Un-True life: We are Nuyoricans!

Commentary


by Women of El Barrio members Elsie Encarnación and Alyssa Ruíz

On Sunday January 25, 2009, MTV aired a new episode from its widely popular True Life series entitled True Life: I'm a Nuyorican. According to the network’s website, the show was aimed to demonstrate the difficulties young Nuyoricans face when growing up between two worlds. The show featured three young Nuyoricans and highlighted each of their "struggles" with being Nuyorican. Since the airing of this show, there has been quite the uproar within the Nuyorican community concerning whether MTV presented the "True Life" they proclaim to have depicted. Many self-identified Nuyoricans are offended and upset by the inaccurate representation of an entire community that has fought to proudly identify itself and have shown considerable backlash via internet blogs, petitions and even on MTV's own website.

One of the communities highlighted in the television program was East Harlem also known as El Barrio. The unfair and unjust portrayal of Nuyoricans deeply touch home and even offended us as members of Women of El Barrio/Mujeres de El Barrio (WOEB), a local advocacy group of proud Puerto Rican women that not only support the leadership of Puerto Rican women in East Harlem, but also fight and speak out against the injustices facing our community. We see the True Life: I'm a Nuyorican episode as a disgraceful representation of an entire body of people.

Our biggest gripe with the episode was the neglect to accurately define the term Nuyorican. The expression Nuyorican goes far beyond the geographical definition that MTV offers. The term was coined by the literary and cultural movement that birthed the famous Nuyorican Poets Café in the late seventies early eighties. Poets such as Miguel Algarín, Miguel Piñero, Pedro Pietri, and Sandra Maria Esteves used their poetry as a medium to express the new generation of Puerto Ricans in New York and as a way for them to speak out against the injustices and discrimination they faced. Through this movement came an awareness and a deep sense of pride of what it meant to be Nuyorican.

With the failure to properly define the term Nuyorican we were left with a television show that focused on the negative stereotypes that are constantly perpetuated in media outlets. For example, all three cast members had a burning desire to get out of their unstable and dangerous communities even though we do not all come from or live in threatening neighborhoods. The "only way out" consisted of three options: get out through sports, entertainment, or by joining the armed forces. There was no mention of working hard or educating oneself as other viable choices. We also must not forget that there are Nuyoricans that do not want or particularly need to get out; rather they want to stay and make a difference in their communities. There are even those Nuyoricans that are fighting to stay in their homes due to gentrification.

We as members of WOEB work hard to dispel these negative perceptions of our community and Puerto Ricans through our active involvement and presence in our neighborhood; and it is because of this that we ask for the following: MTV to acknowledge the reaction from the Nuyorican community and apologize for producing and airing a lopsided and erroneous interpretation of a large and proud population, MTV to pull the episode from the air, and MTV to recast and reproduce a more balanced view that would not only be more representative of the Nuyorican community but would also educate others about our history and way of life. We cannot continue to let MTV’s portrayal of the Nuyorican community, with its extremely large viewership, be the only version of our identity. It is up to us to fight back and let our voices be heard.


Editor's Note: To watch the video online that is causing all the uproar, go to
http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/335353/the-only-way-out.jhtml#id=1602697

I thought I'd share the link as a FYI and to give people the opportunity to judge for themselves. You can watch the show titled "I'm A Nuyorican" online at MTV. It is too bad that the controversy is giving this particular show more audience than it deserves. Feel free to leave your comments.

To sign the online petition,

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.gopetition.com%2Fpetitions%2Fnuyoricans-against-mtv-true-life.html


UPDATE:
THE SHOW IS OFF THE AIR!!!!!!!
Katilia Vélez, on 4/1/09, in Facebook message writes:
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! YOU DID IT!!!!! WE HAVE RECEIVED CONFIRMATION FROM MTV THAT THE SHOW IS NOT SCHEDULED TO RE-AIR....!!!!!!!!WWWEEEEEEPPPPPPAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!


IN THE COMING WEEKS WE WILL KNOW WHAT THE STATUS IS AS FAR AS PRODUCING A NEW EPISODE WHICH IS HISTORICALLY AND CONTEXTUALLY ACCURATE FOR NUYORICANS.....

