NFAND CODA | La Quinta Raza and The Infinite Race

The first time I heard the phrase la quinta raza (the fifth race) was way back when Bernardo Ruiz’s first production company was called so. The logo was a hand with all this graphic stuff drawn inside. I can’t remember the details. My memory tells me the drawings aimed at the destiny lines inside our hands. The name made perfect sense to me because it connected to Bernardo’s purpose to tell stories that matter to him. We spoke about the production company la quinta raza at the juncture in his career when he changed it to Quiet Pictures. I remember he said it was too hard to pronounce para los americanos. I was a bit sad about it but understood why he felt he had to do away with the name. Through the years, Soldanela has mostly come out as Soldana or Soldania. La quinta raza is a reference found in and sometimes used as the title for a monograph by Mexican writer, José Vasconcelos called La raza cósmica: mision de la raza Iberoamericana (1925). It’s available, and a very good and illuminating read. Don’t know if Bernardo read it, but he is fulfilling one of Vasconcelos’ reasons for being, fight the oppressor with history.

In the 30 years, I have known Bernardo his ferocious Mexcian blood has propelled an amazing gamut of work, that arrives at distribution eerily in time. A few days back he sent a beautiful letter where he announced another project, The Infinite Race.

 “With the engine dead, I coasted towards an exit, almost willing the car forward. There's a special feeling you get when all you can do is coast towards an exit...hoping, unreasonably, for the best...

I also recently finished up THE INFINITE RACE, a 30 for 30-documentary. Many sports docs profile celebrity athletes or cover well-known sports controversies. This one focuses on a little-known race in the Copper Canyon of Chihuahua Mexico, home of the indigenous rarámuri people, which became the epicenter of a debate about cultural appropriation, exploitation, and who gets to tell the story of a community. It recently premiered in Mexico through DocsMX and will have a U.S. broadcast on ESPN on December 15th (unless 2020 continues to behave the way it has.) With the many, mostly genuine, conversations about how to reinvent the documentary field, I think there is also something to be said for careening forward with a dead engine - and willing the next destination into being.” 

 Eso mismo. That’s it. 

Many of the Artists I have met who are la quinta raza live invested in an infinite race towards redemption.

Last night Comité Noviembre launched its 34th Annual Comité Noviembre Puerto Rican Heritage Month celebration in the virtual sphere. From the beginning, Comité Noviembre has been all about helping young Puerto Ricans stay in school. The student scholarship clips are worth watching. I was one of this year’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad honorees. They said because of the work I did with displaced families from Hurricane María. Perhaps. That moment in time was indeed life-changing but it was also an all-hands-on-deck time, so many people helped. My heart could not turn away once I saw the desolation of all the ones that came. But to me, the real service to the community has been this audio blog. No one pays me to offer this space to artists running the infinite race, I do it from the heart and for the love of art. 

 An honor to be next to the rest of “Lo Mejor” recipients: Maximo Rafael Colón, photographer/documentarian, history of the Puerto Rican community in NY, Carmen Cruz, change agent and founder, Silent Procession NYC4PR!, Carlos de Jesus, documentarian of the Black-Latino, Puerto Rican experience, Eric Díaz, Lower Eastside community activist and executive director Vision Urbana, David López, community builder and chairman of Southside United HDFC - Los Sures, Esperanza Martell, artist, human rights and peace activist, co-founder, Casa Atabex Ache Women of Color Healing Center, Hector Pereira, volunteer, American Red Cross, Nydia Ocasio, Latin music educator, Wanda Salaman, founder Mothers on the Move, George Daniel Santiago, volunteer, Hope Worldwide and NYC Church of Christ, Vincent Torres, director, Positive Workforce, Vice-Chair of Operations National Puerto Rican Day Parade, humanitarian volunteer in Puerto Rico, and Miguel Trelles, executive director, Teatro La Tea and founder, co-producer and visual arts curator of Borimix.

In the past few weeks, I have received notes from people asking why I’ve been missing Sunday shares. One of those notes came from Josie De Guzman. I was so happy to hear from her. She’s one of my sheroes. I met her when I was a young 14-year old mesmerized with her beauty and that she was on Broadway… a true fighter. Our exchange recognized the sinister feeling of the moment and she sent this Copeland’s Lincoln Portrait project along. Take a listen. 

I spoke with Mino Lora and will share that talk after the election is over. She’s in the running for a special election in March for District 11, where I live in the Bronx. I’m not supposed to openly support a candidate because of my job, but these are desperate times, and we need artists in public office.

The Creative Justice Initiative had a slamming program of talks in October. Try to check them out.

See The Peace Poets | Songs to Stop a Coup | Stop this Coup|

The songs are to be sung in action defending elections and stopping attempts at a coup. They were written by The Peace Poets in collaboration with social justice orgs. The songs have specific purposes—there are songs for energizing, de-escalation, deepening commitment, expressing love for each other and articulating our vision. They recommend practicing them and being ready to use them for whatever situation arises, planning to use them as a way to hold space and close the space of your actions. #ThePeacePoets #UnstoppableVoters #We are the movement 

For some reason, this marvelous version of Rocket Man at the Ephesus Amphitheater in Turkey has taken a hold of me. Something about it that makes me miss how it used to be…Sir Elton John is so free. Will we ever be?

May the vote be swayed by the people and for the people, another infinite race.

