Saturday, May 31, 2008

Politics

Featured story

Presidential primary brings attention, frustration to Puerto Rico

Tomorrow's presidential primary is bringing Puerto Ricans just the attention the struggling island has been clamoring for: visits by the candidates and a former president, and media attention that people hope will help their fellow US citizens on the mainland to understand their plight.

But Puerto Ricans have too much experience of being taken for granted to believe it will make a difference.

US politicians promise to help Puerto Rico every four years, then seem to forget about the island once the elections are over, residents here complain.
To read more, go to:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/05/31/presidential_primary_brings_attention_frustration_to_puerto_rico/

Boricua Pride



From the archives of PRSUN TV

Footage of the 2006 National Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC

This year's national parade is Sunday, June 8, on Fifth Avenue.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Community Calendar

Sunday, June 15, 7:30-10 p.m.
"In the Heights" Dinner
Hispaniola Restaurant, 839 W. 181st St. at Cabrini Blvd., Manhattan
Watch the Tony Awards live and count how many trophies the musical wins. "In the Heights" has been nominated for 13 Tony awards.
Call NoMAA at 212-568-4396 to order tickets.

This is part of the Uptown Arts Stroll activities. For more info., visit www.manhattantimesnews.com or www.artstroll.com.

source: The Manhattan Times

Editor's Note: See related "In the Heights" entry posted May 14 in this blog.
Reminder

Support Latino Theater




Community Calendar

Cemi Underground Turns One

Cemi Underground in NYC's El Barrio celebrates its first anniversary as a small bookstore and cultural spot in East Harlem. In the last year, Cemi Undergound has had a parade of who's who in the Puerto Rican arts, cultural, literary and activist community. The fiesta kicks off at 5:30 p.m. June 5.

Among its lineup of events this year was "Un Caribe en NY," a photo exhibit featuring the work of photographers Eliud Martinez, Chris Lopez and yours truly.

Congratulations to Cemi Underground.

For more information on the festivities, go to
www.cemiunderground.com. Admission is free.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Fact Sheet on PR Voters


Politics

Pew Hispanic Center Releases a Fact Sheet on the Puerto Rican Electorate

The Pew Hispanic Center today released a fact sheet on the demographics of eligible voters in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The fact sheet contains information on elections in Puerto Rico and data on the size and social and economic characteristics of the Puerto Rican eligible voter population. This fact sheet is based on the Center's tabulations of the Census Bureau's 2006 Puerto Rico Community Survey.

All Hispanics in the 2008 Election fact sheets are available on the Center's website at www.pewhispanic.org.

The Pew Hispanic Center, an initiative of the Pew Research Center, is a non-partisan, non-advocacy research organization based in Washington, D.C. and is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


To go to the fact sheet,
http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/vote2008/PuertoRico.pdf

source: release from the Pew Hispanic Center

that magical time


that magical time
Originally uploaded by davelightseer.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008


IMG_8096
Originally uploaded by clarisel.
@ Plaza Cultural

Puerto Rico Sun recently visited NYC's Loisaida. This shot was taken at Plaza Cultural, a community garden.

For more photos of my day at Loisaida, visit my site at www.flickr.com/photos/clarisel.


By the way, La Plaza Cultural Armando Perez is among 10 "places that matter" that will be honored by Place Matters in June for enhancing community life. La Plaza and the other places will be honored as part of Place Matters' 10th anniversary celebration. City Lore and the Municipal Art Society founded the Place Matters project in 1998, and Place Matters' mission is to foster the conservation of New York City's historically and culturally significant places.

According to Place Matters: "CHARAS and other community members and activists cleared and reclaimed La Plaza from a rubble-strewn lot in 1976. This is a storied place, known for its large and lovely garden (26,000 s.f.), and as a performance space for amateurs and professionals."

For more information, go to www.placematters.net.



Boricua Juan Gonzalez to be Inducted into Hispanic Journalists' Hall of Fame



New York Daily News columnist and former Young Lord Juan Gonzalez will be inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Hall of Fame during this summer’s UNITY ‘08 convention in Chicago. UNITY is the nation’s largest gathering of journalists of color.

Throughout the years, Puerto Ricans have played an important role in the story of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and Gonzalez is one of those instrumental people.

Gonzalez, co-host of Democracy Now!, is a former NAHJ president, co-founder of UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. and an advocate against media consolidation, which NAHJ believes hurts minority media ownership and the quality of journalism.

"There were definitely some Puerto Ricans involved in the founding of NAHJ, Juan Gonzalez being the most active, involved and prominent at the time," Ivan Roman, NAHJ executive director, told Puerto Rico Sun. "There were others too. But there were Mexicans and Cubans in the mix as well and Mexicans were the largest group. The impetus for creating NAHJ came from some of the folks who had already created the California Chicano News Media Association some 20 years earlier than NAHJ's founding."

Established in April 1984, NAHJ is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry.

This year the NAHJ is also inducting University of Texas at Austin Professor Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, Ph.D. and the late Francisco P. Ramirez, editor of El Clamor Público, Los Angeles’ first Spanish-language newspaper, into its Hall of Fame. This year’s NAHJ Hall of Fame Gala will be on Friday, July 25th in the Chicago Ballroom of the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers during the UNITY convention.

Rivas-Rodriguez, also an NAHJ founder, created student training programs 20 years ago emulated by other journalism associations. She strongly advocates for improved coverage and inclusion of Latinos in media. She is founder and director of the U.S. Latino & Latina WWII Oral History Project. Rivas-Rodriguez gained national prominence after leading protests in 2007 against the PBS documentary about World War II. The film, which originally had excluded the stories of Hispanic veterans, was eventually modified.

Ramírez founded El Clamor Público in the mid 19th century when he was 17 years old, shortly after California became part of the United States , giving a voice to long-established Mexicans faced with a new reality of becoming strangers in their own land. His newspaper, whose title in English means The Public Outcry, was a forceful advocate for equal rights for people of all races at a turbulent time.

Created in 2000, NAHJ’s Hall of Fame is reserved for journalists and industry pioneers whose national or local efforts have resulted in a greater number of Latinos entering the journalism profession or have helped to improve news coverage of the nation’s Latino community.

With the induction of González, Ramírez and Rivas-Rodriguez, there are now 22 NAHJ Hall of Famers.

