Monday, October 26, 2015

Monday, June 22, 2015

Check out PRSUN Project: National Puerto Rican Day Parade '15

For the last few years, Puerto Rico Sun has assembled a group of photographers to cover the National Puerto Rican Day Parade through their lens. We don't have any other agenda but showcasing select images of the parade as seen by the photographers on our PRSUN team.

Here is the link to our online photo gallery of this year's parade and related activities:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/prsunprproject15

More images to be added soon.

This year's PRSUN team: Ismael Nunez, Miriam Quin and yours truly.

Enjoy.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Rita Moreno, Lin-Manuel Miranda and More to Lead National Puerto Rican Day Parade 2015

Cultural Celebration on Fifth Avenue to also Honor
Afro-Boricua Heritage and the State of Connecticut


Special campaign to raise awareness about Environmental Justice
for Caño Martín Peña in San Juan



The National Puerto Rican Day Parade (NPRDP) today announced its line-up of honorees, themes, special events, and initiatives, for the upcoming celebration annual celebration along Fifth Avenue.


Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony-winning entertainer Rita Moreno, will serve as the Parade's Grand Marshal, leading up the massive Parade of approximately 20,000 marchers and 2 million spectators, on June 14th. Salsa superstar Victor Manuelle will serve at the Parade's King. Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, star and creator of the upcoming Broadway musical "Hamilton", will receive the "Nuestro Orgullo" (Our Pride) Award for his inspiring contribution to the American stage.

In a press conference held at the New York Regional Office of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA), Lorraine Cortés-Vásquez, President of NPRDP, joined the Parade's Board of Directors to announce the continuation of "Un Pueblo Muchas Voces" (One Community, Multiple Voices), as the Parade's overall theme. A special commemorative theme has been added, "Celebrating Afro-Boricua Heritage", meant to coincide with the designation of the next decade as the "International Decade for People of African Descent", by the United Nations.

As part of this celebration NPRDP 2015 will honor Kennedy-Center Honor recipient Martina Arroyo, Opera Legend and Founder of the Martina Arroyo Foundation, Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, Founder of the Caribbean Cultural Center and African Diaspora Institute, novelist and educator Mayra-Santos Febres, musician and composer Cucco Peña, painter Carmelo Sobrino, and bandleader, musician and composer Miguel Zenón. Posthumous tributes will honor historian, author and activist Arturo Schomberg, and pioneer choreographer, actress and activist, Sylvia del Villard.

Following last year's successful awareness campaigns focused on the legacy of poet Julia de Burgos (commemorating the centennial of her birth) and the Oscar López Rivera case (the civil and human rights case that has grabbed the attention of activists internationally), NPRDP will has launched a new campaign in 2015 focused on the environmental, social and economic crisis at Caño Martín Peña, a 3.75 mile-long canal located at the heart of San Juan's metropolitan area, home to 8communities with over 25,000 residents.

"Part of the Parade's mission is to raise awareness about important issues that affect Puerto Rican communities across the board", Cortés-Vásquez said. "The situation at Caño Martín Peña is very similar to the environmental justice struggles faced by Puerto Rican and Latino communities in the United States. Our goal is to educate everyone about what is going on, in an objective way".

As part of the awareness campaign, a delegation from G-8 and Proyecto ENLACE (two local advocacy organizations) will march on Fifth Avenue. A video about the ecological state of Caño will be shown at events leading up to the Parade, outreach will be conducted through NPRDP's social media, and a special segment dedicated to highlighting the importance of Caño and its surrounding communities, will be shown on NPRDP's television broadcast.

NPRDP's 2015 State dedication was granted to Connecticut, home of one of the largest Puerto Rican communities in the United States. The Hartford Metropolitan Area has the 8th highest Puerto Rican population in the nation, surpassing 106 thousand people, according to the last Census.

Other 2015 honorees announced today include:

Darlene Rodriguez (Ambassador)
Tito El Bambino (Ambassador)
Yan Ruiz (Ambassador)
Elise Drew Leon (Rising Star in Performing Arts)
Lilliana Vázquez (Rising Star in TV & Media)
Amanda Brown (Rising Star in Music)

NPRDP in conjunction with The New York State Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce and The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (Ignacio Veloz, Chairman), will host it's first Puerto Rican / Hispanic Business Summit in New York City, on Friday, June 12th, 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM, at the Bank of New York Mellon. The event seeks to promote business development and collaborations in both Puerto Rico and the United States, and includes workshops and panels.

In a press conference held last month in San Juan, NPRDP announced that the 2015 Puerto Rico township dedication will go to Añasco, a tourist attraction located west of San Juan. Other honorees announced in San Juan were:

Roselyn Sánchez (Parade Queen)
Andrés Jiménez (Godfather)
Ivy Queen (Godmother)
Ivonne Coll (Lifetime Achievement in TV & Film)
Alfonso Vélez Iturrín "El Fuá" (Lifetime Achivement in Music)
Raquel Sofía (Rising Star in Music)
Lynn Ponder (Rising Star in Social Media)
Luis Jiménez (Ambassador)
Katiria Soto (Ambassador)
Carmen Dominicci (Ambassador)

The only official NPRDP 2015 events are:

Education Leadership Awards - May 27th
152nd Street Festival in the Bronx - May 30th
Rising Stars Challenge - June 6th
Annual Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral - June 7th
Annual Gala of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade - June 12th
National Puerto Rican Day Parade (58th Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade of New York) - June 14th

The Parade will take place from 11am to 5pm on Fifth Avenue, from E. 44th to E. 77th Streets.