Sol

Time is so elusive. Einstein explained it best, as only a genius can do. Sometimes, time goes by fast, and sometimes it goes slow, and what happens in between is both miraculous and harrowing. It feels like so right now, in these dystopian and apocalyptic times.

I have always loved sci-fi. Those who know me for years know this to be true. I remember reading Dune by Frank Herbert in fourth or fifth grade. It was kind of traumatizing, and I had a conversation about the book with my mom in the car. Her words never left me, una de las batallas que viene va a ser la batalla por el agua (one of the battles to come will be for water). That was close to 40 years ago. And here we are. Indeed, battling for water, resources, earth, humanity itself. That moment feels like yesterday to me.

Reading Sanctuary, Paola Mendoza's, and Abby Sher’s new YA book— for all ages—brought the memory back so vivid I could almost touch my mom back in time. And it hurt. I realized the fear of what that meant never left me, and that I never really stop thinking about it, la batalla por el agua.

I wrote this about Paola’s first book, The Ones Who Don’t Stay. It’s true what her “sister in art” Abby Sher says about P. at the end of the book, “Paola is a fierce visionary, leading the charge forward for all humans to be treated with the love and respect we each deserve.” I didn’t know about Ms. Sher before Sanctuary, but I will now because she is equally committed to heart and craft.

 You can read Sanctuary in a day or a night, and you should; it's a must-read and a page-turner from the get-go.

Vali, the story’s courageous heroine will take you on a heart-wrenching adventure inspired by what is happening to hundreds of thousands of people here and all across the globe. The U.S. of A is not the only country turning people away who fleeing war, despots, famine, drought, floods, and fires.

This is now a global circumstance.  The U.S. wars alone have displaced 37 million people since 2001. The figure just in this past week.

 We must do what we can to take out these barbaric leaders; Mr. T and his troupe of criminals, lowlifes, usurpers of truth and decency, thieves, thugs, warmongers, Gestapo will have us all put up for ransom. 

He and they will destroy the world.

The dystopian world Sanctuary delivers is not that far off from becoming. It could happen not 40 years down the line but very soon.

Look at what has happened in a short six months because of his lies. The more power he gets the more damage the will do, and we might not have a single place left for Sanctuary.

Sol

Easter Sunday. I confess. I failed all week to catch a recording of Edgardo. We spoke on Tuesday night, and then it went downhill. Que horror. To his credit, humbleness, and team spirit, he stuck with my tech meltdown. Each attempt was worse than the one before. Ay, Dios mio. My computer crashed, and I’m using a temp one, and I found a way to record on mobile and will moving to the platform, Anchor, bla bla bla...But. Edgardo is still standing by (un sweetheart), and Oprah is my north for so many things, and she says, get back on your feet no matter how many times you fail. So. I stand with an IOU of the properly recorded conversation, but for today, I mean to say that Edgardo is marvelous, no pun intended. 

There truly is a poetic weave in his path from start to now as a comic book artist, though he's so much more-a writer, a graphic designer, a producer, un artista completo, una jodienda, un badass con un corazón de oro. 

The two things: 

La Boriqueña #3 

We had a lovely conversation about the importance of the fundraising campaign of La Boriqueña #3. His share of what goes behind the making of a puertorriqueña superhero comic book is amazing and will make you want to buy a pre-order copy. His goal is to publish in November with the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the Puerto Rican flag. 

Marisol Rios De La Luz comes alive not only by Edgardo but from an all Puerto Rican comic book artist team he brings together. 

As a puertorriqueña I feel her. She is very much around. So thankful.  

Masks for America

This is a huge project. La Boriqueña in the frontlines as the Masks for America heroine. Visit the Go Fund Me page. 

Live long and prosper,

Sol

Please pledge to complete the 2020 Census questionnaire. 

Donate if you can to frontline heroes through Masks for America | La Boriqueña. 

It seems the foundation of the financial structure might very well collapse very soon. Or something is going to collapse soon, don’t you think? Or perhaps, it already has collapsed but we’re in a rubble of mirrors so it’s hard to grasp the full picture right now. We/us the people of the world have to shake it off, and when we do, I hope for a big rude awakening. In one fell swoop, Mr. Chris Hedges has been proven right, yet again. If you don’t know him, find him. For years he’s been warning about this very moment. And for being a truth teller, he has withstood a lot of shit. In good justice, his truth, writing, sweat, and tears have also earned him worldwide respect. He’s been off Truthdig these past couples of weeks but look up his column on Mondays. Hedges is not for the faint of heart, but he says a lot of truths. I’ve gone deep and read some of his books as American Fascists, Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, Empire of Illusion, or War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning. The shit is real and it’s all happening. These men with mr. forty-five that are ruling this nation are repugnant, vile, base, criminal. This is so very sad what is unfolding. And if and when they bring the country down, they will bring the world down with them.

As many of you know, my heart is always with artists and indies. I have received calls, emails, and texts from people all across the lands...with all kinds of circumstances and dire fears - actors, filmmakers, writers, dancers, musicians, stage managers, production coordinators, chefs, line cooks, caterers, indies of all kinds are hanging by a thread. Asked to share resources, while I am not an expert on cultural resources I did research and offer two things. One. The “Top List” of the field of arts and culture. I looked into all of them. I found overlaps but also particulars in each for various fields, disciplines, and states. 