For more information about the NAHJ, visit www.nahj.org.-- Clarisel Gonzalez

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

PSA

The Center for Puerto Rican Studies invites the
Hunter College community and the community at large to a
series of open presentations by candidates for the Research Associate Position


***

Raquel Z. Rivera, Ph.D.
“ New York Bomba: Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and a Bridge Called Haiti ”

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Hunter College- Solarium East Bldg 1413



****


Dr. Carlo A. Cubero
“Puerto Rican Studies and Ethnographic Film in a Global World”

Monday, June 2, 2008
11:00 pm – 12:00 pm
Hunter College- Solarium East Bldg 1413



****

Mr. Hugo Viera
"Singing Masculinities: Popular Music and Manhood in Puerto Rico, 1914-1915"

Thursday, June 5, 2008
11:00 pm – 12:00 pm
Hunter College- Solarium East Bldg 1413
Politics

Featured story

Who Is Puerto Rico? A Pre-Primary Tour

Politics are a fundamental part of life for America's unofficial 51st state. But as one island-based reporter says, Puerto Ricans are growing weary of a situation in which they can vote in the presidential primary but have no official role in the actual election.
For more on this report, go to
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90840218

Monday, May 26, 2008

In the Mailbox

Dear Friend,

Enclosed is the invitation to my exhibition " Free Registry: Encounter, Mythology and Reality," which will open on June 5th through September 7th at the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico (Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico). I am also including the following addresses:

http://www.diogenes-ballester.com/

http://freeregistry.blogspot.com/

A flat monitor embedded on the installation "Spirit of Slaves" 2007-2008 will display the "Free Registry Blog web page" with your comments and pictures, and an interactive web page showing the transcriptions and translations of fragments of the Registry of Slaves of The Village of Ponce of 1852 will be display next to it.

Please take a few minutes to reflect on this topic and write some comments for this blog.

Thank You,

Diógenes Ballester




Editor's Note: See related May 19 entry posted right here in the PRSUN blog.

La Batalla de Cotto



(From left, Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito pose for a shot.)


Boricua champ Miguel Cotto hopes to add another win to his record of 32-0 with 26 KOs when he faces el mejicano champ Antonio Margarito on the boxing ring. Margarito has a record of 36-5 with 26 KOs.
Cotto is the WBA champion in the welterweight division and Margarito is the WBO/IBF champion in the same weight, said promoter Bob Arum at a recent press conference in Manhattan. The boxing match will be on July 26 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, live on pay-per-view.
“What you see here are two of the best welterweights in boxing today,” Arum said.
No welterweight championship fight has created so much excitement since the welterweight title fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns in September 1981. – Ismael Nunez

Photo by Ismael Nunez

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Featured Point of View

Puerto Rico's Moment in the Sun

The U.S. is overdue in re-engaging with Puerto Rico, which landed in our lap as a stepchild of imperialism in 1898, and which we have never seen clearly.

For more of this opinion article by Michael Janeway, go to
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/opinion/22janeway.html

Congrats to Mike Amadeo




I recently spent some time at Casa Amadeo, the legendary Latin music shop of Mike Amadeo on Prospect Avenue in the Bronx. Amadeo, who has composed songs interpreted by some of Latin music's greats such as the late salsa singer Hector Lavoe, is this year's godfather or padrino for the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in Manhattan, which is one of the largest cultural parades in the country.






And, he surely deserves this honor. He is a walking library of the Latin music scene of New York City. Felicidades.
For more photos of my day at Casa Amadeo, go to www.flickr.com/photos/clarisel.
For more information on the history behind Casa Amadeo, go to
www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/hispanic/2001/amadeo.htm
Or visit, Casa Amadeo's site at www.casaamadeo.com.
-- Clarisel Gonzalez

Friday, May 23, 2008

Theater Festival to Celebrate Latinas

Latino Flavored Productions, Inc. is hosting the first ever all Latina Theater Festival at the Bank Street Theater from June 4th – 29th. The Ultimate Latina Theater Festival features 7 empowering plays written, performed and directed by the very best up and coming and seasoned artists in the New York City theater scene.

"This festival is about women's empowerment and it is an opportunity to tell our stories the way we need them told," says president and creator of the festival, Linda Nieves-Powell. For the entire month of June, audiences will have a choice of experiencing six humorous and thought provoking plays like the off-Broadway hit I AM LATINA!/YO SOY LATINA!, Dancing in the Mirror, Pink: The Chronicles of BC Jenny, Jose Can Speak, The Life of Me and Rum & Coke by Carmen Pelaez; all about Latina life, all humorous and all empowering. As well the Fantastic Experimental Latina Theater will be performing their version of the classic Moliere play “The Imaginary Invalid”.

All of this delivered from well-known Latino artists such as April Lee Hernandez from “Freedom Writers” and “30 Rock and Luis Salgado the Latin choreographer for the Tony-nominated Broadway musical “In The Heights” who will be joined by some of the hottest Latino Broadway performers in GRACIAS MUJERES! a charity event which will also pay a surprise tribute to a veteran Broadway star.

The festival will be held at the Bank Street Theater located at 155 Bank Street, New York, NY. Tickets range from $15-$25 and are on sale at the site www.ultimate.latinoflavored.com or www.brownpapertickets.com. For more information and discount promotions on each performance, contact Latino Flavored Productions Inc. at 718-720-7979.

source: press release


Originally uploaded by mino975.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

In the Mailbox

The (one time) leading AIDS medical practitioner, Dr. Ramon Gabriel Torres, was the subject of a New York Magazine profile several weeks ago. The report, Another AIDS Casualty -- a poignant account of Dr. Torres’ significant contributions in the fight against AIDS and his tragic fall -- can be found on the New York Magazine website.

Since publication, his representatives are happy to report his living situation has improved.
The representatives of Dr. Torres, are seeking letters of support. If you wish to submit such a letter, please do so as soon as possible. It should note:
1. How you know Dr. Ramon Gabriel Torres.
2. How long you have known him.
3. Your affiliations with him, then and now.
4. How he contributed to the field of HIV/AIDS treatment and care.
5. Other positive things you know about him.
Letters should be addressed, "To Whom it May Concern," and sent directly to Dr. Torres’ lawyer:
Darius Wadia, Esq.
Woolworth Building
233 Broadway, Suite 2208
New York , NY 10279

source: Mexicanos Unidos e-mail list

Editor's Note: This is a must read story on this fallen boricua doctor who at one time did so much good. I remember reading this article and feeling sad and angry. I'm glad his situation has improved. I believe someone like him still has a lot of good to give if he sets his mind to it and gets the help he needs. To read the article published last month in New York, visit
http://nymag.com/news/features/45785/

Viva Puerto Rico?


Viva Puerto Rico?
Originally uploaded by chromachord.

