Hey GOP: She's legal and her name is not Maria!!!

Leave it to Republicans to try and turn a person's vast accomplishments to a reason why they would be "unqualified" for the Supreme Court. Despite the fact that most of her colleges have described her simply as "Brilliant", this woman has as a story, much like Pres Obama's, that should inspire us all.

So in honor of President Obama's nomination of the truly qualified Nuyorican Judge, Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, I'd like to dedicate a song to all the GOP detractors who have called her everything from A LIBERAL ACTIVIST, to a RACIST, to an ILLEGAL, to the ever endearing "MARIA" (no Mike Huckabee, she will not be cleaning your house or watching your children). So for all you conservative ratones enjoy "El Raton", by Cheo Feliciano and the Fania All Stars (also peep Carlos Santana's little bro Jorge on the guitar solo).

SUNDAY SALSA BREAK!!!: Mi Gente

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to find a DVD copy of Fania Allstars in Africa. Since watching it forward and backward countless times, this scene stands out to me as a moment that is truly reflective of where Salsa was in the 70s in New York, Zaire and around the world. Besides looking as fly as one could ever look in Fire Engine Red pants and guacamole green shirt, singing his hit Mi Gente, Hector Lavoe brings a crowd of thousands in to his world. He also shares himself with them, as he sings the line "..y tu abuela, donde estas", an old Puerto Rican saying reflecting the shared African heritage of both those on stage and those in the crowd in Zaire.