But. What I noticed missing in all of them, fancy, was the work Howlround & Covid19freelanceartistresource.wordpress.com is presenting. Though, the Howlround COVID-19 team is going to be partnering with NPN. See Artists in a Time of Global Pandemic. Worth all of it because there is something for everyone - rookie, emerging, established, and seasoned. 

Top List

NEA Website | Resources for Artists

CREATIVE CAPITAL | List of Arts Resources During the COVID-19 Outbreak

ALLIANCE OF ARTISTS COMMUNITIES | COVID-19 Preparedness for Residencies Resources + Approaches

ARTISTS THR!VE | COVID-19 Resources

NEA Website | Resources for Artists

National Performance Network | COVID-19/Coronavirus NPN Statement and Resources

New York State Council on the Arts | Resources for NYS Arts and Cultural Organizations re: Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

CREATIVE CAPITAL | List of Arts Resources During the COVID-19 Outbreak

COVID-19 & FREELANCE ARTSISTS | Resources

JOAN MITCHEL FOUNDATION | Emergency Grants for Artists

MADE IN NEW YORK MEDIA CENTER | Ways to help artists and creatives during the COVID-19 Outbreak

NALAC | Responding to COVID-19: Arts Resources & Field Survey

As a City employee I can tell you there is a lot of information through 

New York Governor Cuomo’s office.

But this spreadsheet by the CUNY University Student Government also has a lot of information - local New York and National.

+

Contact NYC Well, a confidential 24/7 helpline, staffed by trained counselors. They can provide brief counseling and referrals to care in over 200 languages.

• Call 888-NYC-WELL (888-692-9355)

• Text "WELL" to 65173

• Chat at NYC.gov/nycwell

Sol

There’s a scene in Decade of Fire when Vivian describes this one fire. It ravaged the home of her elementary school friend. She remembers the night and going to school the next day. Her friend never came back. Her voice is soft as she explains that her research discovered the authorities let the tragedy play out in the South Bronx. That moment is etched in mind and heart. In person, Vivian’s demeanor is this all-around compassion of a listener, an observer, a mother, a sister, a caregiver, a mentor, a fighter. And yet, in her warrior spirit, there’s this surrender, and she looks at you straight in the eye. Very moving.

Since meeting Vivian last fall, I’ve been telling her that Puerto Rico needed her story. We have not been taught there what happened here and here what happened there. Hurricane Maria connected to love, and it showed it. But there is still so much we don’t know about each other and ourselves as puertrriqueños. We’re now struggling to match years of misunderstanding, misconceptions, assumptions, collective memories. And we need all our stories to help us along.

I spoke with Vivan last Saturday about her trip/presentation of Decade of Fire in Puerto Rico. Filmmaker Eli Jacobs Fantuzzi helped make the tour happen. The Decade of Fire team paid/covered the expenses of hosting screenings and the group went to Loiza (COPI), Toa Baja (escuela rescatada), Mayaguez (Taller Libertá) and Peñuelas (activistas del campamento contra las cenizas de Peñuelas), Rio Piedras (near UPI La Gestoría).

Vivian thought no one would attend the Peñuelas screening but, “People came from everywhere. It was packed. People came out, and those people were so tired, I’m generalizing, but they were focused on organizing and fighting for their neighborhood. They talked about being arrested 10 to 15 times to get these petroleum companies down. A spirit of fighting every day. They are luchadores. Tough fighters. And they still came out. The fighters recognized the fighters from the Bronx. People cried. They got the film, and they loved the film. It was almost an all-nighter. It was amazing.” In La Gestoría in Rio Piedras, the film screened in a wall off the street, and it stopped pedestrians and traffic. 

Vivian sees the clashing misconceptions. The notion that those who left forgot about the ones who stayed. And the misunderstanding that not all Puerto Ricans that left did not do much better than those who stayed. “We are both victims, and history has not taught us. Not enough space or knowledge to support each other around that.”

I’m headed to nowhere now. Been thinking of Vivian Vázquez, Neyda Martínez, Cecilia Aldarondo, Nadia Hallgren, Paloma Suau, Gisela Rosario, Sandra Guzmán, Ines Mongíl, Rosadel Varela, Mariem Pérez…

Watch: Memories of a Penitent Heart (una belleza) by Cecilia Aldarondo | Cinema Tropical now streaming

To check-out and get: Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez | La Boriqueña stuff

Sol

I went to the premiere of Adel Morales’ Release at the Urban World Film Festival in September 2019. The big hall was packed. I hadn’t seen him in a minute, and even though I was so-so-so happy for him, I didn’t have the calm to wait. There were too many people. But luckily, we met in two separate Pregones events later in the fall and in early in January, at Evolution of a Sonero and the Martorell documentary screening, El Accidente Feliz. There I talked to him. His penchant and wherewithal in his sleeve. Always so attentive and present. I told him I want him to come to Hostos to speak with the student performers and backstage workforce of the Hostos Repertory Theater. I hope it can materialize this fall.

To me, Adel took on a ferocious subject and presented a fearless point of view. Perhaps not for everyone, but he goes for something like helping you see injustice from a different lens, and that is grand. Release is not contrived. It is real, respectful, nuanced, and unapologetic-not for the faint of heart, but whatever, neither is now. 

Release premieres on Urban Movie Channel by AMC Networks on Thursday, March 19th, 2020. [To watch, please subscribe to UMC via HollyHood Productions webpage. Your UMC membership starts with a free seven days. To avoid being charged, cancel anytime during your first seven days. Amazon Prime Users have access to UMC for an extra $4.25 per month.]

