Featured story
P.R. statehood debate gathers force
By Jeff Patch
The District of Columbia may be a step closer to statehood as the House voted last week to give D.C. a voting member in the House, but another battle over statehood -- one that has lingered for more than a century -- is emerging.
Capitol Hill is debating two proposals to determine the status of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean island that has been part of the United States since 1898. Although obscure, the issue could certainly affect perceptions among Puerto Rican voters, who represent a significant segment of the Hispanic vote.
For more, go to
www.politico.com/news/stories/0407/3680.html
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Community Calendar
MACHETERO
Thursday, May 3rd
Taller Boricua, GaleriaCemi.com and Sery Colon present
BarrioCinema with the upcoming film screening…
MACHETERO
Post 9/11 definitions, ideas and notions of terrorism are challenged in this highly controversial and experimental film. Machetero is an allegorical narrative that follows French journalist Jean Dumont played by Isaach de Bankolé (The Keeper, Ghost Dog, Coffee and Cigarettes, Manderlay) to a New York prison where he interviews Pedro Taino a so called "Puerto Rican Terrorist" played by Not4Prophet (lead singer of the Puerto Punk band RICANSTRUCTION). Pedro is a self-described Machetero fighting to free Puerto Rico from the yoke of United States colonialism. He is obsessed with freedom, freedom for his country, his people and for himself. Jean questions Pedro about his decisions to use violence as a means to achieve that freedom. As Jean and Pedro speak, another story unfolds. A ghetto youth played by Kelvin Fernandez (in his first starring role) grows up in the ghetto streets and crosses paths with Pedro. Pedro sees potential in the ghetto youth and reawakens a revolutionary spirit instilled in from childhood by a mentor in Puerto Rico played by former Puerto Rican Prisoner of War Dylcia Pagan (who did 20 years in US prisons). Pedro tries to provide the means for the ghetto youth to grow into the next generation of Machetero.
The film is structured around songs from the album, “Liberation Day” written and performed by RICANSTRUCTION. The songs are interwoven into the film as a narrative voice. RICANSTRUCTION also provides an original improvised score that moves from hardcore be-bop punk to layered haunting and abstract Afro-Rican rhythms.
MACHETERO
was written, edited and directed by Vagabond.
Thursday, May 3, 2007 @ 7:00PM
Julia de Burgos Theater at 1680 Lexington Ave., at 106th St., NYC
For more info go to www.barriocinema.com
MACHETERO
Thursday, May 3rd
Taller Boricua, GaleriaCemi.com and Sery Colon present
BarrioCinema with the upcoming film screening…
MACHETERO
Post 9/11 definitions, ideas and notions of terrorism are challenged in this highly controversial and experimental film. Machetero is an allegorical narrative that follows French journalist Jean Dumont played by Isaach de Bankolé (The Keeper, Ghost Dog, Coffee and Cigarettes, Manderlay) to a New York prison where he interviews Pedro Taino a so called "Puerto Rican Terrorist" played by Not4Prophet (lead singer of the Puerto Punk band RICANSTRUCTION). Pedro is a self-described Machetero fighting to free Puerto Rico from the yoke of United States colonialism. He is obsessed with freedom, freedom for his country, his people and for himself. Jean questions Pedro about his decisions to use violence as a means to achieve that freedom. As Jean and Pedro speak, another story unfolds. A ghetto youth played by Kelvin Fernandez (in his first starring role) grows up in the ghetto streets and crosses paths with Pedro. Pedro sees potential in the ghetto youth and reawakens a revolutionary spirit instilled in from childhood by a mentor in Puerto Rico played by former Puerto Rican Prisoner of War Dylcia Pagan (who did 20 years in US prisons). Pedro tries to provide the means for the ghetto youth to grow into the next generation of Machetero.
The film is structured around songs from the album, “Liberation Day” written and performed by RICANSTRUCTION. The songs are interwoven into the film as a narrative voice. RICANSTRUCTION also provides an original improvised score that moves from hardcore be-bop punk to layered haunting and abstract Afro-Rican rhythms.
