Notes From A Native Daughter: Recent Episodes
Notes From A Native Daughter
Hugo Perez’s Documentary OMARA on Afro-Cuban Singer and cultural icon, Omara Portuondo is now playing in the 39th Miami Film Festival. The documentary will be streaming nationwide with in-person Miami screenings through March 13, 2022.
Toward the end of our 26-minute talk, I admit to feeling pressured to write something that does Hugo justice. In the simplest of words and from my sincere heart, this episode is a true candid talk. What a story and journey to the medium of film. So much grace across his insights, perceptiveness, and down to earth-ness. Hugo really rocks. Look out for him and do check out OMARA.
Adriana Bosch is fantastic—humble, open, present, giving, loving, sincere, and elegant. Really. She came in as an equal and a woman artist sharing her journey.
Her latest documentary, Letters to Eloisa, is a lyrical must-watch profile dedicated to the late and great José Lezama Lima.
It airs tonight—October 15— on PBS 10-11 p.m. EST (check local listings) under the New Season of Latino Public Broadcasting’s VOCES.
She wants people to watch this film. You will not regret it. Adriana captures so much in so little time. Towards the end, my tears just flowed. She knew how to place Lezama’s letters to his sister Eloisa to reveal everything she wanted to say. I guess that’s what artistic prowess, agility, and humanity are.
Letters to Eloisa is an ode about “an obscured artist.” And yet, the film is about the larger picture—Cuban history, dissenters everywhere, artistic freedom, and the fragility of brave people. She has a lot to say about a man who lived by his word—no small feat.
I hope sometime soon, Adriana Bosch gets a retrospective. She has a lot to give and say, and we need her, todos los que somo poetas de corazón. +
2021 for me, has had a Cuban theme, and all I can say is that I’m grateful for it.
Earlier this year, I helped Pedrito Martínez with his album Acertijos (Riddles), now nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Best Tropical Album category. Find his production details here and follow him on IG, because it’s full of good percussion bites, and he’s a master.
Then came We Have Iré. You can read and learn about that project here—music by Yosvany Terry with special guest Xiomara Laugart, words by Paul S. Flores. Directed by Rosalba Rolón of Pregones/PRTT in New York, We Have Iré is a multimedia theater work that portrays real-life stories of Cuban emigré artists real-life stories framed by Flores’s exploration of his roots as a Cuban-American as he traveled back to Cuba with them. Through the medium of music -- always an essential element in the Cuban story – We Have Iré relives their struggles to relocate to the US and explores the new identities they constructed in the process.
We Have Iré was commissioned and sponsored by the National Performance Network, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco, Pregones/PRTT in New York City, GALA Theatre in Washington D.C., MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana in San José, MECA-Houston, Miami
That’s all for now/ Regreso pronto—Back soon. It's been a ride this pandemic year...LOL
Sol
She’s been a part of some cool stuff, like serving as a Curatorial Assistant for Latinx Studies at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. She has worked with El Museo Del Barrio, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Loisaida Center, among other institutions. She was a 2018 Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Fellow, a 2017 Museum Education Practicum participant at the Studio Museum in Harlem. She is an Editorial Assistant at Small Axe Journal (since 2018). She holds an MA in Latino, Caribbean, and Africana Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center and a BA in Latin American Studies and Art History from Purchase College.
Bernardo Ruiz, is a two-time Emmy® Award-nominated documentary filmmaker and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
The 45-minute talk that covers a gamut of topics from how Puerto Rican society is based on enslavement to how ultimately, “people value a joyful life and they know that joy doesn't come necessarily, and not that it's unimportant, but it doesn't come from money.”
What black and brown people go through to strive for a better life is for the books of champions. Which brings me to Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez, another champion from The Bronx. His story is moving and filled with a type of God sent blessing is hard to explain. But it is, the skinny is that here’s a kid that took to comics back in the day when the Bronx was burnt and is known today far-and-wide for his comic La Borinqueña.
Gisela is one of Puerto Rico’s most recognized filmmakers and performers. She blends in with themes universal as in humanity first and particulars of Puerto Rico as in Jayá. An unveiling of sorts, a daring artistic proposal because it is absent of pretense, and that is elegant.
This conversation was recorded between Howard Jordan (professor, activist, journalist, and lawyer) and Alex Rodríguez a couple of years ago. Jordan was and continues to be the Chair of the Behavioral & Social Sciences Department at Hostos Community College and Alex was enrolled in the Sound Engineering program. Today, Alex works at the Hostos Sound Studio and the rhythm of this share is as real as it comes. A South Bronx native, Alex is a lyricist, an emcee, producer, and a full artist at heart.
Sol
Words and reasonings flow out of Julio Pabón with rhythm and feeling. He’s a natural storyteller. Here he delves into the history and particulars of The Jones Act. The long-standing maritime law creates a lockdown in the ports that has and continues to place an unjust economic burden on the people of Puerto Rico. He wants to go to Jacksonville for a National Day of Respect & Justice for Puerto Rico on October 26, 27, and 28, 2018. This is a non-partisan issue for Julio and his comrades, this is a human rights issue.
The central events will take place in Orlando on October 26 with a film showing; a rally in Kissimmee on October 27; closing with a symposium on The Jones Act in Jacksonville, Florida on October 28. We want Puerto Ricans, allies, and friends to do some kind of event wherever they live in the United States on The Jones Act and its impact on the island. Julio says that actions large and small count: share art, news, hold vigils, calls, and letters to local Congressional and Federal Senators #amendthejonesact, “please put the issue of Puerto Rico and The Jones Act on your agendas. Puerto Ricans in the island don't have a vote in our Federal elections, BUT WE DO!”
And so I come to Rita Cidre, who in a short talk brought me back to remember that little actions matter and the heart can take you places. Anda Pa’l her own business of canvas bags and pouches started out because she missed home.
Modesto Lacén is one of Puerto Rico’s most saught after actors and a native son of the town of Loiza, the island’s Afro-Caribbean soul center. He makes Loiza and Puerto Rico proud for his talent, professionalism and kind demeanor.
For episode 100 I asked my dear friend Trina Bardusco, writer, director, producer, entrepreneur, and duende to speak with me about the book project I’ve been working on for the past three years, “View For Death,” in memory of my late husband, Dan Larsen.
Manny Pérez es un Tigre. At craft for 28-years, Manny is one of the few Latino actors in Hollywood who has etched a place for himself hard-earned consistently for twenty, kinda’ under-the-radar, but very much there. We all know he’s there. I’ve seen ten of his movies counting his latest one, VENENO | Primera Caída: El Relámpago de Jack, and I loved it. Es linda.
Directed by Tabaré Blanchard VENENO is inspired by the life of Dominican wrestling champ and idol Jack Veneno. Distributed in the U.S. by Spanglish Films, VENENO opens in select cities: New York City; New Jersey; Providence, Rhode Island; Massachusetts: Lawrence, Boston; Pennsylvania: Reading, Philadelphia; Atlanta, Georgia; Florida: Orlando, Tampa, and, Miami on Friday 13 April.
Sita Chay is the only Korean to ever win a Latin Grammy. Fancy that…Since I started this podcast project and on the website, you’ll see that Pan-American voices or Pan-Americanism is what I seek out. Who are we people of color? What is a person of color? Where do we come from? What makes an individual Pan-American? These questions sometimes have clear-cut answers, but as time passes I tend to feel the answers are not so simple. My concerns, interests, and various answers have been informed and are intertwined with W.E.B. Dubois’ Pan-Africanism, The Antillean Confederation of Ramon Emeterio Betances, Bolivar’s Dream, The American Dream, Pan-American Airlines, and Bernardo Ruiz’s La Quinta Raza. When I think of the “America” that I live and experience, hundreds of faces come to mind and heart. How pure blood are we really? And does blood matter? I’m still against the fence on that one but I can honestly say, that in my 28-years of living in North America, Pan-American has come to signify people from all over the world open and willing to be a part of the whole - accepting, creative, curious, interested, willing, empathetic - and for whatever reasons they mostly come in the form of artists or creatives. Read more www.nfand.com
I know Mia García as Marie Rosa first since childhood. Her sister is my sister.
Watching a person become their own is a beautiful thing. I acknowledge then, a young Puerto Rican author writing for young audiences, Mia García. As pre-teen girls do, she had a diary but discovered journaling and writing pen to paper first. Her grandfather believed her when she told him about the monsters in the closet.
Rave and respect for her debut novel Even If The Sky Falls from Katherine Tegen (Harper Collins), about a girl who goes to New Orleans and her life changes forever. Mia is one of a handful of published Latina writers out there and for young audiences. We had a nice conversation about her journey and the business. Her next book The Resolutions is out this fall.
“Brick x Brick is a public art performance that builds human “walls” against misogyny.” Last year we marched in D.C., here's last year’s post.
This year, Brick X Brick held simultaneous walls against misogyny beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST, in 12 cities across the nation: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, St. Louis, Nashville, New Orleans, Greensboro, Columbus, Providence, Boston, Montpelier, and New York City.
This episode 82, is a conversation/interview with the great Howard Jordan and Alex Rodríguez, and it was recorded as part of the Hostos50 Oral Collective. I’m still editing and re-editing interviews. The more time passes the more I realize the project is more profound than I ever thought, with more to show than I ever thought. I’ve heard so many incredible stories from people who thought they stood no chance, but alas, the little college that everyone thought would flounder, that so many look down upon for being a community college in the South Bronx, has defied adversity and time in every single way.
Testimonies from people coming from some of the most vulnerable communities here in the U.S. and countries abroad, prove wrong the notion pushed by inhumane conservative pundits, that the poor are stealing the resources of the nation. So much repugnant chatter I am dismayed. But I seek inspiration. I seek purpose.
So, from where do you draw strength? Have you ever gone around asking and listening to the dreams of young students? Try it. Listen to Alex. He’s going to be a music producer and a sound engineer. He’s from the South Bronx and he feels free working at the studio. Making music and living are one and the same thing for him.
It boils down to this, “I believe that children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.”
NFAND #Hostos50 #HostosOralCollective #HowardJordan #SoundDesign #MusicDeisgn #NYC #Bronx #History #urban #Education #CUNY
NFAND Episode 81 | Maria Torres, dancer and choreographer
I was a dancer once, so my love and respect for dancers is a bit biased. But so be it, the discipline dancers have is mostly unrecognized and misunderstood. It’s not all games and play at the ballet. Dancers dance. Dancers arrive early for class. Dancers can count, can change the accent of their physical move just to make it fun. Dancers experience life with a sense of physicality, quick wit learning, doer action, and improvisation that blends well with everyday common life.
