valadez, and Patssi Valdez.
Chicano Now: American Expressions will invite visitors to experience the impact and joy of Chicano contributions through a wide array of media—video, art, audio and interactive displays.
"We are bringing our interpretation of the Chicano experience to the American public," says Marin. "I want all Americans to understand that Chicano culture plays a big part in the patchwork quilt that is Americana. The contributions of Chicanos have been so enormous, but they tend to be overlooked."
Comedy troupe Culture Clash, actor/producer Marin, television journalist Giselle Fernández, comedians Paul Rodríguez and George López, filmmakers Lourdes Portillo, Robert Rodríguez and Gustavo Vázquez, and performance artist Guillermo Gómez Peña are among the nationally recognized artists who captivate children and adults with their presentations relating to things Chicano.
In addition to these dual exhibits, performances and local events will be hosted in each of the 15 host cities, creating a community-wide celebration of the expressions and contributions of Mexican Americans. Chicano will also benefit the San Francisco-based Hispanic Scholarship Fund by awarding 45 scholarships to deserving students on behalf of the sponsors, Target Stores and the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund. HSF helped to shape the scholarship aspect of the exhibit from its inception. "Cheech has been a friend and champion of HSF for many years. The Chicano exhibit is yet another example of the pride he has for his heritage," said Sara Martinez Tucker, HSF president and CEO.
"Chicano shines a spotlight on a culture rich in values and tradition," says John Remington, vice president of special events and publicity for Target Stores.
Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is the nation’s largest and most prestigious Hispanic scholarship-granting organization, with a vision to strengthen America by advancing the college education of Hispanic Americans. Since it was founded in 1975, HSF has awarded more than 45,000 scholarships totaling in excess of $58 million to Latinos from all states and Puerto Rico, who have attended more than 1,300 colleges and universities.
AMEA Responds to
Multiracial Census Data
March 12th, 2001 is an historic day for the Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA), the national organization whose mission is to educate and advocate on behalf of multiethnic individuals and families by collaborating with others to eradicate discrimination in all forms. The Census Bureau stated that 2.4 percent of the US population, or 6.8 million people, responded to the Census by checking more than one race box.
AMEA has worked with the Office of Management and Budget and the Census Department since the late 80's towards counting members of the multiracial community.
AMEA has worked with Claudette Bennett, Racial Statistics Branch Chief for the Census Department since the early 1990's. Given the long relationship with Ms. Bennett, the organization's board members were shocked at her statement that the Census Bureau has stayed away from the concept of multiracial and that they do not know whether multiracial people are a community. Edwin Darden, resident of Alexandria, Virginia and Legal Council for AMEA stated after hearing Ms. Bennett's comments, "She knows better. I can't believe she said it." Ms. Bennett's comments about multiracial people not having a community get at the heart of what AMEA finds disheartening in America, states Levonne Gaddy, Resident of Tucson, Arizona and President of AMEA. She asks, "What defines a community? Does the Census Department not only determine what we are to call ourselves racially but also whether we are a community or not? How does the Census Department define community?"
Webster defines community as a unified body of individuals; a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together in a larger society; a group linked by a common policy; a body of persons with a common history.
Ms. Gaddy explained that many individuals with more than one racial heritage and families with members from more than one racial group are unified through grassroots organizations such as AMEA and its eight affiliates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, DC, Tucson, Montclair, Eugene and Edmonton, Alberta. Other individuals throughout the country are unified on tens of college campuses and grassroots organizations not yet affiliated with AMEA.
"The common characteristic that multiracial people share is that they have had to learn to thrive in a society that does not acknowledge their multiple heritages or acknowledge that they are an emerging community," states Gaddy. "They have been linked and remain linked through the Office of Management and Budget's data collection policies on race. Multiracial people and interracial couples and family share a history of being discriminated against by institutions and fellow citizens. Laws existed until 1968 prohibiting the marriage of a person from one race to that of another race. No other racial group is being denied the right to identify themselves truthfully and in congruence with their racial heritage. No other racial group is currently being denied the right to determine what the government and larger society will call them."
Matt Kelley, Publisher of Mavin Magazine and AMEA board member hopes that the media does not pit AMEA and the multiracial community against other minorities. "We are people of color," Kelley states. "We are part of their communities yet part of an emerging community—a multiracial community." He adds, "Stop pushing us out. Widen your definition of your community to include us," he beckons of the traditional Asian, African American, Hispanic, Native American groups. "Take responsibility because we are also your community." AMEA will continue to monitor the data being released by the Census Department. Please refer frequently to www.ameasite.org for updated census analysis, including state-by-state multiracial data.
Source: Association of MultiEthnic Americans, Tucson, Arizona. March 12th, 2001.