MACHETERO
was written, edited and directed by Vagabond.
Thursday, May 3, 2007 @ 7:00PM
Julia de Burgos Theater at 1680 Lexington Ave., at 106th St., NYC
For more info go to www.barriocinema.com
Friday, April 20, 2007
'She's Like the Wind'
Puerto Rico Sun received a courtesy copy of Lumidee's new CD. She teamed up with Tony Sunshine to sing one of my favorite songs from back in the day: "She's Like the Wind" from the "Dirty Dancing" days. Lumidee, a Puerto Rican R&B rapper and singer, gives this old song her special touch, making it her own.
Here is an article "Spanglish Magazine" recently did on Lumidee.
http://www.spanglishmagazine.com/lumidee.html
Buena suerte.
Puerto Rico Sun received a courtesy copy of Lumidee's new CD. She teamed up with Tony Sunshine to sing one of my favorite songs from back in the day: "She's Like the Wind" from the "Dirty Dancing" days. Lumidee, a Puerto Rican R&B rapper and singer, gives this old song her special touch, making it her own.
Here is an article "Spanglish Magazine" recently did on Lumidee.
http://www.spanglishmagazine.com/lumidee.html
Buena suerte.
Community Calendar
Havana Film Festival @ Centro
April 24, 5 pm
Ida K. Lang Recital Hall -Hunter College- North 4th Floor, NYC
Film: "Ladrones y Mentirosos"
Producer Poli Marichal will be present for Q & A moderated by Prof. Joelle Gonzalez-Laguer, (Film Department, Hunter College )
For more information on the Havana Film Festival: www.hffny.com
source: Centro
Havana Film Festival @ Centro
April 24, 5 pm
Ida K. Lang Recital Hall -Hunter College- North 4th Floor, NYC
Film: "Ladrones y Mentirosos"
Producer Poli Marichal will be present for Q & A moderated by Prof. Joelle Gonzalez-Laguer, (Film Department, Hunter College )
For more information on the Havana Film Festival: www.hffny.com
source: Centro
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Featured story
Community still divided by island, mainland origins
Judy Wang
Staff Reporter
With her red hair and freckles, Elise Brau ’08 surprises many Yalies when she tells them she is Puerto Rican.
“I look like an American kid,” she said.
Hailing from San Juan, Brau is one member of the small group of Puerto Rican Yalies who grew up on the island.
Students and alumni who attended last week’s 35th anniversary celebrations for Despierta Boricua, the Puerto Rican undergraduate student organization, used the occasion to reflect on the significant growth in size and diversity in their community since the first Puerto Rican students arrived on campus in the middle of the 20th century, students said.
While several current members and alumni of DB said differences within the Puerto Rican community are often embraced as ways to spark dialogue about culture, others said the differences can divide groups within the larger community. But many said the past 35 years have seen efforts to bridge the Yale and New Haven Puerto Rican communities and to spread the message of Latino unity.
Coming to Yale
For more, go to Yale Daily News
http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/20823
Community still divided by island, mainland origins
Judy Wang
Staff Reporter
With her red hair and freckles, Elise Brau ’08 surprises many Yalies when she tells them she is Puerto Rican.
“I look like an American kid,” she said.
Hailing from San Juan, Brau is one member of the small group of Puerto Rican Yalies who grew up on the island.
Students and alumni who attended last week’s 35th anniversary celebrations for Despierta Boricua, the Puerto Rican undergraduate student organization, used the occasion to reflect on the significant growth in size and diversity in their community since the first Puerto Rican students arrived on campus in the middle of the 20th century, students said.
While several current members and alumni of DB said differences within the Puerto Rican community are often embraced as ways to spark dialogue about culture, others said the differences can divide groups within the larger community. But many said the past 35 years have seen efforts to bridge the Yale and New Haven Puerto Rican communities and to spread the message of Latino unity.
