We want to begin by sending a message of Peace to all our readers, and our best wishes for a Prosperous and Healthy 2023.
We also would like to thank all of you, our readers and advertisers, for the support we received throughout the year. This support allowed us to continue carrying out our journalistic mission. In 2023 we will continue publishing articles of social interest on issues that deeply impact our communities. We will continue to highlight topics such as racial and ethnic disparities in the health fields, public policy, and education, among others.
El Sol Latino Podcast 413, in partnership with Holyoke Public Media, returns in early 2023. We look forward to having your continued support.
Sincerely, Manuel
Política / Politics
¡Gringo Go Home! A Brief History of Civil Disobedience in Puerto Rico
12 Finanzas / Finances
Getting Back on Financial Track After the Holidays
13 Literatura / Literature
Ivelisse Rodríguez among Puerto Rican Writers who Received the Letras Boricuas Fellowship
14 Libros / Books
La maravilla del canto inimitable: La décima criolla de Luis Lloréns Torres
15 AfroLatinas and LatiNegras: Culture, Identity, and Struggle from an Intersectional Perspective Ritmos Afro Puertorriqueños
The Hispanic-American Library wants to thank the community for their ongoing support. Staff and board members held a gathering at the HAL site in Springfield this past December to celebrate the holiday season.
El Sol Latino acepta colaboraciones tanto en español como en inglés. Nos comprometemos a examinarlas, pero no necesariamente a publicarlas. Nos reservamos el derecho de editar los textos y hacer correcciones por razones de espacio y/o estilo. Las colaboraciones pueden ser enviadas a nuestra dirección postal o a través de correo electrónico a: info@elsollatino.net. El Sol
either English or
to our postal address or via electronic mail to: info@elsollatino.net.
by Coquí Media Group.
Back in December 2022, we interviewed Osmar Ramos Caballero, an emerging comic book artist who resides in Holyoke. Osmar has published two Latinx oriented comic series. The first one, LAS BRAVAS #1: La Dama de Oro came out in April 2022, followed by LAS BRAVAS #2: Vicky Vampir, published in September of 2022.
Osmar is a graduate of the EforAll Accelerator Program, based in Holyoke. This program offers a unique combination of immersive business training, mentorship and access to an extended professional network.
We present an abridged and edited version of our interview with Osmar.
by MANUEL FRAU RAMOSOsmar: I began creating comic books when I was 6 years old when I was in Cuba. To this day I remember my first comic, blank paper 8 ½ x 11, double sided, action packed, full of square patterns and stick figures fighting non stop from beginning to end. That was my first comic. At that same time I entered a Havana Drawing Contest where I won first place. I don’t remember what I drew but my grandmother still has my winning medal in Cuba.
Osmar: What made me decide to become a comic illustrator were my experiences when I lived in Spain as a teenager. During that time, I went to an art exhibition open to the public and, of course, I needed to see those pieces of art. After I finished, there was a table with blank pieces of papers and pencils so I started drawing my own superhero. The more I drew the more people surrounded me with the disbelief that I, a 15 year old boy, afro cuban living in Spain, could draw this good in a short amount of time without any prepreparation. Most of my drawings would be done in 3 minutes or less. Kids would ask me to draw them their favorite superheroes - Batman, Superman, Spider Man, Thor, Iron Man, Wolverine, and so on. But something happened.
Tell me a little bit about yourself and your life story.
Osmar: My name is Osmar Ramos-Caballero, 37 years old, Founder/ Owner/CEO of Gala Comics. Gala Comics is an independent selfpublishing company that creates comic books with unique Latino/ Afro Latino/Taíno Superheroes in Spanish, with an English Glossary in the back of every book. I make these comics for the Latino Community but it is a medium for anyone and everyone to enjoy, whether you speak Spanish or not, whether you are Latino or not.
I was born and raised in Havana, Cuba until I came to the United States by plane in the year 1997. During the end of the 80’s and into the 90’s I remember most of my childhood. Streets full of life, people walking everywhere because we have a year round tropical weather, live music, the dancing, the endless parties, the love, but on the other side, Cubans work everyday super hard to put a portion of food on the table for their families. Even though I was having fun, as a kid I knew exactly what was going on around me. And yet, we all lived like every day was our last so simple happiness such as partying, dancing, and music became the overall medicine for sadness, hunger, and depression. I come from that type of mentality, always work hard, get the job done, no room for laziness, always keep on moving/creating but always balance it with a smile on your face dancing Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Cumbia, and other music styles in order to make peace with yourself and to give thanks to the ancestors for another day. I’m old school I guess.
Once I drew these superheroes they were too easy for me to do simply because everyone knows these heroes around the world therefore it was not challenging for me to keep drawing them. Afterwards, the 6th kid came up to me asking to draw another famous superhero. I refused to do it, switched gears on the spot, and said to the kid, “I have a better idea. How about I draw YOU as a superhero?” The kid was astounded by the idea. So I asked him if he wanted to have a cape or not, with or without muscles, what kind of hairstyle he wanted to have, and so on. After I finished, I signed it and gave it to him. I never forgot his face full of happiness and joy. Once the kid showed it to his friends, more and more people came to the table so I could draw them as superheroes, kids and adults alike. At that point I made the decision to become a comic illustrator but with the rule of never copying any other superhero out there. My characters have to be my own style, and in my own way.
Which authors and artists were your early influence or inspired you?
Osmar: To be honest, at the beginning, as a child I had no influence from any one author or artist. I didn’t look up to anyone, even though ironically enough, my grand uncle is a very well known global artist called Choco. As I got older I started to be fascinated by Greek Mythology, Yoruba Deities, The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell, Renaissance Art, Greek Philosophy, the book of Don Quijote, Manga/ Anime (Japanese Comics/Cartoon Movies), World History, observing and analyzing the human behavior of others around me as well as my own, and last but not least, Kung Fu and Samurai Movies. These influences later on became my main sources towards opening and expanding my imagination.
Do you have any formal art training or are you self-taught? As a graphic storyteller artist, what tools do you use for drawing? Do you use digital software?