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Michelle Cruz



(Michelle Cruz, left, promotes her East Harlem Café, serving coffee at an outdoor poetry event in El Barrio last summer.)

Michelle Cruz Creates Business and Cultural Space at East Harlem Café

Michelle Cruz’s East Harlem Café, with special Spanish Harlem coffee blends, holds back the tide of change and brings a taste of Latino coffee back home to the barrio.

East Harlem Café has found a home at 104th street and Lexington Avenue, a storefront Cruz is renting in NYC's El Barrio. The new café opens Friday, June 6, with an opening event planned for 2 p.m. that day.

"The idea originated because I love cafes, listening to Jazz, reading a book and hanging out," said Cruz, who grew up in El Barrio and wants to run a café that feels like home.

She knows about brewing and serving a good cup of coffee. She has spent her lifetime studying the cozy quality of a café where patrons can drink coffee from fresh roasted beans, hear Miles Davis, read and enjoy an element of culture in her café. And, she wants to bring her own vision of a café to her beloved El Barrio.

“What makes a good cup of coffee?” Cruz asked.

She responded, “Quality beans and friendly service…I’ve gone to almost every café in the city to get the vibe and get
the feeling of how I like to be treated and how I like to feel.”

Old grinds that sit on a shelf for too long, she said, make for a bitter cup of Joe.




Cruz has always wanted to her own business and a café is the perfect fit. Cruz has developed a business plan, lined up
funding and selected coffee vendors.

“The most important thing is to know how to run a business financially,” said Cruz who studied business
and accounting and graduated from Hostos and Baruch colleges. “We’re not only about serving coffee, but we’re about serving culture as well."

The community aspect is an important part of her business. That's why Cruz and her best friend Grace have showed glimpses of the future East Harlem Café for the past year at various community activities in East Harlem, giving customers friendly and professional service and a warm Latino home style feeling for every coffee cup they serve.

“I want a place where people meet up before events, socialize,” Cruz said. “When I’ve visited casitas, I like that whole idea of family. I want to create a third place. You know how they say the home is the first place, work is the second place and I want to create a third place where the community can feel ownership.” -- Robert Waddell


For more information, visit http://www.eastharlem-cafe.com/


(Photos courtesy of Michelle Cruz)

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The Nuyorican Theatre Blues

Commentary

Lack of theatre venues in El Barrio limit Nuyorican playwrights
By Eugene Rodriguez

A few months ago, I finally became a published and produced Puerto Rican playwright. This came after many years of rejections and of completely and deliberately being ignored! And that, my friend, gives me the Blues!

I was lucky enough to find an Internet company interested in publishing my work. After jumping through many hoops, I now have a book to sell. Called “A Mambo Duet,” it contains two of my musical plays that were produced to critical acclaim in Off Broadway theatres, “Mambo Louie & The Dancing Machine,” (The first Mambo musical produced in an Off-Broadway Theatre) and “The Mambo Café,” (a delightful bar play). And, I am willing to bet that you have not even heard of either play. And, that gives me the Blues!

As a respected Nuyorican playwright, I have been called to judge playwriting contests. Here’s how they go: Usually, they use five or six judges. Each of us gets 10- 12 plays to critique a year. I get six plays that are bad works, three that are fine stage plays, and three extraordinary works of art. In the end, only one play is produced. The others might never go beyond this stage. And, that gives me the Blues!

For a Nuyorican playwright to be produced in the theater capital of the world is an uphill battle.

What annoys me is that three of New York City’s finest theatres that are located in El Barrio are underutilized. Even though East Harlem is home to one of, if not the largest Nuyorican communities in the world, arrogant city policies remain inaccessible to Nuyorican theatre artists. Producers who can afford to pay the rent for our theatres don’t want to produce in them, and the Nuyorican artists, who want to produce in our theatres, simply cannot afford to rent them. Therefore, I, like many Nuyorican playwrights, have no theatre to showcase my work. And, that gives me the Blues!


The three underutilized theatres represent a tremendous community asset that should be used to fuel a cultural renaissance in El Barrio, which I call ELBA. Programming these Nuyorican theatres with Nuyorican plays in the Nuyorican cultural capitol of the world is not only good cultural sense. It also makes good business.

Theatre is known to pump money into the local economy. That’s why the city did everything it could to support Broadway after 9/11. So, if a theatre company could produce a show in a local theatre, it, in essence, would provide a public service to the local business community and to the overall city economy.

Because of outdated, intolerant policies, which insist that these theatres must make a profit for the city, the three ELBA theatres remain dark. That leaves ELBA without the economic boost and Nuyorican artists without local theatres to showcase their work.

Meanwhile, I stand on the unemployment line! And that my friend, if you’re any kind of Nuyorican, should give you the Blues!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

In the Mailbox

I came across your very interesting blog while I was searching the internet for how to move to Puerto Rico. I know this question is not directly related to your blog, but do you know anyone who would know how to ship household goods and car to move to
Puerto Rico from New York? I'm trying to find an alternative to moving companies (too expensive), but I am not connected to the Puerto Rican community. (I'm relatively new in the area and I live in southern Westchester Co., NY) Any leads would be useful. Many thanks!

Karen
Politics

Featured story: Puerto Ricans Help Pick Nominee They Can't Vote for in November

From San Juan's streets to muddy backroads that skirt Puerto Rico's coastal farmland, backers of U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are wooing voters with dueling salsa and reggaeton tunes, thousands of flags and placards, and convoys of loudspeaker trucks and honking cars.
The tight Democratic race has made voters in this U.S. commonwealth more passionate -- and relevant -- than they have been in decades. The contest casts a spotlight on the question that's festered at the center of Puerto Rican politics for years -- U.S. statehood, independence or status quo? -- even as it cuts across the debate by uniting normally warring partisans.
For more go to,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080520/pl_bloomberg/ao0mp6ntt_h8_1

La Perla


La Perla
Originally uploaded by Rigglord.
La Perla in 1980 (Photo by Ricky Flores)

Monday, May 19, 2008

Free Registry



MediaNoche presents Diógenes Ballester's

Free Registry: Encounter, Mythology and Reality, an online preamble to his exhibition of the same title at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Visitors to this new media gallery in NYC's El Barrio will be able to see a projection of the Slave Registry of the Village of Ponce in Puerto Rico, a 19th Century text cataloguing African men, women and children as property to be sold on the auction block. The registry lists some of the ancestors of Puerto Ricans (white and black) by name and provides an eery entrance into a world that legitimized the sale of human beings.

