Written on assignment for Women in Jazz South Florida, published Spring 2021

As one of the oldest instruments on earth, the harp's tales go back to the biblical court of King Saul, who would call on the warrior David, who would become the King of Israel, to play to comfort his angst and sorrow. Imagine. A simple string instrument standing through millenniums of empires and wars still delivering its simple purpose, to comfort and heal.

As I listened to Harpist and multi-instrumentalist Radha Botofasina’s music catalog, I became convinced that she has traveled through time and space in the realm of the soul or the invisible. Mystical sounds do not just happen; they occur from a depth of journey or by listening to whispers that carry messages about finding purpose, arguably human being’s most extraordinary quest.

How she found herself in the embrace of the late and great Alice Coltrane is one important part of the story. It was Alice who presented her with the harp, and the rest is music history. How Radha came to discover and mature her creativity is the lore of warriors. She created a musical sphere all her own. Her unfolding as an artist and musician guided by both grief and grace, and in her case, the letter “G,” is not gratuitous, for her melodic harp pluck comes from the Gods of benevolence and mercy.

The mysteries of the unseen realm manifest themselves in all of Botofasina’s music. She is a David, a warrior of the courts of men and women who are called from the heavens to play and help calm us, surrender our inner furies, and enter a space of self-acceptance.

Equally masterful is her voice. I bend in particular to her albums “Ambient Harp Meditation Music” and “The Spirituals.” Listen to “Calvary,” “Here’s One,” “Swing Low,” Botofasina’s clear, harmonious, and amply flexible vocal cords, brings you in to her sincere guttural foundation so forgiving of a world gone awry it makes you cry.

The “Ambient Harp Mediation Music” album is enough to carry you through her sway in a court filled with cacophonous impostors of faith. Softness and strength might not intuitively go together, and yet “Kindred Spirits, “Keshava’s Lullaby,” and “School of Dolphins” remind you of the truth that the spirit world is more powerful than the mightiest of might.

Her musical achievements prove the real raison d’être or pinnacle of art and creation's importance—to help humanity heal and understand itself. The intention is so pure it eludes many, but the fact remains that music can prepare us for redemption. The practical world has broken the spirit and wherewithal of many. There is so much depravity, despair, and noise it can be hard to find the space and sounds that anchor us to humanity.

Seek, and you shall find say the scriptures, and in Radha Botofasina, her devoted and blessed musical path reminds us that the one true court, is Only God.

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

Frank Colón is the JLO male counterpart, and he has a one-up on her because he’s a couple of decks ahead. This man is fierce, puts us all to shame really, and I mean us that have allowed our “let’s get physical” thing go by the wayside. I included (Though I’m at it again). He’s a martial arts master, a scuba diver, which I did not know, I found out this week during our back-and-forth correspondence from his home in Brazil. He’s an American-Puerto Rican-Brazilian hybrid with an incredibly lush and practiced musical career. An “A” echelon percussionist, or what I call a beast. 

I know Frank Colón through his sister for another mother, Angie Garcia, who is my second mother and a part of my Dad’s career since the beginning. He would agree with me when I say that Angie is, at least, a matter for a 60 chapter book. LOL! And of course, Frank and Danny hold only mutual respect for one another.

Frank has played with some of the baddest music acts out there in the world— The Manhattan Transfers, Harry Belafonte, Tania Maria, Milton Nacimiento, Gato Barbieri, Herbie Hancock, to name a few. 

His latest music project Latin Lounge came to me at the right time, he first shared the video to Whales of Bahia, and I was mesmerized. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. The entire album is crisp, clear, assuaging, sexy, elongated in tasteful vibrations like thick savory honey coming down to the spoon. 

If only Frank could come to New York to play a gig, but alas, Brazil is burning and suffering, and the world is in a deadlock for international travel. Since we're sheltered in place, I picked up some wine, put on my earphones, and went inside Latin Lounge.

