Friday, November 17, 2006

Comite Noviembre has several activities for Puerto Rican Heritage Month. Check out www.tiempony.com (current edition page 15) or www.comitenoviembre.org for details.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Note:

There have been problems posting featured photos from flickr directly to this blog.

Feel free to check the Puerto Rico Sun photo group at flickr directly. You will enjoy a wonderful mix of photos by a diverse pool of photographers.

Friday, October 20, 2006

BomPlenazo on PRSUN TV

Highlights of the BomPlenazo extravaganza at Hostos Community College will be featured in the next PRSUN TV to start airing at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Channel 69, Bronxnet. Show repeats at 8:30 a.m. Tuesdays and 12:30 p.m. Thursdays.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

REMINDER: TONIGHT'S THE FUNDRAISER FOR THE Bx3M.

Come Support
YERBABUENA PERFORMING
WINE WILL BE SERVED
Crew and cast members of this exciting new movie by filmmaker Judith Escalona expected to attend.

6-8:30 p.m.
Suggested Donation: $5 minimum
PRdream/MediaNoche, 161 E. 106 St., El Barrio

Saturday, October 14, 2006

PRSUN TV Nominated for a BETA Award

PRSUN TV, a cultural arts show that airs on Bronxnet's Channel 69, has been nominated for a Beta award in one or more categories. The Beta awards recognizes the work of independent producers on public access television in the Bronx.

Winners, selected by a panel of judges, will be announced at Bronxnet's Beta award ceremony in November. This is Bronxnet's version of the Emmy awards.

Thanks.

PRSUN TV

Monday, October 09, 2006

Bx3M 161 East 106th Street, First Floor, New York, NY 10029, 212.828.0401


A LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Hello, I'm Jaime Sanchez the executive producer of an exciting new film project entitled Bx3M. It's written and directed by Judith Escalona, a fresh talent with a bright future in filmmaking -- if she can acquire the funding to get her projects done. I ought to know. I'm a veteran film and stage actor who played a leading role in Sidney Lumet's The Pawnbroker, and Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. I also worked directly with Judy as the lead in her short film The Krutch. That film is currently in the film festival circuit.

Bx3M is her new feature-length film project, the story of three Latino youths growing up in a city going up in flames. Think of the Bronx circa 1978, now fast forward to the present. The Bronx looked like a war zone then, thankfully that's changed. What hasn't, and probably never will, is the struggle involved in growing up. Maria, Mona and Michael are adolescents who have to make choices that will change the course of their lives. Like most teens, and I was one of them, they aren't even aware of this profound fact. Two of them will make it, one of them won't. But I don't want to reveal the ending. You'll have to see the film for that and it hasn't been made yet.

That's why I'm writing you today, to ask for your support in getting Bx3M produced. The production team of Clarisel Gonzalez and Izzy Ruiz have been working closely with Judy to put together a fine cast of young actors. The crew too is almost ready to go. All of them are volunteering their time to get this wonderful film made. There are expenses, however, that can't be bartered or deferred. Your contribution will help us meet these costs.

Any contribution you make, whether it's $5 or $5,000, will help and is deeply appreciated. PR Project Inc., a not-for-profit cultural organization, is acting as the fiscal sponsor for Bx3M so that your donations are completely tax-deductible. Actually, I like to think of these donations as an investment in filmmaking that is smart, thought-provoking, and compassionate -- as this project certainly is.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Should you wish to make a contribution, and I urge you to do so now, please send a check or money order to:

Bx3M
c/o PR Project Inc.
161 East 106th Street, First Floor
New York, NY 10029

The check or money order should be made payable to: “PR Project Inc. (Bx3M)” . Thank you again.

Jaime Sanchez
New York City
October 5, 2006
NEW FILM ABOUT COMING OF AGE IN THE BRONX
SCHEDULED TO BEGIN SHOOTING
FUNDRAISING RECEPTION

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 6PM – 8:30PM AT PRDREAM

New York City, October 9, 2006 – Bx3M begins shooting at the end of October. Written and directed by Judith Escalona, the film is the story of three Latino youths coming of age in a city going up in flames. Think the Bronx circa 1978 or Manhattan 2002. The comparison may not be immediately apparent but urban blight and human suffering are as common today as they were then. So are the youth growing up during those confusing, turbulent years who must make choices that will change the rest of their lives.

