Showing posts with label bomplenazo hostos bronx newyorkcity loiza environment development culture puertorico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bomplenazo hostos bronx newyorkcity loiza environment development culture puertorico. Show all posts

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Survival in Contemporary PR

Community calendar



Cultural Survival, Political Resistance and

Sustainable Development in Contemporary Puerto Rico

…is a bilingual (English-Spanish) one-day seminar on the effects of development and globalization on traditional cultures in Puerto Rico focusing on the recent history of the coastal communities of Loíza and Piñones and the island of Vieques . The participants represent a cross section of leaders in the struggle for cultural and environmental survival: educators, cultural activists and advocates of alternative strategies for development.
The seminar serves as an introduction to BomPlenazo 2008, the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture’s biennial celebration of Afro-Puerto Rican culture. This year, the festival will focus on the bomba and plena music and dance traditions as they are practiced in the communities of Loíza and Piñones, two of the principal centers of Afro-Puerto Rican culture.
Founded by runaway slaves and freedmen in the 19th century, Loíza and its neighborhood of Piñones, with their beautiful coastline and coconut groves, have become a symbol of cultural tenacity as many loiceños have bravely resisted development efforts that threaten their cultural traditions and the beauty of their communities.
This seminar will also focus on the recent history of Vieques, the struggle to end naval bombing of the island and the implementation of a strategy for sustainable development. The island’s recent history, characterized by military and economic assaults, mirrors that of Loiza and Piñones.
The presenters are:

Juan Giusti, Ph.D., professor, University of Puerto Rico

Maricruz Rivera Clemente, president, Corporación Piñones se Integra

Robert Rabin, director, Museo Fuerte Conde Mirasol, Vieques

Alberto de Jesús (Tito Kayak), environmental activist

Nilda Medina, director, Incubadora de Microempresas Bieke

Moderator:

Juan Flores, Ph.D., professor, Black and Puerto Rican Studies, NYU

This is part of the BomPlenazo program at Hostos.

For more information on this and other BomPlenazo events, www.hostos.cuny.edu/culturearts/events.html.