Osmar: I’ve been self-taught since I was 6 years old. As a child from a 3rd world country like Cuba, kids know very well their family situations. I never asked my family for toys. For me it felt disrespectful
to ask for toys knowing how poor my family was. So in a way I decided to pretend to be a kid, obey the rules, do well in school and do what needed to be done so I could be something my family didn’t have to worry about. I did that by entertaining myself with a pencil and a blank piece of paper, and then I let my imagination do all the talking and go wild. My first comic was on a two-sided paper where I drew action packed stick figures. I’ve been using paper and pencil ever since, with some new tools such as a ruler, a really good quality eraser, sharpies, black ink pens for inking the comic books and alcoholbased markers. Even though I’m 37 and I have a lot of patience with technology, to be completely honest, I have zero patience with digital software when it comes to illustrating a comic book. I am very comfortable doing the books by hand because that’s what I like.
Do you prefer drawing or coloring the comics? Which one do you find more challenging?
Osmar: I prefer to do both because they are both very exciting to me. I have to admit that what has been challenging is doing the coloring. Drawing a character in black and white has always been easy for me. The difficulty comes in when I try to visualize the right colors for my characters. Most of the time I’m very happy with the results but sometimes it becomes a challenge when I notice that some colors are not meant to be in certain designs. In my books I try to incorporate as much color as possible because that’s what I see and translate from my head at the moment but once I notice that certain colors don’t match or don’t go well with my characters, I redesign it all until I am satisfied with the final outcome. It’s like being a fashion designer for superheroes like Edna from The Incredibles. Edna and I have a lot in common. It’s definitely a process but I find it exhilarating. Please talk a little bit about your creative process in developing an idea and your characters. What serves as the inspiration for them? Osmar: My imagination is a machine full of ideas 24/7. I tend to have thoughts of characters that I’ve done and new characters for me to design in my head all the time. I have this weird thing that when I talk to people, I am paying attention but at the same time I imagine designs of characters, the way the book is going to be made, and I even see action sequences. When I’m alone I act out what I wrote to see if it makes sense to me or not. When I have a fresh idea I rush to get paper and pencil and then draw it quickly. What really serves as the inspiration are a couple of things, but one of them is the fact that nowadays a lot of minorities in the comic book community are always crying about diversity in the superhero genre, which I understand very well. I have yet to see Latinos in the MCU, except in the Black Panther Wakanda Forever movie, where, in my opinion, Latinos were very poorly utilized. I never understood why people cry about diversity and gender politics when the answer is very simple: create your own independent comic book, do your own thing and move forward. In a medium such as comic books where the hardcore values are entertainment and storytelling, these hardcore values are a huge part of my motivation when I do my books. Yes, I want Latino/Afro Latino Superhero representation in comic books but I also want to have that in my own universe solely with entertainment and storytelling. I am not political whatsoever nor do I have a political agenda, so the last thing I want is to force my audience to submit to my beliefs, my philosophy, political messages or affiliations.
Are any of your comic characters particularly special to you?
Osmar: That’s a very interesting question. Honesty, all my characters are very special to me, heroes and villains alike. There is a little bit of me in every character. Someone did ask me once if I was going to create a superhero/villain in my image so I can be in my own books, and I said no because it is not relevant to my storytelling and my comic book universe. I don’t want to see myself in my books, I want to see my creations instead.
What are your goals for the comic books, and where do you see it going in the next few years? Do you have an endgame in mind? Osmar: I would like to have sponsors or grants that can facilitate me hiring Latino/Afro Latino writers, digital artists such as Angel Colón, who I want to be the artist/director of Book Covers for Gala Comics. My overall ambition is simple but complex at the same time, to conquer the world (easier said than done) with my comics, which will always be available on Amazon but the next phase is to have the books in every comic book store plus Barnes and Nobles all over the country and Latin America plus Europe, Africa, and Asia.
I’m already doing the first stage, which is to start with comic books. The next stage however, which will be in a year or two max, is to make phone calls, make appointments, and travel to streaming service headquarters such as Amazon Video, Netflix, Paramount Plus, Peacock, Apple TV and so on, so I can pitch potential TV series for each superhero group that I have, with the non-negotiable caveat that my team needs to be and has to be 100% part of the casting process because all my characters are Afro Latinos, Taínos, White Latinos, a little bit of everything so I don’t want any misunderstanding or misconceptions about the process.
The third stage is Video Games. I’m already designing 2 types of video games for Gala Comics. The first one is a superhero card game with lots of fun and amazing visuals, and the second one is something new I’m designing as well. It will look like a superhero fighting game but with a little twist of adobo y sazón. Movies need to be on the table as well. At the end of it all, I would create my own Streaming Service so all my content would be there with the caveat of a surprise that I can’t disclose at the moment.
NEW YORK, NY | MELLON FOUNDATION | DECEMBER 5, 2022 -
As part of its ongoing commitment to the arts and humanities sectors in Puerto Rico, the Mellon Foundation today announced $10,150,000 in funding to support local organizations and initiatives following the devastation of Hurricane Fiona—the most recent natural disaster to impact the archipelago’s most vulnerable communities. The funding is aimed at addressing the most urgent needs in the wake of the storm and supporting communities as they equip themselves for a future in which severe climate events are more frequent.
In addition to the funding announced today, Mellon has pledged a second round of recovery funding totaling more than $3 million, and more than $9 million in additional support for institutions including the University of Puerto Rico, Centro de Economía Creativa, El Ancón de LoÍza, and others, for their cultural and educational work—all for distribution by the end of the calendar year. This additional funding is part of Mellon’s commitment to sustaining and enriching the archipelago’s vibrant cultural, knowledge, and memory ecosystems—an effort to which the Foundation has granted over $50 million since 2018.
“We believe deeply in the power of writers, scholars, artists, and cultural leaders throughout the Puerto Rican archipelago and the diaspora,” said Elizabeth Alexander, President of the Mellon Foundation. “In times of crisis, they are first responders and anchors for their communities. For five years, our commitment to Puerto Rico and its culture has remained steadfast and central to Mellon’s mission. With this immediate and intentionally responsive funding to the destructive impact of Hurricane Fiona, we are reaffirming once more our dedication to these fields. There can be no art if people don’t have food and shelter.”
