Thursday, October 29, 2009

Thanks comunidad

IMG_7539Image by clarisel via Flickr

Tonight I will be honored with a 2009 Comite Noviembre "Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad" award at a reception at El Museo del Barrio in NYC's East Harlem. Comite Noviembre is dedicated to preserving Puerto Rican heritage and culture and organizes several cultural and community events in November for Puerto Rican Heritage Month in New York City. Tonight is the kick-off event of the wonderful lineup of activities coming up in the city, which includes the annual Puerto Rican artisans fair.

I am honored to receive this "Lo Mejor" award with a wonderful lineup of fellow boricua movers and shakers. Several of them belong to the Puerto Rico Sun online community and are supportive of our mission.

The other recipients are Nydia Edgecombe, Director, Alumni Relations, Eugenio María de Hostos Community College, Ibrahim González, host of WBAI -99.5, Melinda González, folk lyric historian and Bombera for Bomba Yo!, Rev. Carmen Hernandez, Pastor & Founder, Stratford Community Services, Elisha M. Miranda, Co-Founder, Chica Luna & CEO, Sister Outsider Entertainment Gilda Rivera Pantojas, Director, Danza Fiesta, Rafael Rivera-Viruet, President, Terramax Entertainment, Trinity A. Rivera, volunteer, National Puerto Rican Day Parade and, Rosa A. Rosario Valentin, community and cultural activist.

They do represent some of the best in the community for their leadership and commitment. Earlier this year, for example, I, as part of PRSUN Radio, had the pleasure of interviewing Gilda for her work promoting culture, dance and theater. Gilda's passion for Danza Fiesta is infectious. To listen to that interview, go to www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

For me, it is an honor that I was nominated by community members for this acknowledgment. Thanks to those who took the time to write letters. Thanks to those who regularly visit and read my blogs and belong to our social networks. Thanks to those who always go a step further to support our business and social mission of informing, empowering and building community. Thanks for every tweet and blog post. Thanks to those who financially contribute to this project by clicking on ads, advertising or just tipping (that is key to take this online community media project to the next level). This award is important because part of my mission here at Puerto Rico Sun Communications is to build community, and this award represents that.

Remember that Puerto Rico Sun Communications is a community-minded independent multimedia social entrepreneurship.

Thank you for your support. Moving forward always.

Clarisel









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UPDATE: To view photos from the "Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad" event, go to http://flickr.com/photos/clarisel. Click on "Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad."

(photo by Milagros Gonzalez)

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

History of Puerto Rican Art Movement in New York City seminar

Community calendar

Research Seminar
"An illustrated History of the Puerto Rican Art Movement in New York City"
Presenter: Yasmin Ramirez, Centro Researcher
6 p.m. Tonight
Centro Conference Room, Hunter College, 1437 East Bldg., Manhattan
Refreshments will be served
http://www.centropr.org/events.html?event=58

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Celebrate Puerto Rican Heritage Month in NYC

Community calendar
COMITÉ NOVIEMBRE
mes de la herencia puertorriqueña

SAVE THE DATES

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009
CN’S 23RD ANNUAL KICK-OFF CELEBRATION
EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO, NEW YORK CITY

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2009
CN’S 14TH ANNUAL GALA
CELEBRATING 23 YEARS OF PUERTO RICAN HERITAGE MONTH
THE NY HILTON, NEW YORK CITY

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2009
COMITÉ NOVIEMBRE AND HOSTOS PRESENT
JESÚS OMAR RIVERA EL BORICUAZO
Puertorriqueñidad…Defendiendo nuestra imagen
HOSTOS CENTER FOR THE ARTS & CULTURE THEATRE, BRONX, NY

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
CN’S FOURTH ANNUAL ARTISANS FAIR & EXHIBIT
CN’S FIRST ANNUAL HEALTH FAIR
EUGENIO MARÍA DE HOSTOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE, BRONX, NEW YORK

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
CN’S 15TH ANNUAL DAY OF COMMUNITY SERVICE & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
IPRHE’S UPACA SENIOR CENTER, NEW YORK CITY


