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

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

“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

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

Alberto is amazing, loving, bountiful, exemplary, relatable, tantalizing, and original. He is. There’s this something to his creative works that just leave you smiling and wondering about him. From B as in Beauty, his novel about a fat girl who turns call girl at night to help her with self-confidence, to the beloved HBO Latino series HABLA, Alberto is full of truisms and classy creativity.

I could talk with Alberto for hours non-stop. Our conversation here hits almost an hour but we had to cover the subjects in depth. There was no other way with him. We just go fluidly through past and present projects, the process of writing, the state of the world as it relates to the creative fields, and these subjects matter to us both.

He really is a genius. His ideas, his vision of bringing moral tales to life. He has a new film project in series format called, Lessons. We delve into Lessons. Brilliant offerings for self-reflection in less than 5-minutes. With the project, he’s learning about narrative form and presenting short-films / short scenes about issues that matter in life - success, lovers, a mother’s love, bitterness, confidentiality. And he gave me a lesson in Premiere Adobe suite in sound editing. Lessons, lessons, lessons...

Alberto’ The Newyorkster, is an incredible story/podcast. We talked about that too and share on our need to explore the expansiveness of Latino, though I’m leaning towards referencing it as Pan-American. There’s no resolution to this other than exploration...talk, talk, talk.

Alberto darling, thank you.

Always from the heart.

Sol

If you don’t know Luis Salgado, watch out for him. This Puerto Rican artist, dancer, choreographer, and director does not stop. His artistic journey is inspiring and his accolades are truly all hard earned. Something I respect and love. Last week he and his artistic team of the Spanish production of “In The Heights” presented in 2017 at the Gala Theater in Washington D.C. won a bunch of Helen Hayes Awards including:

Outstanding choreography in a musical — Helen - Luis Salgado, “In the Heights,” GALA Hispanic Theatre

Outstanding lighting design — Helen - Christopher Annas-Lee, “In the Heights,” GALA Hispanic Theatre

Outstanding direction in a musical — Helen - Luis Salgado, “In the Heights,” GALA Hispanic Theatre

Outstanding ensemble in a musical — Helen - “In the Heights,” GALA Hispanic Theatre

Outstanding lead actress in a musical — Hayes - Rayanne Gonzales, “In the Heights,” Olney Theatre Center & Round House Theatre

Outstanding lead actress in a musical — Helen - Laura Lebrón, “In the Heights,” GALA Hispanic Theatre

Outstanding production in a musical — Hayes - “In the Heights,” Olney Theatre Center & Round House Theatre

Outstanding production in a musical — Helen - “In the Heights,” GALA Hispanic Theatre

As Founder and Director of R.Evolución Latina he has cemented his reputation and work in creating artworks with purpose. He wants people to use the arts as a vehicle to understanding themselves. One of the noblest acts of work I’ve seen around, he encourages and pushes anyone who works with him to, dare to go beyond.

Luis was part of the original “In The Heights,” Broadway production, the Gloria Estefan Musical, “On Your Feet!,” the Broadway production of “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” “ROCKY,” “The Mambo Kings,” “Fame,” “42nd Street,” and “Aida,” among many other musical productions.

He most recently directed “RAGTIME” for and at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center, and “To Be or Not To Be,” A Shakespearean Experience that explored what it means to be an immigrant in the United States. But he is international and his full credits can be found here.

We talk about all that and more in the sincere and candid talk about creativity, maturing as an artist, and aiming to go beyond no matter what. It’s all about heart and soul and knowing that art saves lives.

Listen, and be inspired.

With love,

Soldanela