Monday, November 07, 2011

'The Roberto Clemente Story' musical to premiere in NYC

Featured Puerto Rican Heritage Month event Looking forward to seeing The Roberto Clemente Story musical this Saturday. Here is the press release:
The Society of the Educational Arts, Inc. (SEA), during its 6th Annual BORIMIX: Puerto Rico Fest, is proud to present the World Premiere of DC-7, The Roberto Clemente Story, a musical about the life and legacy of the Baseball Hall of Famer and humanitarian. This limited run of 12 performances at Teatro SEA (107 Suffolk Street, between Rivington and Delancey Streets) begins November 11 (Opening Gala Performance) and ends December 4. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 6pm. Clemente, right-fielder for the Pittsburg Pirates (1955-1972), was one of the most beloved figures in the history of the MLB. He was the first Latino to win a World Series as a rookie (1960.) He also won the MVP Award (1966) and the World Series MVP Award (1971.) He finished his career with over 3,000 hits and 12 Golden Glove Awards. He was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame following his untimely death on December 31st, 1972 from a plane crash while traveling to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. In DC-7, a bilingual musical with English and Spanish book and lyrics, three of the most influential characters in Clemente’s life meet at his funeral to share their memories. Matino (Clemente’s brother), Vera (his widow) and Ramiro Martínez (a close friend and journalist), reminisce about their life with Clemente. Their stories transport the audience to Clemente’s early years in Puerto Rico, his time with the Montreal Royals and his 18-year tenure with the Pirates. This musical also dramatically depicts the era of the Civil Rights Movement and how it affected his life as a Black Hispanic. Through all his trials and tribulations, Clemente triumphed becoming a legend on and off the field. This new musical is a dedication to a hero whose extraordinary life continues to inspire and touch lives. This World Premiere production stars Modesto Lacén (Off Broadway’s Celia The Musical and La Barbería) as Clemente, Lorraine Velez (Broadway’s Rent) as Vera, Josean Ortiz as Martino, and Dr. Manuel A. Morán as Ramiro Martínez. Also featured in the cast are Shawn Beck-Gifford, Anthony Coto, María del Mar González, Johanna Rodríguez, Xiomara Rodríguez and Fidel Vicioso. Chroreography and Musical Staging by Luis Salgado (Broadway’s In The Heights, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.) Musical Direction and Arrangements by Harold Gutiérrez. Produced by Dr. Manuel Morán, Artistic Director and Founder of SEA. Dr. Morán comments on the play, “Roberto Clemente has been an inspiration to people of all generations and cultural backgrounds. SEA is thrilled to present this new work that highlights his life and legacy which is still very much alive in communities across Puerto Rico and the nation.” Luis Caballero adds, “As we approach the 40th anniversary of the plane crash that took Clemente’s life, it is time to revisit his story of success, resilience, public service, spirit and sacrifice. This show will inspire us and leave us with much to think about.” For Modesto Lacén, who recently played Clemente on 3,000 (a film about the day when the slugger hit that career record,) recreating the character on stage is a dream come true. “I thank SEA, Luis Cabellero and the Roberto Clemente State for this remarkable opportunity to bring to life one of my all-time heroes. I have wanted to play this role on stage all my life." DC-7 is part of BORIMIX: Puerto Rico Fest 2011, a month-long cultural celebration that highlights all forms of art during Puerto Rican Heritage Month. For more information, go to www.borimix.com. photo of Modesto Lacén as Roberto Clemente (photo by Abey Charron/courtesy of Teatro Sea)

Friday, November 04, 2011

POEMobile: Nuyorican Poets/Founding Voices

Featured community event A White Wing Brushing the Building POEMobile: Nuyorican Poets/Founding Voices TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8th, 2011, 7-8:30 p.m. Nuyorican Poets Café, 236 East 3rd St. btw Aves B & C in Manhattan. Featured poets: Tato Laviera, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, Lois Elaine Griffith, Louis Reyes Rivera, Sandra María Esteves and special tribute to Jorge Brandon & Piri Thomas. A free-to-the-public event.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Understanding Afro-Puerto Rican and Other Afro-Latin@ Cultures