COMITÉ NOVIEMBRE
C/O IPRHE, 105 EAST 22ND STREET – 6TH FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10010


FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL: (212) 677-4181 OR (914) 263-6599
OR VISIT: WWW.COMITENOVIEMBRE.ORG


COMITÉ NOVIEMBRE MEMBER AGENCIES

INSTITUTE FOR THE PUERTO RICAN/HISPANIC ELDERLY * ASPIRA OF NEW YORK
EL CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS PUERTORRIQUEÑOS * EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO
EUGENIO MARÍA DE HOSTOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE * LATINO JUSTICE – PRLDEF
NATIONAL CONGRESS FOR PUERTO RICAN RIGHTS – JUSTICE COMMITTEE
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LATINO POLICY * PROMESA
PUERTO RICO FEDERAL AFFAIRS ADMINISTRATION


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Monday, October 19, 2009

PRSUN Radio chats with County of Kings' Lemon Andersen

Lemon Andersen is my guest Wednesday at 11 a.m. on PRSUN Radio at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

County of Kings is playing now in NYC.

About Lemon and his County of Kings:
Half Puerto Rican. Half Norwegian. Two-time felon. One hell of a show.
Featured earlier this year as part of The Public Theater's Under The Radar Festival,Lemon Andersen's County of Kings gives a tough, yet poignant biographical account of a good kid growing up in an unforgiving environment. Lemon, whose parents met at a methadone clinic and passed away from AIDS, served two prison sentences before he was 21 and won a Tony before he turned 30. His on-stage memoir touches on young love, the birth of hip hop, slinging crack, ballet, stealing car parts, prison, and poetry as he takes the audience on an astonishing and surprising one-man journey toward self-discovery. Weaving hard-edged drama with urban poetry, the Brooklyn born and bred performer tells his coming-of-age story with profound honesty, compassion and humor. A true story of finding passion in the arts and finding one's way, Lemon paints a vivid portrait of his own life and the lives of countless other Brooklynites during the 1980s and 1990s.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Lemon Andersen has been featured as a regular on HBO's "Def Poetry" presented by Russell Simmons and was also an original cast member and writer of Russell Simmons' Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. On screen Lemon has appeared opposite Denzel Washington in Spike Lee's Inside Man and The Soloist starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. -- www.countyofkingstheplay.com

Check out this recent review in the New York Times:
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/theater/reviews/13county.html



UPDATE: To listen to my archived interview with Lemon, go to www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

NYC to show its solidarity with Puerto Rico's National Strike

There will be a rally tomorrow at 5 p.m. in New York City in support of the national strike in Puerto Rico. This comes after Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño laid off thousands of government workers earlier this month, citing the island's poor economy as the culprit that has led him to make some tough decisions in this difficult financial time. But the layoffs have led different sectors on the island to engage in civil disobedience. The national strike on the island is also tomorrow.

To participate in NYC's rally:

5 p.m. Thursday, October 15th
PRFAA, 135 West 50th street (between 6th & 7th Avenues), Manhattan

The NYC Chapter of National Congress of Puerto Rican Rights is a sponsor.

Puerto Rico Sun is in solidarity. While it is true that the governor did need to cut workers from the government payroll because it is too big, the sudden number of layoffs are just too drastic and negatively impact too many poor and working class families on the island. These cuts are only making the unemployment problem on the island even bigger than it is.


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Luis Muñoz Marín: The New York Years

Community calendar

Research Seminar & Exhibit Luis Muñoz Marín: The New York Years
Presenter: Mario Pérez Miranda, Centro Dissertation Fellow Exhibition launch, reception to follow

Thursday, October 15, 6:00 pm
Centro Library (at Hunter College) East Bldg. 3rd Floor, Main Library Entrance, Manhattan
http://www.centropr.org/events.html?event=56

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Sunday, October 11, 2009

PRSUN Radio chats with Pepper Negron

My upcoming guest is Pepper Negron, director, screenwriter, filmmaker, photographer, dreamer...

