Efrain's Corner: Exclusive Interview with Writer, Producer and Director, Vagabond Beaumont on his Film 'Machetero'

Efrain's Corner: Exclusive Interview with Writer, Producer and Director, Vagabond Beaumont on his Film 'Machetero'

Check out this interview by Efrain Ortiz Jr.

Q&A with activist Vicente "Panama" Alba

The organization “For a Better Bronx,” a community-based organization in the South Bronx, which fights to achieve environmental, social and food justice through education, community organizing, and empowerment held a special event earlier this year at St. Luke’s Church in the Bronx. That day, long-time activist Vicente “Panama” Alba was honored for many years of service to the organization and his commitment to people. Vicente has done it all in his many years of activism, including being a member of the influential Young Lords Party, which this weekend celebrates its 40th anniversary, and being a member of the underground group the F.A.L.N. (Fuerzas Armadas Liberacion Nationalista). He has fought against police brutality and against the war. He is an environmentalist. He was also active in the movement to get the Navy out of the Puerto Rican town of Vieques.
With the anniversary and reunion of the Young Lords, Alba reflects on his time with the organization and says it continues to shape his work as an activist.
Q: Let’s talk about the Young Lords. It’s been close to 40 years since they took over the church at 111th Street and Lexington Avenue. Why are the Young Lords still in the minds of people to this day?
A: As far as the history of my involvement, I am a proud former member of the Young Lords Party. That experience has paved the road I’ve been walking since.
Q: Should there be a memorial in this (NY) city despite their birth in Chicago, Illinois?
A: As far as should there be a memorial for the Young Lords, it needs to be clear that the great majority of us never thought that we were making history. That was not our motivation. We just loved our people, hated what we were being subjected to, and dreamed of a better world. Those are the things that drive me to do what I do to this day. We, without realizing it, did make history. All the credit is deserved by Cha Cha, Sal, Omar, and the women who turned a gang into a revolutionary force and inspired young people in NY and then other parts of the country to join. I have to say, though, I believe that if the YLO had not happened in Chicago and moved people here, something else after that would have been born here because the reality we demanded it. As far as a memorial, that is not for me to say.
Q: Richie Perez was in the Lords with you. Can you tell us a little about him? He once stated that being in the movement keeps you young and strong.
A: As for as Richie Perez, the fact that from amongst all the people who lived for our people, you ask me about him speaks for itself. I first met Richie as one of the fellows when I was a teenager. He was soon after a teacher at Monroe High School where I was registered, but never went. Richie along with Cleo Silvers were the two most influential people at that time in my life. They knew me as an out-of-control rebel and guided me to the path I’ve been on since I joined the YLP. Until his death, he was my brother, my friend, companero de lucha, and is today one on whose spirit I call on. Richie was one of the most caring and committed people I’ve been honored to have in my life. Probably the most brilliant person I have ever come across. He never asked others to do something he would not do himself.

The Young Lords celebrate its 40th anniversary and reunion Sunday with an event at the First Spanish Methodist Church aka "The People's Church" in East Harlem. -- Ismael Nunez

Ismael Nunez is a contributing writer to Puerto Rico Sun.

(photo by Ismael Nunez of Vicente "Panama" Alba, center, with his children at the Better Bronx event)
(Young Lords flier; click on image for larger text)

PRSUN Radio chats with the folks behind Coqui Mexicano

Coqui Mexicano is a new bodega/cafe on Brook Avenue in the South Bronx. It is also a cultural spot, featuring art and books.

It is named Coqui Mexicano representing the mix of the owners, Danisha (el Coqui) and Alfredo (el mexicano from Acalpulco). The shop features Puerto Rican and Mexican food. 

PRSUN Radio talks to the entrepreneurs at 9 p.m. tomorrow atwww.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

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

(photo courtesy of Coqui Mexicano)

Support this Latino-owned community-minded business in the Bronx.

Update: To listen to the archived version of the show, click on the PRSUN Radio widget box in this blog or go directly to BTR. Thanks.

NCPRR NYC to meet August 27

Community calendar

Chapter meeting 6:30 p.m., Thursday, August 27 CSS BUILDING, 105 East 22nd Street, 4th Floor conference Room 4A, Manhattan For more information on the NCPRR, go to www.ncprr.us.

