My upcoming show: Latinas En Foco/Women in Photography

You are invited

March 2009
NYC
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Community calendar

Artists raise money to create 'The Freedom Album' and help Puerto Rican political prisoners and their families


The Puerto Rican Freedom Project will be throwing a fundraiser at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at the 1199 MLK, JR Union Center, 310 West 43rd St., Manhattan. Proceeds will go toward the creation of "The Freedom Album," a dual CD featuring Puerto Rican artists from the island and beyond, due out early this spring.
The musical compilation is being created to raise funds for the Puerto Rican political prisoners and their families. The current Puerto Rican political prisoners are Oscar Lopez, Carlos Alberto Torres, Haydee Beltran and Avelino Gonzalez Claudio. Suggested donation for the event: $10-$15.

For more information about this project, go to www.prfreedomproject.org or www.myspace.com/freeourpoliticalprisoners.


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Obama names Bronx BP Adolfo Carrion as the White House Director of Urban Affairs

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, President Barack Obama announced that Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, a boricua, will be the new White House Director of Urban Affairs.

President Obama and Vice President Biden created the White House Office of Urban Affairs to develop a strategy for metropolitan America and to ensure that all federal dollars targeted to urban areas are effectively spent on the highest-impact programs. The Director of Urban Affairs will report directly to the president and coordinate all federal urban programs.

Carrion has served two terms as Bronx Borough President and one term as the President of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO). As Bronx Borough President, Carrion oversaw the creation of 40,000 new units of housing in seven years, 50 new schools, $7 billion in capital and infrastructure expenditures, and over $400 million in new parks and parkland renovation. Prior to his service as Bronx Borough President, Carrion represented the 14th City Council District on the New York City Council and also served as an urban planner at the NYC Department of City Planning and a teacher in the New York City Public Schools. Carrion received his bachelors in World Religions and Philosophy from King’s College in 1985 and his Masters in Urban Planning from Hunter College in 1990.

Congratulations to Carrion on his accomplishment.

sources: Bronx BP's Office/White House Office of the Press Secretary

Photo of Adolfo Carrion Jr. at the Bronx Puerto Rican Heritage Month last November at the Tropicana. (photo by Clarisel Gonzalez)

The search for Hostos' new prez is on

Hostos Community College is an important institution in the story of Puerto Ricans and Latinos in New York City. Hostos is not only an educational institution but a crown jewel in promoting Latino culture, arts and entertainment. The college is in search of its new president. The selection of the new president is very important in our community.

Here's an announcement of upcoming meetings to meet the candidates next week:

The three candidates for the position of President of Eugenio María de Hostos Community College are Felíz Matos Rodríguez, Natalie Gómez-Vélez, and Wilfredo Nieves.

The candidates will be on campus next week for meetings with groups representing the student body, the faculty, the staff, the administration, and the community at large.

There will also be three open forums at which all members of the Hostos family can meet with candidates individually and ask any questions they may have. These open forums will be held in Multipurpose Room on the second floor of the Savoy Building, 120 East 149th Street.

Here's the schedule:

Monday, February 23, Matos Rodríguez

Tuesday, February 24, Gómez-Vélez

Thursday, February 26, Nieves

All sessions run from 4-5 p.m. each day.

CANDIDATE PROFILES

Félix Matos Rodríguez

Félix V. Matos Rodríguez has a distinguished academic, educational, and social service policy career record. Trained as a social scientist, he has worked in foundations, universities, policy centers and government were he has been able to combine his scholarship with social policy, advocacy and change.

On December 31, 2008, Matos Rodríguez finished serving as Secretary of the Department of the Family for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. As Secretary, he formulated public policy and administered service delivery in the following programs: Child Support Enforcement, Adoption and Foster Care, Child and Elderly Protection, Food Stamps, TANF, Child Care, and Head Start. Matos Rodríguez managed a $2.2 billion dollar annual budget and oversaw nearly 9500 employees. Previously, he had served as Social Welfare and Health Advisor to the Governor Anibal Acevedo Vilá.

Matos Rodríguez is an Associate Professor of Black and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies at Hunter College (currently on leave) and teaches courses on Caribbean, Latin American and Latino history. He is also part of the History Department at CUNY’s Graduate Center. Matos Rodríguez served as the Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College [CUNY] -- one of the largest and most important Puerto Rican/Latino research centers in the US -- from 2000-2005.