The “3M” stands for Maria’s Birthday, Mona’s Move and Michael’s Revenge – the three interlacing stories that together make up Bx3M. Escalona is actually returning home to the “Boogie Down” to make this feature-length movie after spending most of her adult years in Manhattan and abroad. It is her way of coming to terms with what she left behind, according to the director, the “friends who never made it out when the Bronx was burning. And I don’t simply mean the tenements that were torched.”

Real life experiences inform the lives of Maria, Mona and Michael, the fictional characters Escalona has created. She previously wrote and directed The Krutch, a surreal narrative about a Puerto Rican psychoanalyst with an identity problem. The short film stars veteran film actor Jaime Sanchez and is currently on the film festival circuit. Sanchez is Executive Producer of Bx3M. Clarisel Gonzalez and Izzy Ruiz-Calaf are the film’s producers. They grew up and currently live in the Bronx.

Filming is expected to be completed by early next year and post production by early Spring.

Bx3M is sponsored by PR Project Inc., a 501 ( c ) (3) not-for-profit, new media enterprise located in Spanish Harlem. Its mission is to empower community through technology, documenting the Puerto Rican/Latino experience in the U.S. Donations to Bronx3M are welcomed and fully tax-deductible. Visit their web site at www.prdream.com and click on the donations button. By mail, make checks or money orders payable to PR Project Inc. (Bx3M). The mailing address is: Bx3M c/o PR Project Inc., 161 East 106th Street, First Floor, New York, NY 10029.

On Thursday, October 19, between 6PM and 8:30PM, a fundraiser for Bx3M will take place at PRdream, 161 East 106th Street, First Floor, between Lexington and Third Avenues. For more information, call 212.828.0401.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Community calendar

ELLIOT, A SOLDIER’S FUGUE
▪ October 6 - 29, various matinee and evening performances at 3:00 pm, 8:00 pm.
Page 73 Productions (P73)and El Museo del Barrio proudly reprise the critically acclaimed play "Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue" written by Quiara Alegría Hudes and directed by Davis McCallum on the stage of Teatro Heckscher of El Museo. Page 73 Productions first presented the play’s premiere in early 2006 at the Culture Project, where it received critical praise and played to sold-out houses.

Mateo Gomez is Elliot in "A Soldier's Fugue."

"Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue" tells the story of three generations of Puerto Rican men in one family and their experiences in the US military. At 18, Lance Corporal Elliot Ortiz crossed over to Iraq . At 19, he received the Purple Heart. Now, back from active duty, Elliot is a hometown hero. As Elliot comes to terms with his own memories of war, the military experiences of his father and grandfather unfold, revealing startling similarities that unite the Ortiz men across time. As Elliot’s tale moves back in time, the stories of his father, mother and grandfather move forward until past and present collide, wringing love and beauty from devastation.
Admission: $35 per ticket, $25 for El Museo members. Call 212 279 4200 for tickets
or visit www.p73.org.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Featured story

Puerto Rico mulls abortion for pregnant 10-year-old allegedly raped by stepfather
International Herald Tribune - Sunday October 1, 2006
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Doctors and child rights groups are pushing Puerto Rican authorities to decide whether to perform an abortion on a pregnant 10-year-old allegedly raped by her stepfather.

Read more:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/01/news/CB_GEN_Puerto_Rico_Pregnant_Child.php

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

CENTRO POLICY STUDY FINDS THAT U.S. PUERTO RICAN POPULATION GREW NEARLY THREE TIMES AS FAST AS OVERALL POPULATION

Center for Puerto Rican Studies Researcher Also Finds That Many Puerto Ricans Live in Counties With Very High Segregation

A new public policy study by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CENTRO) examines patterns of residential settlement and segregation of Puerto Ricans in the United States and finds fast growth in the Puerto Rican population in almost all 50 states.
“ Florida has become the new epicenter for Puerto Ricans,” said Carlos Vargas-Ramos, the report’s author and a Centro researcher. “ New York State , on the other hand, is the only state in the union that has lost Puerto Rican population.”
Some of the major policy findings of Puerto Rican settlement include:
The Puerto Rican population in the United States grew at a rate of 69 percent between 1980 and 2000, from two million to 3.4 million. This growth was almost three times as fast as that of the overall population of the United States , which grew at 24 percent during those two decades. This Puerto Rican population growth was fastest during the 1980s (35 percent) than during the 1990s (25 percent).
The Puerto Rican population grew in almost every state. Growth took place in every state between 1980 and 2000, during the 1980s and during the 1990s. The only state where the Puerto Rican population did not grow, but actually lost population, was New York State during the 1990s. During this decade New York ’s Puerto Rican population declined by three percent.

