Saturday, May 30, 2009

PRSUN Radio chats with boricua actress Jazmin Caratini


Actress Jazmin Caratini is my guest at 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 3, at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio. She is currently based in Puerto Rico. We'll talk on her acting career, her time in New York City and her transition back to Puerto Rico. We'll also chat on her current and future projects.

Jazmin is an ACE-nominated actress. She was nominated for Best Actress in Classical Theater 2006 (NY) and for Best Actress in Drama 2007 (NY).

For more, go to my blog at
www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

UPDATE: Listen to my interview with Jazmin at




Friday, May 29, 2009

Don Juan Mari Bras to visit El Maestro



Community calendar

Puerto Rican citizen DON JUAN MARI BRAS

“La Ciudadania Puertorriquena de los Boricuas en E.U.”

6:30 p.m., Thursday, June 11
EL MAESTRO, INC.
1029 E. 167th St.
For more info, (646) 337-67775

Sponsors: EL MAESTRO, PARTIDO NACIONALISTA-JUNTA DE N.Y., COMITE 27 DE OCTUBRE, FUNDACION ANDRES FIGUEROA CORDERO,N.Y. FRIENDS OF PUERTO RICO AT THE ONU

*There will be a bomba and plena cultural performance as part of this event featuring Don Juan Mari Bras.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

My new exhibit: Visions of Puerto Rico


Exhibition: Visions of Puerto Rico & Puerto Rican Pride

June 12th – 28th – Opening Show 7-10 p.m. on June 12th

Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center, Inc.

107 Suffolk Street, Manhattan

Contact: Mia Roman Hernandez - artbymamamia@yahoo.com / 646-361-6448

About the show:

“Visions of Puerto Rico & Puerto Rican Pride” Celebrates Puerto Rican culture through Photography. The show will include more than fifty works by emerging and established artists from Puerto Rico, Miami Fl. and New York City. Each artist brings a unique style and vision. These artists have discovered the beauty, tales and the history to their culture in which has been incorporated into their craft of photography. Some of the pieces will depict Community, Urban settings, Music, Nature, Family, Politics and Spirituality. The photos will embrace the cultural empowerment of the Puerto Ricans and their pride. The photos will evoke emotion, feeling and discussion. We have bridged a gap between the Puerto Ricans on the Island and the Puerto Ricans out side of the island and this exhibit is the result of that connection.


Art is an expression of the unconscious and is dedicated to the free expression of feeling.


About CSV/ Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center, Inc.:

The Clemente Soto VĂ©lez Cultural & Educational Center, Inc. (CSV), a 501 (C) 3 not-for-profit, was founded in 1993. The CSV Cultural Center is a Puerto Rican/Latino cultural institution that has demonstrated a broad-minded cultural vision and a collaborative philosophy. While CSV's mission is focused on the cultivation, presentation and preservation of Puerto Rican and Latino culture, it is equally determined to operate in a multi-cultural and inclusive manner, housing and promoting artists and performance events that fully reflect the cultural diversity of the Lower East Side and the city as a whole.


Artists include:

Clarisel Gonzalez, Mia Roman Hernandez, Elena Marrero, Vivien Perez, Carissa Hernandez, Christopher Lopez, Susan Alvarez, Marcelino Pagan, Luis Cordero, Pepper Negron, Marie Paola Martinez, Gamalier Martinez, Gerardo Javier Melendez Silvagnoli, Marielly Martinez, Ismael Nunez, Pablo Colon, Eliud Martinez

source: Art by Mia press release

In The Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams on PBS Trailer

Premieres at 8 p.m. May 27 (ET on "Great Performances." See local listings. For more info., http://www.intheheightsthemusical.com.

source: InTheHeightsBroadway @ YouTube

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Cemi Underground's All-Star Extravaganza is more than a fundraiser

Hi gente, I am a NY Latino Community Examiner at www.examiner.com. Check out my article today titled "Cemi Underground's All-Star Extravaganza is more than a fundraiser."

http://www.examiner.com/x-11970-NY-Latino-Community-Examiner~y2009m5d26-Cemi-Undergrounds-AllStar-Extravaganza-is-more-than-a-fundraiser

Prez chooses boricua for Supreme Court Justice

BRONX BORICUA for the high court. Way to go.

President Barack Obama chose federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice on Tuesday.

Check out this blog entry in the New York Times' blog about this "Kid From the Bronx."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/us/politics/27websotomayor.html

Monday, May 25, 2009

Spanish Fly's Elstabo chats with PRSUN Radio



My upcoming guest on PRSUN Radio is artist Alexander Aviles aka Elstabo who has self published a book titled Elstabo's Spanish Fly series, a collection of portrait paintings depicting women of Puerto Rican heritage. We'll chat on his art, why he self published a book and more.

Tune in at 9 p.m. Wednesday at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

Here's some of his artwork:





To view more of his artwork, go to his site at http://elstabo.com.

To read his bio, go to my blog at http://blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.



(images courtesy of Alexander Aviles)

UPDATE: My interview with Elstabo

Thursday, May 21, 2009

NYC Grassroots Media Conference: HOPE TO ACTION


I am serving as a panelist at The Sixth Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference.