The exhibition in El Barrio runs until June 19. The artist talk is planned for Wednesday, June 18, 6 p.m. Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Friday, 3 – 7 p.m., and by appointment.

As a counterpoint to the Slave Registry, the artist has created the Free Registry, allowing visitors to share in the historical process. According to Ballester, "We experience the slave trade as a specific, local event in our country's history, but it is and has always been a global phenomenon, affecting many people in different parts of the world."

Visitors to MediaNoche gallery can browse through the pages of the Slave Registry and comment in the Free Registry online at www.diogenes-ballester.com and www.freeregistry.blogspot.com.

Here's what one visitor to the free registry wrote about Ballester's exhibit:

"This exhibition is both powerful and hurtful reminding us of the inhumanity that enslavement has had in our history. It provides a historical context for understanding the continued destructive legacy of racism, discrimination and injustice. This important exhibition that connects us internationally allows us to examine how going forward we must actively work against injustice, racism and discrimination. Thank you Diogenes, Judy and Medianoche for helping us understand our history and define our future work." -- Marta Moreno Vega, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, NYC

Meanwhile, from June 5 – Sept. 7, el Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in Santurce presents:

Free Registry: Encounter, Mythology and Reality, an exhibition that challenges the visitor to rethink the official story. Through traditional and new media, Ballester interprets aspects of the African Diaspora in Puerto Rico. Encaustic drawings and paintings, sculptures and multimedia installations engage the visitor in an historical dialectic of personal discovery.


ABOUT THE ARTIST:

DIÓGENES BALLESTER is a visual artist working in different media. His work explores oral history, memory, mythology, ritual, and cultural identity along a transnational spectrum. Ballester has exhibited in the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2006, he presented two concurrent exhibitions at the National Museum of Catholic Art and History in New York City and the Museum of the History of Ponce in Puerto Rico. Cultural objects and historical artifacts from Ponce and Spanish Harlem were appropriated and reframed in the museums and together with painting, drawing and new media provided a way of accessing the past and re-interpreting the present in a transcaribbean dialogue.

For more information, call MediaNoche at 212.828.0401 or visit http://www.medianoche.us
In the Mailbox

Saludos Clarisel, encontré su blog a traves de puertoblogs.com y me pareció tremendo. Soy un boricua residente de NJ. Yo también disfruto de la escritura y la pongo en practica para un blog que he llamado Corillo Gainesviliano, que entre otras cosas, trata el tema de la diáspora boricua. Comparto con usted el link y le deseo mucho éxito con Puerto Rico Sun Communications.

http://www.corillogainesviliano.com/blog

Wilfredo

Editor's Note: This link will be available to Puerto Rico Sun readers under our "resource list" section.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

The Bronx Says: 'Que Viva Puerto Rico'





Despite today's rain, the Bronx celebrated its Puerto Rican Day Parade along the Grand Concourse. For more photos of parade, which this year marked its 20th anniversary, visit my photo page at www.flickr.com/photos/clarisel. !Que Viva!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Community Calendar

Afrolatin@ Forum presents
Black Latino Lineages and Linkages: Historical Ties that Bind
Saturday, May 17, 1 to 4 p.m.
Schomburg Center, 135th Street & Malcolm X Blvd., Harlem
Public conversation on the historical and cultural connections between New York's African American and Caribbean communities with particular attention to the AfroLatino/a experience. This event is co-hosted by Schomburg Center & El Museo del Barrio.
Community Calendar



La Casa de la Herencia Cultural Puertorriqueña, Inc. y El Teatro del Mundo, Inc.
Presentan
Bautizo del libro "ANTOLOGIA"
de Abdón Villamizar
(Teatro, Monólogos y Cuentos)
y Lectura dramatizada de su obra "Recuerdos del Ayer"

The East Harlem Arts Weekend is Here!

REMINDER
* * *
Symposium on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Arts Festival on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.


The East Harlem Arts Symposium
Saturday May 17th 1 to 4 p.m.
Reece School, 25 E. 104th St. bet. Mad. and 5th

Opening Plenary Session celebrating the historic role of the arts in defining the East Harlem we know today. Followed by break-out sessions for small arts organizations and individual/freelancing artists. Refreshments will be served.

The 5th Annual East Harlem Arts Festival
Sunday May 18th noon to 5 p.m.
E. 106th St. / Julia de Burgos Blvd
bet. 3rd and Park

The East Harlem Arts Festival will feature art, food and live music. Zon Del Barrio will be performing on East 106th Street / Julia de Burgos Blvd. between Third and Park Avenues. Free to the public.

Editor's Note: I will be there, representing Puerto Rico Sun Communications. See you there.

DSC07186


DSC07186
Originally uploaded by B0riCuA.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

In the Mailbox

Senate Stands up to Big Media

Just moments ago, by a near-unanimous vote, the Senate stood up to Big Media. They voted to throw out the FCC decision to let the largest media companies swallow up even more local media.

This is simply an astounding victory, and it would not have happened without the massive grassroots effort by you and thousands of others who called their senators, sent more than a quarter million letters, posted thousands of pictures and stories on StopBigMedia.com, and testified at public hearings held by the FCC.

It was your dedication that made today's Senate win possible.

Today was a huge step forward, but there is still much to do. The fight against the FCC now moves to the House, where our elected representatives need to hear from us.

President Bush has promised that he will try to veto this bill. But tonight the Senate and the American people have spoken with one voice. This historic vote sends a clear message that the only people who support more media consolidation are Big Media lobbyists and the White House.

We are in this struggle to bring more minority ownership, diverse perspectives and independent voices to the media. We need to make media consolidation an election-year issue. And we need to start talking about how to break up the giant conglomerates.

Corporate news today -- with its propaganda pundits, horse-race election coverage, and celebrity gossip -- undermines our democracy. We must continue to speak out and demand that the public airwaves be used to actually serve the public.

In just three weeks, thousands of people will be gathering together in Minnesota to build the movement for better media. You can join them at the National Conference for Media Reform, just visit www.freepress.net/conference.

For today, know that you played a key role in the fight for better media for all.

Thank you,

Josh Silver
Executive Director
Free Press Action Fund
Community Calendar



Los Pleneros de la 21's 23RD ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF
LAS FIESTAS DE CRUZ

8 p.m., Thursday May 15th – Saturday May 17th
Julia de Burgos Cultural Center
1680 Lexington Avenue, El Barrio, NY

Suggested Donation: $5

3 evenings of riveting music for your soul!

¡Mayo Florido ha llegado! We are proud to invite to you our 23rd Annual Celebration of Las Fiestas de Cruz.