Go to my entry at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

The show will air at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

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UPDATE: To listen to my interview with Pepper Negron, go to my archives at http://blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

NYC cultural act to protest book ban in Puerto Rico

In the mailbox

Hola Familia

As many of you know several literary works - including "El Entierro de Cortijo/Cortijo's Wake" by Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá and Aura by Carlos Fuentes - have been banned in Puerto Rico by the conservative right party currently in power. This is an act of devolution that sets our society back by hundreds of years and its an action usually associated with intolerant and totalitarian governments.

This is why El Puerto Rican Embassy is calling for all Puerto Rican/Nuyorican artists, writers and educators to join us on Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 2 p.m. in front of Rev. Pedro Pietri's mural on 104th Street for a Cultural Act that will be photographed and videotaped in order to support writers and artists in Puerto Rico and show solidarity with this new struggle they are now facing.

Below I have included an Embassy press release and I have also attached a more creative version I've designed to reference official documents that have been censored before releasing them to the general public.

I ask that you forward this message to all you think may be interested in joining us.

Gracias y saludos!
Adal Maldonado
Artistic Director/Resident Dissident
El Puerto Rican Embassy

Friday, September 25, 2009

PRSUN Radio chats with Urban Jibaro George Torres


My upcoming guest on PRSUN Radio is Urban Jibaro George Torres of Sofrito for your Soul. The show airs at 9 p.m. Wednesday at http://blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

George Torres is a social media consultant, cultural activist, radio personality and founder of cultural online magazine SofritoForYourSoul.com. Read a brief bio at my blog at http://blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.


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UPDATE: To listen to the interview, go to my archived show at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio

Thursday, September 17, 2009

PRSUN Radio chats with writer Alexandra Roman Hernandez

My upcoming guest on PRSUN Radio is Puerto Rico-based novelist Alexandra Roman Hernandez who is currently promoting her new book "The Valley of Inspiration." My interview with Alexandra is 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.
Here's the press release about the book:
THE VALLEY OF INSPIRATION (in Spanish) is a fantasy-adventure novel for young adults written by Alexandra Román de Hernández. In this novel, A.R. de Hernandez, leads the reader to explore the mythological Egyptian world through the eyes of Nailah, a young forger of words, which after the death of her father, a famous author and inspiration, enters a depression that inhibited her writing. The recent discovery of a tomb in the Valley of the Queens, gives hope to Nailah, for the hieroglyphics narrates the journey of a young prince poet, who became one of the most acclaimed poets of his era.
Accompanied by her best friend and an Egyptologist, she travels to Egypt to find the Valley of Inspiration, but first she must find the followers of the ancient Egyptian religion, who have lived in anonymity for centuries and are the only ones who may lead her to the valley. Armed with the sacred symbol of the Egyptian religion that will help her find the followers, Nailah undertakes the adventure of her life.
 
Through The Valley of Inspiration-a magical journey to the land of Pharaohs and Egyptian gods’ world-this novel author teaches us to understand that sometimes we need to lose our sources of inspiration, to realize that we are able to achieve our goals if we believe in ourselves.
 
For Alexandra's bio, go to my blog at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio
Some of you may know Alexandra. She is a member of the Puerto Rico Sun social network at www.puertoricosun.com.

UPDATE: Come listen to PRSUN Radio chats with author Alexandra Roman on PRSUN RADIO at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/PRSUNRADIO/2009/09/24/PRSUN-Radio-chats-with-author-Alexandra-Roman 

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Making the everyday exceptional with food

Here is an interesting community event for those of you who love to cook with a twist.
Daisy Martinez has a Food Network show called “Viva Daisy!”, Harumi Kurihara, often times referred as Japan’s Martha and celebrity event planner Karen Bussen will speak at the Japan Society on how once thought “exotic” food or culture is now influencing regular American kitchen.  Both Latin or Japanese food aren’t “go-to” food when cooking at home, but both Harumi and Daisy are trying to change this myth. Click on the image for details.


For more information on this event at the Japan Society in Manhattan, go to


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