Calle 13 Among Trendsetters and Torchbearers Tapping in to Digital Platforms to Change the World
Austin, TX — One person’s granito de sal (grain of sand) can make a world of difference. Premiering as the official Latino event at 2012 SXSW Interactive on March 12 at Carlos Santana’s Maria Maria, The Social Revolución will honor those who’ve made a world of difference.
Six winners representing the Mobilizer, Innovator and New Americano categories, and special honoree Puerto Rican duo Calle 13, were selected from among 140 nominations for those who have inspired change using digital platforms.
“These Social Revolucionarios are proving that they can mobilize their international and local causes online and off,” says Director of SXSW Interactive Hugh Forrest. “The winners are helping to foster communities and spreading positive change by connecting and educating people. Connecting and educating people is what the SXSW Interactive Festival is all about. The online world is crucial in successfully organizing, informing and mobilizing significant real-world communities.”
Calle 13 will receive the Líderes of the Revolución award. With 19 Latin Grammys, Calle 13 has reached millions with their catchy beats and powerful lyrics reflective of their bicultural experiences.
“Partnering with UNICEF and other major non-profits, Calle 13 uses music in a philanthropic way to inspire and make change, online and off,” said Sebastian Puente, CEO and partner at Cultural Strategies, a multicultural marketing and digital Austin-based agency that created the Social Revolución.
Making their mark in The Mobilizer category are 31K Portraits for Peace and Oscar Morales. Portraits for Peace is the brainchild of Mexicans Diego Huerta and Dany Gutierrez, who are striving to counteract Mexico’s violence through images of people with a blue dove as a sign of peace. They sacrificed one year to shoot 31,000 portraits expressing the solidarity of the masses.
Morales is the Colombian-based creator of One Million Voices against FARC Facebook movement. He organized anti-FARC protests that rallied 12 million people in 200 cities across the world, considered the largest antiterrorism demonstrations in history.
Maria Teresa Kumar of Voto Latino and Lalo Alcaraz of Pocho.com will receive the New Americano awards. Kumar works tirelessly with Voto Latino, a nonpartisan civic engagement organization in Washington, D.C. she founded with actress Rosario Dawson to engage and empower Latinos through voter registration.
Alcaraz is a nationally syndicated Latino editorial cartoonist in Los Angeles who uses traditional media, the web and social media to convey his reactions to current events. He was also the creator of Daniel D. Portado.
The Innovator Awards will go to Lance Rios and Vocabador. Nuyorican Rios created Being Latino, an online network of almost 70,000 Facebook fans that connects and educates people across the global Latino spectrum. Vocabador is a unique app designed by El Jefe Productions in Austin for students nationwide to prepare for the SATs. Its design follows the luchador theme, thereby making studying more enticing to youth.
The awards ceremony will take place at the Latino Lounge and After Party featuring the finest indie Latin bands including Juan Cirerol from Mexicali, David Garza and Charanga Cakewalk of Austin and Beatriz Luengo from Spain. Interviews with the artists, highlights from their concerts and the entire lineup at the Latino Lounge including the Revolucionario Awards will be viewable athttp://univisionnews.tumblr.com and www.thesocialrevolucion.com.
The Social Revolución is the brainchild of Cultural Strategies who, in the spirit of social media, is collaborating with digital partners including Latina Lista, Latino Rebels, Twitteros, Juan of Words, Being Latino, and The News Taco. Univision News is the title sponsor and supporting sponsors include MTV Tr3s, Hispanicize, and LatinoMetro.com.
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