Revive or get the Innocence & Despair album for day rotation. ‘Tis the season.

There is so much going words fail me. I spoke with the lovely and amazing Vivian Vázquez yesterday afternoon, and next week, I’ll share about her tour of Decade of Fire experience in Puerto Rico.

Right now, all I have is the want to let you know to check out Release. 

Live long and prosper,

Sol

Paloma Suau | filmmaker, editor, writer, producer

Ever since I can remember I have known Paloma Suau. We came into this world with a connection beyond what my words can explain. The thread that doesn't break is connected by cultural privilege, a lot of it, and it is grand and I call it grace. 

To some of you who might know Danny Rivera's album cover with the kid inside the overalls that was me at nine-months and it was Paloma's father who took the picture. And since, we have shared incredibly noble and life changing experiences in the creative realm. Not all of it honky-dory by the way, but in mature hindsight, the stuff that makes for strengthening and enduring love.

Her 11th film project, El accidente feliz (The Happy Accident), arrives in New York for a special screening on February 5, 2020 at Pregones/PRTT for the Bronx Films Wednesday BxFW series moderated by Tio Louie of Prime Latino Media.

El accidente feliz comes to the City at the right time. Anyone that is Puerto Rican wants to learn from one of the island's most important living artists, Antonio "Toño" Martorell.

The documentary film comes full of humbling lessons. The story developed by "accident." Perhaps Martorell's greatest teaching is that tragedy is your best ally. And, this very fact deserves attention. Without preaching and pretension the artist and the student exchange evolution and growth, and none of it comes without out of nothing, growing up has a cost, but if we use ourselves as vehicles of transformation, things do change.

And so, El accidente feliz, comes to us, the Nuyorican Diaspora when Puerto Rico is suffering "after the worst thing that could have happened happened, after the worst thing that could have happened happened." 

Puertorriqueños are experiencing a collective PTSD since Hurricane María, that deserves careful examination. I believe some academics are looking into this but I, being a child of art and culture, find much solace in artistic expressions and an overwhelming and beautiful amount is coming out of the island. And, El accidente feliz is very much a part of that piece of clues for healing that we should all heed.

What do we do when faced with tragedy or struggle after we cry? 

Vulnerability is a brave thing. Beginning again is a brave thing. Being oneself is a brave thing. Giving your heart away is a brave thing. Sharing it is a brave thing. And that is what Paloma has done with El accidente feliz, a brave gesture that speaks about the light that puertorriqueños at their best posses-heart, creativity, bravery. To Paloma, thank you for honoring one of our greatest, in life. Art may just save our souls. 

Soldanela

El accidente feliz Wednesday, February 5, 2020 | 7:00 p.m.

Pregones Theater at Walton Avenue

July 2019 from across the net

PART II-Daughters and Sons

(A Sea of Tears and a Revolution | Part One: Citizen)  | Dedicated to artists, asylum seekers all across the globe, and Puerto Rico

 Daughters and sons of la diaspora come in all forms. It is perhaps reason number one I love New York City. The place where we, “the others,” from all corners of the world and types of backgrounds, have a chance to meet as equals. I really appreciate that, the essence of the lesson.

 On June 4, 2019 | Democracy Now! featured Damning Canadian Inquiry Calls the Murder and Disappearance of Indigenous Women & Girls Genocide. The words of First Nations jurist in British Columbia, serving as Chief Commissioner for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Marion Buller apply also to the entire Northern, Central, Southern, American Continent.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/4/murders_of_indigenous_women_in_canada

 “…The genocide that has occurred in Canada has been over generations of people—generations of human rights and indigenous rights violations; deliberate underfunding of services and programs to indigenous people; forcibly removing children from their families, children being removed and never being seen again by their own families, by their own communities; forced sterilization of women and girls. The list goes on. But from our perspective and from the legal definition, genocide can be over a long period of time of deliberate state action, that looks different from what we commonly think of as genocide. But it is genocide, legally, nonetheless.” 

 The admittance of genocide and the call-to-action for reparations for women and girls by the Canadian government resonated with me. 

 Lately, a lot has been written about violence against women in Puerto Rico and the women leading the fight. Since the chat, the people now know the aftermath of Hurricane María is a certifiable matter of crimes against humanity of holocaust proportions. 

 I thought about Edwin Miranda’s words, I saw the future it’s so wonderful, there are no Puerto Ricans.

 If it's true for Canada, then same awful truths and precepts as in the United States of conquest, genocide, rape, slavery, empire building, torture, subjugation, building upon sadness the road ahead for more by exploitation apply to us, la (s) diaspora (s). 

 “And so it has come to pass, it is indeed where we hang, this very premise falls on all of us to look at. It reflects the worst type of shine, the one we have never wanted to look at and the one that might just bring us down, the one where brother to brother kills himself and the one where the mighty nation kills us all out of fear from being disappeared.”

James Baldwin

I've been reading a lot, listening to a lot of radio, and watching a lot of videos from and about Puerto Rico. I picked up some stuff for your reference:

Alvin R Couto de Jesus | FB

Apoyemos a que se los 78 municipios de Puerto Rico logren convocar asambleas de pueblo. | Let's support Puerto Rico and in achieving town assemblies in all 78 municipalities.

This guy is something and posting really interesting commentary. You can follow his feed if you are on FB.

