Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Film

Watch trailer of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony in "El Cantante."

www.movies.yahoo.com/feature/elcantante.html
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
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

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.
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

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

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

20070304-IMG_7349.jpg


20070304-IMG_7349.jpg
Originally uploaded by markwolgemuth.
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