YOU MADE IT HAPPEN! FELICIDADES!!!!

MTV TAKES A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION....
BUT--- WE STILL HAVE A WAYS TO GO- WE WANT TO HAVE THEM PRODUCE A NEW EPISODE SO WE STILL NEED SIGNATURES!!!!!!

;-D
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/nuyoricans-against-mtv-true-life.html

RIP JOE CUBA

The best way to remember Joe Cuba is with his music. Enjoy this video posted by neels39 on YouTube.

Here's a news release by writer and musician Aurora Flores about Cuba and his mark in the world of Latin music:

Joe Cuba: The Father of New York Boogaloo has passed

The "Father of Boogaloo," Joe Cuba, passed away on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 4 p.m. at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. He was the most popular exponent of the boogaloo, a fused Latino and R&B rhythm that exploded onto the American top 40s charts during the turbulent 1960s & ‘70s. Hits such as “Bang Bang,” “Push Push,” “El Pito,” “Ariñañara,” and “Sock It To Me Baby,” rocked the hit parades establishing Joe Cuba and his Sextet as the definitive sound of Latin New York during the ‘60s & ‘70s. The Joe Cuba Sextet’s unusual instrumentation featured vibraphones replacing the traditional brass sound. His music was at the forefront of the Nuyorican movement of New York where the children of Puerto Rican emigrants...took music, culture, arts and politics into their own hands.


Joe Cuba’s Sextet became popular in the New York Latino community precisely because it fused a bilingual mix of Afro-Caribbean genres blended with the popular urban rhythm & blues of its time creating a musical marriage between the Fania and Motown sound. His was the first musical introduction to Latin rhythms for many American aficionados. The lyrics to Cuba's repertoire mixed Spanish and English, becoming an important part of the emerging Nuyorican identity.


“Joe Cuba’s music validated the developing Nuyorican population whose language and music Cuba captured with his sound,” underlines Giora Breil, CEO of Emusica, the company that now owns the Fania label and who has remastered many of the classics to a new generation of music lovers. “He led the urban tribe,” pointed Breil, “into a united front of cultural warriors that were defining the social and political times they lived in.”

Longtime manager and promoter Hector Maisonave recalls Cuba as ”an innovator who crossed over into mainstream music at an early time. He was the soul of El Barrio. After Joe Cuba, El Barrio is just a street that crosses an avenue.”

In 1962, Cuba recorded "To Be With You" with the vocals of Cheo Feliciano and Jimmy Sabater whose careers he spotlighted after the bands introductory appearance at the Stardust Ballroom prior to its summer stint in the Catskills.


Born in 1931 in the heart of Spanish Harlem, his Puerto Rican parents arrived in New York City in the 20s. Christened "Gilberto Miguel Calderón," Cuba was a “doo wopper” who played for J. Panama in 1950 when he was a young 19 year old before going on to play for La Alfarona X, where the young congüerro/percussionist replaced Sabu Martinez tapped to play with Xavier Cugat.


By 1965, the Sextet got their first crossover hit with the Latino and soul fusion of "El Pito” (I Never Go Back To Georgia), a tune Cuba recorded against the advice of the producer later to be “broken” by a DJ over WBLS FM in N.Y. The Dizzy Gillespie "Never Go Back To Georgia" chant was taken from the intro to the seminal Afro-Cuban tune, "Manteca." Vocalist Jimmy Sabater later revealed that "none of us had ever been to Georgia." In fact, Cuba later comically described a conversation he had with the Governor of Georgia who called him demanding why he would record a song whose chorus negatively derided the still segregated Southern town. The quick thinking Joe Cuba replied, “Georgia is the name of my girl.”

In 1967, Joe Cuba’s band --–with no horns– scored a "hit" in the United States National Hit Parade List with the song "Bang Bang" - a tune that ushered in the Latin Boogaloo era. He also had a #1 hit, that year on the Billboard charts with the song "Sock It To Me Baby." The band’s instrumentation included congas, timbales, an occasional bongo, bass, piano and vibraphone. “A bastard sound,” is what Cuba called it pointing to the fans, the people, as the true creators of this music. “You don’t go into a rehearsal and say ‘Hey, let’s invent a new sound, or dance.’ They happen. The boogaloo came out of left field. “ Joe Cuba recounts in Mary Kent’s book:” Salsa Talks: A Musical History Uncovered. “It’s the public that creates new dances and different things. The audience invents, the audience relates to what you are doing and then puts their thing into what you are playing,” pointing to other artists such as Ricardo Ray or Hector Rivera as pioneers of the urban fused rhythm.