AUGUST 9, 2019 | WNYC On the Media
In Puerto Rico, What Comes Next?

By Alana Casanova-Burgess

https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/puerto-rico-what-comes-next?fbclid=IwAR3x8AYXLI3A9tJ9OqmgEKjCquWfzKx3Wgk9gN6A3srqkq1o32kr2MMvyTw

This is a great piece that captures the past month beautifully-really beautifully.

AUGUST 9, 2019 | Shondaland

Meet the Women Leading Puerto Rico's Feminist Revolution

By Sandra Guzmán

https://www.shondaland.com/live/a28653844/puerto-rico-protests-feminist-revolution/?fbclid=IwAR05-GFH1o5WGYPPn6FS2l_yia7BXnDZiS93rPim7tzfzE-S2g32AyTXUnw

I'm biased about Sandra because she's one of my closest sisters. She's fierce, a truthteller, and she's been busy writing some really important pieces. They are all included in this list.

9 DE AGOSTO DE 2019 | El País

La trama feminista y queer en Puerto Rico

Por Luci Cavallero y Verónica Gago

https://www.pagina12.com.ar/210857-la-trama-feminista-y-queer-en-puerto-rico?fbclid=IwAR0GwVAoig6Uk1qZVkLPOHsjJ_OaEX9OuRzYNWwP6zmB9HZ26QZzeMHjeEU

Watch all three of Karla Claudio Betancourt’s shorts. Tremendo artículo.

8 DE AGOSTO DE 2019 | WALO HD

La Kakistocracia PNP vs. #WanditaLaMala

Nación Chancleta

Very good and important show to listen. In Spanish. Walo is brilliant. He has the dark humor truthteller shtick down in true Puerto Rican slang-Class A. This particular show is a must-listen. You can follow him on FB, YouTube, iHeartRadio.

AUGUST 7, 2019 | Dissent Magazine

Puerto Rico Remade

By Frances Negrón-Muntaner

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/puerto-rico-remade

Frances is another fierce mind and a sister. She is amazing. Balanced, tempered, a soul of profound understanding.

AUGUST 6, 2019 | NBC THINK

Toni Morrison was America's conscience, one that's needed more than ever

By Sandra Guzman

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/toni-morrison-was-america-s-conscience-one-s-needed-more-ncna1039766?fbclid=IwAR2dlIZONiWuB_rXv4sgdXZA2rYyB5HvQOKCFzqV5i7JYLqe2RiIOTbnIIE

6 DE AGOSTO DE 2019 | CNN Español

Este Otro Puerto Rico Parte I

Por Silverio Pérez

https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2019/08/05/este-otro-puerto-rico-primera-parte/?fbclid=IwAR1iOp6PFhJOyW9lO57qSyyQnavg4HoEt1abrWFdYQAgvS3rRRjX2NAHosw

6 DE AGOSTO DE 2019 | CNN Español

Este otro Puerto Rico (Segunda Parte)

Por Silverio Pérez

https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2019/08/05/este-otro-puerto-rico-segunda-parte-opinion-silverio-perez/

Silverio Peréz is a genius and a national glory-a Class-A wordsmith. Follow him on FB. These two stories are important.

AUGUST 5, 2019 | Bustle

Women & Femmes Leading The Puerto Rico Protests On Their "Permanent Revolution"

By Raquel Reichard

https://www.bustle.com/p/women-femmes-leading-the-puerto-rico-protests-on-their-permanent-revolution-18544005

A MUST READ. A BEAUTY.

AUGUST 5, 2019 | LatinoUSA

Puerto Rico Is A Presidential Issue That Must Be Addressed

By SANDRA GUZMÁN

https://www.latinousa.org/2019/08/05/prdebates/

AUGUST 5, 2019 | NYT

The Puerto Rico Governor Started 3 Days Ago. But His Future Is Already in Doubt.

By Edmy Ayala and Patricia Mazzei

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/us/puerto-rico-governor.html?fbclid=IwAR3naQt2VGzfQPw-xCQB3UyrorD8p4V0WQ4O0WJxgurbsl6fKp1KOmLVD8I

The New York Times has covered really nicely. This is one of them pieces I liked. Other follow down below.

AUGUST 5, 2019 | WNYC The Takeaway Host Tanzina Vega

The Political Future of Puerto Rico

with guests Michael Deibert and Yarimar Bonilla

https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/political-future-puerto-rico

AUGUST 3, 2019 | Truthout

Rejecting Politics of Fear, Marginalized Puerto Ricans Led the Uprising

By Oscar Oliver-Didier

https://truthout.org/articles/rejecting-politics-of-fear-marginalized-puerto-ricans-led-the-uprising/

AUGUST 3, 2019 | NYT

After Protests, Will Real Change Come to Puerto Rico?

