Where Czechoslovakian Americans live

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Singer Teena Marie Dies

Square Biz. Lovergirl. Fire & Desire. Portuguese Love. All these songs were popular R&B hits by singer Teena Marie. She died yesterday, December 26, 2010, at age 54. Teena Marie was born Mary Christine Brockert, and grew up in the Oakwood section of Venice, California.

Teena Marie found her music more popular with Black audiences than with White audiences. Her soulful style made her one of the few White performers to consistently scores hits on the R&B chart, finally topping the it in 1988 with her #1 hit "Ooo La La La". She signed with Motown Records in 1980, and became a protege of funk legend Rick James. Teena Marie described her ethnic heritage as Portuguese, Italian, Irish and American Indian.

Where Basque Americans live

Where Belgian-Americans live

Russian Orthodox Resurgence in East New York

East New York has long been a hotbed of crime, one of Brooklyn's most dangerous and run down neighborhoods. Yet East New York's Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity is experiencing a resurgence after decades of decline, due to a new wave of Russian immigrants in the city.

Where Ukrainian-Americans live

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Where Armenian Americans live

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Nixon's ethnic diatribes

The Watergate Scandal wasn't President Nixon's only example of poor judgement. A newly released batch of tapes from the Nixon libraries reveal disparaging remarks President Nixon made in reference to Blacks, Jews, Irish-Americans, and Italian-Americans. The tapes were made in February and March 1973, and recorded conversations between Nixon and his top aides and personal secretary.

Nixon's rants stooped to the lowest of ethnic stereotypes. He took shots at the Irish as drinkers, Italians as hot tempered, and Jews as obnoxious. Surprising is the disinterest on the plight of Soviet Jews of not only Nixon, but also his German- Jewish National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger.

A tribute to New York's Italians

From Fiorello LaGuardia, to Rudolph Giuliani, Italians have left their mark in New York. Now, a proposal calls for a museum dedicated to Italian-Americans on a pier under restoration in the city's Battery Park. It is one of four proposals for the pier. The Battery Park City Authority, which runs the park, will make a decision early next year.

Celebrating Hannukah

The eight day Jewish festival of Hanukkah begins on December 1 in 2010.

In Fairfield, Connecticut, locals celebrate their second public menorah lighting. The first ceremony last year was marred by Neo-Nazis.

In West Bloomfield, Michigan, Temple Israel's No Temple Without Chanukah program aids needy families during the holiday.

At the White House, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle hosted a Hanukkah ceremony in East Room. The ceremony featured a menorah lent by a congregation in New Orleans that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Meanwhile, a new Hanukkah song has entered American popular culture. The Maccabeats are an accapella group from New York's Yeshiva University. Their Hanukkah tribute titled "Candelight" is sung to the pop song "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz and has become a YouTube sensation.

Lastly, NPR traces the origin of American Hanukkah celebrations back to the work of two Cincinnati rabbis in the late 19th century.

Russian Radio in New York

Corporate take overs and consolidations have made the New York radio dial pretty dull in the last few years. That's why it's so refreshing to find Danu Radio.

Formerly known as "Radio Pozitiv", Danu Radio is a Russian language radio station broadcasting out of Brooklyn that air music and talk shows.  While the music is Russian language, there's an international sensibility to programs like the dance music show that transcends any language barriers.

The talk shows function as an important outlet for the Russian immigrant community.

Programs include a morning show, listener call in programs like Почти дома, an Armenian language program titled Армянское Радио, and a talk show featuring Seva Kaplan, known as the founding father of Russian radio in the US. Danu Radio's website compares Kaplan to the outspokenness of shock jock Howard Stern, although that description is hard to validate as there are so few Russian speaking Howard Stern fans available to judge.
 

Parlez-vous français? ¿Se habla español?

Another casualty of the faltering American economy: Foreign language programs at many public universities. Colleges are cutting back on language programs as administrators cope with cuts in state and federal aid to schools. European languages in particular fall victim to the cutbacks, as enrollment reflects the shift of interest to Asian languages.

The most popular languages, based on enrollment, remain Spanish and French. Languages that saw the largest enrollment increases are Arabic, Korean, and Chinese.