“I met Joe up in the Catskills in 1955,” recalls nine time Grammy Award winner Eddie Palmieri. “When I later started La Perfecta,” Palmieri muses, “we alternated on stages with Joe. He was full of life and had a great sense of humor, always laughing at his own jokes,” chuckles the pianist. Palmieri pointed to Cuba’s many musical contributions underlining the power and popularity of his small band and bilingual lyrics while providing a springboard for the harmonies and careers of Cheo Feliciano, Willie Torres and Jimmy Sabater. “He was Spanish Harlem personified,” describes Palmieri recalling the “take no prisoners” attitude Cuba had when it came to dealing with those who reluctantly paid the musicians. Recalling their early recording days with the infamous Morris Levy, Palmieri cites the antics of Joe Cuba, Ismael Rivera and himself as the reason for Levy selling them as a Tico package to Fania label owner, Jerry Masucci.


Funny, irreverent and with a great humor for practical jokes, Joe Cuba, or Sonny as he was called by his closest friends, was raised in East Harlem. Stickball being the main sport for young boys of the neighborhood, Cuba’s father organized a stickball club called the Devils. After Cuba broke a leg, he took up playing the conga and continued to practice between school and his free time. Eventually, he graduated from high school and joined a band.


“He was not afraid to experiment,” said David Fernandez, arranger & musical director of Zon del Barrio who played with the legendary Cuba when he arrived in New York in 2002.


By 1954, at the suggestion of his agent to change the band's name from the Jose Calderon Sextet to the Joe Cuba Sextet, the newly named Joe Cuba Sextet made their debut at the Stardust Ballroom. Charlie Palmieri was musical director of the sextet before his untimely 1988 death from a heart attack.


Since then, the Joe Cuba Sextet and band has been a staple of concerts and festivals that unite both Latinos, African-Americans and just plain music lovers in venues all over the world.


In 2003, the following CDs were released:

* "Joe Cuba Sextet Vol I: Mardi Gras Music for Dancing"
* "Merengue Loco" and
* "Out of This World Cha Cha".


In 2004, Joe Cuba was named Grand Marshall of the Puerto Rican Day Parade celebrated in Yonkers, New York. Musician Willie Villegas who traveled with Joe for the past 15 years said, “It didn’t matter where we played around the world Joe would always turn to me and say, To My Barrio…. With Love! " Joe Cuba is survived by his wife Maria Calderon, sons Mitchell and Cesar, daughter Lisa, and grandchildren Nicole and Alexis.

sources: YouTube and Aurora Communications Inc.

Editor's note: Joe Cuba's music is available at the PRSUN aStore:

Bronx Latino: 'A Portrait of the Bronx Artist Community'

If you are an artist based in the Bronx, Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. urges you to fill out this survey.

For more information,

Bronx Latino: 'A Portrait of the Bronx Artist Community'

PRSUN Radio: 'On the Stand' with poet Americo Casiano Jr.

PRSUN Radio chats with poet Americo Casiano Jr. at 9 p.m. Wednesday, February 18, at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

A little about Casiano:

Americo Casiano Jr. is one of the original Nuyorican poets and a key founding activist for the Nuyorican arts movement. He has promoted, produced and coordinated numerous readings and performance series for key arts and cultural organizations in New York City. Among them: El Taller/galleria Boricua (The Puerto Rican Workshop, Inc.), El Museo Del Barrio, Inc., New Rican Village, Inc. the Bronx Council on the Arts and the NuyoRican School Original Poetry Jazz Ensemble, Inc.

A 2003 New York Foundation for the Arts Poetry Fellow, he is also the author of "On the Stand," a poetry book.

Casiano is also the founder and artistic director of NuyoRican School Poetry Jazz Ensemble. The ensemble blends the use of the written verse with contemporary jazz/Latin jazz. It maintains two distinct versions: a traveling theatre ensemble and a performance concert ensemble.