Coming to Yale
For more, go to Yale Daily News
http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/20823
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
20070304-IMG_7349.jpg
Photo by markwolgemuth who says this is a "rural farm not too far from Arecibo."
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Featured story
San Juan struggles to save historic wall
Built from 1539 to 1641, structure is symbol of pride for Puerto Rico
By Ray Quintanilla
Chicago Tribune
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico · The network of thick sandstone walls surrounding the second oldest city in the Americas has withstood the bombardment of warships from England, Holland and, most recently, the United States during the Spanish American War.
But the structure, called La Muralla in Spanish, is no match for its latest enemy: erosion, neglect and the push of development into the oldest section of San Juan.
For more, go to
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/sfl-aprwall16apr16,0,3949768.story?track=rss
San Juan struggles to save historic wall
Built from 1539 to 1641, structure is symbol of pride for Puerto Rico
By Ray Quintanilla
Chicago Tribune
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico · The network of thick sandstone walls surrounding the second oldest city in the Americas has withstood the bombardment of warships from England, Holland and, most recently, the United States during the Spanish American War.
But the structure, called La Muralla in Spanish, is no match for its latest enemy: erosion, neglect and the push of development into the oldest section of San Juan.
For more, go to
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/sfl-aprwall16apr16,0,3949768.story?track=rss
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Profile: Elizabeth Marrero
This Drag King is Sinfully Delicious
By Robert Waddell
Actress and comedian Elizabeth Marrero was once described by the New York Times as delicious. They got it wrong: she is sinfully delicious.
In her various performances as the Bronx premiere Drag King, Marrero tackles issues of religion, sexuality, personal growth and personal responsibility. And she is hilarious on her takes on people from the hood trying to make it. Marrero makes her one-person show fresh with hilarity and frivolity to spare every time she brings back and breathes life into characters like Petronelia, who enjoys getting tipping the bottle and who has a heart of gold.
“I keep coming back to these characters because I want to see them grow,” Marrero said. “They're real in my heart and part of my soul, part of the fabric of who I am.”
With great material, Marrero's characters include Petronelia, a woman who is experienced in the ways of the world and like a drink once and a while; the B-boy, named MC DJ Guilly-Guiso-Jugo, with a cell phone fetish; Wakateema Shaquasha de la Rodriguez, a young woman who can be a heartless gold digger who wants much and gives very little.
And finally there's Macha, the super Latino stud who loves women. Marrero always ends each one of her shows with this smooth papi chulo Drag King who dances in a shiny white vanilla ice cream suit.
Marrero bases all of these characters on members of her family. In her shows, she said, the characters have grown and become more than who they started out to be. They have shown wisdom, experience and ambition. In a show, “Santa Macha,” Pertronelia started her own religion.
“I love them all so very much,” Marrero said. “They still exist in me. These people grow and progress. They're getting smarter each time around.”
Directed on many occasions by Arthur Aviles at the Bronx Academy of Art and Dance, Marrero is a wonder woman of heart and soul making her characters come alive without apology or phony pathos. In between costume changes, there’s video of Marrero bringing her characters to the streets of Hunts Point, on the avenue and in the subway.
The idea of being a Drag King shows a character based on her father. The character is based on a love of women giving Marrero an opportunity to explore how she feels about women.
“The most basic is that Macha is a male impersonator,” she said. “Being a Latin lover is just extra.”
Marrero’s characters are dysfunctional but not distant; they are real and never stereotypes. Her words are bullet blazes of comedic talent.
Marrero said her intention is always to get her audiences to laugh. If they are encouraged to think after seeing her perform, then that is an added bonus, she said.
“I don't consciously go in there with a theme or statement,” said Marrero. “I don't make fun of these working class people. This is my experience...Latinos are behind in education and sometimes very loving families can stop us from growth.”
Now, Marrero wants to spread her wings professionally and move up to the next level. She has found a manager, is building a website, and working in Manhattan comedy clubs to gain more exposure.
She joked, “J-Lo left the Bronx so somebody has to take over.”