Top Twenty-Five Hispanic Advertising Agencies
The vast majority of the Top Twenty-Five Hispanic Ad Agencies enjoyed a successful year. And most expect 2002 to be even better. The Bravo Group, whose gross billings are projected to reach $260 million dollars this year, is the nation's top Hispanic advertising agency, according to new rankings compiled by HispanTelligence®, the research division of Hispanic Business.
"I attribute The Bravo Group's success to one primary factor: work. That, complemented by commitment to an industry and a community, wrapped up with passion, creativity, and entrepreneurship," says Daisy Expósito-Ulla, Bravo's president and chief creative officer and immediate past president and parliamentarian of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies.
The New York-based agency, whose clients include Philip Morris USA, The New York Times, and Banco Popular, posted gross billings of $236.69 million last year.
Top 25 Billing Breakdown
Expenditures |
2001 |
Percentage |
Television |
$1,133.54 |
56.8% |
Expenditures |
2001 |
Percent |
Creative/Production |
$646.62 |
32.4% |
Founded in 1980, The Bravo Group is far and away the largest firm on the Hispanic Business list, with 185 employees. Ms. Expósito-Ulla says her firm has been especially successful in attracting new clients of late.
"I believe Bravo's future growth will be attributed in part to existing clients, but in our case it is really more about new business. We have just been awarded the Sears, Roebuck & Company's creative account, as well as McDonald's New York tri-state business," she says.
San Antonio-based Bromley Communications, ranked number 2, with projected billings of $176 million, also has had success adding to its account roster. Chairman and CEO Ernest W Bromley says new clients are the lifeblood of any ad agency, particularly in times of economic uncertainty. "Existing clients, though they are committed to this market, have not raised their ad budgets, at least not to the extent we have become accustomed to the last three or four years," says Mr. Bromley, whose agency billed $165 million last year. In fact, he and his top lieutenants saw the first signs of an economic slowdown as early as last year and planned accordingly. He counts Payless ShoeSource among his agency's most significant recent account acquisitions. Bromley clients also include Procter and Gamble, Burger King, and Continental Airlines.
Altogether, billings among the top 25 Hispanic agencies increased about fourteen percent from 2000 to this year. However, two firms on the list saw their billing totals fall: Mendoza, Dillon and Asociados, based in Newport Beach, California, expects to post billings of $90 million this year after grossing $95 million in 2000, and Miami-based Castor Advertising Corporation will bill $53 million compared with $60.03 million last year. The total remained unchanged ($60 million), the rest of the Top 25 showed impressive year-over-year billings growth.
Dallas-based Dieste and Partners, ranked number 3, enjoyed the largest dollar jump, going from $110 million last year to a projected $148 million in 2001, while Austin-based Latinworks Advertising, ranked number 25, posted the largest percentage increase, jumping from $15 million in billings to $28 million.
Television continues to account for the lion's share of agencies' billings (56.8 percent, or $1.1 billion), followed distantly by radio (19.2 percent; $382.75 million).
The Internet, which was hyped as the industry's next big thing as recently as last year, is projected to account for a paltry 2.1 percent, or $41.03 million. Reflecting the recent push by global conglomerates to acquire ownership stakes in Hispanic ad agencies, just 10 of the top 25 are 100 percent Hispanic-owned. Of the rest, seven are majority Hispanic-owned, two are minority Hispanic-owned, and the balance are owned entirely by larger companies. The Bravo Group is owned by Young and Rubicam, for instance.
There's a good reason for the sudden influx of general-market firms in the Hispanic advertising industry. As Mr. Bromley explains, "Hispanic culture is not just popular—it's becoming a necessity now," which is why he is bullish about where ad budgets are headed. He is not alone. Despite the country's economic travails, 88 percent of the Top 25 agencies expect Hispanic ad spending to increase in the coming year. "Agencies with a proven track record will have the most to gain. I don't believe clients will want to experiment in these economic times," says Ms. Expósito-Ulla.
Top 25 Billing Survey
Will Hispanic ad spending change in 2002? |
What produce categories have the greatest growth potential for advertising? |
||
Will increase: |
88% |
Financial sevices: |
81% |
Will decrease: |
0% |
Packaged goods: |
52% |
Will stay the same: |
8% |
Telecommunications: |
29% |
Did not respond: |
4% |
Health services: |
24% |
The top 25 Hispanic ad agencies spent $1.90 billion, or 95 percent of their total billings, on Spanish-Language ads.
Source: Hispanic Business magazine, December 2001.