A Q&A with Whose Barrio's Ed Morales

Ed Morales and Laura Rivera are both journalists who were inspired to do the “Whose Barrio?" documentary, which focuses on the gentrification or the selling of NYC’s Spanish Harlem, El Barrio.

East Harlem is one of the hardest hit Latino strongholds in the city impacted. Many Latinos have fallen victim to raising rents, new buildings not suitable for the working class, and small businesses forced to close or relocate. In this documentary, you will hear from activists, artists, elected officials, and groups who are combating this sensitive issue and get a picture of the rapidly changing barrio.

Q: Why East Harlem? What was it about the community that got you into doing the movie?

A: First of all, my parents came to New York from Puerto Rico and they met while living in East Harlem. I have had several relatives who have lived there, and I still have an aunt who lives there. In 2002, I wrote a story for the New York Times about gentrification of East Harlem because I’d heard from some friends who were living there and were upset about it. I also consulted with Arlene Dávila, who was in the process of writing a book about gentrification of East Harlem. The story interested me because I had lived through gentrification of the East Village (Loisaida) in the ‘80s and ‘90s and I was frankly surprised that the same thing could happen in El Barrio. In 2007, while a Revson Fellow at Columbia University, I took a course on making a documentary and I asked Laura Rivera, who was writing a Master’s thesis on gentrification in El Barrio to be a co-director and co-producer.

Q: This documentary is it mainly about gentrification or the daily lives of people dealing with this issue?

A: The story focuses on a few different situations. One is the contrast between Jose Rivera, a long-time resident of El Barrio who feels like gentrification will price him out, and James Garcia, who is relatively new to New York and moved to the neighborhood from Battery Park City because he felt like it offered “more space for less dollar.” The film also focuses on Movement for Justice in El Barrio, Hope Community, and the debate over the East 125th Street development project, which was approved in October 2008.

Q: I noticed in the earlier previews of the film hardly didn’t get a chance to interview some of the white tenants coming into the community/buying property. Did you want to interview them or did they refuse?

A: We interviewed one white tenant briefly on camera. We felt we wanted to avoid an emphasis on race, so we focused on James Garcia to represent the point of view of the “gentrifier.” In this way, we could show that gentrification is first and foremost a class issue, even though race is clearly involved.

Q: While doing the film, did you get a chance to interview business owners and tenants about what is going on?

A: We did interview several tenants but not as many business owners. We tried to focus on dramatic situations to make the film a little more exciting. Not everyone that we interviewed wound up getting into the movie.

Q: What was the whole budget for the film?

A: We did almost all the work on the film ourselves, except for some camerawork and some sound editing, for which we brought in some outside people. Taking into account our labor and the equipment we bought, as well as tape stock, I would estimate that the budget of the film was about $35,000.

Q: Were you able to several well-known people born/raised in the area?

A: People who appear in the film include Aurora Flores and Dylcia Pagán, who grew up in El Barrio, Mariposa and Vagabond, who are artists that have done a lot of work in the neighborhood over the years, and Melissa Mark-Viverito, the City Councilwoman who represents El Barrio. U.S. Representative José Serrano and Taller Boricua co-founder Fernando Salicrup make brief appearances. Several of James De La Vega’s murals appear.

Q: Some people who are moving in are calling the area SP-HA and many longtime residents are not happy about that. What’s do you think about this?

A: I agree that it’s an irritating name. I resented when real estate developers called Loisaida “Alphabet City” in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Names like that are created to erase the memory of communities that already existed and don’t fit into the cool, exclusive gentrified area developers want to create. It’s dismaying that so many elite types move into a neighborhood like El Barrio and say when they moved in there was “nothing” there, ignoring the thousands around them who have created a living, vibrant community that has survived years of marginalization and poverty.

"Whose Barrio?" made its World Premiere at the New York International Latino Film Festival earlier this summer. The documentary has also been screened at several colleges and other institutions.

"Whose Barrio?" is currently available for screening at universities, community organizations, and cultural institutions. The co-directors are also available for speaking engagements related to the film or on other subjects for a fee.

For more information on institutional copies for sale to any universities and other institutions, e-mail whosebarrio (at) edmorales.net to inquire.

“Whose Barrio” is planned for a screening at the East Harlem Café this September, but the date hasn't been confirmed. The documentary is also entered at various film festivals around the country.

To view the trailer for "Whose Barrio?," go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N9IhwXsvDI
-- Ismael Nunez

Ismael Nunez is a contributing writer to Puerto Rico Sun.