The devastation of Hurricane Fiona was severe, its impact hitting as many across the archipelago continued working to recover from the cumulative and far-reaching effects of previous natural and humanmade disasters. These disasters—from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the earthquakes of 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic—along with austerity measures imposed by the fiscal control board made the impact of this latest storm even more devastating, and the need for sustained partnership rather than periodic responses even more urgent.
In recent years, community-based organizations, including arts and cultural spaces, have self-organized to address the needs of their communities. Tackling challenges from harnessing solar energy and harvesting rainwater to delivering appliances, clearing debris, and establishing community kitchens, the growth of these community hubs provides necessary support in the face of slow-moving government response. By providing critical funding to these local, self-managed networks, resources can be quickly and directly mobilized to the individuals and communities that need them most.
“In moments of crisis such as this, the devastating impacts of structural and environmental racism are undeniable—from the omission of Loíza and other hard-hit municipalities from the government’s original emergency declaration, to a lack of Spanishspeaking FEMA personnel, and technological and other barriers to accessing federal sources of relief,” said Gloriann Sacha Antonetty Lebrón, Founder and Director of étnica—a Puerto Rico-based magazine and multimedia platform that amplifies the voices of
Afrodescendant communities. “In the face of so much loss and despair, our actions of mutual support, solidarity, and partnership are a balm for us and for our communities. We do this work to honor our ancestral legacies as descendants of Africans and Indigenous people.”
Organizations supported by Mellon’s recent $10 million in funding include: Corredor Afro, Departamento de la Comida, Étnica, Filantropía Puerto Rico, Fiona Community Response Fund, Flamboyan Arts Fund, Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico, Fundación de Mujeres en Puerto Rico, Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades, Haser, Maria Fund and Poetry is Busy Studio.
For more information about Mellon’s commitment to building sustainable cultural infrastructure in Puerto Rico, please visit the Puerto Rico Initiative page (mellon.org/initiatives/puerto-rico).
LOS ANGELES, CA | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES |
December 5, 2022 – A grim new study by scholars from five universities, including UCLA, illuminates significant racial disparities in federal funding for science research.
The seeds for the study, published Nov. 29 in the journal eLife, were planted in 2020 at an online get-together for Asian American and Pacific Islander geoscientists. One attendee made an off-hand remark about the open secret that Asian researchers have more difficulty than other researchers getting grants from the National Science Foundation.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Christine Yifeng Chen, the event’s organizer. She and a fellow scientist pressed for details.
“They pointed us to this little-known corner of the NSF website where all of the data are publicly available in annual reports,” said Chen, a researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and an early-career fellow at the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science at UCLA. “We started digging into these documents, and lo and behold, we found that Asians do have lower success rates, as do Black scientists and almost every other nonwhite group.”
She and colleagues found that the federal funding agency consistently awards grants to white researchers at a much higher rate than it does to other groups, with intermittent exceptions among racial and ethnic groups with smaller sample sizes: Researchers observed wild swings in the percentages of accepted proposals from researchers who identified as multiracial, American Indian/Native Alaskan or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.
The pattern demonstrates decades of systemic racial disparities that elevate white careers at the expense of others, according to the authors.
In 2019, the most recent year of data, the NSF funded a total of 11,243 grants. It approved:
• 31.3% of proposals by white applicants (6,389 awards).
• 29.0% of proposals by Hispanic or Latino applicants (449).
• 26.5% of proposals by Black applicants (246).
• 22.4% of proposals by Asian applicants (2,073).
Had the NSF awarded grants to all groups at the same rate, white academics would have received 798 fewer awards in 2019 alone, the authors note.
Overall, the study examines more than 1 million proposals reviewed by the National Science Foundation from 1996 to 2019.
In any given year, the NSF funded 22% to 34% of all proposals it receives, the study found. But proposals by white applicants were consistently funded by several percentage points above that rate, and the disparity increased steadily through the years in the analysis. In contrast, funding rates for Asian, Black and African American, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander applicants have been consistently below the overall average.
While many Qs remain about underlying mechanisms, these outcomes have conferred a *cumulative advantage* on white PIs while disadvantaging others.
Improving STEM diversity has been a priority for decades, but such goals cannot be achieved when resources are allocated like this. pic.twitter.com/oAeYXlIS4g
— Christine Yifeng Chen (@earth2christine) November 29, 2022
The NSF did not provide demographic breakdowns for all years in the study; figures for grants to Black and Hispanic researchers were available starting in 1996, for example, but statistics for grants to white and Asian scientists were first published in 1999. But from 1999 to 2019, proposals by white applicants were funded at 1.4 times the rate of proposals by Asian applicants and 1.2 times the rate of proposals by Black applicants. Put another way, among more than a million grants awarded during those years, white scientists received 12,820 more awards than they would have if they had earned grants at the average rate.
The disparities were even larger when the authors considered only the NSF’s research grants — excluding other types of awards, for education and training, for example. In 2013 and 2014, research proposals by white applicants were funded at 1.7 and 1.8 times the rate of those by Black applicants, and 1.3 and 1.4 times the rate of those by Asian applicants.
In the paper, the researchers write that those inequities have a snowball effect on academic careers, because the funding and prestige bestowed by grant awards are essential for advancing professionally, building support networks and retaining research staff — and, Chen said, because researchers who earn grants from the NSF tend to have more success with their next grant proposals.
“We can’t hope to diversify the scientific community if this continues,” said Chen, a lead author of the paper. “These funding patterns have conferred a cumulative advantage on white scientists while disadvantaging others.”
The findings echo a 2011 study in the journal Science which showed that Black applicants received funding from the National Institutes of Health at roughly half the rate of white applicants.
The NSF alone distributes 27% of the federal funding for basic research at the nation’s colleges and universities, according to the agency. And as a group, the NIH, NSF and other federal agencies are responsible for more than half of university research funding, the authors of the new study write.
