PRESS RELEASE |
FIESTA DC NEW BOOK ABOUT THE HISTORY AND PRESENT OF LATINO BUSINESSES IN DC IS NOW ON THE WEB
Jan 5, 2010
Washington, DC.
¿When were the first Latino businesses in the District of Columbia established? Who were the pioneers and how did the businesses evolve over the course of various decades?
How many and what types of Latino businesses currently exist? In what wards are they located?
In Fiesta DC’s new book, “Latino Business Guide,” you will find an answer to these and many other questions. Printed and distributed last September during the Latino Festival of Washington and in dozens of organizations and businesses, the book can be seen now in Fiesta DC web.
Those we want a printed book may pick up it at 1803 Belmont Road, Suite 202, NW Washington.
In more than 250 pages, the book documents the current existence of at least 318 Latino businesses in the District of Columbia, including restaurants and stores, beauty salons, consulting and public-relations firms, communications media, and a diverse sector of professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and architects.
An analysis of the geographic distribution of these businesses shows that the majority are located in Wards 1 and 4, with only two in Ward 8 and none in Ward 7.
Four genres are predominant: restaurants (124), multiservicies (45), stores and markets, (43) and beauty salons (33).
“The idea of the book isn’t just to document the present but to understand how these Latino businesses have evolved since the 1930’s, nearly a century ago to the present,” said Alfonso Aguilar, Executive Director of Fiesta DC. “Following that conceptual context the books includes interviews, reportage, and pictures already published in many newspapers and magazines, as well as new charts and essays,” Aguilar said.
"It's a presentation of humanistic content that, by focusing on particular stories, follows the history of immigrant entrepreneurs, assessing their value to the community," added editor Luis Rumbaut.
The book is written in English, but includes several newspaper articles that are published again in their original language, Spanish. It serves also as a useful illustrated guide to many businesses of general interest, such as the dozens of restaurants that present the varied regional cuisines of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain.
Fiesta DC, a non-profit entity that among other events organizes the Latino Festival of Washington, published last year the book “Latino Cultural Guide,” with detailed information on more than 180 local artists, including music, dance, and theater groups.
Contact: Alfonso Aguilar
(202) 232-4393
info@fiestadc.org
www.fiestadc.or