Sunday, March 09, 2008

Decision 2008

In Puerto Rico, there are primaries today for political seats, including for gubernatorial, resident commissioner and legislative races.

To keep up-to-date, check out Noticentro's coverage at
www.wapa.tv/decision2008

IMG_9504


IMG_9504
Originally uploaded by Reavel.
San German Porta Coelli

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Featured Article

Earlier this week Puerto Rico's Democratic Party announced its decision to shift its June 7 caucus to a straight presidential primary in the hopes of getting the candidates to come and campaign on the island. The irony (as pointed out in this CandidatoUSA op ed by Angelo Falcón) is that island residents cannot vote in November's presidential election.

To read "Colonial Delegates?" by Angelo Falcon, president and founder of the National Institute for Latino Policy, go to
http://candidatousa.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=13ACB6E9CE744B9AB7FDE6E9E292A534&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=A0A9C534F1FA44CD977816CEF8E16249

source: CandidatoUSA
Calendar

30th Anniversary of the Struggle for 500
The Final Battle to Save Hostos

Hostos Community College/CUNY in the Bronx commemorates
this anniversary with testimonials and performances by Ponce Laspina, Gerald Meyer, Victor Vázquez, Nydia Edgecombe, and others. Featuring Plena Luna . Son Borincano, and Los Instantáneos del Rincón Criollo.

Admission with free ticket
Repertory Theater

7 p.m. Saturday, March 8

For more info., www.hostos.cuny.edu

Friday, March 07, 2008

Pigeon yellows


Pigeon yellows
Originally uploaded by Chuckumentary.

Featured article

'Ghosts of the Taíno'

Last summer, they unearthed a huge four-sided ceremonial plaza, a batey or ball court, measuring 130 by 160 feet. Other finds included a 90-foot-long artifact-laden midden mound, the first of what could be as many as 400 prehistoric burials, patterns of post holes that delineate ancient dwellings, and a 60-foot-long row of intricately carved granite and sandstone petroglyphs that appear to date to shortly before the arrival of the Spanish in the fifteenth century.

For more,
http://www.archaeology.org/0803/abstracts/taino.html

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Film

Screening of "The Krutch" by filmmaker Judith Escalona
7 p.m., Friday, March 7, Cemi Underground, NYC's El Barrio

The surreal story about a Puerto Rican psychoanalyst with an identity problem. With Jaime Sanchez as the notorious Dr. Guzman and Cathy Haase as his unsuspecting patient Mrs. Kleist.

Check out this video: THE KRUTCH



Add to My Profile | More Videos

Admission: $5
For more info, www.prdream.com or www.cemiunderground.com.
Community Calendar

Pregones Theater Presents Danny Rivera

Intimate, blues-tinged concert by legendary singer/songwriter featuring the Bronx Nation Orchestra.

Time: 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 7
Location: Pregones Theater, the Bronx
Admission: $35

For more info, www.pregones.org or (718)585-1202.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Spotlight: Cemí Underground is an orgullo latino


_MG_3758 Nikon Editor UMM.jpg
Originally uploaded by prsuncom
Cemí Underground brings cultura to life in El Barrio

Photo and Text by Ricardo Muñiz

In June 2007, Galería Cemí launched Cemí Underground, a Puerto Rican/Latino cultural outlet in the heart of New York City's El Barrio that sells books, T-shirts, crafts and music; produces a host of cultural events; and showcases a revolving art gallery. 

Graphic artist Luís Cordero and Séry Colón, an actor who once owned Agüeybaná Bookstore on the Lower East Side, founded Cemí Underground, which has become a cultural haven in the Latino arts community at a time when El Barrio is becoming increasingly gentrified. The popular storefront shop is located at 1799 Lexington Avenue at East 112th Street.

Cordero describes a cemí as “a sacred object, which is the artistic representation of a guardian spirit or deity that was skillfully carved in stone, bone, cotton, wood and rock by the Taíno indigenous people of the Caribbean.”

