Notes From A Native Daughter

Hugo Perez's Documentary OMARA on Afro-Cuban Singer and cultural icon, Omara Portuondo is now playing in the 39th Miami Film Festival. The documentary will be streaming nationwide with in-person Miami screenings through March 13, 2022. Toward the end of our 26-minute talk, I admit to feeling pressured to write something that does Hugo justice. In the simplest of words and from my sincere heart, this episode is a true candid talk. What a story and journey to the medium of film. So much grace across his insights, perceptiveness, and down to earth-ness. Hugo really rocks. Look out for him and do check out OMARA.

Adriana Bosch is fantastic—humble, open, present, giving, loving, sincere, and elegant. Really. She came in as an equal and a woman artist sharing her journey.  Her latest documentary, Letters to Eloisa, is a lyrical must-watch profile dedicated to the late and great José Lezama Lima. It airs tonight—October 15— on PBS 10-11 p.m. EST (check local listings) under the New Season of Latino Public Broadcasting's VOCES. She wants people to watch this film. You will not regret it. Adriana captures so much in so little time. Towards the end, my tears just flowed. She knew how to place Lezama's letters to his sister Eloisa to reveal everything she wanted to say. I guess that's what artistic prowess, agility, and humanity are. Letters to Eloisa is an ode about “an obscured artist.” And yet, the film is about the larger picture—Cuban history, dissenters everywhere, artistic freedom, and the fragility of brave people. She has a lot to say about a man who lived by his word—no small feat. I hope sometime soon, Adriana Bosch gets a retrospective. She has a lot to give and say, and we need her, todos los que somo poetas de corazón.    + 2021 for me, has had a Cuban theme, and all I can say is that I'm grateful for it.  Earlier this year, I helped Pedrito Martínez with his album Acertijos (Riddles), now nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Best Tropical Album category. Find his production details here and follow him on IG, because it's full of good percussion bites, and he's a master. Then came We Have Iré. You can read and learn about that project here—music by Yosvany Terry with special guest Xiomara Laugart, words by Paul S. Flores. Directed by Rosalba Rolón of Pregones/PRTT in New York, We Have Iré is a multimedia theater work that portrays real-life stories of Cuban emigré artists real-life stories framed by Flores's exploration of his roots as a Cuban-American as he traveled back to Cuba with them. Through the medium of music -- always an essential element in the Cuban story – We Have Iré relives their struggles to relocate to the US and explores the new identities they constructed in the process.  We Have Iré was commissioned and sponsored by the National Performance Network, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco, Pregones/PRTT in New York City, GALA Theatre in Washington D.C., MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana in San José, MECA-Houston, Miami  That's all for now/ Regreso pronto—Back soon. It's been a ride this pandemic year...LOL Sol

She’s been a part of some cool stuff, like serving as a Curatorial Assistant for Latinx Studies at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. She has worked with El Museo Del Barrio, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Loisaida Center, among other institutions. She was a 2018 Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Fellow, a 2017 Museum Education Practicum participant at the Studio Museum in Harlem. She is an Editorial Assistant at Small Axe Journal (since 2018). She holds an MA in Latino, Caribbean, and Africana Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center and a BA in Latin American Studies and Art History from Purchase College. 

Bernardo Ruiz, is a two-time Emmy® Award-nominated documentary filmmaker and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. 

The 45-minute talk that covers a gamut of topics from how Puerto Rican society is based on enslavement to how ultimately, “people value a joyful life and they know that joy doesn't come necessarily, and not that it's unimportant, but it doesn't come from money.”

What black and brown people go through to strive for a better life is for the books of champions. Which brings me to Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez, another champion from The Bronx. His story is moving and filled with a type of God sent blessing is hard to explain. But it is, the skinny is that here’s a kid that took to comics back in the day when the Bronx was burnt and is known today far-and-wide for his comic La Borinqueña. 

Gisela is one of Puerto Rico’s most recognized filmmakers and performers. She blends in with themes universal as in humanity first and particulars of Puerto Rico as in Jayá (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2K__dfInfY) . An unveiling of sorts, a daring artistic proposal because it is absent of pretense, and that is elegant.

