Community calendar

Check out this link for the spring lineup of Puerto Rican-related activities going on at Centro/the Center for Puerto Rican studies @ Hunter College, NYC.

The calendar kicks off with "On and Off the Avenue," Loisaida N.Y.C. 1976-2009, an exhibition by Marlis Momber on February 5. Activities, which run until May, range from research seminars on such topics as migration, religion, voting and welfare reform to a meet the author series.

For more information and the complete calendar,
http://www.centropr.org/documents%5Cevents%5CEvents_Spring_09.pdf

Eddie Palmieri to perform at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Puerto Rico Sun readers get 25% off tickets with special code

Jazz at Lincoln Center is presenting nine-time GRAMMY® winner Eddie Palmieri who will perform in February at the Rose Theater, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Puerto Rico Sun readers, if you take advantage of this special offer, you get 25% off tickets.

Eddie Palmieri has reigned as a true mambo king for the past 50 years, absorbing the sounds of Puerto Rico and New York into his particular fusion of salsa and jazz. He revisits the music and sound of his influential 1960s La Perfecta orchestra with this latest edition of his ensemble, featuring energized new versions of La Perfecta-era salsa and fiery new Latin jazz compositions.

Eddie Palmieri & La Perfecta II
8 p.m., Friday-Saturday, February 6-7
Rose Theater
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Broadway at 60th St., Manhattan

Remember Get 25% off tickets!
Use code “Jazz 25” and save now!
Tickets Start at $30!

212-721-6500
CenterCharge

Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office
Broadway at 60th Street (ground level)
10 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Saturday
noon to 6 p.m., Sunday

Here is a link to the Jazz at Lincoln Center website for more information on the performance, for a link to listen to a sampling of Eddie Palmieri's music online and to purchase tickets:

www.jazzatlincolncenter.org/concerts/details.asp?EventID=1591

Aprovecha and enjoy.

'The Body of My Isla'

Inside the orchid eucalyptus
bamboo heart of my Boriken
roams the ghost of Tio Nando
touching Titi Carmen
on the shoulder before
she cries herself to sleep
every night.

Thundering out of the dark eyes
of the enchanted island
is the coqui orkestra
5 million translucent tree frogs
singing as they must
aiming their love at the
murderous F-18s dropping
bombs and dripping poison
on Vieques, residential bombing site.

Roiling in the ocean blood
of the home of
my Taino antepasados
y los que viven aun
are the hopes and dreams of
fruit and yautia vendors
selling their wares
from the backs of dented
pickup trucks.

This is the body
of my island
this is the blood
of my love
Amen
Amen.

Rick Kearns-Morales

Poem reprinted with permission from the author Rick Kearns-Morales. See related entry posted today in this blog for more information about the author.