María Torres’ first dance class was at 1-year old in her family living room. The daugher of a conguero, I guess she was born to feel the rhythm and show it. The long story short is that she ended up winning a ballroom dance competition that started her off on a journey that has not stopped since. You have to hear her tell the story. Here is an artist that has gone at it her way without excuses. Here’s a self-realized woman who mentors others with talent and grit who are also going at it their way, because if not, something inside will die.
Here’s to focusing, going for it, and dancing… Sol
IN SPANISH Episode 80 - After the storm no Puerto Rican is the same, at least I’m not. I am me, always deep, intense, reflecting, but something is different. A puzzle gets assembled piece by piece. Big stories are made up of pieces of lore. I realized that with Frank, I’m looking to put together something I’m not sure what it is. I think maybe after memories of what Puerto Rico once was or had. Somewhere in there is my movement at the moment.
Frank is an old-timer of film and television. He was around and working before Univision was Univision, which he was a part of before it all got built up into the empire it is today. Frank worked with Dad in seven television specials. I remember being a kid in his sets and even having a little part in the children’s television special they made. Maybe this year Dad and Frank can have a conversation about it and we can let the thing play in streaming. Just ideas. Like I said, I’m trying to put something together I’m not sure what it is yet. Frank is a part of the aspect of Puerto Rican history I know best, its arts and culture. It is in Spanish. We couldn’t have done it in English but we didn’t. Asi que disfruten de Frank lo que puedan entender.
Luego de María no soy la misma. Creo que ningún puertorriqueño lo es. Algo busco que aún no se que es o algo busco armar que aún no se lo que es pero algo me dice que con Frank comencé a buscar algo nuevo. Veremos. De seguro busco historias. De seguro busco fundamentos para emular el profesionalismo, aprender de los que corren las largas distancias, y razones para ayudar a otros a conocer quienes somos en especial en el campo de arte y cultura que es de lo más que conozco de mi isla. Frank es un ‘viejo lobo de mar’ como escribió Sylvia Rexach. Recuerdo estar en los sets de Frank para las grabaciones de especiales de televisión que hizo con Padre. Siete en total. En fin. Muchos recuerdos de mi país. Mucha música, mucha gente linda.
Y eso. Stay the course.
Resist neo-fascism, white supremacy, stand for DACA, Native Nations, Puerto Rico, call your senators to defend Net Neutrality. That is the last bit of democracy we have left. Black Lives Matter be better today than yesterday.
Sol
Who can put a price on memories? Pictures are precious for this very reason I suppose. We hold on to moments of moments. It is one of the ways in which we can capture time. In this is the age of citizen journalism and citizen photography, who and what is the real deal? Amateurs and Pros meet at junctures of action and practice. There is so much to see. How it turns out is that most famous images are credited to men photographers. But as photography experts and buffs know, women photographers have also captured history. This is for them...
The article, The Women Who Covered Vietnam by Elizabeth Becker immediately made me think of Verónica Sanchis Bencomo, founder of Foto Féminas, a platform exclusively devoted to showcasing Latin American women photographers. Since its launch, Foto Féminas features one photographer a month. Today, Foto Féminas is a showcase platform and a library. The collection is named after Maria Cristina Orive, a pivotal figure in Latin American photojournalism from Guatemala, who passed away this September. Orive, alongside legendary Argentinian photographer Sara Facio founded La Azotea one of the most respected oldest photography publishing houses in Latin America.
This month’s featured photographer is Gabriela Rivera Lucero. A beast. And I mean wonderful and good. The work is literally beastly, it’s called Bestiario. Check it out. The proposal is not for the faint of heart, but it is real and timely and some of the most exciting work I’ve seen in some time.
Foto Féminas has an important role and we have Veronica thank. The collective voices of these women photographers are telling the story of Latin America with bravery and not a hint of shyness. Fierce.
Sol
Pride of ancestry comes in the form of poise. Such is Malín Falú. Incredibly poised. A Puerto Rican lady from the town of Santurce who apparently, according to her, came to this world with a bent for conversing with people. She explains that when she was a young adolescent she was asked what she liked to do and her response was, “I like talking to people.” And, she made a career out of it.
Malin has been a fixture of Spanish language radio in New York City for over 40 years. She has interviewed countless Latin American figures in the fields of arts and entertainment, politics, human interest, sports, and much more. Her style sealed her reputation as a woman of word and substance years ago. She is beloved and respected by the industry and the community because she is one of those hearts, at the center of community and legacy.
Malin is one of the organizers of the SILENT PROCESSION taking place next Sunday, November 19th. Meeting time is 10:00 a.m. at White Park on East 106th Street and the procession begins at 10:30 a.m. and heads to Trump Plaza on 57th.
Live long and prosper, Sol
NFAND #PR #TIMEFORACTION #EndJonesAct
Episode 77 - #Poetsforpuertorico was a hit. Willie Perdomo, thank you, thank you, thank you. The room was packed. A historic night for the spoken. Without a doubt. A vitamin room. A space for solidarity and Comedores Sociales de Puerto Rico. Poet Cynthia Dewi Oka is off the charts. Her ode to Puerto Rico was like few I’ve ever met, for anyone or anything. The wound penned to slash the jugular. I feel like the different patches of a knitted quilt.
I spoke musician, activist, director, writer, musical theater advocate Local 802, Marlena Fitzpatrick, about her piece for the Huffington Post, More Than Prayers: How the Diaspora Can Help Our Families in Puerto Rico because she ‘admitted’ she wasn’t being objective about her assessment of how best to help the island. This is in short vignettes, the voice of her seeing eyes.
The little things do matter. Sol
This is a different time. I know it’s not specific enough, but it’s specific enough for you to understand. The colossal breakdown of morals and decency in government agency looks to me like we’re trapped and on track towards a worldwide holocaust. I said it once before in this Letter to the President, we, the people, we have nowhere else to run…but millions are, we’re moving in circles because the earth is round. The past week has been intense. Puerto Rican families are being displaced, my own included, I welcomed three into my home - the elder, the frail, the women and children, the strong father, the young, an exodus.
Blue tarps are needed in Puerto Rico. The island needs over 40,000 blue tarps and they are not getting delivered. The reasons vary. I have gotten news of this need a couple of times a week since the hurricane. The video link is from Friday. The reasons vary, from there isn’t enough humanitarian inventory to FEMA taking too much time inputting inventory clearance. The news here and there trickles out. Still no blue tarps, more rain has fallen, and people continue to lose more of what they don’t have. The news of need of tarps has been traveling around since a bit after September 20. I say there needs to be an alliance of middle-big agencies that together should place an industrial order of blue tarps and work together to distribute. The shadow ‘strok’ distribution system still stands. What an image...
Which brings me to poetry. Poets, poems, and writers say it best. Artists in general capture quagmire like no else, which is why we need them. I have spoken with so many people in the past month I’m trying to piece together a cohesive picture, but what I get is a fractured cohesive piece of feeling. Willie and I had a great talk but the sound sucked. I kept about 10 minutes of our talk because Willie was so sincere and the sound was at its best.
PoetsforPuertoRico will raise funds for Comedores Sociales de Puerto Rico. A who’s-who of Poetry will gather on November 4th at Poetry House for a reading for Hurricane Relief.
I have more to share and will, I just have not had time. In the meantime. Here’s acclaimed Willie Perdomo.
This one is for Hostos Community College, the South Bronx, and Puerto Rico. Thank you to the Congressman.
For those of you who don’t know, Bobby Sanabria is a master percussionist and musician. Straight from his bio, “drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, recording artist, producer, filmmaker, conductor, educator, activist, multi-cultural warrior and multiple Grammy nominee.” Boom. Or as Ricans would say on the street, “una jodienda.”
Bobby has a benefit concert on October 23rd at the old Village Gate, now (le) poisson rouge where Salsa met Jazz every Monday night for years. The talk with Bobby ended up being a four-part mini-series but I’m sharing the first two. He goes off and gives the full line up of the band and mixes it all with a history lesson on music, the New York music scene when he was growing up, and just a general sense of the times and music and his love for it.
Also on the talk is Elena Martínez, veteran and senior folklorist, researcher, writer and overall cultural guardian. Love her.
I don’t have much else to say other than take a listen. History. Diaspora. Latin Music. Puerto Ricans in Latin Music. Music heals. Salsa meets Jazz again on the 23rd. Big Band and all…
Bobby and Elena teamed up with the Jazz Foundation of America. Proceeds go to them for Puerto Rican musicians affected by the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and María.
For those of you who don’t know, Bobby Sanabria is a master percussionist and musician. Straight from his bio, “drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, recording artist, producer, filmmaker, conductor, educator, activist, multi-cultural warrior and multiple Grammy nominee.” Boom. Or as Ricans would say on the street, “una jodienda.”
Bobby has a benefit concert on October 23rd at the old Village Gate, now (le) poisson rouge where Salsa met Jazz every Monday night for years. The talk with Bobby ended up being a four-part mini-series but I’m sharing the first two. He goes off and gives the full line up of the band and mixes it all with a history lesson on music, the New York music scene when he was growing up, and just a general sense of the times and music and his love for it.
Also on the talk is Elena Martínez, veteran and senior folklorist, researcher, writer and overall cultural guardian. Love her.
I don’t have much else to say other than take a listen. History. Diaspora. Latin Music. Puerto Ricans in Latin Music. Music heals. Salsa meets Jazz again on the 23rd. Big Band and all…
Bobby and Elena teamed up with the Jazz Foundation of America. Proceeds go to them for Puerto Rican musicians affected by the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and María.
Episode 72 | Uptown Manhattan has Rhina Valentin. For the past 11-years she has given creatives here a platform to be heard and seen from her weekly Friday show on Bronxnet, OPEN. Maybe this is why she is called La Reina del Barrio. She is from El Barrio, but the “Queen” part we didn’t get to talk about that part. Nonetheless, in this episode La Reina del Barrio talks about motherhood, moving cross country, coming back, OPEN Bronxnet, her new variety show, Maria, and going at it with bravado and dignity. Thank you Rhina Valentin for a lovely conversation.
Sol
LaReinaDelBarrio #RhinaValentin #BronxNet #OPEN #ElBarro #TheBronx #Art
María Relief Effort Initiative: Yaraní del Valle is fierce. I’ve seen her sing her heart out. Etched in my mind. A unique interpreter she is. Bella. It is no coincidence that Yaraní, alongside Lady Onion, Aris Mejias, Lady Lanchonete, Isabel Gandía, and artist-activist Jeca Rodriguez created the EcoKit duffle initiative, Puerto Rico Eco Kit.
The backstory of how the three of us are connected is a nice mini story. But, the skinny is the lesson. And that is, the diaspora network is threaded and spreads out pretty far. People working together from all over and partnering with coalitions on the island, creating efforts, sending gestures, and operating in what Yara calls a “stork” system effort. All the while an emerging and unofficial, “new order” ripples.