By Frances Robles and Patricia Mazzei

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/us/puerto-rico-future.html

AUGUST 2, 2019 | LatinoUSA - podcast

Why Ricky Resigned

https://www.latinousa.org/2019/08/02/whyrickyresigned/

AUGUST 2, 2019 | MTV

Meet the Women Who Toppled Puerto Rico’s Governor

By Yarimar Bonilla

http://www.mtv.com/news/3133648/women-puerto-rico-governor-rossello/?fb_ref=fbshare_web&fbclid=IwAR2gYxe9D8TLs4QxYWCxe_zlxAap_EJPSfokZY70EOCp1E0A4tojQ3aZTM8

AGOSTO 2, 2019 | 80Grados

Verano 2019: balances y perspectivas

Por Rafael Bernabe y Manuel Rodríguez Banchs

https://www.80grados.net/verano-2019-balances-y-perspectivas/

JULY 31, 2019 | WNYC The Takeaway Host Tanzina Vega

How the Political Crisis in Puerto Rico is Unifying the Puerto Rican Diaspora

with guests Caridad De La Luz, Andrew Padilla, and Samy Nemir Olivares

https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/political-crisis-puerto-rico-unifying-puerto-rican-diaspora

Thank you for Tanzina Vega, that's all I have to say.

JULY 30, 2019 | The Hill

After Rosselló, Puerto Rico needs democracy — not a 'recovery czar’

By Ariadna M. Godreau-Aubert

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/455344-after-rossello-puerto-rico-needs-democracy-not-a-recovery-czar

JULY 29, 2019 | Washington Post

What’s next for Puerto Rico? A reckoning with its colonial status.

By Julio Ricardo Varela

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/07/29/whats-next-puerto-rico-reckoning-with-its-colonial-status/

JULY 27, 2019 | NYT 

Did Puerto Rican Police Go Too Far During Protests? What the Video Shows.

By Evan Hill and Ainara Tiefenthäler

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/us/puerto-rico-violence-protests.html?fbclid=IwAR0eiyRsPLvdW1BDNZ3meUDDhUbVmZHrBMcOpKWhOUbxfISH5gqB4BgF-l8

JULY 26, 2019 | NYT

By Charo Henríquez

Cantar, bucear, perrear y rezar: las protestas creativas en Puerto Rico

https://www.nytimes.com/es/2019/07/26/protestas-creativas-puerto-rico/?fbclid=IwAR1vChu42vi1eYexZ-it1cM0VLx5fzFkghzyLdl5WxQKlpaOltq_xWvcxkI

JULY 25, 2019 | WNYC The Takeaway Host Tanzina Vega

'The People Have Spoken': Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Resigns

with guests David Begnaud, Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Bianca Padró Ocasio

JULY 23, 2019 | BBC

Massive protests held in Puerto Rico after governor refuses to step down

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49075683?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cg41ylwvw3gt/puerto-rico&link_location=live-reporting-story

+

https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cg41ylwvw3gt/puerto-rico 

(BCC’s full list of stories on the island)

JULY 20, 2019 | CNN

Women in Puerto Rico know all too well why Rossello must resign

By Sandra Guzman

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/20/opinions/women-in-puerto-rico-know-why-rossello-must-resign-guzman/index.html

JULY 19, 2019 | Counterpunch

It Was Never Just About the Chat: Ruminations on a Puerto Rican Revolution.

by MIGUEL A. CRUZ-DÍAZ

https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/07/19/it-was-never-just-about-the-chat-ruminations-on-a-puerto-rican-revolution/

Backstory: https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/06/22/the-takeover-of-puerto-rico/

Miguel is super witty and nails the description of some very fine and important points.

JULY 18, 2019 | NYT

Puerto Ricans in Protests Say They’ve Had Enough

By Patricia Mazzei and Frances Robles

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/us/puerto-rico-rossello-governor-protests.html

JULY  18, 2019 | Reuters

More Puerto Rico protests planned as governor resists calls to resign

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-puertorico-idUSKCN1UD31Z

JULY 13, 2019 | Mother Jones

As Puerto Rico’s Governor Steps Down, a Protest Organizer Is Determined to Not Let “The People’s Fire Burn Out.”

By Justine Agrelo

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/07/as-puerto-ricos-governor-steps-down-a-protest-organizer-is-determined-to-not-let-the-peoples-fire-burn-out/

JULIO 28, 2019 | 80 Grados

Por José Nicolás Medina Fuentes

Congreso del pueblo y asamblea constitucional convocada desde la sociedad civil

https://www.80grados.net/congreso-del-pueblo-y-asamblea-constitucional-convocada-desde-la-sociedad-civil/?fbclid=IwAR1ijNYaiKzO-DlRCZmUnG73SrmuI_5rGIsgmUse19yzCBGW7P-ZJ5C1RBo

80Grados is fierce. I love this piece so much. Una belleza. It captures some essential sentiments that should be talked about more. Some commentators point out they missed including the freedom fighters from el PIP and previous eras, but nonetheless, the piece offers some important anchors. And it is beautifully written in Spanish.

“After María” description.

(First shared on private list serve on April 21, 2019) CODAS are becoming my thing. I’m in a new rhythm for sure. Go back to my last share, CODA XV for reference. I’m swimming new waves, and I don’t want to exploit myself, as I know how to do. Ja! I will be around but will come in-and-out with less rigidity on Sundays. I’m gonna' take it easy and steady and change some things. I don’t want to get dark on the state of the world on Easter Sunday, so I leave with a follow up on After María.

Playing in Shorts: No Short Cuts at TFF After Maria premieres next Sunday, April 28, 2019. Visit the page for times and screenings.

Nadia Hallgren, Lauren Cioffi and I met in a natural way. I’m still piecing my words on what the year 2018 delivered. I can honestly say I wanted so much for this story to be told. Several hurdles later the chance just came to be. And, this is just a peek of a much larger tentacle circumstance. For now, I’m grateful for living the experience with Nadia and Cioffi. Grateful too for the “community organizer” credit. And, thankful for Glenda, Kenia, and Sheila. They remain brave here in the City.