Cordero says he and Colón launched Cemí Underground “with the goal of establishing an entity that would add another voice to the desperately few voices promoting and proclaiming our art and artists to the world.”

Cemí Underground is currently hosting a lineup of cultural and art events for Women's History Month, highlighting Latinas.

At Cemí Underground, you will find published works about poet Julia de Burgos, Puerto Rican nationalist leader Don Pedro Albizú Campos, salsero Héctor Lavoe, and writings describing the Taíno and African heritage of Caribbean people. New and recent titles by writers Steven Torres, Nicholasa Mohr and Pedro Pietri line the shelves. A collectible books section with hard-to-find books about Puerto Rican/Latino history and culture sets this bookstore apart from the rest. 
 
New York’s hottest Latino poets such as Willie Perdomo and María Aponte have appeared at Cemí Underground. Cemí Underground has also featured musical tributes by Carmen DeLucca, cultural educational talks by lecturers such as Bobby González and comedy shows by emerging Latinos.

A modest art gallery space has exhibited up-and-coming artists like painter Yasmín Hernández, photographer Elena “Mamarazzi” Marrero, ceramic artist and community activist Esperanza Martell, as well as the paintings of well-known poet Sandra María Estéves. Cemí Underground also carries handmade crafts by New York's best Puerto Rican artisans.

Cemí Underground also has a growing music section that features CDs by New York's own boricua roots music sensation Tato Torres y Yerbabuena; Puerto Rican protest music icon Roy Brown; and hip hop artists The Welfare Poets.

In addition, Cemí Underground is one of the only cultural stores in the city where you will find graphic T-shirts with indigenous Taíno symbols and silk-screened designs featuring Don Pedro Albizú Campos and Ché Guevara.

For more information, visit www.cemiunderground.com and www.myspace.com/cemiunderground.

Ricardo Muñiz is a Puerto Rican social worker, teacher, community activist, puppeteer and photographer who contributes his writings and photography to Puerto Rico Sun.
Check out more of Ricardo's photos featuring models posing in Cordero's designs at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/prsun/sets/72157604023769567/

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Community Calendar

Media

THE FIFTH ANNUAL GRASSROOTS MEDIA CONFERENCE
Speaking Truth to Power: MEDIA JUSTICE IN OUR COMMUNITIES

Sunday, March 2, 9 a.m.–6 p.m.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Film and Media Studies, Hunter College CUNY

Conference location:
Hunter College West Building, 68th Street and Lexington Ave., Manhattan
(Southwest Corner, enter from street or directly from 6 train)

The NYC Grassroots Media Coalition (NYCGMC) will host the Fifth Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference at Hunter College CUNY. The conference theme – Speaking Truth to Power: MEDIA JUSTICE IN OUR COMMUNITIES – invites media makers and community organizers to define what the term “Media Justice” means, as a community and explore how we can begin to make this ideal a reality for New York City.

Since 2004, the NYCGMC - a collective of media activists and organizations - has convened these conferences to bring New York City’s diverse communities together. The conference seeks to provide a space to learn about media policy, share skills, network and bridge the gap between local grassroots media making and social justice organizing. The Fifth Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference will take these efforts one-step further by using the event to strategize on how as a community we can begin to create media systems that come from, and are responsive to the people. The conference will urge participants to put steps in place towards realizing a media system that addresses systemic marginalization and discrimination and that speaks truth to power. The conference offers an ideal opportunity for organizations and individuals to connect and form the basis for future partnerships.

Over 250 local organizations and 4,000 people have already participated in NYC Grassroots Media Coalition events. The Fifth Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference will house 8 hours of film screenings focused on media justice movements, political awareness and accountability.  The conference will also host a youth track of panels for its 300 participants under 18, including free lunch. Workshops will address a variety of issues including do-it-yourself media making, policy and social justice issues.

The event at Hunter College will offer childcare services, special group rates and informational materials upon request. Ticketing information, advertising and exhibition opportunities and details on how to submit a workshop are all accessible at www.nycgrassrootsmedia.org.


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