Yara is a source and a force. Listen to her. She has a lot to say, not only about EcoKit but about who-where-how, the network she operates in is working.
EcoKit Puerto Rico Aris Mejias Isabel Gandía Jeca Rodriguez Yaraní Del Valle ISER Caribe
Borrowed from Dad = Borinquen Vive Sol
Pete Miranda is one of the sweetest, coolest, funniest cats around. I've known him years from working in the Latin music circuit. For those of you who don't know who he is, Pete is a legend. Really. New York City and diaspora history in full glory. Here is a Boricua from Manatí who ended up playing with the Machito and Tito Puente orchestras. Pete is a natural storyteller and his candidness is beautiful. All total he spoke pretty much without interruption for over two hours. I edited a five-part mini-series of Pete, and here are the first two. They say music heals...so, here it is, no music, just talk, but good enough to bring a smile to your face.
Pete Miranda is one of the sweetest, coolest, funniest cats around. I've known him years from working in the Latin music circuit. For those of you who don't know who he is, Pete is a legend. Really. New York City and diaspora history in full glory. Here is a Boricua from Manatí who ended up playing with the Machito and Tito Puente orchestras. Pete is a natural storyteller and his candidness is beautiful. All total he spoke pretty much without interruption for over two hours. I edited a five-part mini-series of Pete, and here are the first two. They say music heals...so, here it is, no music, just talk, but good enough to bring a smile to your face.
Rosalba Rolón is an actress, dramaturge, writer, producer, lyricist, grant writer, mentor, leader, and the world is a better place because she is in it. God is my witness.
Like so many, soon after María passed the questions became, what can we do to help? And thousands have activated to do just that, help. There are numerous and beautiful initiatives and coalitions taking root all over the land, far beyond the island and the island itself. In the midst of so much chaos and shady dealings, the domino effect of consequences continues. But the efforts don’t stop. Pregones/PRTT’s Hurricane María Relief Drive for Artists is one of those beautiful gestures.
For the month of October, the theater will campaign to provide $500 micro-grants to theater, music, dance, visual and literary arts practitioners in Puerto Rico. The drive will put emergency cash in the hands of artists with whom Pregones/PRTT has had a history of exchange and collaboration, and who are also invited to identify subsequent micro-grant recipients.
Two shows happening at Pregones/PRTT on Walton this month, Harlem Hellfighters on a Latin Beat, the concert (Oct. 7) and El Apagón (Oct. 20) 100% of ticket sales will go towards the Hurricane María Relief Drive for Artists. At Pregones/PRTT on Broadway District, Spamilton.
Listen to her talk. She explains it all. The heart of it, the need of it, the solidarity with artists.
ArtistsPR #Relief #P2P
Episode 67 is the great Howard Jordan - he's a perfect match for today's times and Puerto Ricans.
Fierce and gracious both, the Mayor of San Juan. It appears true the administrations don't care if we die. It is so grotesque and real, it's unbelievable. So much so that you don’t believe it at first. Rats working behind the scenes, colluding, arguing, imposing bureaucratic paperwork before humanitarian urgency, lying, confusing the people, letting them rot so to speak. But then you see it, and it is nauseating. Words don’t come easy. I’m tense, irritable, working very hard to stay the course, sifting through emails and feeds looking for stuff, reading what is being said. I think all Puerto Ricans are adapting to everything being different. This Cheat Sheet keeps changing but it’s still made to help people. And, although I cannot foresee what the future holds in terms of people's behavior and their accountability to projects, in the whole I know people here are decent and they want to work hard. So go at it knowing the task will get done.
Status.pr
Maria Tech Brigade - Puerto Rico Tras el Paso del Huracán María Google doc. Jason Suarez Portland OR María Tech Brigade / jason@suarez.email GIS, programming, spreadsheet etc Diasporicans.com | We have data on donation centers around country etc. If you know organization that has need for volunteers (we have over 200 people) please contact Connect Worldwide | Register
Llamada Diaria - Red de Apoyo Mutuo Post María Gmail: apoyomutuopr@gmail.com | Twitter: @PRapoyo OJO:
Maritxel Carrero -father director of Mayaguez Medical Center (no water, 50% capacity) -Milton D Carrero - 410 Hostos Ave, Mayaguez PR 00680
Jennifer Concepcion | Center for Disease Control - ypi@cdc.gov They are in contact with folks on the ground in Puerto Rico for the first time. Focusing on water treatment
Karen Vega coordinates services to connect people without a home with social services. She stops working on Oct. 17 and will offer pro bono services to people arriving in US with medicaid, shelters, etc. | Her words: Are there any social workers getting organized? Bilingual social workers are needed here. Buscan gente joven buscando empleo. No pagan bien pero pagan. Mucho trabajo pero tiene su satisfacción porque van ayudar gente. puertorico.newyork.sw@gmail.com
Water Filter | Lifestraw.eartheasy.com CODE LF30OFF Water Filter 30% Discount
Rosa Cruz-Cordero - get on her list - rc1941@hunter.cuny.edu - monthly newsletter via Hunter College about news and events.
ACTIONS: Denise Solis / Bay area / 510-224-6692 / tallerbombalele@gmail.com / National DAY OF ACTION Oct 4th - calling out for forgiveness of debt, downtown Oakland, also something at LA (Merrill Lynch building) More info. on Facebook. We want all major cities to come out on Oct 4th. David Galarza, organizer Relieve/Rebuild Puerto Rico—New York | Release the relief
Cancel the Debt | Cancel Jones Rally next week at Folley Sq. Wednesday Oct 4th at 12PM | Independent Coalitions | Foundations for Maria Hurricane Relief
Carmelo Anthony Puerto Rico Relief - The Players Tribune Casa Pueblo - casapueblo.org - Very respected organization. Casa Pueblo is a self-managed community project that is committed to appreciating and protecting natural, cultural and human resources. They have helped protect the municipalities of Adjuntas, Utuado, Lares and Jayuya since 1980. Casa Pueblo has road clearing brigades as well as distributing goods. Email: mariolarosario@gmail.com
Efecto Sombrilla - efectosombrilla.org | Contact Tara: tara@efectosombrilla.org Uniting efforts of farmers around the island, have centers in Miramar Hato Rey ready to accept seeds, etc. Any help, ideas, contacts to get the sustainable agriculture back on their feet contact Tara
EcoKit Duffle for Puerto Rico – EcoKit Duffle | Yarani Del Valle Piñero (facebook), Aris Mejias, and Isa Gandia, Organizers | Thru isercaribe.org the EcoKit Duffle initiative delivers eco-friendly survival mat...
Dad sent me this video back in March. Danny en Collores... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWhTLcis5T4
If you are Puerto Rican then you know El Valle de Collores by Puerto Rican poet Luis LLornés Torres. Mrs. Higuera, one of my school's Spanish teacher from Cuba, assigned us to memorize el Valle De Collores for Spanish class. We had to stand in front of the room and recite out loud. I loved it, and her, Mrs. Higuera, and the poem. Dad, here so proud of Puerto Rico's bounty. Todo es diferente hoy. Everything is different today. María was ferocious to her, la Verde Luz. But, after a knock out it's back up again, one step at a time, one day at a time. Defeat is humbling. I'm not saying Puerto Rico is defeated. Because it isn't, but the storm beat it so. Puerto Rico te amo. You are not alone. With a heavy heart and in full awareness and solidarity with all the towns, countries, and people suffering around world. #PuertoRico #BorinquenVive
Going indie as a designer was not in her plans. Necessity came knocking and she took her sewing skills and put them into action creating Skin Onion in 2012.
Lady Onion, as I now call her, is also an actress and appears in the upcoming (October 26) Puerto Rican film Sol de Media Noche, starring opposite Pedro Capó. Though we talk about the film a little bit in this conversation, our exchange centers more on her clothing experiment turned brand. I love that when necessity and desperation knocked at her door she made something of it. Her garments are soft, flexible, purposeful, and timeless.
Young, beautiful, and committed Lady Onion is just like her wearable expressions soft, flexible, and purposeful.
skinonion #arismejias #sewing #clothingdesign #soldemedianoche #nfand
Episode 64 | Five small community-based arts organizations: BronxArtSpace, Dominican York Proyecto GRAFICA, En Foco, Inc., Literary Freedom Project, and Puerto Rican Institute for Development of the Arts make up the Urban Arts Cooperative - UAC. Bill Aguado, is spearheading the endeavor.
Bill’s career is ample deep. This beautiful article by David González of The New York Times says it best.
The crux of UAC is “to build a financially viable alternative to the existing local arts council and institute strategies for arts support that does not rely on the traditional 501(c) nonprofit model while meeting accountability standards set by funders.” Press Release 7|10|17.
The synthesis of the message is to assess and empower present and future artists, particularly those who reside in The Bronx, Harlem, and Washington Heights. UAC received seed funding from the New York City Cultural Agenda Fund in The New York Community Trust.
Bill and Ron Kavanaugh, of the Literary Freedom Project, are welcoming like-minded individuals and collectives to join the cooperative to build new models of existence for artists from The Bronx, Harlem, and Washington Heights, though it could serve as a model for others.
I’ll be participating with UAC. I recognize we need one another, now more than ever. Together better than separate. Artists.
Grateful for Bill’s time, seriousness, commitment, and candidness.
Bill Aguado Executive Director, En Foco., Inc. baguado@enfoco.org, (917) 838-1223
Ron Kavanaugh Executive Director, Literary Freedom Project ron@literaryfreedom.org, (347) 454-2161
Episode 63: In the eye of the beholder. Photography. Silence. Song of Myself. A worldwide network and a one stop shop for creatives and media producers. Visura. For better or for others (her own words). Her purpose. A beauty. Family.
Chilean filmmaker Fernando Guzzoni is a poet. His film Jesús is a powerful coming of age film with a different bent. Inspired by a true event Fernando writes to slash your viser off your face. Jesús is raw, real, beautiful, and devastating. This is the story about boy that mirrors the Chile of today and the cities we all live in. Fernando is a profound thinker and cares about a lot of things. In this work he etches a journey of tragedy all wrapped up in free love, innocence, immaturity, base behavior, repentance, treason, defeat. He doesn’t make it pretty, but he does bring us his voice with respect and courage.
Theatrical roll-out of Jesús begins September 1 in New York and follows a DVD/VOD on September 19. See his other two works, La Colorina and Carne de Perro (Dog Flesh).