Join us for the celebration of this 200+ year old Puerto Rican tradition. With live music, food and beverages, you will be transported to an age-old celebration that is now embraced by Puerto Ricans and New Yorkers of all ages.

These three consecutive evenings of celebrations bring to you two hours of chanted rosaries accompanied by LP21’s swinging musical style! The final evening climaxes with an electrifying LP21 performance.


For more information, (212) 427-5221 / rioloizapr@yahoo.com

Los Pleneros de la 21
1680 Lexington Avenue, Room 209
El Barrio, NY 10029
T: 212-427-5221 / F: 212-427-5339
rioloizapr@yahoo.com / pleneros21@aol.com
www.losplenerosdela21.org/www.myspace.com/losplenerosdela21

I wish...

Pensamientos

I wish the Puerto Rican
Day Parade was a cultural
festival rather than a
commercial one -- Samaris Ayala

NCPRR to Meet in Philadelphia

In the Mailbox

Saludos Familia!

You are cordially invited to attend the next meeting of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights (NCPRR) to be celebrated in Philadelphia. This meeting (at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at the Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community Bilingual Charter School, 4322 North 5th St. in Philadelphia) will center on the continuing process of reorganizing the group and is being hosted by the Philadelphia Committee of the NCPRR. Our meetings are open to the general public.


Following the meeting, there will be a "Meet & Greet Reception" for those interested in the NCPRR. An agenda will be sent to all those who confirm their attendance. Also, anyone who did not receive the minutes from the March 29th meeting in New York can request a copy. If you are planning to attend and coming from out of town, there are some limited accomodations available. For that information, please contact Joe Garcia of the Philadelphia Committee at joegarcia1@verizon.net

Come out and help rebuild the NCPRR. Gracias,

Victor Vazquez
President
National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights
veteran712004@yahoo.com

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Congrats to 'In the Heights' for Tony Nods




"In the Heights," a new musical playing on Broadway inspired by NYC's largely Latino Washington Heights neighborhood, has been nominated for 13 Tony awards, more than any other show.

Boricua Lin-Manuel Miranda, the musical's writer and lead actor, was nominated for best performance by a leading actor in a musical. He is up against Daniel Evans, "Sunday in the Park with George," Stew, "Passing Strange," Paulo Szot, "South Pacific," and Tom Wopat, "A Catered Affair."

"In the Heights" was nominated in a variety of categories, signaling good chances this musical will win and even sweep in the Tony awards.

Here's the list of Tony nominations for "In the Heights":

Best Musical

Best Actor
Lin-Manuel Miranda

Best Featured Actress
Olga Merediz

Best Featured Actor
Robin de Jesús

Best Score
Lin-Manuel Miranda

Best Book
Quiara Alegría Hudes

Best Director
Thomas Kail

Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler

Best Orchestrations
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman

Best Scenic Design
Anna Louizos

Best Costume Design
Paul Tazewell

Best Lighting Design
Howell Binkley

Best Sound Design
Acme Sound Partners

The Tonys will be given June 15.

Meanwhile, Miranda is asking audience members to nominate "In the Heights" for the Broadway.com Audience Awards. Fans take a survey to pick who's the best on Broadway. To cast your votes: http://survey.livetheatricalevents.com/Surveys/TakeSurvey.aspx?s=1BDBD7BD0D70413D88FE532F428E103F

Puerto Rico Sun wishes "In the Heights" good luck. I had the pleasure of seeing this musical twice, and I know it deserves the Tony recognition. Felicidades. "Paciencia y fe".

To learn more about this musical, go to the official site at
http://intheheightsthemusical.com/. -- Clarisel Gonzalez


(photos by Clarisel Gonzalez)

La Casa Azul Promotes Latino Culture

Featured Entrepreneur: Aurora Anaya-Cerda



From left, Former Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Dylcia Pagan and La Casa Azul's Aurora Anaya-Cerda pose for a photo at a recent La Casa Azul bookstore event. (Photo by Ismael Nunez)


Cultural activist Aurora Anaya-Cerda is working to preserve the Latino voices of El Barrio through her labor of love: La Casa Azul, a new independent bookstore and café that will open in NYC’s El Barrio later this year. The shop, however, is up and running online at www.lacasaazulbookstore.com.

The bookstore, Anaya-Cerda said, serves as an opportunity to share the Latino experience in writing, art, and history. When the store space in El Barrio finally opens, it will offer a collection of books, music, and history from the United States, Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

“We want to provide a place of knowledge to the community through contemporary bilingual literature, featuring works by Latino writers,” Anaya-Cerda said of her La Casa Azul, which means blue house in Spanish.

Anaya-Cerda said she drew her inspiration from Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954). Kahlo was a Mexican painter, who has achieved great international popularity. She painted using vibrant colors in a style that was influenced by indigenous cultures of Mexico as well as European influences. Many of her works are self-portraits that symbolically express her own pain. Her "Blue" house, located in Coyoacan, Mexico City is now a popular museum, donated by Diego Rivera after Kahlo's death in 1954.

Two other goals she has for the bookstore is to “provide culturally relevant books and events” and to “provide awareness and political consciousness on issues that affect Latin Americans in New York City.”

Why open a small business in the business in East Harlem? “There was something about this community that just caught my eye,” she said. “I saw a proud diversity of people, gifted artists. This is the place for a bookstore. Community/artists already have given full pledged support.”

For now, Casa Azul is only a virtual shop. But it does have activities offline. For example, there is a Barrio Book Club that meets once a month at local restaurants. The club’s next book is “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Diaz who recently won the Pulitzer fiction prize for this novel that took him 11 years to complete.

Elisha Miranda, author and poet, has said: “This bookstore is a welcomed addition to El Barrio during a time when non-Latinos are flooding in this neighborhood and pushing out locally owned businesses that reflect our Diaspora.” -- Ismael Nunez

Bx PR Parade


Bx PR Parade
Originally uploaded by clarisel.
The Grand Concourse will mimic the tropical beauty of San Juan Sunday, as Bronxites of all nationalities celebrate the 20th Annual Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade.
The parade kicks off at 1 p.m. at 176th St., and marches down the Grand Concourse to 167th St. This year's grand marshal is Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion.


For more, go to
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2008/05/13/2008-05-13_puerto_rican_day_parade_struts_to_20.html

(Photo by Clarisel Gonzalez of the Bronx Puerto Rican Parade '06)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008




Pizza and Salsa in El Barrio -- The salsa group “Ray Delgado y Su Grupo” performs at the May 3 grand opening of Tito’s Pizza Restaurant located at 2049 Second Avenue corner of East 104th Street in NYC’s El Barrio. There was free food, dancing, and live entertainment. (Photo by Ismael Nunez)

Monday, May 12, 2008

VIVA LOISAIDA USA!