Community calendar Understanding Afro-Puerto Rican and Other Afro-Latin@ Cultures Winner of the 2011 American Book Award Presenters: Miriam Jiménez Román and Juan Flores Book signing by Editors of The Afro-Latin@ Reader Discussants: Karen-Juanita Carillo and Natasha Gordon-Chipembere Wednesday, Oct. 26, 6-8 p.m. Faculty Dining Room West Building, 8th Floor Hunter College, NYC Events are subject to change. For update information visit us at centropr.hunter.cuny.edu or call (212) 396-6545. Centro Events are free of charge.

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Serrano Urges Inclusion of All Puerto Ricans in Status Plebiscite

Politics Says the Serrano Amendment Must Be Included as in the Past Washington, DC – Congressman José E. Serrano has urged the inclusion of all Puerto Rican-born people in a status plebiscite, regardless of where they now reside. This plebiscite condition, known as the Serrano Amendment, has been attached to virtually every consensus status bill since the 1990s. Serrano said “excluding people who left the island for economic or social reasons in the past silences a segment of the Puerto Rican family which deserves to weigh in on a final status arrangement.” “From the time I came to Congress and began to work on the status issue, I have always said that those Puerto Ricans who are now living off the island must be included in any decision on the final permanent status,” said Serrano. “I reached out to the political leaders in Puerto Rico today to remind them that this provision has been part of every consensus bill over the past decade, and has been agreed to by all political parties. “The inclusion of all native-born Puerto Ricans is not about loading the vote for one option or another, but rather about fairness and justice. Many of us left the island not because we wanted to, but rather because our families had to make difficult economic choices. We do not now ask to be part of local political decisions, but this final status question transcends normal political questions and deserves our input as part of the Puerto Rican diaspora. “The political parties in Puerto Rico, which are so divided on so many things, have historically agreed on the Serrano Amendment. I fail to see what has changed in this current situation that prevents the Serrano Amendment from being part of the plan for the plebiscite. Some have mentioned the White House Task Force; to them I say, let Puerto Ricans choose their plan for this plebiscite and not make decisions that exclude anyone from the process. “It is long past time for the Puerto Rican people to say to the federal government with one united voice that it is time for a change. Besides the Serrano Amendment, this is something that all the parties agree on: the current situation cannot continue. Let’s begin the process of changing the status to one of respect and dignity, whatever form that may take. We must unite around the idea that our people, both on and off the island, deserve the right to determine our own future. Whatever their decision is, it deserves to be taken seriously by the federal government. Surely we all agree both on and off the island, that Puerto Rico has been in limbo too long and it’s time for a change. ### source: press release from Serrano's office Editor's note: What do you think? Should Puerto Rican-born people who moved out the island be allowed to participate in a status plebiscite?

Monday, October 03, 2011

'Re-Imaginings'