BOSTON, MA | ÁGORA CULTURAL ARCHITECTS | DECEMBER 21, 2022 - The Mellon Foundation, one of the main sponsor of the arts and humanities in the United States, assigned $700 thousand to a proposal aimed at developing a Puerto Rican “cultural corridor” to help amplify local artists in the Eastern United States.
Bori-Corridor is the name of the project that Ágora Cultural Architects and its leader, Cultural Manager Elsa Mosquera Sterenberg, presented to the Mellon Foundation, and which seeks to connect Puerto Rican talent in the diaspora, mainly in the states of Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut.
“Bori-Corridor was created with two goals. Firstly, to connect local artists with the important diasporic audience, which seeks to continue nurturing its connection to its cultural roots; we also seek to highlight the history and great work which Boricua cultural organizations have carried out across so many communities in the United States,” explained Mosquera Sterenberg, who has an extensive and recognized trajectory of collaborating with cultural organizations in Puerto Rico and the United States.
The development of Bori-Corridor will consist of two main components. One will consist of a call for proposals and selection of a group of artists or ensembles to carry out a presentation tour across various states. Ágora will support the selected artists with the production and promotion of their events, as well as connect them with cultural organizations and centers to establish new collaborations.
The second component involves creating an online map which will identify cultural centers specializing in Puerto Rican art and culture. The map will offer a historical and cultural synopsis of these institutions, so that artists, cultural intermediaries, and the general public may learn about the diverse Puerto Rican communities and other audiences along the Eastern coast of the United States. The research phase will have the support of the Master of Arts and Cultural Management Program of the University of Puerto Rico.
“These organizations have carried out immense efforts to preserve our Boricua identity and share this heritage with the generations which have grown within the diaspora. This effort seeks to acknowledge their work and enable new relationships between those who seek to promote Puerto Rican culture in the island and in the diaspora,” said Mosquera Sterenberg.
Bori-Corridor will be ready for launch following the research phase to create the interactive map. The artistic tour across the states is expected to begin in 2024. The leader of Ágora Cultural Architects thanked the support which the Mellon Foundation has provided to Puerto Rican organizations and artists, particularly during the last few years. Since 2018, this Foundation has granted more than $50 million to organizations in Puerto Rico and the diaspora.
COLLEGE | January 5, 2023 – Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) received a $75,000 state grant to increase faculty’s core equity competencies and knowledge about racial equity, social justice and structures that have an impact on student success.
The Massachusetts Higher Education Innovation Fund grant from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education will support professional development for 20 faculty members. The goal of the project is to help underserved and underrepresented – especially students of color –succeed along their academic journey, from applying to STCC to graduation.
In addition, they will engage in a virtual book club, among other tasks.
The Department of Higher Education this past summer released its Strategic Plan for Racial Equity which outlined the following five strategies:
• Establish the Infrastructure to Drive Racial Equity;
• Transform Institutional Cultures to be Equity-Minded;
• Increase Access to Higher Education for Students of Color;
• Build a Culturally Relevant and Civically Engaged Educational Experience for Students of Color; and
• Prepare Students of Color to Thrive Beyond Their Time in Higher Education.
STCC has supported a number of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts over recent years, including but not limited to the formation of the Anti-Racism and Inclusion Alliance and the creation of an equity agenda for each of the three academic schools.
STCC also offers a number of programs to support underserved students:
• 100 Males to College
• Early College
• Gateway to College
• STEM Starter Academy
• Male Initiative for Leadership in Education (MILE)
• Female Leadership and Mentoring (LEAD)
• TRIO Student Support Services
• The Center for Access Services
• The Diversity Speaker and Performance Series
• We the Women speaker series
• College for Kids summer programs
Jennifer Wallace-Johnson, Assistant Professor in Social and Behavioral Sciences, will take part in the training, which includes learning culturally relevant teaching practices. This type of teaching uses the experience and perspectives of students as tools for better classroom instruction.
Mary Wiseman, Director of Instructional Innovation and Faculty Investment at STCC, said the funding will help advance the college’s mission to support students as they transform their lives.
“I am very excited to gather faculty, lead them in training on techniques to increase their skills and ultimately lift the equity agenda,” Wiseman said. “We want to explore how to make classrooms inclusive spaces where students feel welcomed and connected to the faculty and curriculum.”
With the funding in hand, STCC plans to recruit faculty who will join a core coaching group known as Equity Leaders & Guides who will train in equity-minded practices. At the conclusion of their work, they will share their discoveries with STCC colleagues.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Geraldine de Berly said the initiative is critically important.
“We are grateful to Governor Baker and his administration for supporting our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts,” de Berly said. “This training will support our faculty who make such a difference in our students’ lives.
STCC, which has a technical focus in all of its programs, is designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution. About 30 percent of the student body are Latino, Latina or Latinx.
The faculty will work together to discover new teaching techniques. They will attend workshop training with the Collaborative for Educational Services, CES Northampton.
“When we take a critical look at the progress that higher education has made in the area of addressing the inequities that exist – at all levels –we see that not enough progress has been made to affect outcomes with respect to underrepresented students,” Wallace-Johnson said.
“We need to come full circle and dismantle the current structures in place that were not designed with equity in mind,” Wallace-Johnson added. “Addressing this from the academic side through opportunities such as the HEIF grant is a golden opportunity to make real changes … by infiltrating our teaching practices and training faculty to become more culturally responsive instructors.”
Another faculty member who will join the initiative, Melissa Pereira, Assistant Professor of Health Information Technologies, said more work is needed to achieve equitable outcomes among students.
“The way it has always been done is not enough today. Everyone does not fit in a box that is one size so teaching with equity in mind will help us focus on each student’s individual needs,” Pereira said. “The HEIF grant gives us an opportunity to explore and share how we can better serve our students – all students – and fulfill our mission of supporting them as they transform their lives.”
Interested in applying to STCC? Visit stcc.edu/apply or call Admissions at (413) 755-3333.
SPRINGFIELD, MA | SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY
COLLEGE | December 16, 2022 - Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) was awarded a $25,000 grant to provide mentorship and resources to Latina and low-income female students.