Here's the press release about the conference:

The Sixth Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference: HOPE TO ACTION
Co-Sponsored by the Film and Media Department at Hunter College, CUNY
9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, May 30
Hunter College, 68th Street & Lexington Avenue, Manhattan


On May 30th, the New York City Grassroots Media Coalition (NYCGMC) will host its sixth annual conference at Hunter College. The conference theme Hope to Action invites participants to consider how we can build a media network that ensures the visibility of our communities' voices, images and stories. Conference workshops will explore how we can use the media tools at our disposal to turn HOPE for social justice into ACTION in our communities.

The conference first convened in 2004 by a volunteer collective of media activists and organizations responding to the FCC’s moves to further deregulate media control and diversity. The annual conference is part of an ongoing effort to build bridges between New York City's diverse social justice and grassroots media communities to better realize our common goals for social change. To date, approximately 300 organizations and 4,500 independent media makers and community organizers have participated in NYC Grassroots Media Coalition’s conferences.

This year's conference comes on the heels of a historic 2008 election season that was fueled by an unprecedented level of community based organizing, and highlighted the power that can be mobilized by the grassroots. Even as we celebrate, uncertainty looms ahead. Many of us have lost our jobs, our insurance, and our economic stability; many of our independent media producers and social justice organizations face diminished financial support and increasing barriers. In this moment of great opportunity and great challenge, the NYC Grassroots Media community asks: What role can the media play as a catalyst for social justice?

The Sixth Annual Conference will host more than 40 informative panels and skill-sharing workshops, a daylong film festival, art exhibits, and musical performances. Featured panels include immigrant rights groups strategizing on how they can use media to debunk stereotypes, editors of independent publications confronting the crisis in journalism, and prison justice activists developing a media platform. Hands-on workshop tutorials will cover how to organize via social networking tools, activist mural making, hip-hop activism, community radio production, and more.

The conference continues its commitment to elevating youth voices and empowering young people to make their own media by providing various workshops for, about, and led by New York City teenagers. To further engage young media makers, on May 14, NYCGMC in partnership with the Youth Media Reporter/Academy for Educational Development will host a screening of youth produced media at 100 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.

The NYCGMC works in partnership with a variety of locally based organizations to design the theme and content of the conferences. 2009 Partners include representatives from Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, GoLeft.org, Indypendent, Alliance for Community Media, Left Turn magazine, LGBT Center, Manhattan Neighborhood Network, MAGNet, Radical Reference, Youth Media Reporter, Listen Up! and others.

More details about our current and past programs can be found at www.nycgrassrootmedia.org. To register and to pay online, go to the site. Prices range from $5 to $20 to register for the conference.

Poverty in the barrio

Pensamientos

poverty sometimes
blinds us, there
are many artists
in the barrio
just too poor
to know -- coconut brujita

Coconut Brujita contributes her writings to Puerto Rico Sun.

The Loisaida Festival

Community calendar



The Loisaida Festival is coming up. It's this Sunday.

Click on image for larger text.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Pierluisi introduces the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009

Oh God. When will the issue of political status on the island be resolved? Bueno, here's yet another step. It will probably not lead to a real change in the island's political status, but it is a step at least.

Today, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi for Puerto Rico introduced the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009. Here's an excerpt from Pierluisi's speech today:

"The bill I have introduced today is simple and it is fair. It first authorizes the government of Puerto Rico to conduct a plebiscite. Voters will be asked whether they wish to maintain Puerto Rico’s present form of political status or whether they wish to have a different political status. If a majority of voters cast their ballots in favor of a different political status, the government of Puerto Rico will be authorized to conduct a second plebiscite among three options: independence, statehood, and sovereignty in association with the United States.
The bill does not exclude any status option, and it does not favor any status option.
It enables the people of Puerto Rico to express their wishes regarding the Island’s
political status in a series of democratic votes. It will thus ensure that the views of all the people are heard on this fundamental question. The results of these votes
will be certified to the President and to Congress.
I am optimistic that this bill will receive a fair hearing in committee, that it will be brought up for a vote before the full House, and that it will ultimately be approved by this chamber with strong bipartisan support. I am likewise confident that the Senate, having witnessed these events in the House, will also approve the bill. And I believe that President Obama, who has promised to address the question of
Puerto Rico’s status within his first term in office, will sign the bill with pride
when it reaches his desk."

For the full speech, go to
http://pierluisi.house.gov/home.html

PRSUN's Featured Video: 'Apariencias' by Navegante

"Apariencias" Official video! from Navegante on Vimeo.



NAVEGANTE delivers a fresh urban blend of Electro Latin Funk with deep synth-bass lines and hard hitting beats layered with the melodic tapestry of the the Puerto Rican Cuatro. For more info., visit http://www.vimeo.com/4717793.

source: Navegante

Boricuas writing their own history

Boricuas writing their own history.
That's what this period in history will be known as.
Everytime a poet writes a stanza,
everytime an author writes a chapter,
everytime a comic tells a joke about growing up in an Hispanic home,
everytime a photographer documents an event,
everytime we tell our story we are writing our own history.
This is really what Cemi Underground was all about. -- Luis Cordero, Cemi Underground

Support Cemi's All-Star Extravaganza featuring Los Pleneros de la 21, poets like La Bruja and Mariposa and more.



(Click on image for larger text.)

For more information about Cemi Underground and the Extravaganza event, go to www.cemiunderground.com.