Emerald Coast has this nostalgic flute and sway that makes me miss the live gigs so much. I would love to sit through a live Latin Lounge date at some spot, which makes me miss my dear friend Ned Sublett, the perfect mate for live gigs. Holler to me if you agree. 

In Easy Does It, I’m reminded of Stevie Wonder for some reason. Sexy this tune, perfect for lovers or sundown time after an exhausting day. The trumpet is fucking fierce here, with bass to die for, and the percussion just so blended right. Get ready for a Tanquerey and tonic with a dash of bitters in Summer Cocktail, un chin de cha-cha-cha with an up spice because of the harmonica—lindo, lindo, lindo. All around the piano, keyboards fuckin’ rock. 

Let’s Just Go opens with a bass so beautiful and steady that makes the tune open up, perfect for a road trip, or thinking about what you’ve left behind. Samba Gitano makes me cry, the violinist Rapaehl Batista, que artista. Wow. Fined tuned is an understatement, otro bestia. And then there’s Frank at it with vocals and percussion nailing that sound the world has come to know as Brazil. 

From where did Spanish Heart come from, I wonder, I got to ask him, but I love, love, love this tune, perhaps my favorite. What a melody. Good to get you to face something or to prepare for battle. Perhaps the one we are all in, to save the world, and our souls.

Bali is inspired for sure. A piano solo here that is so lovely. Yoga lovers use this for funky classes. Wishful Thinking is super witty, quick, funky, a bit of Peter Sellers as Pink Panther grooving in his quest to find the culprit. Successful, of course. It’s that trumpet by José Arimatela that makes it so slick. Tango Lucumi is brilliant. I never thought I would hear these two genres together, but it works. The flamenco guitar and the accordion are spellbinding.

The Whales of Bahia hands down a tune to keep. Amazing. And the video, like I said at the beginning, is beautiful. What’s under the sea is another life, a world both known and unknown, like our minds, our past lives, or the legends of the Gods. They left behind so much. Are they with us still, the lords of ancient times? Seek and ye’ shall find…Goodness matters. Music brings people together, so try this, it might help you come closer to touching the fiber of what hurts and what makes us human.

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

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

From around the web and asambleas de pueblo.

The diasporas I know and see, like all suffering diasporas living in the United States of today and most always, have their hearts divided into parts. Every case is different of course, in Puerto Rico’s case the rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship have coined a well-etched impasse of heads or tales. Each side drilled from layers of fractured prisms. Someone I love and respect reminds me constantly in conversation that the careless toss is called, gaslighted. 

So much has been kept from us, the people of Puerto Rico. Piecing it together will require asambleas de pueblo and all our love and valor. I see what is happening in Puerto Rico today and it gives me hope that we will get to have a chance to learn our lost past and see ourselves anew. But, against what is happening in this country today, I wonder about everything and, I sometimes think that it might just be us that will need to leave. From over here, what I have come to learn is that as whole la diaspora has been instrumental in keeping Puerto Rican history and culture alive. The many pioneers that paid the way for a better way for others are mostly unsung heroes in Puerto Rico and here in the mainland. The poets, the writers, historians, dramaturges, actors, musicians, dancers, and institution makers have done so much for the history and preservation of Puerto Rico it is something.

For today’s times, there is also Tere Martínez and her Roots and Action project-beautiful and impressive. Please visit the site and learn about the work. They are “building community,” that’s in one of Tere’s moving and beautifully written blogs. Roots and Action add itself to works that aspire to be as whole, encompassing, and empowering as ASPIRA was when it first opened its doors. 

On Wednesday, August 21 the Roots and Action team, Tere Martinez, Barbara Vlahides, Janio Marrero, and Sarah Hoiland are having a fundraiser event at M1-5 Lounge down in Walker St. from 5 to 8 pm. Tere, Sarah, and I are connected through Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College (Hostos). EVITE: Roots and Action Happy Hour Fundraiser for Puerto Rico

What I wrote about Tere Martínez and Hostos back in April of 2017, before María, when we recorded for the Hostos Oral Collective stands today.