The funding from KPMG U.S. Foundation, Inc., will support an STCC diversity program called Business Leaders Owning Opportunity Matters (BLOOM) program.
BLOOM Bridge empowers female-identifying Latinas from lowincome households who may be interested in majoring in a business program, a business career or transferring into a business program at a four-year college or university.
Grant funding from KPMG’s Reaching New Heights Program will be used to provide career exploration, peer mentoring, tutoring, academic support and tuition for two one-credit business courses. Students will also gain access to career networking and mentoring advice from leaders in accounting, marketing, management and entrepreneurship fields.
“We’re very pleased that the efforts of Professor Rhoda Belemjian and Assistant Dean Emilie Clucas Leaderman in submitting for this competitive KPMG grant were successful and look forward to continued collaboration with KPMG,” said STCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Geraldine de Berly.
Richard Greco, Dean of the School of Liberal and Professional Studies, added, “We are grateful to KPMG for supporting our efforts to remove barriers for underrepresented students. By removing the barrier of cost for underrepresented students, STCC seeks to strengthen partnerships and enhance existing diversity pipelines with local high schools.”
Anita Whitehead, philanthropy leader and chair, KPMG U.S. Foundation, stated, “The KPMG U.S. Foundation is proud to announce that it has
awarded five institutions a total of $125,000 in funding for the inaugural year of our Reaching New Heights Program.”
Reaching New Heights is a grant and matching gift program designed to promote access and equity in higher education, increase awareness of pipeline diversity at institutions and create opportunities for collaboration between KPMG professionals and educators. According to KPMG, each selected institution will receive a $25,000 grant to fund a new or existing diversity program and participate in a 2:1 match up to $500,000 in eligible donations made by KPMG professionals, partners and retired partners.
This program aligns with KPMG’s Accelerate 2025 commitment to advance equity in both its workplace and society by providing enhanced access to meaningful opportunities to help develop a more diverse workforce for the future.
STCC offers several diversity programs for students including the Female Initiative for Leadership and Education (Lead) program, which provides leadership opportunities, one-on-one mentoring and networking with business and community leaders.
BLOOM students will automatically be enrolled in the Lead program to enhance their academic and career success in the Business Career or Transfer programs.
“BLOOM is a terrific opportunity for our underrepresented female students,” said Karolyn Burgos Toribio, Community Outreach Counselor for the Lead program who benefited from Lead when she was a student at STCC. “We look forward to helping students in the BLOOM Bridge program by empowering them to pursue a career in business, while also helping them in their leadership development and self-development. The program will also help students build networks, and offer community engagement opportunities. My time in the Lead program helped me become the woman I am today. It helped me acquire leadership skills, build my network, and provided me with mentorship support that I am eternally grateful for.”
Another support program, the Male Initiative for Leadership and Education (MILE), provides academic support, workshops, community involvement, experiences in leadership and mentors to male students on campus who wish to participate.
STCC, the only technical community college in Massachusetts, is a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution. Colleges with an Hispanic student population of at least 25 percent are eligible for the designation. Latino, Latina and Latinx students make up more than 30 percent of the student population at STCC.
Representatives of KPMG U.S. Foundation, Inc. met with President John B. Cook, fourth from right, and his staff to discuss the BLOOM program. Second from right is Anita Whitehead, philanthropy leader and chair at KPMG.
SPRINGFIELD, MA | AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE |
December 6, 2022 – American International College (AIC) is proud to announce it has received a $30,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts to uphold the College’s commitment to embracing diversity and fostering a sense of belonging.
The 2022 Flexible Funding Grant will support the establishment of an Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging on campus to lead and facilitate the College’s DEIB Plan, outlined in AIC’s newly released five-year strategic plan, AIC Reimagined. The office’s focus will be on recruiting and retaining diverse students, faculty, and staff. AIC’s goal is to identify its structure and staffing needs by the end of the 2022-2023 academic year.
“We are very grateful for the Community Foundation’s support,” said Joe Long, AIC Interim Vice President for Institutional Advancement. “They are investing in AIC, our mission, and our new strategic plan. We are fortunate to have such a respected partner as the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts show their belief in us. We will work tirelessly to reward that belief with a robust DEIB program that connects all students, faculty, staff, and community members and AIC.”
Founded in 1991, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts seeks to enrich the quality of life for the people of the
region. The foundation received nearly 250 applicants for the Flexible Funding Grants this year, which was about twice as many as in 2021. One of the priorities for its funding decisions was organizations where the leadership is racially diverse.
“These grants allow grantee organizations to continue their core mission-driven work,” said Meredith Lewis, the foundation’s director of Community Impact and Partnerships, “and to improve their efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion work while addressing community needs.”
Founded in 1885, American International College (AIC) is a private, co-educational, doctoralgranting institution in Springfield, Massachusetts comprising the School of Business, Arts and Sciences, the School of Health Service, and the School of Education. AIC supports and advances education, diversity, and opportunity for its students and the community.
Over the past few years, protests have shaken the government buildings of Puerto Rico. Now more than ever, the people of Puerto Rico are advocating for themselves at a time when their own government has forgotten about them.
“People from all different walks of life and ideologies came together.” This quote comes from Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, the former mayor of San Juan. I recently got the chance to interview Cruz on Zoom. Seated in front of her fireplace where a framed photo of the Puerto Rican flag sits on top, she describes the protests that took place in San Juan during the summer of 2019. These protests called for the resignation of former governor, Ricardo A. Rosselló. People were particularly outraged when messages between Rosselló and his cabinet were leaked.
Yulín Cruz was one of the main subjects of the leaked chat messages and according to her, her name was mentioned 69 times in the leaked messages. The messages that were leaked contained conversations between Roselló and his closest aides calling Cruz a whore, crazy, and stated that she had mental problems. One protestor, Shariana Ferrer commented on these leaked messages stating, “This wasn’t just about words. This wasn’t because they called us whores. This was a governor who abused his power.”
Yulín Cruz remembers the impact the protests had on her and the city of San Juan. She states, “A bottle of plastic water was thrown at the policemen and the tactical police started beating people, shooting them with rubber bullets, putting tear gas all over the place. As a mother and a Puerto Rican it was devastating to see that” Cruz responded to these protests by making the municipality city hall into a sanctuary.