FernandoGuzzoni #Jesus #LaColorina #DogFlesh CinemaTropical #NFAND
I have spent most of this summer editing. Listening again, to all the people I spoke with this past year and who make up the Hostos Community College community. I spent another chunk of time editing interviews with people close to Evelina López Antonetty, the Puerto Rican leader who established United Bronx Parents. And I’ve devoted another slot of time to just reading history and pondering how all these voices fit in the context of today.
I begin a whole new weekly share in the form of a radio hour segment, the first week of September, when Hostos Community College officially sets off on celebrating its 50th Anniversary, for the College’s internal and external community. I’m on the hot seat and feeling it.
And there’s more but for now, Kim Sanabria. Something about her sincerity, her cadence, her serenity, and her story, just gripped me.
For those of you who’ve seen me these past few months, I’m sad these days. I may not look it, but I am. Fortunately, people like Kim send me off to the sphere of optimism and hope and reaffirming the notion that education is a moral imperative.
HCC #Hostos50 #ESL #Education
This is episode 60. One of the awesome things about doing this podcast/program for the past sixty-weeks has been the chance to speak with and listen to a lot of wonderful people. It’s kept me present to the fact that there is a lot of goodness despite all the social and political parasites and white supremacists, here and abroad, who with their ignorant and retrograde intellect, insist on bringing us all to the precipice of death.
One of those good people is Melissa Rendler-García. She has been working in advocacy and policy of public health for over 20-years at a global scale. From the heart of the Amazon to Romania to Afghanistan to Central and South America, Melissa has worked on issues from malaria to cancer. Her main service, to support government ministries and agencies like the Union for International Cancer Control in bringing global attention for funding to pandemics and preventable diseases like cervical cancer, affecting poor and developing nations.
In this episode, she talks about her journey into the field. I’m super proud of her and admire her strength of character. Listen to her story, her sense of humanity might just give you a little jolt of inspiration.
Healthcare is an issue close to my heart and should be for all of you. Our pre-existing condition is being born. For now, here is one of my favorite people, proud to call her a sister, an advocate of all of us and we both agree that healthcare is a human right.
Talk about real. Manny Vega is super real. Legit all the way. All the way.
Praise the Lord.
Before recording our conversation Manny showed me this spectacular book he’s been working on for 4-years. It’s a fantastical sight of black ink drawings over brown paper. The light blue leather bound of the book, a little less than a meter in size, has about 80 pages, each one a drawn world filled with life flushed in nuance and inspired by the act of surrendering.
As he tells it, to surrender is to trust in your angels, your madrina, the Gods, and the ancestors. Each second of creative action is trust in surrendering. Not surrendering as meek, but surrendering to the most high in silence and pure expression of sincere enthusiasm.
Manny is enthusiastic for the action of creating in the moment - one drawing is an 8-hour stretch. Here and there is a state of being.
He let me take one picture from the book and it turned out to be the chameleon. Fancy that. Look at him in the branch, knowing the right hue will appear at just the right time. Good dust spreads wherever the art finally arrives to rest.
Manny's heart is in his art. Surrender.
In a few words. Here in this share, George Emilio Sanchez talks about being committed to social justice and its fusion with the creative arts. At a time when the relevance of the Humanities is being questioned, George gets doing it and from its very fringes. He teaches not just at Staten Island College helping to spread good, but throughout a wide network. Best advice he can give, “Listen, listen, listen…”
I’ve been thinking about Math lately. The course that we must all take and that many of us, later in young adult life think it’s useless, only it isn’t. In many ways it’s true, the saying, youth is wasted on the young. But I digress.
Dr. C is all heart-and-soul. I hope you catch that when you listen to his share in this episode 57. He’s from Poland and teaches mathematics at Hostos. For him, mathematics is about the “spirit of generalization.” He’s serious as hell and he makes sense. I say Hostos is lucky to have him.
This past week I went on the deep end of memory lane recalling how hard Math had been for me during my elementary and middle school days until I got to Algebra. Until then, I thought I was utterly incapable of understanding numbers, I suffered a lot because of it. And though that’s a different story, the realization that I wasn’t a dunce dawned on me when I took to Algebra and realized I understood numbers and counting from the experiential setting of being a dancer. Dancing in synchronicity with music is one of the fundamentals of learning the language of being a mover. So connecting what to me were disconnected worlds through the realm of movement, was a total aha moment. It was like, full contact between the invisible and physical world. When Dr. C spoke about aha moments and his students I had a smile from ear to ear.
Algebra. X, Y, Z, and variables. Just like life. We are all in it together, and so in the deep lane I thought what does “m.a.t.h.” stand for, and I came up with, Materialized Attention To Harmony.
Go count your blessings
Have you ever gone under water searching for silence? Do you focus on staying under a bit longer to think and to feel the peace? Or, do you grow desperate and go for air? Are you thankful you can come up for air? Do you go out there and live?
For Rosary Solimanto going down under was not a choice. She was living her life and suddenly, she was thrown into the water to drown. She could see the light, the outside world, but something larger than her kept under desperate for air, for life. I think somewhere in her crucifixion Rosary found a place of stillness and silence - that place where you can go to fetch that thing that just might save your life. That, there, is such a lonely journey…
But she ferociously set herself free and came up for air to live, and she’s taking on the healthcare industry with performance (Dead without Health Care, Alive, The Patient) with sculptures (Weight, Cripple, Trigeminal Neuralgia), by building a new health care narrative, and working to debunk the image of the wheelchair from the health care lexicon in favor of ADAPT.
Her valor and her work are for all of us. To put it elegantly, this entire health care debacle is disgraceful. To me, these men, the ones presenting the health care agenda are low lives. I’m repulsed by all of it and by them, and not just now, but from way before. The whole thing is just a racket. If there is any silver lining is the fact that their moral monstrosity has made it plain and apparent that health care must be universal because health care is a human right.
800MedicalCoats #HealthCare #HumanRight #UniversalHealthCare #ADAPT #PerformanceArt #Action #Protest #RosarySolimanto #NFAND
'Tis the summer of Despacito...
There’s this music club/performance space/art space in Santurce, Puerto Rico called La Respuesta, that mostly presents the local indie rock scene. I learned about La Respuesta in 2008 when I was down in the island for a season working publicity for several local films. One of the films, La Mala needed a place for a party and my friend Nadia Barbarossa, who was part of the film’s producers team told me about it. So I called the owner, the guy that everyone called Fofito, and asked him for a date to go see the place for a possible rental. I still remember the first impression. He was dry, serious, and straight to the point which made me love him on the spot because he didn’t waste my time with bullshit talk.
So La Respuesta was rented for La Mala’s premiere party where the lovely and amazing Lena Burke played the piano and sang her heart out. Since then he and I have been buddies. I stopped calling him Fofito. He is Jose to me, without the accent on the “e”. I like it more than his nickname. Jose is a father of two kids he adores and it’s not just talk. Jose loves music and it’s not just talk. Jose loves Puerto Rico and it’s not just talk. Some people say he’s cantankerous. I say he’s a lovable cantankerous character and if it weren’t for him many emerging artists in San Juan would have virtually nowhere to perform. For that, I love him yet again.
For several years now he’s been commuting between New York and Puerto Rico and producing programming for La Marqueta Retoña. In 2015, Remezcla included him in a “Top 10 List” .
Finally, after about two years of crossed schedules he came over for lunch last Friday and helped me hang paintings in my new apartment, get plants, and out of the blue, I decided to record an on-the-spot conversation. So this Spanish podcast episode 55 has upper west Bronx sounds. But it’s a real from-the-heart conversation with a guy that’s worked hard to make a living in the arts and culture sphere, in the music scene sphere, and with and for Puerto Rican musicians and visual artists. La Respuesta’s wall facing Avenida Fernández Juncos is a space for murals…this is now.
LaRespuesta #Santurce #PuertoRico #Artists #Music #IndieRock #NFAND
For episode 54 I wanted to bring back the Hostos Oral Collective. Perhaps because I’m searching left and right for people who’ve gone out and made a difference, perhaps because of the symbolism of the weekend celebrations, perhaps because I can’t stop thinking about the South Bronx and everything that’s happened there...by now I’ve heard over 150 stories about Hostos and the Bronx, los puertorriqueños, los afro-americanos, los imigrantes, the fiscal crisis, the place was burning...Somewhere in there is why I wanted to share Fernando Ferrer’s words about Eugenio María de Hostos Community College and the Bronx today.
The image of him waiting for me in Hostos’ A-Building lobby is etched in my mind. There he was, the iconic former Bronx Borough President unfazed by his lone landing on 149th Street and Grand Concourse. He looked around as if thinking to himself...He didn’t need an I.D., the security guards recognized him, as well as many of the passersby.
He sat inside my humble voice recording sound studio made of photo backdrop drapes to cancel out echo. Inside the pseudo-casbah is a little table with a super colorful drape that makes it look like a seance gathering. Only it’s not, but it does make the small hut an intimate space for one-on-ones and the only way out of nervousness is to focus, be present 100% and listen to the words...here a leader and a kind hearted man - Fernando Ferrer.
FernandoFerrer #BronxBoroughPresident #SouthBronx #HCC #Hostos50
Sitting down with a vocal coach is a humbling thing. In this conversation both of us demonstrate our Spanglish sharpness, other than that she’s the pro. Rosie holds the distinction of being one of the audiobook voices for the United States Library of Congress. Take that. Rosie has rules, one hundred of them! In our conversation, we really only got to level one, but it’s worth the listen for our seamless in-and-out from English-to-Spanish-to-English and to catch an off-record mini class on proper diction. She asked me what language I wanted to perfect and I answered “neither,” but my answer should have been, “both.”
I’ve known Rosie for many years, but a couple of years ago we met up at Tio Louis’ house and caught up in a heart-to-heart talk that has brought us together. There’s a lot more to her than being an actress and a diction coach. She also writes films and is tackling dying with dignity as the theme, a matter for a different sit-down. For now, be reminded that I’m fascinated by creative workers, and she is definitely one of them. We cover her work as a voiceover artist, her near- death car crash on the West Side Highway that saved her life metaphorically speaking, a few other topics and then we go into diction exercises. She’s lovely. Simply lovely. Sweet, respectful, mature and at it with dignity and certainty. My kind of people.
Rosiesrules #diction #Spanish #English #Spanglish #Acting #Voiceover #Artist #NFAND
This is episode 52 and Jane Gabriels as a guest is sort of poetic. Wasn’t planned. NFAND began as an experiment to save my life and the journey has been bountiful, but more on that some other time. For now, know that Jane and I are kindred in spirit and professional action. But she’s a Jane of all trades with prowess who masters her crafts. Her free style has made her a dancer, poet, performance artist, grant writer, producer, “boss” of Pepatián, a mentor to artists, and a Ph.D. holder. Jane and I have much to talk about and can follow our thoughts going faster than the sounds of our words. Though our talk stretches out, we managed to stay rooted in the journey towards a meaningful life, love of artists, learning to fund the arts, and the Bronx. Many look up to her, go to her, and need her because she’s simply one-of-a-kind.