He has an extensive publication record on the fields of Migration, Women's, Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latino studies. Matos Rodríguez is the author of Women and Urban Life in Nineteenth-Century San Juan, Puerto Rico [1820-62] [University Presses of Florida 1999; Markus Weiner 2001]; co-author of “Pioneros:” Puerto Ricans in New York City, 1896-1948 [Arcadia Publishers, 2001]; editor of, A Nation of Women, An Early Feminist Speaks Out: Mi opinión sobre las libertades, derechos y deberes de la mujer by Luisa Capetillo. [Houston: Arte Público Press, 2005]; co-editor with Gabriel Haslip Viera and Angelo Falcón. Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans in the Making of Modern New York City. [Princeton: Markus Wiener, 2004]; with Matthew C. Gutmann, Lynn Stephen, and Patricia Zavella. Blackwell Reader on The Americas. [London: Blackwell Publishers, 2003]; and co-editor of Puerto Rican Women's History: New Perspectives. [M.E. Sharpe Publishers, 1998]. Matos Rodríguez's work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Urban History, The Public Historian, Latin American Research Review, Centro Journal, Revista de Ciencias Sociales, and the Boletín de la Asociación de Demografía Histórica, in addition to having chapters in several anthologies. He was the founding editor of the series New Directions in Puerto Rican Studies published by University Press of Florida. He has also reviewed manuscripts for Temple University Press, Rutgers University Press, M.E. Sharpe, Blackwell Publishers, Hispanic American Historical Review and the Revista de Ciencias Sociales. He has been a member of the advisory editorial boards of the Latino Studies Journal and New York Archives. Matos Rodríguez expert commentary has been included in prestigious newspapers and publications.

Matos Rodríguez graduated from Colegio San Ignacio High School in San Juan. He attended Yale University as an undergraduate and graduated cum laude in Latin American Studies. He received his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University.

Prior to his work at Hunter College, Matos Rodríguez was a Program Officer at the Social Science Research Council in New York City and a faculty member at Northeastern University in Boston. He has also held visiting and adjunct teaching appointments at Yale University, Boston College, and City University [CUNY].

Matos Rodriguez has also been active in community organizations. He has been a board member of Aspira of New York, Inc.; Phipps Community Development Corporation, and of the Community Advisory Board of El Diario- La Prensa. He has received numerous awards for his community service including a special recognition by New York City’s Council during the 2003 Hispanic Heritage Month and by the New York State Senate and House Puerto Rican Latino Caucus for excellence in education in 2002.

He is married to Dr. Liliana M. Arabia, a dentist, and has two sons: Lucas (7) and Juan Carlos (5).



Natalie Gómez-Vélez



Natalie Gómez-Vélez is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and an Associate Professor of Law at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law. Prior to her appointment with the law school, Dean Gómez-Vélez served as Special Counsel to Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman of the New York State Unified Court System and as Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Public Advocacy in the administration of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Gómez-Vélez has also served on the Lawyering faculty at New York University School of Law, as an attorney with the ACLU and the Brennan Center for Justice, and as General Counsel to the New York City Department of Youth Services. Gómez-Vélez began her legal career in private practice.

Gómez-Vélez, a native New Yorker, received her Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law (where she was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Fellow, and as a member of the Latino Law Students Association Steering Committee). She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Hunter College of the City University of New York (where she graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa). (In 2007, she was inducted into the Hunter College Hall of Fame.)

Gómez-Vélez recently completed an unexpired term on the New York State Board of Regents, where she served as Regent for the Twelfth Judicial District (the Bronx). She is the former Bronx Representative to the New York City Panel for Educational Policy (Board of Education), appointed by Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr. and serving from 2002-2004. She currently serves on New York’s Statewide Judicial Screening Committee, the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board, and the Board of the City Parks Foundation.



Wilfredo Nieves

Wilfredo Nieves brings 30 plus years of education experience to his role as president of Middlesex Community College. A long-time community college administrator, his career demonstrates the depth and breadth necessary to provide exemplary leadership in the complex environment of higher education today.

Nieves’ extensive career exemplifies a lifetime commitment to the community college mission. From his early work in student services to his more recent roles and accomplishments as an academic and administrative leader, he has a comprehensive understanding of college leadership. His appointment as President of Middlesex Community College in 2001 positioned him as a valuable contributor to the Middlesex service area and to many national community college organizations.

Nieves serves as an evaluator for the Commissions on Higher Education for the Middle States Association and New England Association of Schools and Colleges. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to education and community service.

Nieves is a committed community leader and is active in many civic organizations. His community involvements have included service on the boards of directors of the National Coalition of Advocates for Students, the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, the Middlesex United Way, and the Portland Visiting Nurse Association. He is on the American Council on Education’s Commission on Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Equity, a corporator of Liberty Bank and the Middlesex Health System, Inc. and a member of the Middletown Rotary Club.

Nieves holds a baccalaureate degree in Mathematics from Kean University of New Jersey, a Master of Arts Degree in Human Development and the Master of Education in Guidance from Columbia University and a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Rutgers the State University of New Jersey.

source: National Institute for Latino Policy

Puerto Rico Sun wishes all the candidates good luck. Judging by their background, they are all worthy candidates. It is important to select the best candidate to continue the legacy of Hostos Community College in the Bronx.

Spotlight: Puerto Rico Sun photo group

Since 2004, I have been running the Puerto Rico Sun photo group at flickr.com. Puerto Rico Sun is a cultural photo group with an emphasis on photography, culture and empowerment.

This multicultural photo group has grown to more than 400 members from around the world. What I love about the group is that it is truly multicultural.

Our pool features more than 6,000 photos. Selected photos from this group's pool are regularly featured right here in the Puerto Rico Sun blog.

I thank all the members of the Puerto Rico Sun photo group for their contributions. Keep those images coming.

Here's the link to our Puerto Rico Sun photo group:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/prsun

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)