Community calendar “Re-Imaginings” Photographic Art Exhibit in conjunction with the HOLAfestival Series of Staged Play Readings as official event of the NYC Latin Media & Entertainment Week The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA), the nation’s longest running active arts advocacy organization for Latino actors, is proud to present "Re-imaginings," a photographic art exhibit, in conjunction with the HOLAfestival series of staged play readings. Both the photographic exhibit and the staged play readings feature and showcase the talent of HOLA members and both will take place at the Abrazo Interno Gallery located at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (CSV), 107 Suffolk Street (between Rivington and Delancey streets) in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center Inc. is a Puerto Rican/Latino cultural institution whose mission is focused on the cultivation, presentation, and preservation of Puerto Rican and Latino culture. "Re-imaginings" in conjunction with the HOLAfestival is an official event of the NYC Latin Media & Entertainment Week (October 3-9). The opening reception for the photo exhibit and staged play readings will take place on Monday, October 3 at 6 pm. The gallery is open to the public from 3:30-10 pm daily and admission to both the photo exhibit and staged readings is free, although reservations for the staged readings are preferred. For more information, or to RSVP, call HOLA at (212) 253-1015 or go to www.hellohola.org. The HOLAfestival was originally created in 1983 and ran until 1990 as a series of theatrical productions and musical evenings featuring HOLA members. In 2011, HOLA decided to revive the HOLAfestival as a series of staged play readings by HOLA member-playwrights and featuring HOLA members in each cast. The playwrights for the 2011 HOLAfestival, curated by HOLA Associate Director A.B. Lugo (http://about.me/ablugo), include Lina Gallegos, Mel Nieves, Tere Martínez, Anthony Ruiz, A.B. Lugo and Oscar A. Colón. "Re-imaginings" is a photographic exhibit that takes iconic television cast images and "re-imagines" them showing Latino actors from HOLA’s ranks as part of the re-imagined cast. The exhibit’s unifying theme is that of visualizing a world where Latino actors were already more fully integrated into the mainstream entertainment culture, as they have been into the nation’s population. The duplication of iconic cast images for such shows as “Seinfeld,” “Friends,” “All in the Family,” and “Sex and the City,” among others, strikes a visual chord of familiarity while also serving to show how seamlessly a Latino actor could be integrated into the various shows' universal themes of the human experience. "Re-imaginings" was conceived by multi-media writer and producer Maria Nieto (http://about.me/MariaFernandaNieto) and is jointly curated by Ms. Nieto along with the exhibit’s photographer Luis Carle (www.LuisCarle.com) and HOLA (www.HelloHola.org). "Re-Imaginings" Photo Exhibit Abrazo Interno Gallery, 107 Suffolk Street, 2nd Floor, NYC On view from 3:30-10 pm Free admission source: HOLA

Friday, September 30, 2011

Enter book giveaway: 'The Rising Moon' by Nilsa Rodriguez

The Reading Corner Nilsa Rodriguez is a member of the PRSUN online network. She is also the author of "The Rising Moon," a young adult paranormal romance novel, published by Black Dove Publishing. Her debut novel was released on Sept 12th. Enter new giveaway to get an autographed copy of Nilsa's book and more. To get a taste, view the book trailer: Book summary: How many lives must you live to realize that love is stronger than time and death? Orphaned at the age of five, Angelia (Lia) Lafosse was left with questions about whom and what she truly was. One thing was clear. Lia was different…some might even say cursed. With the help of her best friend, Ryan Woodruff, she begins to unlock the secrets of her family's past and discover answers that prove more startling than she ever imagined. Not only was she a werewolf, but a reincarnation of the immortal werewolf, a werewolf with immense powers beyond any of her kind. A werewolf that if discovered by the Lobison’s to have returned, can jeopardize both Lia and those she love. Torn between Lyle Ulric, the charming werewolf whose bloodline is as ancient and powerful as her own. And Adam Ambrose, the mysterious and alluring vampire who’s determined not to allow fate or anyone tear their love apart again. Lia has to make a choice… Destiny or Love…Run or Fight…Live or Die About the author: Born and raised in New Jersey, Nilsa Rodriguez now lives in beautiful and sunny Florida along with her husband and son where you can find her writing well into the night on her next novel. Being an author is quite literally a dream come true for a girl who spent every childhood moment escaping to far away lands and wondering into enchanted forests through the many books she’s read growing up and still enjoy to this very day. To enter giveaway, email clarisel(at)puertoricosun.com. Send your name and mailing address. Giveaway winner will get a signed copy with book swag as well as bookmark, postcard, button and stickers. First come first served. To order Nilsa's book, the title has been added to the PRSUN aStore too. The PRSUN aStore features books, music and more that highlight Puerto Rican and Latino writers and artists. Congratulations to Nilsa. Thanks for being part of our network.