As these protests gained traction, many Puerto Rican celebrities began to voice their support with the protestors. For example, Puerto Rican musicians such as Ricky Martin took to social media to show their support. The protests really gained media attention when Bad Bunny and Residente created a song that spoke about the protests and it became an anthem for protestors. The song is entitled “Afilando Los Cuchillos” (Sharpening the Knives) and it had “2.5 million views on YouTube within a day of its release.”
Throughout the history of the island, there have been several social movements that have created a sense of pride within the people of Puerto Rico. The first social movement that was monumental in the history of Puerto Rico was in the early to mid 20th century. Pedro Albizu Campos was an important political figure that led one of the earliest movements for Puerto Rican independence. The book, The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora by Andrés Torres and José E Velázquez outlines how Campos inspired Puerto Ricans. “Albizu Campos’s greatest contribution was to revive the militant tradition of Betances who insisted that Puerto Rico be placed within the Caribbean and Latin American context and not retained as some appendix to the United States.” Campos’ outspokenness inspired other generations in Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora to organize.
Within the past two years, more protests have taken place in Puerto Rico. In 2021, protesters took to the streets to share their discontent with the new energy company in Puerto Rico, LUMA Energy. After Hurricane María, the island’s electrical grid was destroyed and people experienced continuous blackouts. In June of 2021, LUMA
Energy became the new electrical company in Puerto Rico and promised to improve electrical conditions on the island. These were empty promises as the electricity situation has only worsened. Rolling blackouts continued to plague the island and people were fed up. “Several thousand people marched along a main highway in San Juan, the capital, blocking traffic with the latest in a series of protests over the seemingly unending electricity problems plaguing the island” (Mazzei, 2021). The electrical situation in Puerto Rico is just one issue within the larger problem of corruption on the island.
2022 has really been the year where Puerto Rican protestors are gaining a lot of attention. In February of 2022 public employees took to the streets in demand of better pay and benefits. About three quarters of the country’s 20,000 teachers went on strike. One teacher, Jose Cintron spoke to NPR about the current status of public school teachers in Puerto Rico. “I’ve been receiving this pay for 10 years, of $1,750 for 10 years… If you’re married, like me, and I have two children, you have to stretch the bill - pay water, which is high.” The teacher strike caught the attention of governor Pedro Periluisi and he announced that the government found money to give teachers a thousand dollars monthly raise. Despite this increase in pay, protests grew even more. At this point, it was about more than just the wages. Cintron states, “We also want a fair share for our retirement fund because right now there’s teachers that will be losing a whole bunch of their percentage.” Teachers are no longer working toward guaranteed pensions as the debt crisis has made the government force teachers into contributing into a 401(k) plan. The teachers’ strike inspired other public employees to join their fight as well.
Firefighters and paramedics joined protests because both of these groups are experiencing the same hardships as teachers. “Firefighters earn a base salary of $1,500 a month and are seeking $2,500 and an improved pension plan” (Coto, 2022). Government employees are struggling to make ends meet. Their stories are similar to those of other Puerto Ricans who are being hurt by the debt crisis. This debt crisis has been ongoing in Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans
are the ones who are being directly affected, but are rarely ever listened to. One Puerto Rican musician who is attempting to have the voices of Puerto Rican people heard is Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny has put on a spotlight on Puerto Rican politics as he has gained popularity around the world. Former Mayor Cruz has been inspired by the way Bad Bunny has been able to uplift Puerto Ricans. Sitting in front of a framed Puerto Rican flag in her home, Cruz states: “He has used his platform to elevate the social justices in PR to a point where people listen.”
On September 16, 2022 Bad Bunny released the music video for his song “El Apagón” off of his latest album Un Verano Sin Ti. The music video features a short documentary about the displacement of native Puerto Ricans. It features testimonies from native Puerto Ricans sharing how real estate companies are purchasing properties throughout the country and forcing them out of their homes and businesses. The gentrification of the island has been on the rise as more Americans are moving there to receive tax incentives. The displacement of native Puerto Ricans and the destruction of beaches has not gone without a fight. The documentary shows a protest that took place in Rincon where protestors were able to stop developers from taking over a beach. This one instance of victory shows the true determination of the Puerto Rican people.
Puerto Rico is an island with an immense history that often goes unnoticed. There have always been social movements within Puerto Rico and amongst Puerto Ricans in the United States. As more attention is placed on Puerto Rico through the success of musical artists, people need to know about the history of civil disobedience within the country. The people of Puerto Rico have always fought and continue to fight for their rights even if no one is listening. The determination and persistence within the spirit of Puerto Ricans can inspire people throughout the world to fight against injustice.
GABI PALERMO (paler22g@mtholyoke.edu) is junior at Mount Holyoke College majoring in Film and Spanish with a minor in Journalism.
“This is public data that validates and verifies what I’ve experienced and observed in my own career,” said Aradhna Tripati, a corresponding author of the paper and the director of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science. “The data shows white scientists consistently received more funding in every field of science across the NSF for more than two decades, in a purportedly merit-based system.
“This is a system that is steeped in a culture of whiteness,” said Tripati, a UCLA professor with UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences. “This is a system that is set up against huge numbers of people. It’s pushing out good scientists, and delaying nonwhite scientists from receiving grants to pursue their innovative ideas. At the same time, white scientists are benefiting from cumulative advantage. It is unfair.”
The seven authors span disciplines including geoscience, social science and public policy. Four of the seven are members of the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science; and in addition to UCLA, they represent UC Berkeley, the University of Bristol in England, the University of Hawai’i at M noa and Arizona State University.
“Billions of dollars in funding was diverted away from minority scientists compared to what they would have received if they had won grants at the average rate, and we want to make sure the data is visible,” said co-author Sara Kahanamoku, a member of the Center for Diverse Leadership and a scientist at UC Berkeley. The authors sent a preview copy of the study to the NSF, which has not disputed their conclusions. In reporting by the journal Science, an agency spokesperson said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan “shares these concerns [about] systemic racial disparities in funding at NSF and other federal agencies.”