This conversation was recorded between Howard Jordan (professor, activist, journalist, and lawyer) and Alex Rodríguez a couple of years ago. Jordan was and continues to be the Chair of the Behavioral & Social Sciences Department at Hostos Community College and Alex was enrolled in the Sound Engineering program. Today, Alex works at the Hostos Sound Studio and the rhythm of this share is as real as it comes. A South Bronx native, Alex is a lyricist, an emcee, producer, and a full artist at heart.  Sol

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!”

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.

Modesto Lacén is one of Puerto Rico’s most saught after actors and a native son of the town of Loiza, the island’s Afro-Caribbean soul center. He makes Loiza and Puerto Rico proud for his talent, professionalism and kind demeanor.

For episode 100 I asked my dear friend Trina Bardusco, writer, director, producer, entrepreneur, and duende to speak with me about the book project I’ve been working on for the past three years, “View For Death,” in memory of my late husband, Dan Larsen.

Manny Pérez es un Tigre. At craft for 28-years, Manny is one of the few Latino actors in Hollywood who has etched a place for himself hard-earned consistently for twenty, kinda’ under-the-radar, but very much there. We all know he’s there. I’ve seen ten of his movies counting his latest one, VENENO | Primera Caída: El Relámpago de Jack, and I loved it. Es linda.  Directed by Tabaré Blanchard VENENO is inspired by the life of Dominican wrestling champ and idol Jack Veneno. Distributed in the U.S. by Spanglish Films, VENENO opens in select cities: New York City; New Jersey; Providence, Rhode Island; Massachusetts: Lawrence, Boston; Pennsylvania: Reading, Philadelphia; Atlanta, Georgia; Florida: Orlando, Tampa, and, Miami on Friday 13 April.

Sita Chay is the only Korean to ever win a Latin Grammy. Fancy that…Since I started this podcast project and on the website, you’ll see that Pan-American voices or Pan-Americanism is what I seek out. Who are we people of color? What is a person of color? Where do we come from? What makes an individual Pan-American? These questions sometimes have clear-cut answers, but as time passes I tend to feel the answers are not so simple. My concerns, interests, and various answers have been informed and are intertwined with W.E.B. Dubois’ Pan-Africanism, The Antillean Confederation of Ramon Emeterio Betances, Bolivar’s Dream, The American Dream, Pan-American Airlines, and Bernardo Ruiz’s La Quinta Raza. When I think of the “America” that I live and experience, hundreds of faces come to mind and heart. How pure blood are we really? And does blood matter? I’m still against the fence on that one but I can honestly say, that in my 28-years of living in North America, Pan-American has come to signify people from all over the world open and willing to be a part of the whole - accepting, creative, curious, interested, willing, empathetic - and for whatever reasons they mostly come in the form of artists or creatives. Read more www.nfand.com

I know Mia García as Marie Rosa first since childhood. Her sister is my sister.  Watching a person become their own is a beautiful thing. I acknowledge then, a young Puerto Rican author writing for young audiences, Mia García. As pre-teen girls do, she had a diary but discovered journaling and writing pen to paper first. Her grandfather believed her when she told him about the monsters in the closet.  Rave and respect for her debut novel Even If The Sky Falls from Katherine Tegen (Harper Collins), about a girl who goes to New Orleans and her life changes forever. Mia is one of a handful of published Latina writers out there and for young audiences. We had a nice conversation about her journey and the business. Her next book The Resolutions is out this fall.

“Brick x Brick is a public art performance that builds human “walls” against misogyny.” Last year we marched in D.C., here's last year’s post. This year, Brick X Brick held simultaneous walls against misogyny beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST, in 12 cities across the nation: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, St. Louis, Nashville, New Orleans, Greensboro, Columbus, Providence, Boston, Montpelier, and New York City. [Read More](https://www.notesfromanativedaughter.com/blog/2018/1/21/episode-87-womens-march-2018-with-brick-x-brick-again "NFAND Episode 87")