S.

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.

(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

University of Puerto Rico, photographer unknown from Humanidades UPRRP.

(First shared via private list serve on Sunday, March 10, 2019.) Andrew Bacevich, was a guest on Democracy Now early this week. Look him up if you don’t know him. During his interview, he ended up describing how we, the people of the U.S. don’t care. It was something in his tenor and his delivery, subtle, and though hurtful, it is a truth, and his concern over our inhumane ways is the central crux of his writings. That same day, 7 March, Mr. David Brooks’(no less!) op-ed piece “The Case for Reparations” appeared in The Times. I was indeed taken aback, as I never expected Mr. Brooks to offer such an acknowledgment. The consequences of our worst mistakes are in our backyard sinking in our soil and growing roots. It’s a mad-house of gigantic and catastrophic proportions out there. Other recent alarming reads, news of the closing of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in April 2019 - a few of the Spanish language articles I read, METRO PR, El Nuevo Dia, 80 Grados. To say that this imminent closure is barbaric is an understatement. In a nutshell, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education did not approve accreditation of the UPR. That decision made it easy for the fiscal control board to make and share their determinations on the future of the country’s only higher education public university system.

This week, in particular, I can’t shake away that we are being led and drowned by fallen men. I’m looking for clearings to stay the course and I remembered Mr. Fernando Ferrer’s share for Episode 54. What I wrote about him then, still stands. So unassuming, un hombre sencillo, his time was also being drowned and he to a chance and made a difference. This UPR thing and the fallen men somehow connects to Hostos Community College for me, its history and its reason for being. He has something to say about all that, his life does. And, because it is Women’s History Month I share all three programs of the women Presidents of Hostos Community College - Flora Mancuso, Isaura Santiago Santiago (part I of II) and Dolores Fernández (Part I of II). Without education, you kill a place slowly, the cruelest way to die.

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

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

Picture taken from an article in Latino Sports by Nicole Perez.

In this episode, Minerva Urrutia shares about what it means to be a caregiver, as it relates to the Puerto Rican immigrant experience, being married, having children, and giving up almost everything to provide for an aging parent. Her tale is straightforward, poised, tempered, and loving. She is history in the talking.

November is Caregiving month and View For Death | Paisaje Para La Muerte is set for Thursday, 1 November 2018, with a presentation reception and talkback with Professor Eunice Flemister at the Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos. See attached flyer in png format. The book was translated from English into Spanish by Marlène Ramírez-Cancio.

Grateful for Minerva’s time, consideration, and friendship.

Respect your elders.

Sol

Ebook on Amazon | Print copies on www.viewfordeath.com

www.nfand.com

Donate to 80grados, Prensasinprisa funding campaign.

Carmen Matos - aka Bx Queen

I met Carmen very recently at the Mott Haven Bar and Grill and almost instantly we got into a heart-to-heart talk about the experiences that have made us grow up and mature. We quickly realized we had both had the experience of being caregivers.

On she went to share her tale. A sad one, but also uplifting. Sometimes the darkest moments have splendor and therein stood our common ground. Her last line in this conversation is, “sometimes we have to fall to realize how strong we are when we get back up.” Word.

Unfortunately, falling seems to be a must in life and the hardest part is getting back on the road to forward. It is that journey of getting back up that I hold as the crux of the matter and feel compelled to help. The book I wrote is about just that, falling. Falling deep into grief, or as Professor Eunice Flemister told me in a recent talk, “the power of grief.” We so seldom expose it and talk about it; I feel we cheat ourselves out of a chance to connect with one another’s humanity.

It makes sense that Carmen is aka as the Bx Queen. She is stunning, tall, with piercing blue/green eyes, and warm. When you’re with her, you feel like she’s got you. I thank her for her candidness and tears, which are my own.

