PRSUN Radio chats with County of Kings' Lemon Andersen

Lemon Andersen is my guest Wednesday at 11 a.m. on PRSUN Radio at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

County of Kings is playing now in NYC.

About Lemon and his County of Kings:
Half Puerto Rican. Half Norwegian. Two-time felon. One hell of a show.
Featured earlier this year as part of The Public Theater's Under The Radar Festival,Lemon Andersen's County of Kings gives a tough, yet poignant biographical account of a good kid growing up in an unforgiving environment. Lemon, whose parents met at a methadone clinic and passed away from AIDS, served two prison sentences before he was 21 and won a Tony before he turned 30. His on-stage memoir touches on young love, the birth of hip hop, slinging crack, ballet, stealing car parts, prison, and poetry as he takes the audience on an astonishing and surprising one-man journey toward self-discovery. Weaving hard-edged drama with urban poetry, the Brooklyn born and bred performer tells his coming-of-age story with profound honesty, compassion and humor. A true story of finding passion in the arts and finding one's way, Lemon paints a vivid portrait of his own life and the lives of countless other Brooklynites during the 1980s and 1990s.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Lemon Andersen has been featured as a regular on HBO's "Def Poetry" presented by Russell Simmons and was also an original cast member and writer of Russell Simmons' Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. On screen Lemon has appeared opposite Denzel Washington in Spike Lee's Inside Man and The Soloist starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. -- www.countyofkingstheplay.com

Check out this recent review in the New York Times:
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/theater/reviews/13county.html



UPDATE: To listen to my archived interview with Lemon, go to www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

NYC to show its solidarity with Puerto Rico's National Strike

There will be a rally tomorrow at 5 p.m. in New York City in support of the national strike in Puerto Rico. This comes after Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño laid off thousands of government workers earlier this month, citing the island's poor economy as the culprit that has led him to make some tough decisions in this difficult financial time. But the layoffs have led different sectors on the island to engage in civil disobedience. The national strike on the island is also tomorrow.

To participate in NYC's rally:

5 p.m. Thursday, October 15th
PRFAA, 135 West 50th street (between 6th & 7th Avenues), Manhattan

The NYC Chapter of National Congress of Puerto Rican Rights is a sponsor.

Puerto Rico Sun is in solidarity. While it is true that the governor did need to cut workers from the government payroll because it is too big, the sudden number of layoffs are just too drastic and negatively impact too many poor and working class families on the island. These cuts are only making the unemployment problem on the island even bigger than it is.

Luis Muñoz Marín: The New York Years

Community calendar

Research Seminar & Exhibit Luis Muñoz Marín: The New York Years
Presenter: Mario Pérez Miranda, Centro Dissertation Fellow Exhibition launch, reception to follow

Thursday, October 15, 6:00 pm
Centro Library (at Hunter College) East Bldg. 3rd Floor, Main Library Entrance, Manhattan
http://www.centropr.org/events.html?event=56

PRSUN Radio chats with Pepper Negron

My upcoming guest is Pepper Negron, director, screenwriter, filmmaker, photographer, dreamer...

Go to my entry at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

The show will air at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

UPDATE: To listen to my interview with Pepper Negron, go to my archives at http://blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

NYC cultural act to protest book ban in Puerto Rico

In the mailbox

Hola Familia

As many of you know several literary works - including "El Entierro de Cortijo/Cortijo's Wake" by Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá and Aura by Carlos Fuentes - have been banned in Puerto Rico by the conservative right party currently in power. This is an act of devolution that sets our society back by hundreds of years and its an action usually associated with intolerant and totalitarian governments.

This is why El Puerto Rican Embassy is calling for all Puerto Rican/Nuyorican artists, writers and educators to join us on Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 2 p.m. in front of Rev. Pedro Pietri's mural on 104th Street for a Cultural Act that will be photographed and videotaped in order to support writers and artists in Puerto Rico and show solidarity with this new struggle they are now facing.

Below I have included an Embassy press release and I have also attached a more creative version I've designed to reference official documents that have been censored before releasing them to the general public.

I ask that you forward this message to all you think may be interested in joining us.

Gracias y saludos!
Adal Maldonado
Artistic Director/Resident Dissident
El Puerto Rican Embassy

One sato at a time...Un sato a la vez: New York, New York

One sato at a time...Un sato a la vez: New York, New York

I am hoping to interview the folks of Save a Sato for a future PRSUN Radio show.

For more information on the good work of Save a Sato, visit http://saveasato.org

PRSUN Wiki

NEW: Puerto Rico Sun Communications Wiki at http://puertoricosun.wikia.com


This is a work in progress.

PRSUN Radio chats with Urban Jibaro George Torres

My upcoming guest on PRSUN Radio is Urban Jibaro George Torres of Sofrito for your Soul. The show airs at 9 p.m. Wednesday at http://blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

George Torres is a social media consultant, cultural activist, radio personality and founder of cultural online magazine SofritoForYourSoul.com. Read a brief bio at my blog at http://blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

UPDATE: To listen to the interview, go to my archived show at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio

PRSUN Radio chats with writer Alexandra Roman Hernandez

My upcoming guest on PRSUN Radio is Puerto Rico-based novelist Alexandra Roman Hernandez who is currently promoting her new book "The Valley of Inspiration." My interview with Alexandra is 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.

Here's the press release about the book:

THE VALLEY OF INSPIRATION (in Spanish) is a fantasy-adventure novel for young adults written by Alexandra Román de Hernández. In this novel, A.R. de Hernandez, leads the reader to explore the mythological Egyptian world through the eyes of Nailah, a young forger of words, which after the death of her father, a famous author and inspiration, enters a depression that inhibited her writing. The recent discovery of a tomb in the Valley of the Queens, gives hope to Nailah, for the hieroglyphics narrates the journey of a young prince poet, who became one of the most acclaimed poets of his era.

Accompanied by her best friend and an Egyptologist, she travels to Egypt to find the Valley of Inspiration, but first she must find the followers of the ancient Egyptian religion, who have lived in anonymity for centuries and are the only ones who may lead her to the valley. Armed with the sacred symbol of the Egyptian religion that will help her find the followers, Nailah undertakes the adventure of her life.

 

Through The Valley of Inspiration-a magical journey to the land of Pharaohs and Egyptian gods’ world-this novel author teaches us to understand that sometimes we need to lose our sources of inspiration, to realize that we are able to achieve our goals if we believe in ourselves.

 

For Alexandra's bio, go to my blog at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio

Some of you may know Alexandra. She is a member of the Puerto Rico Sun social network at www.puertoricosun.com.

UPDATE: Come listen to PRSUN Radio chats with author Alexandra Roman on PRSUN RADIO at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/PRSUNRADIO/2009/09/24/PRSUN-Radio-chats-with-author-Alexandra-Roman 

Making the everyday exceptional with food

Here is an interesting community event for those of you who love to cook with a twist.

Daisy Martinez has a Food Network show called “Viva Daisy!”, Harumi Kurihara, often times referred as Japan’s Martha and celebrity event planner Karen Bussen will speak at the Japan Society on how once thought “exotic” food or culture is now influencing regular American kitchen.  Both Latin or Japanese food aren’t “go-to” food when cooking at home, but both Harumi and Daisy are trying to change this myth. Click on the image for details.

For more information on this event at the Japan Society in Manhattan, go to

http://www.japansociety.org/event_detail?eid=3b47535a