Editor's Picks: PRSUN Photo Project/PR Parade '11

For the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, PRSUN organized a team of contributing photographers to take photos at the parade from their perspective. The images are part of a permanent online gallery titled "PRSUN Photo Project: The 2011 National Puerto Rican Day Parade." Participating photographers included Catherine Fonseca, Eileen McNamee, Kevin Tyson, Oscar Rivera, and Ismael Nunez. This gallery is the Editor's Picks from the online exhibit. While I also participated in the online exhibit as a photographer, this gallery does not include any of my images. Here is a selection of some of my favorite images that my photo colleagues took at the NYC parade on June 12. Editor's Picks: www.flickr.com/photos/clarisel/galleries/72157627784719336/ To view the full online PRSUN Photo Project exhibit, which includes images I took at the Puerto Rican parade, visit www.flickr.com/groups/nyprparade/ -- Clarisel Gonzalez/curator

Thursday, September 22, 2011

'Fiesta del coqui' at Florida zoo

Featured event If you are in Florida this weekend, go show the Puerto Rican coqui some love. September 24 & 25 Fiesta del Coquí 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Visit the Central Florida Zoo for its annual “Fiesta del Coquí” and party with the coqui with live music, crafts and activities, demonstrations and much more celebrating the Hispanic culture. Enjoy regional cuisines, dance to the sounds of local bands, and be entertained by local dance groups, all celebrating our beloved coqui. Call 407.323.4450 ext. 136 for information. http://www.centralfloridazoo.org/2011eventslist

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

'Finding Our Latino Ancestors' family history fair in the Bronx

Featured community event The Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York Presents its 6th Annual Hispanic Family History Fair: Finding Our Latino Ancestors Saturday, September 24, 2011 10:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M. Join your neighbors in this ONE OF A KIND event developed for everyone interested in finding their roots in Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries. The Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York, celebrating its 15th Anniversary, will be at The Bronx Library Center, presenting FREE workshops, where you can: - Learn how to research your family’s roots, without ever leaving New York; - Discover how easy it is to find your family’s history, no matter what Hispanic country your family originated from; - Explore some of the resources that are available with information about your family’s past. This event will feature workshops for anyone who has thought about undertaking this rewarding hobby. Classes offered include Puerto Rican, and general Hispanic genealogy for beginners and Using the Internet to help you find your ancestors, with a hands-on class on the use of www.ancestry.com. So if you have ever wondered how you came to be who you are, where your ancestors lived, married and died, or if you would ever identify those people in those old photos, this is the event for you. Seats are limited, so please pre-register hgsny@aol.com or call 212-340-4659 Complete schedule on back. Updates on the web at: http://www.hispanicgenealogy.com There is no charge for this event. Bronx Library Center 310 East Kingsbridge Road (near Fordham Rd.) Bronx, New York 10458 Phone (718) 579-4244 http://www.nypl.org/branch/local/bx/fdc.cfm source: Hispanic Genealogy

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Julia de Burgos stamp dismissed?