Photo Credit: Marisol Díaz
Bronx #Artists #Pepatian #Hostos #Dance #Poetry
I struggled to watch Angel Manuel Soto film La Granja (The Farm, Happiness is Hard) not because it was bad, but because it was so good. He had me at minute three. Bravo to him. The film is a scathing socio-political commentary. To me, the consequence of depraved corruption. In this make believe dystopian realm, La Granja’s brazen punch, if you have any humanity in you, is that it’s true. This story takes place in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico few want to look at, like Angel says, “It’s not the Puerto Rico you see on postcards.” But it must be looked at. We learn by contrasting the good and the bad, the dark and the light and so on...
Why do we compare the most decadent and repulsive behavior of people to animals? I mean, most animals kill in self-defense or when they’re hungry, not for show. We, the people, also kill in self-defense or if we're hungry, but we also kill for show. Right? And so we’re in a category all of our own as I see it. What is animalistic about us? I’m imagining the side of human behavior that dismembers people without remorse or dismembers people with gusto as if the kill would save their lives. Another way to kill for show is to asphyxiate slowly with passive despotism, torture, oppression, enslavement, austerity, rape, robbery, pillage. These things set the landscape for either ignorance or violence, which turns the knob a little higher each time until it gets to such a point that it turns human reality into a menace. Somehow Angel gets at all this in La Granja without apology.
Angel is warning us but also urging us to take a step back to reconsider all our options, to dialogue with one another because we might just end up there. It looks like we're almost there by the look of things on a global scale. Corrupt and base souls strangling the people left and right, north and south, and east and west. They themselves seemed captured in a twisted sinister mindset that aims to make ignorance and vitriol the only way out, towards their way. The question is, which way is that?
That is what La Granja captures and presents - desperation, decay, oppression, indifference, and death. His poetry of understanding how colonialism plus massive white collar corruption entangled with the American Dream has dismembered a nation that is still alive both on the island and in the diaspora, ese pueblo grande Puertorriquño fuera de la isla.
La Granja doesn't make it easy or pretty on you. It's brave I'd say. But if there’s life, shouldn’t there also be hope? Go for compassion. Free Puerto Rico.
Charlie is an autodidact. He knows what he knows because he taught himself. And he’s sharp and witty and he reads, reads, and reads. I asked him how he became a writer and he went off on a story, many stories, connected stories about his life’s journey into the literary realm. It is his way of life. From song lyricist to phantasmagorical and literary terms Charlie goes at everything or has because he’s curious. That’s why he left the Bronx for a while, to see the world. I clearly see the skinny kid with no cash at 12 or so, riding the New York City subways when the whole damn thing was falling apart (just like now btw) and I guess that had something to do with him growing his thick skin. And thank goodness nothing ever happened to him. After all, he’s been through and seen and lived Charlie is sensitive, open, centered in his sense of self, forward, real, and that’s why people love him.
This is a Spanish language episode with an English intro.
My background is imbued in music. My entire life has been informed sort of like a doll cut out from the Latin music scene in its many forms. Though I cannot sing or play an instrument to save my life, my Dad gave me no choice but to learn to love music and I’m all the better and privileged for it. I’ve absorbed the arts and culture from that primal field of expression ever since I can remember.
One of those figures is Fran’ Ferrer. His work has impacted Puerto Rican popular music in profound ways. He is history. Really. He has given the cause his sweat, blood, and tears. Fran’ has produced some of the island’s most iconic and unforgettable figures and by extension, songs, in both the studio and live performance setting.
Here he talks about his musical journey in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s from El Topo to Roy to Batacumbele, Brown to Festival Marisol and the list goes on. We’re scheduled for a Part II sometime later in the year.
A man of the people who produced music for his people.
Esto es una remembranza linda-linda de la historia de la música de Puerto Rico.
Today he plays at the Loisaida Festival in the Lower East Side of Manhattan with a great band of masters puertorriqueños - Papo Vázquez - musical director; Henry Cole, drums; Gabriel “Gabo” Lugo, percussion; Mario Roberto Cancel Viga, cuatro; Ariel Robles, bass; Nelson “Gazú” Jaime, trumpet; Anthony Carillo, bongó; Edsel Gómez, piano; Omi, Trombone; and Jorge Castro, Sax.
In other words...Descarga Boricua
DescargaBoricua #PuertoRico #Musica #PuertoRican #Music #RoyBrown #ElTopo #Folk #Batacumbele #Cultura
An actor prepares…
After a ten-year hiatus, Jorge Merced returns to reprise the role of “Loca” la de la Locura in El Bolero Fue Mi Ruina - El Bolero Was My Downfall - the brave character created by Puerto Rican author Manuel Ramos Otero.
In a nutshell, I would say the play is a confession of sorts, an admission of actions of sins based on love, desperation, defeat, marginalization, and the universal innate need of all human hearts to feel acknowledged and respected. Loca, is a tragic story but also a heroic one.
I first saw Jorge perform this show 20 years ago at Pregones’ black box theater. The play opens June 1st, marking Jorge’s 20th anniversary with the show and his 30 years of histrionics and leadership with Pregones, now Pregones / Puerto Rican Traveling Theater.
Jorge has been part of the gay rights movement for years and our conversation here stretches out to explain how the text came to him, how he began performing it as a way to stand for queer voices, what Ramon Ramos Otero signifies for Spanish queer literature today, and how he prepared to revise and reimagine this tale for today.
Jorge is an exceptional actor and performer with an uncanny ability to deliver character dialogue in perfect synchronicity with live music. It’s as if he were an Olympic surfer riding the perfect wave that could crash at any second, only that just like the great surfer, he’s somehow always ahead of it, and comes out standing.
This new staging of El Bolero Was My Downfall is in English, and we also talked about the translation work and how some things cannot be translated but communicated in action. And so, Jorge and the cast prepared, and they're for you.
www.pregonesprtt.org
A good teacher can change you forever.
Like my 11th-grade math teacher Ana. Something about how she taught opened me to the magnificence of Algebra. My awakening made me yearn for homework. I asked for more of it, I couldn’t get enough. By the time my high school graduation came, I no longer felt like I didn’t have a brain for math, which really dented in my self-esteem for years. But I did have it, it just took me a while, the right teacher.
And that’s the thing with Lew Levine, professor of English. He’s taught English at Hostos Community College for years now, like 40. In broad terms, Lew’s an old-timer of the Bronx, New York City, multi-lingual immigrant populations, communities of color, The City University of New York, and education as a principle.
I’ve seen so many eyes light up when they mention the Professor. They all say more or less the same things, that he’s respectful, fun, serious, makes them feel important, and he’s a stand-up man.
This is a beautiful story of a life of service.
Hostos50 #HCC #Education #power #access #Bronx #New York City #multilingual #English #Spanish #French #dialects #immigrant #populations #communitiesofcolor #CUNY
Comes in Rokia Diabi. A young woman and student with a promising future. The power of her promise nested in her dream of becoming a lawyer some day. She's so sincere. Goodness. Rokia has seen a lot, suffered a lot, but she overcomes. Here is a woman's story, a student's story, a snippet of an urban tale in globalized times.
IamAnImmigrant #HumanRights #Education #NYC #Hostos50 #CUNY
I stand with the students and allies of the University of Puerto Rico.
For the next four weeks, I will share full episodes of the Hostos50 Oral Collective.
As the repulsive PROMESA proposes to slash funding from the UPR there is no better time than to share what I have been privileged enough to document for the past eight months. The antithesis of the long-term consequences of a city without a local and public educational institution.
My first love is arts and culture.
And so Episode 45 is Wally Edgecombe. He’s amazing. Just amazing. And as I see it, and at this juncture, Wally is a chapter of South Bronx history.
This is Part I of II. For those of you into deep dives, the various links will take you to the Soundcloud page where the rest of the vast collection, will be uploaded to for the rest of the year. And there, you will find Part II of Wally Edgecombe. The rest is history.
Hostos50 #HCC #Bronx #SouthBronx #NYC #History #ArtsandCulture #CUNY #HostosCenter
If the legendary Puerto Rican educator, writer, and patriot Don Eugenio María de Hostos were alive today, I wonder what he’d think of the community college in the South Bronx named after him, that no one thought would make it. Alas.
Just this past Thursday, Eugenio María de Hostos Community College launched its 50th Anniversary Season.
I can't help but believe that Don Eugenio would be proud of what one of the most marginalized and disenfranchised communities to have ever been in United States history did for themselves.
The story of Hostos is deserving of a lot more attention than it has ever received. It truly is an amazing story. A story about the Bronx, New York City and a reveal of margnalized communities. My relationship with the College is long and now very profound. Life changing really. And I’ll share that story as the year unfolds.
But for part one, for the past 8 months, I’ve been coordinating, conducting, and editing an oral history project for and about Hostos Community College - Hostos50. To date, I have interviewed well over 100 people and counting for a grand goal of 200. From former College Presidents Cándido de León and Flora Mancuso Edwards, to Congressman José E. Serrano, and former Bronx Borough Presidents Fernando Ferrer and Adolfo Carrión, to young students with a promising future like Rokia Diabi.
Once a month, for the next year, I’ll share some of these testimonies if you will. The testimonies are moving, sincere, revealing, courageous, some devastating, others empowering, and the story of triumph over adversity. And more relevant than ever.
Which brings me to Tere Martínez. I wanted to start with her because I love her because she has been nothing but noble to me and because her purpose is beautiful and her testimony open and to the point.
Like the song says, I must have done something good, for the grace of God gave me the opportunity to work on this project when we have, arguably, the most despicable crew of racists, sexists, homophobic, fear mongering, science deniers, xenophobes and troglodytes leading the world order.
The point indeed is that the voices emerging from this Hostos Community College oral collective as I’ve heard it first hand, confirm to me yet again that the leaders have it all wrong.
Ignorance judges the so-called “moochers” for being good for nothings. The truth is you find moochers and good for nothings at every level and anywhere you go, is not an exclusive club of poor people of communities of color.
The bottom line is that the power of education is real and access is imperative.
Hostos50 #Bronx #NYC #History #Education #access #communitiesofcolor
Julia Solomonoff rocks. She’s cool, serious, candid, and it appears like she glides from one great thing to another great thing. At it for many years, Julia has some really beautiful credits. As director, those include, The Last Summer of la Boyita (produced by Almodovar, winner of over twenty international awards) and Hermanas (participant of Sundance and Berlinale Talent Campus labs and premiered at Toronto). As producer, Alejandro Landes’ Cocalero (Sundance 2007), Julia Murat’s Found Memories (Venecia, Toronto, 2011), Ana Piterbarg’s Everybody Has a Plan starring Viggo Mortensen (Toronto 2012), Lucia Murat’s Memories they told me (FIPRESCI winner Moscow 2013) and Celina Murga’s The Third Bank of the River executive produced by Martin Scorsese (Berlin 2014). And, she was 1st AD to The Motorcycle Diaries director Walter Salles.