Jesus Lives.

Sol

By Chaliana

(First published Sunday, March 31, 2019) My schedule and usual rhythm and flow are off since the year began pretty much because my mother has been struggling with her health. I don’t want to get into the details of it all but it’s serious enough and things are different. The curveball has thrown me off a bit, though I appreciate that it’s giving me time to reflect. And, I thought back to mom’s in-and-out of hospital track since Hurricane María and it’s been about 10 times, a couple of stays for over a month each. I wonder...that brings me to, “After Maria.”

“After Maria” is a short doc by the amazing Nadia Hallgren that will premiere at Tribeca Film Festival on April 28. Here her IG post: Excited to announce my new documentary short @tribecafilmfestival 🇵🇷After Maria 🇵🇷 world premiere on 4/28! Watch what happens when 3 Puerto Rican mothers who are forced to leave the island after hurricane Maria meet in a FEMA hotel in the Bronx. They bond like family and seek stability in their new life as forces try to pull them apart. Produced by @lacioffi Executive producer @rogerrosswilliams edited by @helekearns @jarthster consulting editor @jeantsien @salacuse

I can’t succinctly explain it all, but 2018 was an adventure and the making of this documentary was very much a part of it. So much happened after Maria it’s hard to capture it all, but this work is a tiny peek into what happened after the hurricane to displaced families in New York. Many of them still displaced and living under the NYC Department of Homeless Services temporary shelter housing. Stay tuned for more, because more is coming for “After Maria.”

My last share, CODA XIV the fallen men, was dark and about the future of the University of Puerto Rico. One of the articles I shared was a fiction piece meant to be a worst-case-scenario essay. The worst case scenario is that if the Middle States Commission on Higher Education “flunks” the UPR, then things can turn. I read more and more and see this whole UPR debacle as one of those institutions that could or just might eventually erode. Being that the UPR is an integral part of the livelihood of the island, it is worth any one’s time to read about what is going on. But, the fact remains that between La Junta’s draconian cuts, political pundits, and poor administration, the future of the university is indeed uncertain, and that is a terribly sad thing.

The world as a whole is drowning because of so much ignorance. There’s money for war but not much else…and it shows.

Free Chelsea Manning

Free Papa Renty

Be good to people,
Sol

The Future - Daily Wallpaper, ILTWMT. CC search and license.

I’ve been thinking about the future — nothing light. But I’ve been thinking...

About the wind when sea levels begin to rise after the artic finishes melting. I’ve been thinking about the whales and asking myself could they truly become extinct. I’ve been thinking about the expensive bombs that are getting built for the next big enemy. That led me to think about how many bombs, old and new, does it take to destroy the world? Perhaps the existing world’s arsenal of arms can already blow up the earth. I’ve been thinking about the lonely, lost, and desperate children detained at the border. I’ve been thinking about the refugees off the coast of Italy risking their lives to reach solid land, opportunity, a second chance. I’ve been thinking about the Puerto Rican families that I have come to know after Hurricane Maria building new lives. I’ve been thinking of the undocumented black and brown students from around the world studying and working in the City preparing for a better tomorrow. I’ve seen their brow, their learning, their smile. I’ve been thinking on how the President of the United States is a white supremacist of authoritarian proclivities. I’ve been thinking about my parent's aging and love and wise life. I’ve been thinking about Wilbur and Julio who got their bikes. I’ve been thinking about the woman caregiver in a desperate situation who I’m going to help through View For Death. I’ve been thinking about the possible and eventual consequences of these threads and other topics and I go down a rabbit hole.

Solace. My heart is mostly always with artists. No one like them/us to express quagmire.

Leonard Cohen’s The Future says it best right now, it is imminent.

Here The Future by Teddy Thompson. His belt feels like my heart right now.

And like the song says, “Repent.”

Sol

Good day, fair people:

My sincerest best wishes to all of you for this New Year. Thank you again for reading, listening, and the many kind notes.

CODA X is a hosh-posh of things so ...

A- The first NFAND share of the year happens to fall on Three Kings Day. It has been years since I celebrated the date and remembered being a child the day before the Three Kings arrived, I would go to the patio to get grass for the camels. That was the magic...and yesterday on the eve I celebrated with beloved families from Puerto Rico, most of them displaced by Hurricane Maria, who are building new lives are officially new residents of New York City. My job was to open pasteles and help with the cleanup. Full credit and gratitude to Diaspora X Puerto Rico, Comité Noviembre, PRParadeNYC, and We Stay/Nos Quedamos for making it happen.

B- Update on Wilbur and Julio. The Tinkerbell boys are getting their bikes thanks to Babette Audant, Lauren Gretina, Tina Hazelo Breitbach, Ileana Infante, Dolly Martínez, Raul Martínez, and Lisa Oropeza. The drop-off will happen next weekend when my dad holds his yearly Three Kings gift giveaway in the mountain of Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. Pictures will follow.

C- Pregones Theater, my beloved theater family, is seeking a Development Director. This place is special. You or someone you know could work with talented, smart, caring, lovers of words, writers, dramaturges, musicians, actors, and some of the classiest arts leaders I have ever met. And that, as many of you know is a huge statement for me. Let me know if you know of anyone who wants to learn about this opportunity. I will circulate the job notice via targeted emails, but I wanted to send out a shout-out here this morning.