Puerto Rican population growth was fastest in states that have not been locations of traditional settlement. Fast Puerto Rican growth took place in states such as Nevada, Rhode Island, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Tennessee, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Virginia. Puerto Ricans grew in these mostly Sunbelt states at rates that fluctuated between 300 percent and 400 percent between 1980 and 2000. The ten fastest growing counties in the survey were located in Florida (eight) and Pennsylvania (two). Puerto Rican growth was slowest in states of traditional settlement, such as New York , New Jersey , Illinois or Hawaii. The slowest growth counties were also located largely in these states.

Despite slowed (or negative) growth, Puerto Ricans continue to be concentrated in Northeastern states such as New York , New Jersey , Pennsylvania , Massachusetts and Connecticut. Florida is the exception and has positioned itself as the new epicenter of Puerto Rican settlement in the United States. Fifteen percent of the Puerto Rican population in the United States in 2000 was settled in Florida, making the second most Puerto Rican state, after New York (with 30 percent).


Some of the major policy findings of Puerto Rican segregation include:

Forty-five percent of Puerto Ricans lived in counties with very high segregation in relation to non-Hispanic whites (as measured by the index of dissimilarity) in 2000. Twelve percent of Puerto Ricans lived in counties of moderate segregation, while only one percent lived in counties with low segregation. High segregation tended to take place in counties of old settlement, largely in the Northeast and the Midwest . Low segregation counties tended to be those counties of new settlement in the Southeast.


Between 1990 and 2000, segregation from non-Hispanic whites tended to diminish in counties of old settlement with very high as well as moderate dissimilarity scores — a positive development. However, between decades, segregation tended to increase in counties of new settlement where segregation from non-Hispanic whites was low or moderate. Segregation is following Puerto Ricans where they are settling anew - a very worrisome trend.


In relation to African Americans, Puerto Rican segregation was very high in 11 counties in 2000, with dissimilarities scores at times exceeding those for non-Hispanic whites. However, these very high segregation counties only represented counties of settlement for 18 percent of the Puerto Rican population. Dissimilarity was moderate in 23 counties, where 21 percent of Puerto Ricans lived, and it was low in 13 counties, where four percent of Puerto Ricans lived. Between decades, dissimilarity between African Americans and Puerto Ricans increased in nine counties, while it diminished in 54 counties.


Expectedly, Puerto Ricans were not very segregated from other Latinos in the United States in 2000. At most, Puerto Ricans had moderately high dissimilarity scores in one county, while scores were moderate in another seven. These counties with moderate segregation tended to be old settlement counties for Puerto Ricans. Puerto Ricans lived in relative low separation from other Latinos in two-thirds of the counties surveyed. Dissimilarity increased in 19 counties between 1990 and 2000.


“There are counties where Puerto Ricans are seeing increases in residential
segregation,” said Vargas-Ramos. “That’s a somewhat alarming trend. Segregation can be positive at times by allowing the creation of continuous districts and possibly achieving some political power. It also provides ethnic enclaves and to some extent cultural production.”



However, the Centro researcher said he believes the negatives outweigh the positives. “Given history, highly segregated miajority-minority neighborhoods they tend to receive worse resources from government or private resources; that's why there is reason for concern,” he said.


In placing the report in context, Dr. Anthony De Jesús, Interim Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, states that “while other analyses of Puerto Ricans demographic trends have focused on the decreasing numbers of Puerto Ricans in New York City and migration to the sunbelt, Dr. Vargas-Ramos' analysis provides very specific state and county level data, which can be extremely useful to policy makers, planners and advocates at these levels. In addition, comparisons with other racial and ethnic groups reflect an uncommon level of detail in the research on Puerto Ricans and reveals important differences in segregations between White, Blacks and other Latinos.
In a broader perspective, Dr. De Jesús, adds, “this Centro report demonstrates that Puerto Rican population growth parallels that of Latinos overall, strongly suggesting that Puerto Ricans contribute significantly to the overall Latino growth.”



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Note: PRSUN TV will feature this issue on an upcoming show.