She co-wrote and directed the feature film Nobody’s Watching (nadie nos mira), world premiering at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in the International Narrative Competition with screenings on the 22, 23, 26 and 27 of April.
Spoiler alert: In this episode 43 Julia and I talk film financing, Argentinian women directors, directing from the inside and about Guillermo Pfening, the film’s protagonist and hero. Mr. Pfening (Nico in the film) is a wonderful actor. He delivers a courageous performance that reaches a gamut of difficult emotions with such elegance. It was a pleasure to watch him go at innocence, love, grief, striving, desire, utter destitution and embracing self-reliance. Broke my heart. I’ve seen this story. Nobody’s Watching is a New York story and a world story. After 27-years and counting here in the City, I don’t know of anyone, who has not faced the sun at sunset when all seems lost. But not all is lost. Ja-ja! It ends well... In Spanish we have the verb tenses “ser y estar.” This is the crux of the foundation of the language in its most literal sense, in understanding that distinction of the state of the self. “I am” and “I am” in English is one state. But in Spanish, “ser” (I am) is a permanent state, and “estar” (I am), is transitional. Somewhere in there is the story of us.
Argentinefilmdirectors #ArgenitneWomenFilmDirectors #ArgentineFilmProducers #ArgentineScreenwriters #JewishArgentine #NFAND #PanAmerican #MultiLingual #Bilingual #ArtsandCulture #LatinoFilm #LatinoFilmmaker #LatinAmerican #Cinema #CinemaTropical #Tribeca #TribecaFilmFest #TFF2017
Joseph and Gloria La Morte are a special husband-and-wife creative duo. They’ve etched a place for themselves in the creative economy. Combined, Joseph and Gloria have produced films, documentaries, web series, public service announcements, special segments, edited features, written screenplays, and acted; and are parents to Emile. Good people.
For years they’ve been part of my artistic and professional compass. How do they/we do it? When and how does the creative life begin? Make something out of it. And that they have. Joseph says something really true here towards the end. I’m paraphrasing, but it’s something like, yes we have to pay the mortgage, but we find ways to feel at peace with how we earn our money. The crux of the hunt. And it lives with the actions of us/them, the creative work. In their case, Details, Crush, Entre Nos, Free Like the Birds, Get Some, 11 Million Stories, and much more. See JoeynGloria.com.
Their son Emile will know all about producing and filmmaking for sure. I tried editing down to 30 minutes but it was almost impossible because of course, thoughts come in story form as told by creative workers. Also, the sound is not ideal, but I worked it and am proud of the editing to bring balance to the three voices. The talk stands because this conversation is really about making the quotidian matter.
joeyngloria #filmmakers #latino #content #creators #producers #husbandandwife #getsome #11millionstories #colombia #newjersey
Javier started his career in communications way back when his parents built him a playhouse, that at one point he turned into a studio news station. He wrote scripts and broadcasted the news. I can picture him clearly, little, doing his thing. He read the papers everyday at 8:00 p.m. with his parents. His love for news is a way back thing. Good it is.
A consummate professional in the field of communications, Javier knows government, public affairs, culture, society, political campaigns, and a whole lot more. More like acting and performing. He combines his art and what he considers his civic duty, reporting on local news.
He and I have grown up together, professionally speaking. In this episode 41, we talk about that, the things we do, the new era of news and though he’s straight laced and I the bohemian one, we’re good colleagues, with nothing but mutual respect. Good, it is.
NFAND #podcast #NotesFromANAtiveDaughter #PanAmerican #Latino #Arts #Culture #Conversations #Spanish #English #Spanglish #News #Journalism #Content #Artist #Multidiscipline #Leader #Actor #Puerto Rico
Episode 40. Towards the end of our conversation Daniel Maldonado says that “dealing with rejection is soul crushing and it never ends...it’s about managing expectations." In this matter, I feel Daniel’s next of kin. What do you say? Doesn’t the match make us usable, strong, and mature if you meet it in the eye? Every down-and-up a swallow. Standing.
Daniel Maldonado is steady like that, like an oak, and owning his journey as a writer, director, and filmmaker. His movie H.O.M.E. is beautiful.
They went rogue. The director, cast, and crew, filming underground NY-MTA...
H.O.M.E. is on tour: Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara (market) - Festival Internacional Cine, Álamos Mágico (screening) - San Diego Latino Film Festival (screening) - North Hollywood CineFest (screening) - Phoenix Film Festival (screening) - Chicago Latino Film Festival (screening) - Bentonville Film Festival (screening).
Home is where the heart is…
H.O.M.E. #HOMEthefilm #DanielMaldonado #Latino #filmmaker #NALIP #NFAND #PanAmerican #Multi-lingual #Conversations #Arts #Culture #Society #Resistance #FreeCulture #Stories #Immigrants #HumanRights
Maria taught herself how to write in formulas, that’s the Hollywood way, and she takes to it. She’s working on a couple of horror and Sci-Fi scripts. Maria has a whole lot of profound and sensible things to say about being, writing, surviving, the politics of the day, and she’s a good listener.
How we got to talking about loss and mourning I’m not sure, but we did, and I thank her for it. The dead live. What a paradox.
Indeed, that this should be the week the U.S. Gov in all its mighty might announced axing the arts from federal funding. They may or may not succeed, but one thing is for sure, art will never die. Art lives.
MariaNieto #Latina #Writer #LatinoStories #Woman #ArtLives
Once, many, many years ago, I had the honor of playing Spider Woman / Spider Grandmother in Murray Mednick’s The Coyote Cycle. The culmination of performing this play meant we did seven acts through the night beginning at dusk and ending at sunrise. The Coyote, the Trickster, the Clown, and Spider Woman. The cycle of life, the story. The four elements. We had an audience. I stood eye-to-eye with an owl. Humbling.
As a native daughter, my sincere heart stands with Native Nations. We have one earth.
Their fight is our fight. Truly. It was an honor to march on Friday in Washington D.C. #WaterIsLife. Without water we don’t survive. None of us. None of this.
This episode is what I heard - their proclamation, their credo, the plea, the warning.
WaterIsLife #NativeNationsMarch #IStandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #NoPipelines #PeopleOverPipeline
I loved the movie Gladiator. Memory tells me, I went to see the film anywhere from 6 to 8 times on the big screen. I was mesmerized by it. Such a colossal spectacle in every single way – the music, the opening battle sequence, the costumes, the plot, the words, the vengeance, the colosseum battles, and the brilliance of Maximus Decimus Meridius, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, Lucilla, Proximo, and Senator Gracchus.
DayWithoutAWoman #IStrikeFor #Resistance
Alfonso Díaz, is the New York City arts, culture, and entertainment reporter and red carpet correspondent for the Colombian channel. As publicist he and I have worked in a variety of projects throughout the years. Put succinctly, debonair, in the truest sense of the word. Earning respect as a serious red carpet reporter is the most challenging part of his job. We talk about that, being out there when the lights are on and things happen that curtail the job. Glamour-drinks-and-drama. To honest Work.
NTN24 #AlfonsoDiaz #TenemosQueHablar #Serious #Journalism #Latino #Español #RedCarpet #Reporter #Colombia #Noticias #Bilingual
In the realm of music and international arts relations, Claudia Norman is a legend. Period. Sweet as pie and as serious as any true diplomat out there Claudia is a risk taker and a champion of culture.
Some of her fierce credits including working with the legendary Sheldon Soffer, serving as Artistic Director of the Latino Cultural Festival at Queens Theater in the Park, Public Programming Producer for Lincoln Center Out of Doors and Midsummer Night Swing festivals, and La Casita, a festival celebrating oral traditions, poetry, hip-hop and global sounds. She’s served on many panels, worked with hundreds of artists from across the Northern and Southern American continent including the late and beloved Chabela Vargas. But goes beyond the region and one can say she has come across artists from all over the world. Her Celebrate Mexico Now Festival will be 17 this fall.
Art funding will be as hard today as it has always been, she says, and she’s optimistic. Me, not so much, at least not today. Notwithstanding, we agree, that art is the way.
CelebrateMexicoNowFestival #Mexico #ArtsAndCulture #Women #Leaders #ArtsAdministration #Music #Dance #LivePerformacne #Love #Latino #LatinAmerican #Muslim
Arnaldo J. López is brilliant. Brilliant. His capacity to synthesize the underpinnings of almost any topic you present to him is uncanny. Now, all this brilliance I talk about, would never-ever-ever be spilled on you as condescension, which is what sets Arnaldo apart. Truly. Anyone that knows him will tell you that it’s so. And, one of the reasons I simply love him. He is dear to my heart for that and more...
I can bounce ideas off him and he takes them in. He listens. He makes sense of them and helps you navigate towards a conversation that is filled with depth and substance. And, those who know me well know I love deep and intense. Can’t help it.
This episode is about art, culture, artists, the structures that bind, build, and help the field stay afloat. We go deep and broad but it’s specific of the field and the reality that is creation, presentation, scale, access, identity and going at it in an ever changing financial and cultural landscape and now, a bellicose political climate.
Art #Culture #Scale #Access #PregonesPRTT #LatinoTheater #NALAC #CulturallySpecificThetaer #Resistance #SOS #WaterIsLife #SaveTheInternet
Beatríz Ramos and Judy Mam rolled-out DADA for the digital age with DADA (dot) NYC. The original DADA movement, galloped onto the scene in the early 20th Century, to among other things, protest war and strife. Fancy that. DADA is stuff of myth for modern art history and beyond. Plenty has been studied, philosophized, and written about it.
But this is not that. It is and it isn’t. DADA (dot) NYC, is a platform where people can go draw and paint. What people draw is up to them. Beartíz imagined it as a collaborative rather than a competitive space. It is sort of like creating a Mandala. You put the time to create it, only, in the end, the symbol, the art does not get erased. Chances are someone else will come to your board and add on to it and the painting gets built together in a language without words.
We talk a lot in this episode 33, for an episode on invisible but palpable communication. But, no one is perfect...DADA (dot) nyc is for everyone. Go Look. Open up your heart. Draw. Resist.
DADAnyc #resistance #art #artmatters #LanguageWithoutWords #TechandArts #TruthIsOutThere #WeAreStrongerTogether #Drawing #Community #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife
Powerful, determined, stand-up, a woman of her word, an award-winning filmmaker, actress, and director, Paola blows people away. She does, she’s got that something…I met her back when I was with my Falco Ink family as a film publicity and got the chance to do P.R. for her film Entre Nos.