Commentary


By Steven Maginnis



There are few people more deserving of commemoration on a United States postage stamp than Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos.  De Burgos, who lived from 1914 to 1953, grew up in poverty in Puerto Rico but managed to go to college through a scholarship and become a teacher - effectively pulling herself up by her own bootstraps.  Later, through involvement with the Puerto Rican Nationalist party, she became a full-time writer and wrote about her love of Puerto Rico, the social struggles of the poor and oppressed, and her own feelings of entrapment and confinement. "Writing in the 1930s through the 1950s," one reviewer for Publishers Weekly, commented, "de Burgos was ahead of her time in grasping connections between history, the body, politics, love, self-negation and feminism that would later prove to be the foundations for writers like [Adrienne] Rich and [Sylvia] Plath."    
In September 2010, Julia de Burgos - who died of pneumonia in New York City in 1953 and was initially buried anonymously because her body could not be identified - was honored with a postage stamp in the U.S. Postal Service's Literary Arts Series, a series of commemorative stamps dating back to 1979 that has honored John Steinbeck, Edith Wharton, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, among others.  She was thus honored as an American, not an Hispanic American, writer; the de Burgos stamp is part of a mainstream series that's as diverse as America itself (James Baldwin and Richard Wright are among the black authors honored in the series).  In fact, she's the first Hispanic author commemorated in the series.       
But some readers of Linn's Stamp News seem to disagree with the Postal Service's actions. Linn's Stamp News, the nation's premier philatelic (stamp collecting) magazine, holds an annual poll of the most and least popular stamps and postal stationery. When the results came in for the 2010 stamp program poll, the Julia de Burgos commemorative stamp was voted the second worst commemorative design - behind stamps honoring abstract expressionist painters, 548 to 377. It was understandable, as the de Burgos stamp design seemingly reduced the woman to a caricature and featured a background that depicted Puerto Rico's landscape somewhat cartoonish.  
But get this. It was also voted second least necessary commemorative - behind stamps for Sunday comic strips, 563 to 264. 
What are we to make of this? Stamp collectors have always been stereotyped as one thing or another, from overeducated geeks who bore people by showing their collections like they were vacation slides (as Woody Allen depicts them) or, worse, stodgy old white men who don't interact with anyone and prefer to stay home, mounting their precious pieces of postal currency depicting dead presidents.  It's the latter stereotype that this dissing the de Burgos stamp in the 2010 Linn's poll suggests, with an element of racism, misogyny, and sociopolitical arch-conservatism. 
The philatelic community has been fighting this stereotype for a long time.  Black stamp collectors have promoted the hobby to get more black people involved, and the Postal Service itself has issued numerous stamps for blacks and Hispanics.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt, an ardent stamp collector himself, personally saw it to that Booker T. Washington appear on a postage stamp after many black Americans petitioned him to have such a stamp issued.  The ten-cent Booker T. Washington Famous Americans stamp of 1940 marked the first time a black man appeared on a U.S. postage stamp, but its denomination limited its use at a time when first-class postage was only three cents.   As for a black woman on a U.S. postage stamp, that didn't happen until Harriet Tubman was honored in 1978.
So when stamp collectors, who are supposed to know more about history and geography through their experience with stamps, find a commemorative for Julia de Burgos unnecessary, it makes me wonder how many of them open their minds to other cultures and perspectives.  What is it these 264 Linn's readers objected to?  Was it de Burgos's feminist attitudes? Her Puerto Rican nationalism?  Or had they simply never heard of her before?  Were they too disinterested in Puerto Rican culture to at least learn more about Julia de Burgos?
I owe a lot of my own knowledge to stamp collecting.  When I first began the hobby at the age of ten, the U.S. Postal Service was issuing commemoratives honoring the American Revolution Bicentennial, and I learned a lot about how America went from thirteen colonies to becoming one nation through those stamps.  My early collection included foreign stamps, which taught me about countries that had been wiped off the map, like the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which from 1940 to 1991 were forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union.  And yes, I even discovered American poets like Edgar Lee Masters, Emily Dickinson, and Robert Frost, all of whom I read in school.
Maybe these 264 Linn's readers who thought that a Julia de Burgos stamp was unnecessary should bear in mind that, while Americans working in the English language wrote a lot of our great poetry, they didn't write all of it.  Maybe if they give themselves a chance to learn about Julia de Burgos, they'll find her odes to Puerto Rico as culturally significant as Carl Sandburg's exaltations of Chicago or Robinson Jeffers's musings on California.           
By the way, the kind of stodgy white men most people imagine as stamp collectors are called "Mr. Wilsons," after the grouchy neighbor in "Dennis the Menace," one of the comic strips commemorated in the Postal Service's Sunday comic strips stamps.



Steven Maginnis is a New Jersey-based freelance writer and member in the PRSUN network. To view more of his writings, visit his blog at http://stevenmaginnis.blogspot.com.








Julia de BurgosImage by clarisel via Flickr

         
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