D- Another job notice came my way and the cause is dear to my heart. Caregivers. R.A.I.N is looking for a Program Manager/Community Outreach Worker. The goal of the job is to “To improve the well-being and quality of life of caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease and related Dementia. To decrease Caregiver stress and increase information and awareness of Alzheimer’s Disease and related Dementia.” This job notice will also get circulated via targeted emails, but just in case you know of anyone, let me know so I can share the full breakdown.

E- Gente, I’m super happy to announce that View For Death | Paisaje Para la Muerte is having a book launch party date in Puerto Rico on 30 January 2019 at Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín (7:00 p.m.). A formal invitation is forthcoming.

F- Thanks to Joseph Petrucelli from the Jazz Foundation of America I was given the opportunity to write a backstory for pianist, composer, lyricist and bandleader Alexa Rivera for her Baryshnikov Arts Center residency. Once they publish I will share the write-up and the interview we recorded. She is lovely.For now, her new single Jíbaro Anciano has a video.

Lastly, NFAND is getting a tune-up and interviews will begin in February. I’m going to be working with the students in the sound engineering program at Hostos and they're not back until the end of the month. I might share some back conversation as of next week, but for now, I'm back for Sunday mornings shares I and look forward to year three of Notes From A Native Daughter.

Sol

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

I’m spent. I’m signing off until after the New Year. Year 2018 has been my busiest year yet. The beginning of the year was still about the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria. A lot of pieces to pick up. From taking care of mother and aunt to then working with displaced families in the City, to publishing View For Death, 2018 has been about caring for people’s dignity, including my own. And, I’m still working on getting Wilbur and Julio their bikes. So let me know if you want to join that collection.

There are some dark and sinister things going on in this country, and the world really. But here, this thing at the border vomits on dignity and humanity. Some of the best reporting I’ve read lately, and I read a bit, is coming from Paola Mendoza for Families Belong Together. She has been documenting the Caravan and the hurt with such love, so beautifully written, it brings tears to my eyes. She has been searingly capturing the stories of these refugees like no one out there. Go check it out if you haven’t already. Refugees all across the globe deserve better. They deserve for their humanity and dignity to be held like when you hold a bird with broken wings in your hand. 

Connect to humanity. Not only because ’tis the season, but because we are all we’ve got, the earth is the only land we’ve got, and it belongs to all of us. We all have red blood.

Be good. With love,

Sol

Announcements:

Alexa Rivera @ the Bronx Music Heritage Center 11-11

Trina Bardusco has a new blog!

View for Death on sale.

Episode 117 | Harvest Season |  Screening @ DOC NYC 11-13 and 11-15 IFC Center

“Harvest Season” is about caregivers. I said I would dedicate these weeks to caregivers and their stories. This is a short story about the storyteller of California wine country, as seen and told through the ones that care for the harvest year-in-year-out. Arduous work. Dedicated focus with knowledge of respect for the seasons. Out in the wine country, anything can happen. A crop is never assured, as is nothing in life really, but gusto, bravado, and the need and will to carry on.

In his latest documentary feature “Harvest Season,” Bernardo again unfolds a multilayered story that points at U.S. immigration laws, labor history, and American history. The nuances come out of the stories as if they were made to boil only they surface naturally because knowledge is passed down from generation; sacrifice is what it takes to make it in the land business, and an entire industry would not be able to subsist without immigrant labor.

In Bernardo’s stories, there is always a moral compass appearing without effort. It comes one second at a time. As the scenes pass, fractions of a seconds end up as large lapses of beats, reasons, and purpose. Such is “Harvest Season.”

Bernardo reaps what he has sowed, which is a lot of humanity, dignity, and history to makes us proud.

Sol

www.harvestseasonmovie.com

www.viewfordeath.com

Today in New York City a Silent Procession for Puerto Rico takes place. From White Park, El Barrio, East 106th Street between Lexington and 3rd, 10:00 a.m. to Trump Plaza on 5th. 

Sol

tulengua meaning: 1. Literal translation, your tongue; 2. Other meaning, your language; 3. Hip-hop band from Baja Cali and Tijuana.

Alan Lili lives in between worlds and uses the most crossed border in the world basically on a daily basis. He considers it a privilege, and he does it because he loves Tijuana. Though raised in San Diego, Alan is Jewish, Mexican, American, and a creative spirit who knew he was a musician before he learned to play an instrument.

He reached out from across the land and told me about the album baja funk and about the hip-hop supergroup he has going on tulengua.

baja funk is now available for sale and streaming, and all proceeds from the sales will go to Border Angels. The record is beautiful and their action noble indeed. tulenga is Alan; Amari Jordan (Southern California. Singer, rapper, producer, and guitarist. Aka “La Reyna Negra”); and “jimmy.thevillain” (born in Tijuana and raised in Rosarito. He makes beats. He surfs and studies chemistry).

Here is their thing...

“Tulengua was born as a dream of creating a band with members from both sides of the border. A band that could be more than music: a celebration of the beauty that occurs when humans come together despite their supposed differences. baja funk is our first release and was recorded during a period in which tulengua was figuring itself out, solidifying it’s lineup, and exploring possibilities. It’s our way of bridging the vibrancy & color of Latin American culture with the mellow grit of California hip-hop, all while digesting and commenting on the reality of living with the border running through our DNA.”

Amen.

Sol