I know her story very well. I wrote this piece for her book, The Ones Who Don’t Stay (Los Que No Se Quedan), for the Huffington Post. Her track record has enough substance for several episodes, from refugee camps in Kenya to immigration detention centers, Paola does not relent when it comes to immigrant rights. I also wrote this piece for the Huffington Post about her and the fabulous Gloria LaMorte, one of Paola’s creative and life sisters.
In this episode, we talk about the Women’s March. I asked her where her sense of duty comes from for the sake of those who don’t know her. Listen to her words. Hopefully, she’ll inspire you to stay the course and stand on simple but essential principles of humanity.
I, like her, and as stated in the Women’s March website in the Artists’ Table section, believe artists hold the power to humanize the most difficult of issues.
The work she and the women responsible for the Women’s March, have given us, the people of the world who believe that a better society is possible, a reason to stand against those trafficking with hate and demagoguery. Strength in numbers...
I for one, even in the darkest hour, hold to Anne Frank’s own words: Despite everything, I believe people are really good at heart.
womensmarch #womenrightsarehumanrights #immigrantrightsarehumanrights ##resist #savetheearth #NoDAPL #cliamtechangeisreal #artmatters
I marched with the Brick x Brick brigade. Brick x Brick is a public art performance that builds human “walls” against misogyny. We were a fabulous group of 120+ men and women and a marching band! Pictures of my instagram feed @soldanelarivera.
Brick x Brick Believes... Standing in solidarity against any actions that threaten civil and human rights. We are indivisible. One nation; one for all. Every life and every voice are equal. Misogyny, xenophobia, Islamophobia, racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and bigotry have no place in our White House or in society. Black Lives Matter People with disabilities’ rights are human rights. LGBTQIA people's’ rights are human rights. Indigenous peoples’ rights are human rights. Immigrants’ rights are human rights. Women’s rights are human rights. Environmental rights are human rights.
womensmarch #womenrightsarehumanrights #brickxbrick #climatechange #artsaves #resistneofascism #lovetrumpshate
In this episode 30, I speak with the profoundly creative Sarah Sandman. My heart simply opened up to her as soon as I met her back in 2011 at Hostos Community College.
She works with big concepts. She creates experiences, through games and special assignments, where human capital is built and valued by doing the work.
Sarah was selected a 2015 TED Fellow and is Co-Director of Public Displays of Affection, a Brooklyn based agency engaged in works that ignite social and environmental causes through experiential design.
She found a serendipitous partner in award-winning costume designer Andrea Lauer, and together they developed the creative and political protest experience, brickxbrick. Two other partners came on board for Sarah and Andrea, TED Fellow, singer-songwriter, Kyra Gaunt; and TED Fellow and creative producer, Joey Foster Ellis.
Project description Brick x Brick is a public art performance that builds human “walls” against misogyny. During the wall performances, participants wear brick-patterned jumpsuits adorned with colorful brick patches bearing statements of misogynistic violence made by President Elect Trump and his Administration. Placing divisive words on the jumpsuits is a symbol of our resistance and determination to maintain control over our bodies. Linking hands to form community walls of individuals further blocks and subverts the harmful messages that subjugate women. When standing in wall formation, we hold silent space that amplifies our message and builds unity through passive participation with the audience.
The Brick x Brick group, now over 120+ people, will march next Saturday January 21, 2017, in Washington D.C. at the Women’s March.
The mission for the march Brick x Brick marches with the Women’s March on Washington to protest misogyny. We resist patriarchal, heteronormative, discriminatory and oppressive systems and structures of power. We stand in solidarity with an intersection of voices from all socio-economic, geographic, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including indigenous communities, people of color, people with disabilities and LGBTQIA communities. We acknowledge the strides women have made historically; we are continuing the work of those who have stood in resistance before us.
I’m marching with the Brick x Brick brigade next week at The Women’s March and am looking forward to it.
womensmarch #brickxbrick #womenrightsarehumanrights #women #cliamtechange #blacklivesmatter #brownlivesmatter #alllivesmatter #wallagainstmisogyny #lovetrumpshate #resistneofascism
One of my favorite projects ever is Cinema Tropical. Equally a favorite of mine, is Carlos Gutiérrez, its co-founder and executive director. In this episode 29, I welcome him with sincere gusto. I admire him tremendously and love him with a bit of teenage innocence. We talk about life, fluid identity, film, and how and why Cinema Tropical champions Latin American cinema.
Cinema Tropical has matured holistically, fueled by Carlos’ admiration for filmmakers, using cinema as a tool to interpret the world, and his respect for the artistic, cultural, and civic voice of Latin America.
Carlos Aguilar of IndieWire published (December 26, 2016) “20 Latin Americans Making a Difference for American Independent Film Today, Meet the unsung heroes keeping Latin American film alive in the United States.” Great piece and Carlos is there, top left in the title image composite.
Next Friday, January 13, 2017, the 7th Cinema Tropical Awards. Visit the page for a full slate. Captivated by “Embrace of the Serpent” and “The Man Who Saw Too Much.”
CinemaTropical #TropicalAwards #IndieWire #Film #independentfilm #LatinAmericanFilm #LatinAmericanfilmmakers #CarlosAguilar #USLatinos #LatinAmericans #Hispanics #Spanish #Portuguese #PanAmerican
This episode 26, is a Spanish podcast with an English intro. Here is my mom, pops and I sitting around mom’s dining table a few days ago.
In this episode dad and I talk about one of my theories on why I’ve lost my “joie” for holidays in general, his love for Christmas, his Pido Paz album, childhood and Christmas in Puerto Rico in the 1950s, a song for Sister Isolina Ferré, and all the while Bebe, my mother, throws her wisdom of historical references. She didn’t “want to be” interviewed but she spoke anyway. ‘Tis her style to let her voice be heard. I owe her so much I can’t even, I’ll save her for Mother’s Day. Dad is incredible. At 71 his voice is solid, mature, profound and uncracked. A beast. He’ll get more episodes, I mean he’s a series onto itself.
Later today, I’m spending Christmas with my parents for the first time in over 35 years. Amazing and beautiful. I’m verklempt and grateful. Here’s to wishing you all a Merry season and a prosperous and bountiful year 2017. Resist neo-fascism
Here in New York City Louis Perego Moreno, also known - far-and-wide - as Tio Louie, is a staple character of the hustle and bustle Latino arts and entertainment scene. He supports and champions filmmakers, actors, and musicians, but really all the arts. He’s hell-bent on arguing his point on how Latinos are not at the table at almost every turn. And, while I do agree with Louis on several points, I favor other equally and arguably more important points, regarding Latinos “at the table,” mostly that, I think we can do a better job of telling and presenting our stories. It’s a big one and a conversation that Louie and I and others can continue to have and expand. Don’t expect a cat fight here, we’re civil, loving, and listen to our conversation.
Latinos #arts #entertainment #tiolouis #ourstories #film #television
Innocence and wisdom shine out of Trina’s eyes when she speaks. Trina is an American, Venezuelan, and Italian extract, who from dancing to cycling to producing, does it all with gusto and bravado. El flamenco is one of the greatest loves of her life. Because of it, she holds to el duende (sprite) as a means to sustain living with meaning and purpose. We talk about that, her Made in NY fellowship year, Habla, Latino Media Works, and Flamenca Films.
habla #hbolatino #hablayvota #flamencafilms #duende #latina #director #flamenco
Episode 24 is part two of two, of my conversation with Elba Cabrera. Here In New York City, Elba Cabrera is an esteemed figure of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Of strong stock, with strength and honor, she’s of one of those people everyone here knows. Her sister, the beloved and legendary leader hailed as the mother of the Bronx was Evelina López Antonetty.
She personifies cultural legacy. She greeted me with homemade banana bread, coffee, and quiche, and then gave me a tour of her apartment while she went on about her paintings and pictures. Her eyes and times have seen much.
Here In New York City, Elba Cabrera is an esteemed figure of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Of strong stock, with strength and honor, she’s of one of those people everyone here knows. Her sister, the beloved and legendary leader hailed as the mother of the Bronx was Evelina López Antonetty.
She personifies cultural legacy. She greeted me with homemade banana bread, coffee, and quiche, and then gave me a tour of her apartment while she went on about her paintings and pictures. Her eyes and times have seen much.
Episode 23 is part one of two, and this first part of our conversation plays unedited because is nuanced - history bits and in-between the lines…
Lucía Castellano Vega and Inés Mongil Echandi is the team of directors behind the lovely short doc., Clubman 13.3.13. The piece trails one man whose work ethic, dignity, and elegance reveals itself by his own words and actions. For over sixty-years, this man devoted himself to men’s wear. His sense of honor and duty reflected. The story is so simple it feels like a caress, a gesture.
What gets us up each day? How come we live and for what? What is our purpose? How does time change and alter what we do and focus on? What happens when circumstances change and we must take a different course? Clubman 13.3.13 addresses these themes. A poetic story about lifelong commitments but also about a changing labor market and workforce.
The protagonist holds to his work ethic because he knows only it, will save him. As long as he has his will to live there is always something to do.
Inés and I talk life, finding stories, elegance, and dignity.
clubman13313 #clubman #santurce #shortdoc #womendirectors #work #menswear
Melissa Montero is an Ecuadorian-Puerto Rican warrior, activist, filmmaker who dances the hustle. Automatic five stars, in my book. Her moral compass directs a lot of her creative efforts. We talk dance, the hustle, salsa, discipline, Oscar Lopez Rivera, and Isabel Rosado.
Melissa is one of the core committee members of the 35 Mujeres NYC X Oscar, a group of 35 women of different ideologies, faiths, and backgrounds who gather in neighborhoods throughout New York City the last Sunday of every month to rally until Oscar Lopez Rivera is pardoned and released from prison.
She’s been working on a documentary, Mi Madrina Revolucionaria (My Revolutionary Mother) for several years, about her search for a deeper sense of her identity as a Nuyorican through her encounters with Isabel Rosado, a woman whose life encompassed the history of Puerto Rico over the last century, and whose struggle reflects the politics that have divided Puerto Ricans to this day.
freeoscarlopezrivera #PuertoRico #film #art #identity
If last week I smiled, this week I cried. Not sure which of the drops was the last drop that kicked it out me, but inspired by T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” and during my sleepless night of Thursday I wrote. And, a letter to President Barack Obama came out of me, which I sent to The White House and the Council of Environmental Quality on Friday morning. Later in the afternoon, I recorded myself reading it - 3 minutes and 50 seconds long.
