Sol, the mascot of Puerto Rico Sun Communications and the face of the PRSUN for the ASPCA campaign, turns 6. She is my beautiful feisty boricua cat. She is a rescue from the island.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Happy birthday to Sol
Sol, the mascot of Puerto Rico Sun Communications and the face of the PRSUN for the ASPCA campaign, turns 6. She is my beautiful feisty boricua cat. She is a rescue from the island.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Senator reacts to city's plans to create commercial kitchen space at La Marqueta
I recently went to La Marqueta and hope not to return until there is new life there. It is a depressing place to visit and something must be done and very soon to revitalize La Marqueta in NYC's El Barrio, which at one time was a happening place. The place feels like a ghost town. It is sadly not worth visiting.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Puerto Rican crime film as protest
Film
This year PRdream’s Summer Film Fest in East Harlem kicks off tonight with La Venganza de Correa Cotto.
PRdream presents two Puerto Rican crime films La Venganza de Correa Cotto, directed by Jeronimo Mitchel; and La Palomilla (tomorrow night), directed by Efrain Lopez Neris, as an exploration of crime as a form of protest. Classics in their own right, they were produced in Puerto Rico in the seventies and reflected an earlier period of transformation and transvaluation of island society brought on by U.S. investment policies known as Operation Bootstrap.
These films portray the law as an external imposition, foreign to the values of the common folk, and the outlaw as the unconscious expression of revolt. Both Correa Cotto and Jose Anibal Gerena Lafontaine (La Palomilla) were simple men, thrust by circumstances into extraordinary acts of transgression that challenged the colonial status quo. Correa and Gerena were men of their times, embodying the passions of a people experiencing the trauma of rapid urbanization and displacement. Anthony Felton who also produced Correa Cotto: Asi Me Llaman will be present for a Q&A after the film. Jaime Sanchez. A leading actor in both Puerto Rican and American cinema, who stars in La Palomilla will be present after that screening. Ritchie Velez, an actor who appears as a cell mate in La Palomilla will also be present. Some graphic scenes.
PRdream's summer films are in the 103rd Street Community Garden (103rd Street and Park Avenue). Free admission.
For the rest of the lineup for this year's outdoor film festival, go to www.prdream.com. For more information, Judith Escalona at 212.828.0401 or judith.escalona (at) gmail.com.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Puerto Rican Obituary and the Meaning of Sotomayor's Accomplishment
Puerto Rican Obituary reminds us how far we have come as a people, and how far we have yet to go. It is also a reminder of how the Puerto Rican experience, although not technically one of immigrants, parallels many of the realities that Latino and other immigrants face today.
We have acknowledged and celebrated our collective accomplishment with a Justice Sotomayor in the Supreme Court as Latinos. Now the work continues in the fight for social justice for our people and all humanity. As Puerto Rican Obituary shows us as a historical baseline, we have made some real progress, but much still needs to be done. Keep a copy with you and refer to it next time something amazing happens.
Un abrazo.
Angelo Falcón is president of the National Institute for Latino Policy. This article was originally published in the Institute's e-newsletter.