Community Calendar

The Annual Loisaida Festival...
An Urban Mix of Salsa, Plena and Hip Hop


Loisaida Inc. will host the Twenty-first Annual Loisaida Festival, along the Avenue C Commercial Corridor in NYC's East Village, from noon to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 25. Last year, more than 4,000 people attended the event.
This year’s festival is jam packed with Latino artists and musicians with strong Loisaida bonds. The entertainment line-up includes Salsa Icon, Johnny Pacheco, and his band; Barrio-based Los Pleneros de la 21; the “Charanga” masters, Orquesta Broadway; the “Merengue” band Oro Sólido; and Hip Hop and Reggaeton performers.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will open the festivities, featuring Puerto Rican actor Luis Guzmán, a Loisaida native.
This year’s festival will include special events for children, youth, and senior citizens.
To honor neighborhood seniors, Loisaida, Inc. has partnered with the Institute for the Puerto Rican and Hispanic Elderly, Inc. to host “Serenata”, an outdoor picnic under the Willow Trees at the Plaza Cultural featuring Latin bolero music, and a traditional Domino tournament.
For youth, Loisaida, Inc. has partner with Madison Square Garden’s Garden of Dreams Foundation to sponsor a basketball clinic.
For children, the festival will feature a theatre performance produced by the bilingual children’s theatre company SEA (Sociedad Educativa de las Artes). Cafecito, the popular local Latin restaurant, will join the festivities by hosting a traditional Caribbean pig roast, or in Spanish, “Lechón a la Vara,” a festival staple in Caribbean countries such as Puerto Rico, Cuba and Santo Domingo.
The Loisaida Festival is sponsored by Loisaida Inc., a Hispanic-based non-profit community and economic development organization serving the Lower East Side since 1978.
For more information, visit www.loisaidainc.orgor contact Loisaida at 212-353-0272.

source: press release

'In the Heights' at Times Square


Performing tomorrow Live for Good Morning America!

The smash hit Broadway musical IN THE HEIGHTS takes Times Square by storm Tuesday, May 13, in a premiere national television appearance on ABC's Good Morning America. Karen Olivo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Robin De Jesus, Seth Stewart, Luis Salgado and Rickey Tripp will perform "It Won't Be Long" live in the middle of Times Square in the 8 a.m. hour. Mandy Gonzalez and Christopher Jackson will perform "When You're Home" at 9 a.m. exclusively for ABC News Now and the Good Morning America website. ABC's Good Morning America airs on WABC channel 7 in the tri-state area.

source: "In the Heights" at MySpace

East Harlem Arts Festival

Community Calendar




Manhattan Community Board 11, State Senator Jose M. Serrano and Art for Change proudly present the 5th Annual East Harlem Arts Festival with Live Music by: Tato Torres & YERBABUENA, Aurora and Zon del Barrio, and more...

YERBABUENA plays at 2 p.m. at East 106th Street and Park Avenue. Festival is from noon to 5 p.m.

Editor's Note: I, representing Puerto Rico Sun Communications, will have a table at this arts festival. I will display some of my Puerto Rico-related images at the festival. So, drop by my table OK.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Wishing you...

In the Mailbox

A happy Mother's day to all the Moms, Moms to be, Mr. Moms and everyone who's stepped up to the plate in a child's life.
Abrazos!



Olga Ayala
HANDICRAFTS (HECHO A MANO)
Functional Art In Polymer
http://www.olgaayala.zoomshare.com
http://www.myspace.com/prpetite

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!


Crowning the Virgin 1
Originally uploaded by clarisel.
!FELIZ DIA DE LAS MADRES!

QUE DIOS TE BENDIGA.

WITH LOVE,

PUERTO RICO SUN

Saturday, May 10, 2008

In the Mailbox

Boricuation.com and The Boricuation Cultural Foundation is proud to announce that we have created a home for our internet radio show "Boricuation Sunday Afternoon". Our internet radio show will be based on The Lower East Side in New York City and will be aired on our very own 24/7 internet radio station which will be named Boricuation Internet Cultural Radio Network or "BRadio" for short.

We are going to air our first internet radio broadcast on Sunday May 18th from 3-6 p.m. and will be hosted by Boricuation Cultural Foundation Founder Jose Medina. The show will have the same format of Classic Salsa - Cultural Vibe - Special Guests Interviews - Cultural Education and everything Boricuation.

The web site and link is undergoing the testing phase and will be up and running in the next few days. The internet radio network will run 24/7 providing a steady stream of classic salsa - Boricua roots music - Special cultural presentations and reports. Ad space will be available to interested companies and organizations on the internet radio station and on Boricuation.com.

More information to come in the next few days.

We would like to thank our listenership for all the support during our transition phase. We value the time you invest in tuning in to our internet radio show. We would like to thank everyone for inviting us into your lives. We are honored and committed to bringing you the best our culture has to offer. We work hard to earn your listenership and trust. We are grateful in having the ability to bring you this cultural internet program.

Abrazos!

Jose Medina
Founder
Boricuation Cultural Foundation
Boricuation.com
917 843 6419
boricuation@gmail.com

Q&A with Latino Sports’ Julio Pabon


Roberto Clemente is prominent figure inside Latino Sports


If you are in the South Bronx and are a Latino sports lover, a place that you must visit is Latino Sports, a small business located at 424 Grand Concourse.
This haven has rare sports collectibles, Latino Sports’ branded merchandise, sports books about Latinos, and jerseys featuring Caribbean baseball teams. Latino Sports considers itself as the “Number 1 Roberto Clemente Memorabilia Store.”
Latino Sports is not just a business. There is a small museum at the shop, which is free and open to the public.
The store’s motto is: “It’s about us, it’s about time!”
Julio Pabon, CEO and founder of Latino Sports, recently spoke with Bronx Latino about his shop.


(Julio Pabon, left, is pictured here with Senator Jose M. Serrano at the East Harlem Little League Parade.)

Q: Why did this business get started?
A: It got started out of anger. It was a result of an award we presented to Ruben Sierra who at that time was playing baseball with the Texas Rangers. Many felt he deserved to win the “Most Valuable Player Award” in the American League. Eventually, the award went to Robin Yount who played with the Milwaukee Brewers. The baseball writers voted for Yount. Who’s to say they were wrong? Yount had a good season, but then again Sierra’s numbers were far better.
This event showed that a Latin American institution to highlight the positive values of Latinos in sports was needed. So, I felt it was important for the community to have our own award. I didn’t know that it was going to turn out to be a yearly thing and then to the creation of Latino Sports.