During the show, Casiano will treat listeners with a poetry reading.

Remember to tune in
www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio

Casiano's "On the Stand" is available at the PRSUN aStore:

Philly Te Ama! Hispanic Arts and Culture Thrive in the City of Brotherly Love

Cultural Tourism

Philadelphia Attractions, Events and Tours Celebrate Hispanic Culture

PHILADELPHIA/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Hispanic heritage thrives in Philadelphia, home to the second-largest Hispanic population in the Northeast. Because this market is the fastest growing ethnic group in the Philadelphia region, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, many new arts and cultural opportunities are emerging that celebrate Hispanic traditions. Those who wish to experience the culture and charisma of the city's lively community can find plenty of activities at popular area attractions. Here's a sampling of temporary events and year-round offerings that showcase Hispanic-American
heritage:

Special Events and Exhibitions:
Opened in October 2008, the Latin Art Gallery showcases an exceptional collection of modern art in a wide range of mediums and themes. Displaying through mid-March 2009 is Los Hijos de la Calle, an exhibition of images by
three photographers from very diverse paths. 305 W. Oxford Street, (215) 975-
9170, afrolatinart.com
In the heart of the Latino community, Taller Puertorriqueno is like a second home for upcoming and established Hispanic artists. From February 6 through April 11, 2009, its Lorenzo Homar Gallery features Diametrically
Opposed Realities in Santurce, Puerto Rico, with works by Harry Hernandez, one of Puerto Rico's most promising young painters. His work incorporates paintings from various forms of media, including projections, digital imaging,
video and photography. 2721 N. 5th Street, (215) 426-3311, tallerpr.org.
Visitors to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology can view a world-renowned collection of ancient Maya pottery excavated nearly 100 years ago. Painted Metaphors: Pottery and Politics of the Ancient Maya, on display April 5 through September 6, 2009, includes about two dozen recently conserved painted vessels and focuses on the ordinary Maya people that lived more than a thousand years ago. 3260 South Street, (215) 898-4000, museum.upenn.edu.
Philadelphia celebrates Hispanic heritage all summer long at Penn's Landing during the popular PECO Multicultural Series. The annual series includes the Hispanic Fiesta (July 11-12, 2009), Caribbean Fest (August 23) and the Mexican Independence Day Festival (September 13, 2009), all featuring food, folklore, crafts, dance and music. Great Plaza, Columbus Boulevard at
Chestnut Street, (215) 922-2FUN, delawareriverwaterfrontcorp.com.



Celebrating Hispanic Heritage All Year Long:
In Philadelphia, nearly 3,000 walls have been transformed with images of heroes, landscapes or inspiring scenes. On the second Wednesday of every month and on select Saturdays, a Philadelphia Mural Arts Tour departs from the Independence Visitor Center to showcase the murals of North Philadelphia, including those found in El Centro de Oro, the heart Philadelphia's Latino community. General public tours run from April through November. 6th & Market Streets, (215) 685-0750, muralarts.org.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art boasts an expansive collection of Mexican works within its walls, including two large Aztec stone sculptures, frescos, prints, photographs and embroidered dress and textiles. And the Mexican Colonial Art gallery displays religious paintings and portraits along with 18th-century Talavera pottery. 26th Street & the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, (215) 763-8100, philamuseum.org.
The Liberty Bell Center holds the famous cracked Bell and features videos and interactive displays and is staffed by Park Rangers who are on hand to answer questions. The treasured symbol resonates strongly in the Hispanic community where the fight for freedom continues with the arrival of each new or prospective citizen. 5th & Chestnut Streets, (800) 537-7676, nps.gov/inde.
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania counts among its treasures many documents on the history and experience of Latinos in Greater Philadelphia dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Visitors can read through the materials to gain a more complete understanding of Philadelphia's heritage and dynamic people. 1300 Locust Street, (215) 732-6200, hsp.org.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) makes Philadelphia and The Countryside(R) a premier destination through marketing and image building that increases business and promotes the region's vitality.

For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit gophila.com or
uwishunu.com, where you can build itineraries; search event calendars; see
photos and videos; view interactive maps; sign up for newsletters; listen to HearPhilly, an online radio station about what to see and do in the region; book hotel reservations and more. Or, call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Historic Philadelphia, at (800) 537-7676.