BAAD, where Marrero has presented many of her shows, is dedicated to free expression and art and is a gay friendly arts space in film, theatre, dance and art. It is a theater that brings quality shows to a community otherwise starving for art and culture. And Marrero learned a long time ago that as soon as you hook an audience with humor, they can be given, not force fed, a message or an idea.
“Now I'm in spread my wings mode,” Marrero said. “I want to go to a theater to present my shows, get discovered and become a star. BAAD will always be with me, but I was feeling a little too comfortable. I need to branch out. Spread it out some more.”
Robert Waddell is a freelance journalist based in the Bronx who contributes his writings to the Puerto Rico Sun.
This Drag King is Sinfully Delicious
By Robert Waddell
Actress and comedian Elizabeth Marrero was once described by the New York Times as delicious. They got it wrong: she is sinfully delicious.
In her various performances as the Bronx premiere Drag King, Marrero tackles issues of religion, sexuality, personal growth and personal responsibility. And she is hilarious on her takes on people from the hood trying to make it. Marrero makes her one-person show fresh with hilarity and frivolity to spare every time she brings back and breathes life into characters like Petronelia, who enjoys getting tipping the bottle and who has a heart of gold.
“I keep coming back to these characters because I want to see them grow,” Marrero said. “They're real in my heart and part of my soul, part of the fabric of who I am.”
With great material, Marrero's characters include Petronelia, a woman who is experienced in the ways of the world and like a drink once and a while; the B-boy, named MC DJ Guilly-Guiso-Jugo, with a cell phone fetish; Wakateema Shaquasha de la Rodriguez, a young woman who can be a heartless gold digger who wants much and gives very little.
And finally there's Macha, the super Latino stud who loves women. Marrero always ends each one of her shows with this smooth papi chulo Drag King who dances in a shiny white vanilla ice cream suit.
Marrero bases all of these characters on members of her family. In her shows, she said, the characters have grown and become more than who they started out to be. They have shown wisdom, experience and ambition. In a show, “Santa Macha,” Pertronelia started her own religion.
“I love them all so very much,” Marrero said. “They still exist in me. These people grow and progress. They're getting smarter each time around.”
Directed on many occasions by Arthur Aviles at the Bronx Academy of Art and Dance, Marrero is a wonder woman of heart and soul making her characters come alive without apology or phony pathos. In between costume changes, there’s video of Marrero bringing her characters to the streets of Hunts Point, on the avenue and in the subway.
The idea of being a Drag King shows a character based on her father. The character is based on a love of women giving Marrero an opportunity to explore how she feels about women.
“The most basic is that Macha is a male impersonator,” she said. “Being a Latin lover is just extra.”
Marrero’s characters are dysfunctional but not distant; they are real and never stereotypes. Her words are bullet blazes of comedic talent.
Marrero said her intention is always to get her audiences to laugh. If they are encouraged to think after seeing her perform, then that is an added bonus, she said.
“I don't consciously go in there with a theme or statement,” said Marrero. “I don't make fun of these working class people. This is my experience...Latinos are behind in education and sometimes very loving families can stop us from growth.”
Now, Marrero wants to spread her wings professionally and move up to the next level. She has found a manager, is building a website, and working in Manhattan comedy clubs to gain more exposure.
She joked, “J-Lo left the Bronx so somebody has to take over.”
BAAD, where Marrero has presented many of her shows, is dedicated to free expression and art and is a gay friendly arts space in film, theatre, dance and art. It is a theater that brings quality shows to a community otherwise starving for art and culture. And Marrero learned a long time ago that as soon as you hook an audience with humor, they can be given, not force fed, a message or an idea.
“Now I'm in spread my wings mode,” Marrero said. “I want to go to a theater to present my shows, get discovered and become a star. BAAD will always be with me, but I was feeling a little too comfortable. I need to branch out. Spread it out some more.”
Robert Waddell is a freelance journalist based in the Bronx who contributes his writings to the Puerto Rico Sun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)