Q: So, Latino Sports is not just about promoting the goodness of Latino athletes. Do you also consider yourselves as activists?
A: This is true. That’s how it basically got started. We realized that Latinos were overlooked not only in baseball but also in other sports.

Q: Latino Sports is heavily involved in the fight to retire “Roberto Clemente’s number 21.” Why is that?
A: Very true. Clemente was not only a great player and Hall of Famer. He was a humanitarian, father/husband, and a person who was proud of his Afro-Puerto Rican heritage. He stood up for things he believed in, loved people/children, and gave back. That is why number 21 should be retired.

Q: If 21 were retired, what would that mean to the Latino sports community?
A: It will be a victory for the entire Latin American community everywhere. It will be something that we believed in, working side by side by side to get. That team effort and caring is what has made Latino Sports a success.

For more information about Latino Sports, visit www.latinosports.com. – by Ismael Nunez

(Photos by Ismael Nunez)

Note: This article was originally published in Bronx Latino at www.bronxlatino.blogspot.com.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Mesa con Bebidas


Mesa con Bebidas
Originally uploaded by Hector Melendez.

Boringken in the Bronx

Community Calendar

Town Hall Meeting for Our Artists

In the Mailbox

THE CEG - Cultural Equity Group Present:

SUSTAINING OUR ARTISTS, ARTS ORGANIZATIONS AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS OF COLOR DURING THE "RECESSION"

Hunter College
68th & Lexington Avenue , 7th Floor
Hall 714 West Building, Manhattan

Friday, May 9
6 - 8 p.m.
Moderated by:
Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, Founder of the Caribbean Cultural Center

Panelists: Heather Hitchens, Executive Director of NYSCA; Arana J. Hankins, Assistant Secretary for Cultural & Economic Development Office of the NYS Governor David A. Paterson; Kathleen Hughes, NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs Assistant Commissioner; NYS Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns , 54th District, Chair, Black Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus; and Laurie Cumbo, Founder of MoCADA

Dear Artists, Cultural Activists and People concerned about the community:

We have certainly brought in 2008 with a burst of energy and excitement filled with opportunity and hope for the future! We applaud everyone for their dedication and hard work to preserve and landmark our institutions and culture, which will have an instrumental impact on the quality of life for our communities as well as for future generations. In order to make an impact, we must continue to educate ourselves about the funding process.

We need your voice to be heard and we would appreciate your support in sending this email far and wide to your perspective communities in order to demonstrate to our legislators that our culture is important to the cultural landscape of New York City. Please do not continue to allow the challenges of our community to fall on the shoulders of a few because we need everyone in order to create an impact.

The Cultural Equity Group (CEG) cordially invites you to attend a very important Town Hall Meeting on Friday, May 9th, 6 p.m. at Hunter College (68th & Lexington Avenue) 7th Fl., Hall 714, West Building, to discuss three very important issues that will impact our community:

1. Sustaining our artists, arts organizations and cultural institutions of color during the current "recession" and new stricter budget reforms;

2. Defining a new per capita funding model based on the ethnic and racial demographics of New York City-a more realistic support process, which would impact communities that are underserved;

3. Exploring recommendations, strategies and policies for cultural equity.
Your participation is important! It will help define New York City 's Cultural policy of the future. Sample copies of letters to be sent to your elected officials will be distributed at the meeting. There will also be a petition for you to sign.

Please make every effort to attend. You can RSVP at elsa@latinoarts.org or call 212.876.1242. Thanking you in advance for remaining unified in our commitment to Cultural Equity for our artists and the communities we serve.

Very truly yours,

Steering Committee
Cultural Equity Group


Sandra García Betancourt
Executive Director & CEO

Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA)
The Cornerstone Center
178 Bennett Avenue, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10040
www.NoMAAnyc.org

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Politics

With 55 delegates, Puerto Rico eager for primary limelight

Now Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory for more than 100 years, has a place at the center of American political debate. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are competing for 55 delegates to be chosen in a June 1 Democratic primary. The island also has eight superdelegates.

"We're going to enjoy every minute of the attention," the president of the Puerto Rican Senate, Kenneth D. McClintock, said during a recent visit to the nation's capital. To read the full news report, go to
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080508/NEWS01/80508023/1006

Boogie Down Flamenco Dancer



Nelida Tirado to Perform at BADD!
By Ismael Nunez

Nelida Tirado began her formal training at age six at the Ballet Hispanico of NY where she trained in classical ballet, Spanish dance and flamenco. A talented salsa dancer, she has performed with notable Latin music greats such as the late Celia Cruz and the late Tito Puente. She has given workshops in England and Italy and has performed at the Copacabana Salsa Congress.
This week Tirado will perform in her hometown. She is one of three Bronx Indie artists that will kick off BADD!'s (the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance) BOOGIE DOWN DANCE SERIES at 8 p.m. on May 9. BAAD! is teaming up with the Bronx Council on the Arts to present performances by Tirado, Bradon McDonald, and Jessica Danser in what organizers are calling a “spectacular dance concert.”
Tirado has danced with Noche Flamenca and Riverdance and the New York Times has called this Flamenco dancing Bronxite "magnificent."
You can check her out at the dance concert, which will be at The Bronx Academy of Art & Dance, 841 Barretto Street in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx. Admission is $12. For more information on this performance, call 718-842-5223 or www.bronxacademyofartsanddance.org.

PRSUN spoke with Tirado about her dance career, which started in New York and has taken her to different parts of the world.

Q: You started dancing at an early age. Was it something you wanted to do?
A: It definitely was something I wanted to do, but I had no idea that training to be a dancer would be that intense. After a wonderful experience in a kindergarten recital, my mom knew that she needed to put me in classes. It actually wasn’t early. Five to seven years old is a normal age to begin serious formal training if you want to be a professional.

Q: Do you remember the first show you ever did?
A. Honestly, I don’t remember.

Q: Do you get nervous when you perform?
A: Occasionally I do, but I don’t look at the actual show as pressure to be perfect. I see it as an opportunity to express myself.

Q: You performed with two notable Latin music giants: Celia Cruz and Tito Puente. Is this something you’ll never forget?
A: It is definitely an experience I will never forget. They were two of many musical giants I’ve been blessed to work with. It was a wonderful opportunity not only to perform with them but also to have conversations with them.