Source: Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation

Photos courtesy of GPTMC:

Skyline -- A dramatic evening sky view of Philadelphia highlights the contrast of new and old living side by side. In the center of the shot stands the bronze statue of the city’s founder, William Penn, sitting on top of the 511-foot City Hall Tower with its lighted clock. And the newest addition to the skyline, the Comcast Center on the right towers as the tallest building between New York and Chicago. (Photo by B. Krist for GPTMC)

Dancers -- Along with some of the top names in music, hundreds of aspiring salsa dancers dance the day away on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for Fiesta on the Parkway, one of many events taking place during Sunoco Welcome America!, Philadelphia’s multi-day Fourth of July celebration. (Photo by J. Smith for GPTMC)

Fiesta -- The Hispanic Fiesta is held each summer on Philadelphia’s Penn’s Landing as part of the PECO Multicultural Series.
(Photo by R. Kennedy for GPTMC)

On the Grammy

Here's a YouTube video just for you. I think it's cute.

Congratulations to "In the Heights" for your recent Grammy win and all your accomplishments.

Es un orgullo.

(Video by CNitya)

West Side Story returns to Broadway this month with a more bilingual touch.

Featured story

Bilingual, yet still contentious 'West Side Story' headed back to Broadway

Karen Olivo has a leg up as Anita in "West Side Story."
Notice to all those Jets and Sharks nostalgics counting the hours for the "West Side Story" Broadway comeback: the actors aren’t botching the words.
This time around, Maria’s "I Feel Pretty" becomes "[Me] Siento Hermosa" and Anita spits out "Un Hombre Así" instead of "A Boy Like That."
For more, go to this report by Robert Friedman in the Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2009/02/11/2009-02-11_bilingual_yet_still_contentious_west_sid.html

For the show's site, go to
http://www.broadwaywestsidestory.com/

@ the Bronx Tribute to Jose 'Chegui' Torres

Boxing trainer Jose Cotto Talavera, right, and former boxing champion Juan La Porte at the February 7 tribute in the Bronx in memory of the late boxing champion and writer José ‘Chegui’ Torres. Former boxing champion Juan La Porte remembers his mentor as “a true friend who was always at your corner." (photo by Ismael Nunez)

My photo page

Come visit my photo page at Facebook

www.facebook.com/pages/Clarisel-Gonzalez/66831011326?ref=ts

Prohibido el paso

Prohibido el paso
Originally uploaded by Soy Tito.

Tonight's featured image from the Puerto Rico Sun photo group is by Soy Tito.

Interesting statement.

Politics

Featured story

Former PR governor pleads not guilty to corruption

SAN JUAN — Former Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila entered a federal court to the cheers of supporters and pleaded not guilty to campaign finance charges that could send him to prison for 20 years.
U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro has said he is concerned about pretrial publicity on the case and as many as 250 prospective jurors will be asked about their exposure to news coverage — something that could extend jury selection for several days.
For more, go to
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iuGlrgbJv37U7c0i040OriHtfauAD96849G80

PRSUN Poll: We are bilingual

Sixty-seven percent of blog readers who took part in PRSUN's snap poll consider both English and Spanish as their main languages. They reported that they are fully bilingual (reading, writing and speaking English and Spanish).

Meanwhile, 33 percent said their primary language is English. Nobody chose Spanish as the primary language.

The question readers were asked was: What is your primary language?

This is an unscientific poll, but it gives a glimpse of our readership.

Interesting though not surprising.

Community calendar

El Maestro Cultural & Educational Center in the Bronx
presents

Award winning poet
Américo Casiano Jr.

Special Poetry Reading and Book Signing
4 p.m., Sunday, February 22
El Maestro
1029 East 167 Street
(between Westchester Avenue & Bryant Avenue)

Casiano will read from his book of poetry: "On The Stand." There will be music beginning at 2 p.m.

Doors open at 2 p.m.
Music by 5 En Plena
Dance by Las Princesas del Caribe

There is also an art exhibition.

El Maestro is a center that promotes the Puerto Rican culture and sports.

For more information: (646) 337-6775 or consentido5@aol.com.