NPRDP 2015 sponsors include JetBlue, GOYA Foods, McDonald's Corporation, The Coca-Cola Company, AT&T, Acacia Network, City University of New York, Healthfirst, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Univision, NBC/Telemundo, Spanish Broadcasting System, Meredith Corporation and The New York Daily News.

Source: Content courtesy of The National Puerto Rican Day Parade

Thursday, March 19, 2015

NPRChamber Releases Report on Puerto Rico's Economy

The National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce (NPRChamber) today released its report on Puerto Rico’s economy, which discusses its currently distressed economic status, as well as some of the historical factors that have led to its current state.

Entitled “Puerto Rico’s Economy: A brief history of reforms from the 1980s to today and policy recommendations for the future,” the report further describes some of the structural reforms that have taken place over the last several decades, and concludes with a discussion of policy alternatives that should be considered for the present economy and into the future.

“Over the last decade, Puerto Rico has undergone a number of policy shifts that have impacted its economy. But these changes have been but a brief moment in the context of what really led to Puerto Rico’s current economy,” said Executive Director Justin Vélez-Hagan. “Only through hindsight can we begin to understand what has led to the economic environment of Puerto Rico today, and what changes might be better suited to long-term prosperity.”

Puerto Rico’s economy has been stagnating or contracting for nearly a decade, while unemployment remains more than double that of the rest of the U.S., leading to migration from the island at a rate higher than in any state in the country.

In addition, total debt has reached levels that many critics and economists now consider to be unsustainable, leading its legislators to recently ask the Federal Government for bankruptcy protections not currently afforded the municipality, as well as to push for Congressional action to permanently change Puerto Rico’s status from that of an American territory, objectives that will have nationwide ramifications.

Here is a link to the full report:

http://nprchamber.org/files/3-19-15-Puerto-Rico-Economic-Report.pdf

source: NPRChamber release

Friday, March 06, 2015

SummerStage to Celebrate its 30th Anniversary Season

SummerStage Celebrates 30th Anniversary Season Leaks 30 Artists Over 30 Days Culminating April 8th

The non-profit City Parks Foundation’s famed SummerStage performing arts festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary season this year.

To get fans pumped for the summer and to shake off a case of the late winter blues, SummerStage will leak the names of 30 artists performing at the citywide festival starting on March 9th. One artist will be announced daily over the course of 30 days, culminating in the full season announcement on April 8th. Artists will be broadcast via all three of SummerStage’s social media accounts, giving fans an interactive outlet to share their excitement for this season’s upcoming shows.

To stay up to date on the artists being announced, follow SummerStage via the below links and visit www.SummerStage.org for festival information.

PRSUN can't wait to find out the artists, especially the Latin music artists, who will entertain us this summer. Un verano en nueva york is certainly better with SummerStage, one of our favorite things to do in the summertime.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Latino Stats American Hispanics by the Numbers

The Reading Corner

Last Christmas I received in the mail a new book titled Latino Stats by Idelisse Malave and Esti Giordani, a Puerto Rican mother-daughter team who take a closer look at Hispanics in this country. The recently released paperback book (published by The New Press) is now part of my Puerto Rican/Latino library collection, and it is expected to become a go to guidebook for anyone who wants to better understand the new reality of our nation's widely diverse Latino population. It has been described as the go-to book for anyone who wants to understand the future of America.

This book serves as an important resource for advocates, educators, journalists and policy makers because it cuts through the rhetoric and sensationalism in the mainstream media and highlights with actual numbers the reality of Latino life in the U.S.

Latinos are both the largest and fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the country while many continue to fight for status as Americans. There are 53 million Latinos in the U.S.: one in six Americans is Latino. Thirty years from now, it will be closer to one in three. In about 15 years, Latinos will be 40 percent of the U.S. electorate. As of 2013, Latino buying power stands at an impressive 1.2 trillion, with women driving the purchases.

With statistics on jobs, family, lifestyle, identity and more, Latino Stats is a multi-generational source aimed at being a starting point to delve deeper and educate ourselves on the very broad Latino population and work towards a more equitable future.

Here is a snapshot of sample stats from Latino Stats:

On voting, education and social issues
*Seven out of ten Latino registered voters identify with or lean towards the Democratic Party. Latinos accounted for 10.8 percent of all registered voters in 2012.
* Over the past four decades, the number of Latinos receiving college degrees grew by sevenfold.
* With a median annual household income at $39,000, Latinos earn $11,000 less than the median for the total U.S. population and have the lowest weekly earnings out of any other group.

On immigration
* During the Obama administration, a record-breaking 400 thousand immigrants a year have been deported at a cost of billions of dollars.
* Undocumented immigrants contributed $10.6 billion to state and local sales tax, property tax (even if they rent), and income taxes in 010.
* The majority (two-thirds) of Latinos were born in the U.S. Only 17 percent of all Latinos are undocumented immigrants; the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. has been declining since 2007.

On lifestyle and family
* Just over half (53 percent) of Latinos identify as Catholic. Twelve percent identify as mainline Protestant, 13 percent evagelical Protestant, 6 percent with a non-Christian religion, and 12 percent are unaffiliated.
* Latino millennials living with their parents spend 21 percent of their time with family, and those who live on their own commit 31 percent of their time to family. Latino millennials also spend 14 percent of their time on "me time," slightly more than non-Latinos (10 percent). Interestingly, Latino millennials also carry the least amount of credit card debt compared to their non-Latino counterparts.
* Latinos account for 15.4 percent of same-sex couple households. Contrary to media depictions of Latino homophobia, 59 percent of Latinos also agree that homosexuality should be accepted rather than discouraged by society.

For more information, http://thenewpress.com/books/latino-stats.

Latino Stats will soon be available in the PRSUN aStore as well.