Thursday, June 15, 2017

PR Parade Season in NYC






A mix of photos capturing Puerto Rican Parade season in NYC from portraits to the welcoming celebrations of Oscar Lopez Rivera at Hostos Community College and La Marqueta in East Harlem. Just click on A Mix of photos for more.

#prsun

Saturday, March 04, 2017

Support FIVE SESSIONS The Play



Support Five Sessions the play. I am glad to be part of this play by Jaime Estades. Play opens this Friday, March 10, at the Julia de Burgos Theater in NYC's El Barrio and runs until March 26. Support independent theater.

FIVE SESSIONS: A War in Therapy tackles issues of race, political correctness, class and passion

"Five Sessions" follows a 24-year-old recent Ivy League graduate and therapist, and her first client, a blue-collar political activist. Dealing with tensions of race, political correctness, socioeconomic differences, and passion, the two characters explore each other's personal challenges. Her supervisor's demands and Wall Street boyfriend contribute to their struggles.

WHO: "Five Sessions" by playwright Jaime Estades, a lawyer, social worker, social policy professor at Rutgers University, and cofounder and president of the Latino Leadership Institute, Inc. Edward Torres, theater professor at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, is the director.

WHAT: "Five Sessions" will showcase uptown in East Harlem, which is home to three beautiful theaters that are underutilized despite their great potential. "Five Sessions" will play at The Julia de Burgos Performance & Arts Center, an artistic, cultural, educational and civic space. A goal with this original play, as well as future theatrical projects, is to tell diverse stories by local writers and artists and to share the innovative and exciting work being produced uptown. "Five Sessions" writer, Jaime Estades, is a longtime East Harlem resident and community leader.

WHEN: March 10 to March 26.



WHERE: Julia de Burgos Performance and Arts Center, 1680 Lexington Avenue. Tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/five-sessions-tickets-31832980301 and at the Julia de Burgos ticket window. Net profits will benefit the nonprofit Latino Leadership Institute, which cultivates leaders in politics, policy and community organizing.

#fivesessions

Update: Five Sessions had successful run in El Barrio with standing ovations and sold out shows. Thank you. Here are some scenes from the closing show with cast and crew members.





Thursday, January 12, 2017

Happy New Year Puerto Rico Sun Network

Welcome back to PRSUN.

This is a milestone year for #prsun. This summer we celebrate 15 years of informing, empowering and building community via media. Thank you for your ongoing support of this digital media platform.This year we will be blogging more.

Like our Facebook page: facebook.com/prsun. Follow us at Twitter: @prsun. 

Let's connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/clariselmedia.


Thursday, September 15, 2016

New Film: 'Bx3M' to Screen in the Bronx



I had the honor to serve as producer of this independent feature film project by Judith Escalona.

For more information, visit Bx3M.

Update: Bx3M nominated in eight categories in Milan film festival.

<iframe src="https://www.prlog.org/12604067-bronx-film-in-the-running-for-eight-awards-at-international-filmmaker-festival-of-world-cinema-milan.html?embed" width="500px" height="500px" frameborder="1"></iframe>




Friday, July 15, 2016

Monday, June 13, 2016

PRSUN Project: PR Parade

One of my favorite times of the year in New York City is Puerto Rican Parade season. It is not just because of the parade. It is also because of the festivities that lead up to the parade. This year I attended such events as the Gracie Mansion reception that Mayor Bill di Blasio and NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito hosted, the parade's 152nd Street Festival in the Bronx, and the Abrazo Boricua reception at Maestro Caterers in the Bronx.



To view more photos, visit my PR Parade in NYC album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskxrbUoC

Monday, October 26, 2015

Monday, June 22, 2015

Check out PRSUN Project: National Puerto Rican Day Parade '15

For the last few years, Puerto Rico Sun has assembled a group of photographers to cover the National Puerto Rican Day Parade through their lens. We don't have any other agenda but showcasing select images of the parade as seen by the photographers on our PRSUN team.

Here is the link to our online photo gallery of this year's parade and related activities:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/prsunprproject15

More images to be added soon.

This year's PRSUN team: Ismael Nunez, Miriam Quin and yours truly.

Enjoy.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Rita Moreno, Lin-Manuel Miranda and More to Lead National Puerto Rican Day Parade 2015

Cultural Celebration on Fifth Avenue to also Honor
Afro-Boricua Heritage and the State of Connecticut


Special campaign to raise awareness about Environmental Justice
for Caño Martín Peña in San Juan



The National Puerto Rican Day Parade (NPRDP) today announced its line-up of honorees, themes, special events, and initiatives, for the upcoming celebration annual celebration along Fifth Avenue.


Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony-winning entertainer Rita Moreno, will serve as the Parade's Grand Marshal, leading up the massive Parade of approximately 20,000 marchers and 2 million spectators, on June 14th. Salsa superstar Victor Manuelle will serve at the Parade's King. Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, star and creator of the upcoming Broadway musical "Hamilton", will receive the "Nuestro Orgullo" (Our Pride) Award for his inspiring contribution to the American stage.

In a press conference held at the New York Regional Office of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA), Lorraine Cortés-Vásquez, President of NPRDP, joined the Parade's Board of Directors to announce the continuation of "Un Pueblo Muchas Voces" (One Community, Multiple Voices), as the Parade's overall theme. A special commemorative theme has been added, "Celebrating Afro-Boricua Heritage", meant to coincide with the designation of the next decade as the "International Decade for People of African Descent", by the United Nations.

As part of this celebration NPRDP 2015 will honor Kennedy-Center Honor recipient Martina Arroyo, Opera Legend and Founder of the Martina Arroyo Foundation, Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, Founder of the Caribbean Cultural Center and African Diaspora Institute, novelist and educator Mayra-Santos Febres, musician and composer Cucco Peña, painter Carmelo Sobrino, and bandleader, musician and composer Miguel Zenón. Posthumous tributes will honor historian, author and activist Arturo Schomberg, and pioneer choreographer, actress and activist, Sylvia del Villard.

Following last year's successful awareness campaigns focused on the legacy of poet Julia de Burgos (commemorating the centennial of her birth) and the Oscar López Rivera case (the civil and human rights case that has grabbed the attention of activists internationally), NPRDP will has launched a new campaign in 2015 focused on the environmental, social and economic crisis at Caño Martín Peña, a 3.75 mile-long canal located at the heart of San Juan's metropolitan area, home to 8communities with over 25,000 residents.

"Part of the Parade's mission is to raise awareness about important issues that affect Puerto Rican communities across the board", Cortés-Vásquez said. "The situation at Caño Martín Peña is very similar to the environmental justice struggles faced by Puerto Rican and Latino communities in the United States. Our goal is to educate everyone about what is going on, in an objective way".

As part of the awareness campaign, a delegation from G-8 and Proyecto ENLACE (two local advocacy organizations) will march on Fifth Avenue. A video about the ecological state of Caño will be shown at events leading up to the Parade, outreach will be conducted through NPRDP's social media, and a special segment dedicated to highlighting the importance of Caño and its surrounding communities, will be shown on NPRDP's television broadcast.

NPRDP's 2015 State dedication was granted to Connecticut, home of one of the largest Puerto Rican communities in the United States. The Hartford Metropolitan Area has the 8th highest Puerto Rican population in the nation, surpassing 106 thousand people, according to the last Census.

Other 2015 honorees announced today include:

Darlene Rodriguez (Ambassador)
Tito El Bambino (Ambassador)
Yan Ruiz (Ambassador)
Elise Drew Leon (Rising Star in Performing Arts)
Lilliana Vázquez (Rising Star in TV & Media)
Amanda Brown (Rising Star in Music)

NPRDP in conjunction with The New York State Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce and The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (Ignacio Veloz, Chairman), will host it's first Puerto Rican / Hispanic Business Summit in New York City, on Friday, June 12th, 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM, at the Bank of New York Mellon. The event seeks to promote business development and collaborations in both Puerto Rico and the United States, and includes workshops and panels.

In a press conference held last month in San Juan, NPRDP announced that the 2015 Puerto Rico township dedication will go to Añasco, a tourist attraction located west of San Juan. Other honorees announced in San Juan were:

Roselyn Sánchez (Parade Queen)
Andrés Jiménez (Godfather)
Ivy Queen (Godmother)
Ivonne Coll (Lifetime Achievement in TV & Film)
Alfonso Vélez Iturrín "El Fuá" (Lifetime Achivement in Music)
Raquel Sofía (Rising Star in Music)
Lynn Ponder (Rising Star in Social Media)
Luis Jiménez (Ambassador)
Katiria Soto (Ambassador)
Carmen Dominicci (Ambassador)

The only official NPRDP 2015 events are:

Education Leadership Awards - May 27th
152nd Street Festival in the Bronx - May 30th
Rising Stars Challenge - June 6th
Annual Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral - June 7th
Annual Gala of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade - June 12th
National Puerto Rican Day Parade (58th Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade of New York) - June 14th

The Parade will take place from 11am to 5pm on Fifth Avenue, from E. 44th to E. 77th Streets.

NPRDP 2015 sponsors include JetBlue, GOYA Foods, McDonald's Corporation, The Coca-Cola Company, AT&T, Acacia Network, City University of New York, Healthfirst, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Univision, NBC/Telemundo, Spanish Broadcasting System, Meredith Corporation and The New York Daily News.

Source: Content courtesy of The National Puerto Rican Day Parade