Today as I sat a stoplight in Miami, I saw a Customs and Border Patrol officer buy a paper cone of peanuts from an older Cuban gentleman ("El Manisero"). I have watched the old guy sell products at this intersection for years. (Sometimes he sells mamoncillo fruit that is treasured throughout the Caribbean, or he sells oranges, limes or bottled water.)
Determination, ingenuity and resilience are traits inherent in most of those who come to the United States. Not that
everyone who emigrates to the U.S. does so only out of necessity but rather, the
immigration process seems to necessitate a drive and determination that
can be uniquely found in so many successful businesspersons and professionals who come
from other countries. It is virtually
impossible not to find these traits in the course of doing business in
South Florida, a city, that at 60%
immigrant, has one the largest percentage of immigrants of any city in the world
according to a 2004 United
Nations Human Development Report. Miami is just one of many places in the
United States where the contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs go well
beyond the informal sectors and reach into
billion dollar industries. In February of last year, the Center for an Urban
Future published,
A World of
Opportunity: Understanding & Tapping the Economic Potential of Immigrant
Entrepreneurs. The report does an excellent job
documenting how immigrant entrepreneurs have become an increasingly powerful
economic engine for New York and other American cities. The report concludes
that immigrant entrepreneurs have the potential to provide an even bigger boost
to these cities in the years ahead. Unlike Tom
Tancredo, I don't consider my home town of Miami to be "Third World" in the
derogatory sense but rather I cherish the
determination and ingenuity that exists as a
direct result of our immigrant population. The arrangement of El Manisero by a Jewish emigrant to Cuba, Moisés Simmons [1] was recorded by a popular Cuban singer Rita Montaner in Havana in 1928. In 1930 the adaptation of Montaner’s version was recorded in New York by Don Azpiazu and his Havana Casino orchestra, sung by Antonio Machín[2]. It was featured in the Hollywood film The Cuban Love Song (1931) and quickly picked by a dozen other orchestras in the United States and Europe. The song was a top hit on the record in 1931.
** (from Wikipedia)
The Peanut Vendor (original title: El Manisero) is a popular Cuban song in style usually known as Cuban rumba (the more correct name of the song's style is son pregón).