IStandWithStandingRock #poetry #TheFuture #climatechange #SOS #beforetheflood
This is episode 20 of Notes From A Native Daughter. My guest is Puerto Rican award-winning actress, writer, and filmmaker Kisha Tikina Burgos. In our second go at recording, we end up having a heart-to-heart philosophical conversation about creativity and purpose. Lovely.
On November 9th, her award-winning film “Antes que cante el gallo” (Before the Rooster Sings) directed by Ari Maniel Cruz, opens the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival (IPRHFF) here in New York City. Among other awards, “Antes que cante el gallo” just received the Mejor Pelicula de Infancia 2016 by UNICEF Colombia during the 33rd edition of the Bogotá Film Festival. This is very cool and head over to Google translate to learn what this is all about. The film’s executive team are all a bunch of super Puerto Rican pros. Also very cool.
So be on the lookout for streaming and listen to us if you wish. This is a Spanglish podcast.
antesquecanteelgallo #IPRHFF #artist #woman #filmmaker
My dear Francisco Serrano, who is one of those people I consider a genius, calls me up a few weeks back to tell me I have to listen to the guy that his little daughter Isabel (3) is obsessed with. “She just can’t get enough of him.” Parents and love, love, love…I am not a mother, but I love enthusiastic parents.
So I went ahead and listened and tuned in for a few hours of Google video watching. Turns out that 123 Andrés (Andrés Salguero) has a Spanish/English music shtick, with substance, for kids and he’s etching a himself a respectable career. So much so that, for two consecutive years he’s been a Latin Grammy ® nominee for Best Children’s Album. Last year with his debut album ¡Uno, dos, tres Andrés! and this year with Arriba Abajo (Above Below).
123 Andrés is not a one-man band, Christina Sanabria, his wife, completes the power house team behind all the fanfare. The band expands and “shrinks” depending on the gig and though they themselves are Colombians, their other bandmates represent Latin America and the Caribbean in various forms.
The bilingual element in 123 Andrés is intentional, smart, and fun. He puts out vallenato, rock, cha-cha-cha, cumbia and much more. Andrés is a skilled music man with a doctorate degree and all. His mission is to educate and validate children. In this episode #19 Andres and I talk bilingualism, being Latino in the U.S., seeing children learn, parenting and a bunch of other stuff. We became friends.
During these times of such grotesque political behavior I search for things to hold on to and I think of the work Patricia Zárate and Danilo Pérez are doing with hundreds of children in Panama in the City of Knowledge; or the elegant campaign and action Paola Mendoza and Michael Skolnick are engaged in, in the U.S. with undocumented children to bring attention to immigration reform; and the commitment of Andres Salguero and Christina Sanabria to use music and language to educate children of all backgrounds on the wonder and beauty of the Latin American continent, it amazes and comforts me.
With people like them, the world is a better place.
There’s so much I want to say about Eduardo Alegría, and yet I'm out words. Eduardo’s artistry was the first light I saw at the end of a dark tunnel. A performance artist, writer, dancer, vocalist, philosopher and band leader. Una Estrella, a star. He calls Se Nos Fue La Mano a musical “novelette.” The album is an outstanding piece, a Spanish alternative-rock gem for the ages.
In the episode: Poneletreros and El Recipiente/Tsunami. His words, music, queer life, Clowns Caress Me, Puerto Rico’s quagmire, made in the sea…
From the personal to the universal or from the universal to the personal – I believe that’s the quest of all artists. To nail that very thing that grabs at us in our core. A hit and miss type of thing, but the noblest of efforts. Argentinean filmmaker Gaston Solnicki has an uncanny ability to achieve just that, every single time it seems. He’s known for his non-fiction documentaries Süden (2008) and Papirosen (2011).
Gaston's latest film Kékszakállú, his first fiction feature, was an official selection at this year’s Venice, Toronto and New York Film Festivals. He won the FIPRESCI Award (International Federation of Film Critics) a few weeks back at Venice.
“Kékszakállú is a singularity: a playful portrait of spiritual lethargy. A portrait of several young women at the threshold of adulthood…”
Partly inspired by Béla Bartók’s sole opera Bluebeard’s Castle, Kékszakállú is a must see.
Ivonne plays a fabulous Alba Gloriana Villanueva, abuela, on The CW hit show, Jane the Virgin. Ella es una gloria puertorriqueña / a Puerto Rican glory, with a career path of many years. I offer a heartfelt introduction about her and to her, for all of you, which, I hope will make up for the fact that I lost the first nine minutes of conversation. Humbling.
Ivonne es bella y tremenda and she’s family. She's part of my childhood framework regarding arts, culture and entertainment in Puerto Rico during the 70s and early 80s. Beautiful times. Beautiful person.
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Rosal Colón is a real thoroughbred of the theater. Serious stuff. This kid has credits. Some of those are: Alumna of the Conservatory of Theater Arts, SUNY Purchase; Member of the acclaimed Labyrinth Theater; Freeman of Color (Broadway); The Motherfucker with the Hat (Broadway and regional D.C.); Much Ado About Nothing (The Public Theater); Ninth and Joanie (Labyrinth Theater); Between Riverside and Crazy (2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and read the New York Times review); Season 4 Orange Is The New Black (filming season 5). And carrying on…
Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda, her name sounds like the great Latin American novel, à la Anna Karenina, less the tragic ending. Her name befits her. She’s an alchemist artisan. Dexterous with her hands, Zaida Adriana creates textiles from natural and recycled materials. She does a lot more than that but do check out BALMASEDA.com so you can see her poetry.
Solid, supportive, soulful, singular and a superb professional with one of the most beautiful smiles ever, that’s Tony Chiroldes.
He loves to sing Out There from the film The Hunch Back of Notre Dame for his cabaret show. Out There is all about chops and heart something Tony has galore. And, he reminds me that being out there in the world and living, is what it’s all about.
Paola Lázaro is fierce. Here’s a young, talented and emerging wordsmith, in a very crowded landscape, standing as a unique voice.
Recent credits:
Selected by the Atlantic Theatre Company to be its Tow Playwright-in-Residence as part of the Tow Foundation’s 2016–17 playwright residency program. She was part of the 2015 Emerging Writers Group at the Public Theater.
Received an Arts Entertainment Scholarship Award from the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts for the pilot episode of her TV show, Trópico.
Appeared in "To the Bone" at the Cherry Lane Theatre and received a 2015 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress.
In May of this year, Paola participated in the Sundance Institute’s pilot Theatre Lab in MENA, held in Morocco.
Harry Nadal is a creative a mind and consummate professional. His next gig - Arena Stage in D.C. to work on A Raisin in the Sun.
Harry does what he does because, “it’s the talent that God gave me and it is what I was brought into this world to do.” In a field that is not Latino dominated, Harry is a mentor and an example for future Latino designers.
Members of the band Balún, Angélica Negrón, José Olivares, Noraliz Ruíz, Raul Reymundi and Lawson White, head of Good Child Music, talk about their upcoming album Prisma Tropical (Tropical Prism). Balún is an electronic, dreamy, pop, daze. All of them are truly accomplished. Prisma Tropical is produced and released by Good Child Music. Balún’s collaboration with Lawson White is a mix of musical prowess and mutual respect.
In 2015, Roberto designed and launched a new graduate program in film production at Johns Hopkins. The Film & Media Master of Arts Program focuses on the areas of business, writing, sound design and production and emphasizes experiential learning. In 2016, he also designed and launched the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film & Media at Johns Hopkins University. The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund identifies innovative visual media artists in Baltimore and connects them with prestigious artists, veteran executives and successful entrepreneurs to produce powerful projects and bring meaningful stories to life. Currently, Roberto serves as the Director of the Film and Media Masters program and the Director of the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film & Media at Johns Hopkins. He teaches at the undergraduate and graduate level and is working on his second television pilot.
Leticia Peguero is the Executive Director of the Andrus Family Fund. As a woman of color in the philanthropic sector, Leticia is a rare leader. Her work in social justice requires her to talk race, equality, and gender all day long. Exactly what she wants to be doing.
Visit the Andrus Family Fund to learn more: http://www.affund.org/
Guest Desmar Guevara is a music artist, keyboardist, a theater music composer. As musical director and composer of Pregones Theater/Teatro Rodante Puertorriqueño for the past 10 years, Desmar has created over 20 full-length, original musical scores for the theater, among them, “The Red Rose,” “The Harlem Hellfighters on a Latin Beat,” “Neon Baby” and “An Astronaut’s Desire,” and “Hey Yo! Yo Soy!”
For additional + visit: www.desmarguevara.com and www.pregonesprtt.org
Noemí Segarra Noemí Segarra is an incredible artist and dancer. I’ve known her to be super skilled since childhood. A few years ago I wrote two pieces about her that appeared on the Huffington Post, Latino Voices’ vertical. I promised her a third piece, and though I’m a few years late, this conversation/interview makes good on that promise. Our conversation was deep...
Reflections of our conversation by Noemí Segarra:
“Translate the art of action and movement to the spoken and written word, as a self-reflection exercise for documentation, self-learning and knowledge.”
“Delve in defining myself (as a person and as part of a collective whole) rather than allowing others to define me.”
“The only thing that removes doubt and fear is practice. Making, testing, documenting and trying as many times as necessary.”
José García has a beautiful voice. I can always tell when he’s singing even if I’m not watching. I particularly admire that he’s been part of Camp Winnarainbow for the past 23 years. We met many years ago through our shared tribe of Pregones Theater and worked together on Promise of a Love Song, an original dramatic-musical created by Roadside Theater, Junebug Theater and Pregones Theater.
His present passion is a music project in homage to Pedro Dávila Ortíz, a k a Davilita, one of the greatest voices to come out of Puerto Rico, and is a symbol of the Puerto Rican diaspora. José has known and studied Davilita’s life and works for years and with his band, The Rubi Band, Davilita’s work is refreshed and played on and with, the sounds of the times.
Starting September 23 The Rubi Band will play at Don Pedro in Williamsburg, for 8-weeks on Fridays from 7pm -9pm.
In my estimation, Marlène has one of the coolest jobs in the entire national and perhaps even global landscape, of arts and culture. Really. She’s a powerhouse of incredible talent as actor, artist, creative worker, cultural advocate, producer, writer, mentor, and linguist. She earned a BA in Literature from Harvard; a MA in Comparative Literature with PhD coursework from Stanford; and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Marlène is also known as Fulana, for the project Fulana, a Latina video + Performance Collective. Visit their site, they’re amazing.
Visit and learn about the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. Hemisphericinstitute.org. It’s also amazing.
We're friends for over 30-years. During our conversation we talk life and dedicating a career to artistic expression and social justice.
The first episode is a 5-minute piece of just me talking and explaining what NFAND is all about.