If you’re feeling the aftermath of your holiday spending, you’re not alone. Studies show that most Americans spend more than they could afford on holiday gifts, decorations and entertaining, leaving them financially-strapped in the new year. In fact, it is estimated that holiday debt load soared 24% from last year, the highest in the past eight years.
If you are one of the ones feeling the financial pinch, ignoring the problem is not the answer. Rather, you must confront it and deal with it from the beginning (as early as January) to avoid another financial disaster as the bills start rolling in.
First and foremost, put away your credit cards, especially if you’re one of the ones who used them for holiday (over)spending. Second, create a budget and be honest with it. List all of your monthly bills beginning with your household expenses from your mortgage/rent, utilities and groceries/food. You may want to include your car payment and car maintenance expenses in this category, especially if your vehicle is your only means of transportation to and from work. These are called survival bills because they provide you with shelter, heat and nutrition (and transportation if you need a car for transportation).
The next thing you want to include are your credit card bills. You want to pay, at the very least, the minimum due each month to avoid it from having a negative impact on your credit rating. TIP: Put away your credit cards while you focus on getting yourself out of your holiday-debt.
by MILAGROS S. JOHNSONThird, make a list of your miscellaneous, non-essential bills (i.e., cable, subscriptions and memberships). You’ll be surprised to see in writing just how much of your budget is absorbed by them. You may want to consider canceling some of them while you focus on paying your survival and essential bills. Ask yourself, “Do I need it or do I want it,” when determining which (unnecessary) bills you need to eliminate. Another important step to take is to contact your utility companies and enter into an affordable monthly payment plan. With the increasing costs of utility bills these days, you want to stay afloat and avoid facing shutoff service after the moratorium ends. It’s better to pay anything, than nothing to avoid a higher balance as well.
To avoid another financial holiday disaster in 2023, make sure that you stick to your monthly budget, and start saving what you can ‘realistically’ afford to set aside. A gift does not necessarily mean you having to spend money. Other affordable options are simply baking your favorite holiday cookies, or using your crafty talent to make a handmade gift. For many, a surprise visit by a loved one to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, or an unexpected telephone call or holiday card with a personal note can bring that very someone just as much holiday joy.
For more information, or to speak with a Consumer Specialist, call (413) 787-6437 or email us at moci@springfieldcityhall.com.
MILAGROS S. JOHNSON is the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Information in Springfield, a Local Consumer Program funded by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Flamboyan Foundation’s Arts Fund (December 6, 2022) announced the inaugural cohort of Letras Boricuas Fellows – 20 Puerto Rican writers whose dynamic work spans genres including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and children’s literature. Ivelisse Rodríguez, born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico and raised in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is among the honorees.
Ivelisse Rodríguez was born on December 31, 1975 in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. She was raised in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and lives in Whitsett, North Carolina. She is a writer and editor. Her short story collection, Love War Stories, was a finalist in 2019 for the PEN/ Faulkner award and 2018 for Foreword Reviews INDIES. She has published fiction in the Boston Review, Obsidian, Kweli, the Bilingual Review, Aster(ix), and other publications. She is a contributing arts editor for the Boston Review. She was a senior fiction editor at Kweli and is a Kimbilio scholar, in addition to being a graduate of Las Dos Brujas and VONA/Voices. She completed a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Emerson College and a Doctorate in English Literature from the University of Illinois in Chicago.
“Letras Boricuas is more than a fellowship; it is a recognition of their work and the potential they have to continue contributing to the arts and humanities both in Puerto Rico and in the diaspora. Letras Boricuas exemplifies what can be accomplished through alliances and the union of common purposes. Special thanks to the Mellon Foundation for believing in our writers and being part of this wonderful process with us.”
The Letras Boricuas Fellowship is part of Mellon’s long-term commitment to sustaining and enriching Puerto Rico’s vibrant cultural, knowledge, and memory ecosystems. By the close of 2022, Mellon’s commitment to this effort will total over $50 million — including $10 million in post-Hurricane Fiona funding announced earlier this week, and additional year-end pledges.
The 2022 Letras Boricuas Fellows are: Fiction
Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro, Ivelisse Housman, Juan López Bauzá, Hugo Ríos Cordero, Ivelisse Rodríguez, Carlos Vázquez Cruz
Creative Nonfiction
Claudia Acevedo Quiñones, José Lee Borges, Natalie Lima Poetry (Spoken Word) Bonafide Rojas
Kattia Chico, Yarisa Colón Torres, Marta Jazmín García
Joserramón “Che” Melendes, Urayoán Noel, Mara Pastor, Ashley Pérez García, Margarita Pintado, Gisselle Yepes
Children’s Literature Haydée Zayas Ramos
Letras Boricuas—created in 2021 to identify, elevate, and amplify the voices of emerging and established Puerto Rican writers on the archipelago and across the United States diaspora—provides writers with unrestricted grants of $25,000 each to support their practice. Now in its second year, the fellowship has awarded a total of $1 million to forty writers. In addition to the funding, fellows from the second cohort will join those from the inaugural class for a convening in Puerto Rico in the spring of 2023 to foster connection and share creative processes and fellowship experiences.
Puerto Rico’s literary heritage, though rich and diverse, has traditionally been under-resourced and underfunded both in Puerto Rico and across the United States. By providing unrestricted funds and fostering connection among its recipients, the Letras Boricuas Fellowship helps to amplify Puerto Rico’s literary legacy while highlighting the dynamism and diversity of experiences for emerging and established writers – writers who continue their practice while enduring natural disasters, political turmoil, and limited funding opportunities.
“We celebrate the brilliance of these twenty remarkable writers, and the rich tradition of Puerto Rican literature, poetry, and creative expression they are expanding,” said Elizabeth Alexander, President of the Mellon Foundation. “We are excited to convene the two cohorts of writers in person in Puerto Rico next year, and look forward to experiencing more of their powerful words and visions together on la isla.”