For the next few weeks, as lead up to share with the world a personal tale, I brace myself with bravery. Unveiling myself is a bit nutty, I haven’t always succeeded in the past when I have, but it is the only way to catch sincerity. And I won’t back down from that way of being. I want to help women caregivers in dire straights, and the only way I had to do that was to open myself for the purpose.

Carmen and the rest of the women voices I’ll be sharing with you all have that, grief, bravery, solid oak dignity, and heart.

Always from the heart.

Sol

www.viewfordeath.com

check it out

“Puerto Rico Flag Fingerprint country pride” by Pixabay is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Words and reasonings flow out of Julio Pabón with rhythm and feeling. He’s a natural storyteller. Here he delves into the history and particulars of The Jones Act. The long-standing maritime law creates a lockdown in the ports that has and continues to place an unjust economic burden on the people of Puerto Rico. He wants to go to Jacksonville for a National Day of Respect & Justice for Puerto Rico on October 26, 27, and 28, 2018. This is a non-partisan issue for Julio and his comrades, this is a human rights issue.

The central events will take place in Orlando on October 26 with a film showing; a rally in Kissimmee on October 27; closing with a symposium on The Jones Act in Jacksonville, Florida on October 28. We want Puerto Ricans, allies, and friends to do some kind of event wherever they live in the United States on The Jones Act and its impact on the island. Julio says that actions large and small count: share art, news, hold vigils, calls, and letters to local Congressional and Federal Senators #amendthejonesact, “please put the issue of Puerto Rico and The Jones Act on your agendas. Puerto Ricans in the island don't have a vote in our Federal elections, BUT WE DO!”

Sol

Episode 113 | Episode 113 | Bringing in some oral history from Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College.

Here is an educator - real and true. Linda Hirsch. Dust of inspiration for the times & #OurPowerNYCpr | Community gathering one-year after Hurricane Maria | Union Square | 20 September - 6:00 p.m.

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

Anda Pa’l meaning: (slang) from the root word, anda pa’l carajo. Literal translation: walking to hell, either in first person or the action verb of andar (walking) referring to someone else literally walking to hell. Other translations that depend on context: “holy shit,” “holy moly,” “can’t be.” (pronounced like panda, but without the “p” / pa’l, like the word pal as in buddy).

It’s true what they say, home is where the heart is…my heart has been in Spain, Denmark, Berlin, Los Angeles, Samaná, Panama, Mexico, Whitesburg/ Kentucky, New Orleans, New York, and of course Puerto Rico. We can’t occupy the same space at the same time, it’s against the laws of physics, but the heart, on the other hand, can travel far and wide. Haven’t you felt it?

It’s a mystery to me but the feelings are so real. I cry about these things, missing places, and people. I do. Actually often. I reach out to people and open myself up. It doesn’t always work. I’ve made a fool of myself often enough, but it’s just I believe and feel that little gestures do matter. The effort is all about my heart telling me to do it, actions, poems, gifts, letters, other things. Lately, it’s a bit disheartening but I keep it at, one reason I do this talk show.

And so I come to Rita Cidre, who in a short talk brought me back to remember that little actions matter and the heart can take you places. Anda Pa’l her own business of canvas bags and pouches started out because she missed home. And home for her is Puerto Rico. Rita picked up witty slang sayings and phrases and gave them life. She and I share several things in common all having to do with having our heart split into a lot of pieces, each one for a different person that we love. I love she created something tangible to assuage missing Puerto Rico and Caribbean life. I get it. I’m right there with her and so are thousands and thousands of others. Her business has reached the globe and she’s managed to cultivate a following of people wanting that tangible connection to the island.

Rita brings some interesting points about the diaspora she represents. Why doesn’t she go back? Why don’t I go back? We left for what reasons? How is it different now, post-Hurricane Maria? Everything is different now and a new conversation between island and stateside Puerto Ricans is emerging. Nothing we talk about has definite answers, but some definite feelings of making it possible to be here and there somehow. It’s all about the heart, just like her project, a labor of love, a self-taught artist with feelings so deep she has touched the Puerto Rican heart far and wide.

Sol

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