Q: In your bio it states you’ve worked with notable Flamenco performers in Spain. Can you name a few and what was it like working and performing with these individuals?
A: There were many but the main ones were Maria Pages, Juan Andres Maya and Antonio El Pipa…Juan and Antonio are gypsies. Their dancing and culture is different from the Spaniards. Their culture is a subculture within the Spanish culture. Flamenco for the gypsies is their life…For a lot of them, it’s passed on from generation to generation and there is no formal study. Maria Pages is a Spanish dancer from Seville and is known for her open mentality towards the art form, experimenting and pushing the envelope always with new ideas. I had great experiences with all of them and learned a lot, especially being a foreigner to Spain. I was lucky. Here I was a Bronx girl that was hired to work in Spain with these incredible people. My father did play congas and I do come from a family of musicians but please! It was a big deal to leave NY. It’s difficult to gain their respect and work in Spain being a foreigner. Who would have known that I would have ended up in Spain and traveling the world?

For more information about Tirado, visit her site at www.nelidatirado.com.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Spotlight: Author Abraham Rodriguez



Abraham Rodriguez sports a Boriken T-Shirt at a recent book signing event in East Harlem. Tonight Rodriguez will deliver a reading of his latest novel "South by South Bronx" at the Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos in the Bronx. It is part of tonight's Bronx Culture Trolley activities. For more information, go to www.bronxarts.org. (Photo by Ismael Nunez)

Maunabo vs. Patillas


Maunabo vs. Patillas
Originally uploaded by EdVeguilla.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Community Calendar

Nuyoricans on the Move
A panel discussion on new research on Puerto Ricans in New York and Northeast on May 7 at Hunter College

(Click on image to see larger)

Artist Spotlight: Decimista Lourdes Perez




Lourdes Perez, born in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, is described as a prolific contemporary recording artist, songwriter, composer, arranger, poet, vocalist and guitarist. She is also one of few female decimistas (writers of décima, a specialized form of Spanish poetry). Lourdes’ music – often conjuring comparisons to the soulful world music genres of cante jondo, morna and fado –draws from her jíbara (Puerto Rican mountain) roots and a socially conscious genre of Spanish/pan-Latin American music called nueva trova or nueva canción.
For more about Perez, go to:

http://www.unitedstatesartists.org/Public/Interviews/2007/LourdesPrez/index.cfm.

http://www.lourdesperez.com/home.html

http://www.myspace.com/lourdesperezmusic

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Nuyorican Poetry is 'ALOUD & ALIVE'



The Town Hall presents
8 p.m. Tonight
Nuyorican Poets Café Third Millennium Celebration:
ALOUD & ALIVE AT 35!

This special evening of spoken word and music hosted by Rosie Perez and Flaco Navaja is sure to be a wild and joyous evening featuring many of the leading voices in the poetry & spoken word movement, including: La Bruja, Sandra María Esteves, Reg E Gaines, Carlos Andrés Gómez, Tato Laviera, Mariposa, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, Nancy Mercado, Kirk Nugent, Willie Perdomo, Ishmael Reed, Ntozake Shange, Quincy Troupe, accompanied by the infectious Boricua Roots music of Yerba Buena. Come hear their powerful voices, dance to their music, and celebrate the 35th anniversary of a world-renowned literary movement!

For prices and more information, go to http://www.the-townhall-nyc.org/pages/calendar/may.html


Originally uploaded by Luis Angel Molina Quiñones.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Palacete Los Moreau


Palacete Los Moreau
Originally uploaded by Hector Melendez.


Reading Corner

South by South Bronx, a novel by
Bronx native Abraham Rodriguez


"When Puerto Rican ladies' man Alex awakes one morning to find a mysterious woman in his bed, he assumes he's suffered another embarrassing blackout. He soon learns, however, that Ava is no one-night stand--in fact, he's never met her before. As her story begins to unfold, and her reason for appearing in his bed emerges, it is not just Alex's life that she risks, nor her own, but the entire character of the South Bronx . . ."

Abraham Rodriguez was born and raised in the South Bronx. His first book, The Boy without a Flag, was a 1993 New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His novel Spidertown won a 1995 American Book Award and was optioned by Columbia Pictures. His next novel, The Buddha Book, was published by Picador in 2001. He currently lives in Berlin, Germany.

Rodriguez is back in New York City promoting his newest book.

You can meet the author at 6 p.m. tonight at Cemi Underground in East Harlem. Free admission. Go to www.cemiunderground.com for more information.

Rodriguez will return home to the South Bronx next week as part of the Bronx Culture Trolley activities. He will be reading from his book at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos Community College. Free. Visit www.bronxarts.org for more information.

The book, published by Akashic Books, is also available online. Go to http://www.akashicbooks.com/sxsb.htm. Akashic Books is a Brooklyn-based independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstream, or who have no interest in working within the ever-consolidating ranks of the major corporate publishers.

Rodriguez can't be ignored.

"A street poet like Bob Dylan, Abraham Rodriguez has woven a lyrically inventive and sophisticated noir, worthy of the people he champions. Full of unforgettable one liners, South by South Bronx manages to film a neighborhood filled with beauty, danger, and magic. One fearless, hell of a literary mystery novel." --Ernesto Quinonez, author of Bodega Dreams

Rodriguez has gotten some rave reviews for his writings. Check out Akashic's site.

Here's a link to an article about Rodriguez that appeared in the New York Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2008/04/30/2008-04-30_author_abraham_rodriguez_delves_into_bar.html

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Bronx PR Parade Celebrates 20th Year



The Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade is this month and there is a lineup of activities leading up to the big day. This is the 20th anniversary of the Bronx parade, which will be celebrated on May 18 along the Grand Concourse.
On May 9, the Crowning for Miss Puerto Rico will be held at 7 p.m. at Hostos Community College on E. 149th Street on the Grand Concourse. This event is open to the public. Entrance is $10.
There will also be a festival on May 10 at White Plains Road between Lafayette and Story Avenues, starting at 12:30 p.m.
The parade’s route is between 176th street and 167th streets. Ceremonies will begin at 11:30 a.m. and the parade kicks off at 1 p.m.
For more information, visit www.bronxprparade.com or call (646) 401-4787.

(photo by Milagros Gonzalez aka bajounpalmar)

Here's footage from the PRSUN TV archives of last year’s Bronx parade.


-- Clarisel Gonzalez, producer

Show me the way!!!


Show me the way!!!
Originally uploaded by ΡπΙρΣπ.