Important Dates:
Febuary 2002
10th Annual First Americans in the Arts Awards,
Century Plaza Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, Saturday, February 2, 2002—Info: Sandra Di Carlo call (818) 623.9520, www.FirstAmericans.org
NYCCC's 17th Annual Lunar New Year Festival
February 16th at 2pm and 7:30pm, February 17th at 2pm TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College New York City, New York Chinese Cultural Center, 390 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10013 Telephone: (212) 334-3764, FAX: (212) 334-3768 NYCCC390@aol.com
March 2002
Arts Advocacy Day
The 2002 National Arts Action Summit, March 11th-12th, 2002, Jurys Washington Hotel, Washington, DC
April 2002
Native Solutions 4th Annual Intertribal Pow Wow,
Oxford Lake Park, Oxford, April 26th-28th, 2002, at Exit 185 off of I-20, Information: Mark or Ruth Davis (256) 820-6315
May 2002
Tejano Conjunto Festival
Rosedale Park, May 9th-12th,San Antonio, Texas
Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, 1300 Guadalupe Street, San Antonio, Texas 78207 (210) 271-3151
The 52nd Annual Tulsa Pow Wow,
O'Brien Park, Tulsa, Oklahoma, May 31st–June 2nd, 2002, Information: Jack Anquoe (918) 622-7870
Munsee Delaware Nation,
USA Gathering and Festival
Route 22, Vista Lane, Winterset, Ohio, May 3rd—5th 2002, Information: Little Shadow (330) 385-8013
June 2002
ART works!: Creative Solutions for Change
Americans for the Arts, Annual Convention, June 8th-10th, 2002, Renaissance Nashville Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee, Contact: Washington Office, 1000 Vermont Avenue Northwest, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20005, Phone: (202) 371-2830
September 2002
Atlatl's 9th Biennial Native Arts Network Conference,
September 19th-20th, 2002, in Phoenix, Arizona, Contact: 49 East Thomas Road, Suite #105, Phoenix, Arizona, 85012, (602) 277-3711 atlatl@atlatl.org, www.Atlatl.org
October 2002
Inter-American Bookfair and Literary Festival, Trinity University, October, 2002, San Antonio, Texas, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, 1300 Guadalupe Street, San Antonio, Texas, 78207 (210) 271-3151
NASAA Annual Convention,
October 17th-20th, 2002, Detroit, Michigan, 1029 Vermont Avenue, NorthWest, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20005, telephone: (202) 347-6352, FAX: (202) 737-0526, TDD: (202) 347-5948, NASAA@nasaa-arts.org, www.nasaa-arts.org
August 2003
National Black Theatre Festival August 4th-9th, 2003, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina nbtf@bellsouth.net
Ethnic Retail Shops:
Native American
Pueblo Pottery New Mexico
The premier online gallery of contemporary American Indian pottery. Fine handmade Pueblo pottery from the Acoma, Hopi, Jemez, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Zia, and Zuni peoples.
www.PuebloPottery.com/
Hopi Arts and Crafts—Silversmith Cooperative Guild
A major objective of the Guild is to perpetuate excellence and authenticity in all Hopi arts and craft. Box 37, Second Mesa, Arizona 86043. Telephone: (928) 734-2463 FAX: (928) 734-6647 www.HopiGuild.com
Latino
Tienda Tzintzuntzan
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, 1852 West 19th Street, Chicago, Illinois (312) 738-1503 epenar@mfacmchicago.org www.MFACMChicago.org/tienda/.
La Tiendita
Gift store at Plaza de la Raza, Los Angeles, California info@plazaraza.org, www.plazaraza.org/latienda/
African-American
Djema Imports
The foremost retail and wholesale West African textile and craft distributor on the East coast. (212) 289-3842, 70 West 125th Street, New York, NY 10027-4429 djema.imports@usa.net www.djemaimports.com.
African Art Boutique
We believe in our heritage and our roots through the form of beautiful works of art. contact_us@africanartboutique.com
www.AfricanArtBoutique.com.
High Museum of Art Shop
1280 Peachtree Street, NorthEast, Atlanta, Georgia 30309 (404) 733-4400 www.high.org/museumshop.htm.
African Echoes
One of the largest selections of African American fine art prints, limited editions and open edition lithographs. 2650 Napoleon Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46203 service@africanechoes.com (317) 788-0170
www.AfricanEchoes.com.
Asian-American
Japanese American Cultural and Community Center store
244 South San Pedro Street, Suite 505, Los Angeles (Little Tokyo), California, 90012. Telephone: (213) 628–2725, FAX: (213) 617–8576 info@jaccc.org www.jaccc.org.
Freer and Sackler Galleries
Where you will discover everything Asian. Find unusual gifts made in or inspired by the art and cultures of Asia. Arthur M Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Avenue, SouthWest, Washington, DC 20560 (202) 357-4880, Freer Gallery of Art, Jefferson Drive at 12th Street, SouthWest, Washington, DC 20560 (202) 357–4880 www.asia.si.edu/shop/.