“The Flamboyan Arts Fund is pleased and proud to support, together with our trusted partners at the Mellon Foundation, this group of Puerto Rican writers with this grant,” said Carlos Rodríguez Silvestre, Executive Director of the Flamboyan Foundation in Puerto Rico.
The 2022 Letras Boricuas fellows were chosen through a two-step nomination, and selection process by Committee members comprising experienced writers and literary experts including Gegman Lee, Carmen Dolores Hernández, Ernesto Quinones, Jaquira Díaz, Ruth Sáez, and Xavier Valcárcel.
PONCE, PR | CASA PAOLI | 2022 - La Casa Paoli del Centro de Investigaciones Folklóricas de Puerto Rico, Inc. publicó un nuevo libro del estudioso y especialista de la vida y obra de Luis Lloréns Torres, profesor Félix Córdova Iturregui: La maravilla del canto inimitable: La décima criolla de Luis Lloréns Torres. Es un análisis exhaustivo y profundo de la décima criolla del gran poeta puertorriqueño, nacido en el barrio Collores de Juana Díaz en 1878, conmemorando así el 144 aniversario de su natalicio. La Décima criolla de Luis Llorens Torres tuvo una amplia resonancia en el hueco afectivo por la separación de la tierra que sufrió rural a nivel nacional durante las primeras décadas del siglo XX. En el interior de ese amplio desgarramiento, con su dinamismo en curso a través de los años, la décima apoyó su pie menudo, según expresión de Palés Matos. No obstante, no puede subestimarse el poderoso impacto de la pequeña estrofa. El poder de su resonancia no respondió a recursos poéticos de linaje clásico como el beatus ille o el menosprecio de corte y alabanza de aldea.
Con un delicado entramado entre lo dicho y el silencio, entre lo entendido y lo sobreentendido, la décima articuló una realidad alterna al poder expansivo del capital imperial. Nunca antes en toda la compleja historia de la décima, en su dimensión popular tanto en España como en América, el impacto de esta estrofa tuvo su resonancia en un proceso de expropiación con un alcance nacional tan devastador como el ocurrido en Puerto Rico.
La conciencia política, económica y cultural de Luis Lloréns Torres le permitió la creación de un canto colocado en el hueco afectivo producido por el desgarramiento entendido entre la población campesina y la tierra. Félix Córdova Iturregui nació en Río Piedras en 1944. Es profesor jubilado de literatura en el Departamento de Estudios Hispánicos de la Universidad de Puerto Rico- Río Piedras. Ha cultivado la poesía, el cuento, la novela, el ensayo y la literatura Infantil. También ha realizado múltiples investigaciones históricas y económicas. La Casa Paoli, lugar donde nació y vivió el tenor dramático Antonio Paoli y su familia, es un centro de investigación y estudio de la cultura puertorriqueña. Es propiedad y la sede del Centro de Investigaciones Folklóricas de Puerto Rico, Inc. fundado en 1976. Es una institución sin fines de lucro y registrado en el Departamento de Estado desde el año 1980. La Casa Paoli alberga el Centro de Investigaciones Folklóricas de Puerto Rico, Inc. y un Centro Regional de la Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades.
P.O. Box 334134, Ponce, PR 00733-4134 // (939) 640-1584 // murraynestor@gmail.com // www.casapaolipr.com
BLUE RIDGE SUMMIT, PA | LEXINGTON BOOKS | December 1, 2022 | 286 pages
AfroLatinas as a subject of scholarship are woefully underrepresented, and this edited volume, AfroLatinas and LatiNegras: Culture, Identity, and Struggle from an Intersectional Perspective, offers an important and timely intervention. The consistent attention to AfroLatinas’ agency across all the chapters is empowering and attentive to the difficult circumstances of asserting that agency, and to the tremendous breadth of what agency can look like.
The authors argue for the analytical power of the concept of Intersectionality while considering the hegemonic pressures on AfroLatinidad and the essentializing moves that an intersectional approach enables: evading, overthrowing, and resisting systems of power. Through the study of multiple cultural expressions of Blackness, such as photography, colonial inquisition records, dance, music, fiction, non-fiction, poetic memoir, and religious expression, and throughout different region of the Americas, the chapter contributors of this book consider the relationship that social and historical processes, such as sovereignty and colonialism, have on narrative and cultural production.
Rosita Scerbo, Concetta Bondi, and the contributors acknowledge that racial and gender equity cannot exist without Intersectionality, and the inclusion of activist voices broadens this volume’s reach and links theory to praxis.
ROSITA SCERBO is an Assistant Professor of Afro-Hispanic Studies in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Georgia State University. Her research interests include Afro-Latinx/Diasporic Literature & Culture, the Black Woman’s Experience in the Hispanic World, Intersectional and Transnational Feminism, Queer Theory, Race, Ethnicity, and Social Movements in Latin America, Visual Culture, and Digital Humanities. She obtained her Ph.D. in Latin American/Latinx Visual Studies from Arizona State University.
CONCETTA BONDI holds a Masters degree in Spanish from McGill University, Canada and a PhD in Chicanx Studies from Arizona State University. She has taught both Spanish and ESL in Spain and North America, and has over 10 years of experience teaching in the corporate and academic setting. Currently, she teaches Spanish language and cultures courses as well as Spanish for the Professions at the Downtown Phoenix campus.Her research interests include Mexican American/Chicanx identity studies and their relation to architecture, art, and literature. Her current work focuses on Latinx/Chicanx artistic and cultural production in Phoenix, Arizona.
Contributions by Algris Xiomara Aldeano Vásquez; Jamie Lee Andreson; Concetta Bondi; Yoiseth Patricia Cabarcas; Natasha Carrizosa; Meaghan Jeanne Coogan; Karen S. Christian; Renata Dorneles Lima; Yesenia Escobar Espitia; Lesley Feracho; Lindsay Gary; Kerry Green; Keturah Nichols; Lillie Padilla; Melissa Castillo Planas; Brenda Romero and Rosita Scerbo
por JESÚS CEPEDA & DIMAS SÁNCHEZSAN JUAN, PR | LULU.COM | Diciembre 3, 2022 | 190 páginas
Este proyecto empezó como una preocupación tanto de Jesús Cepeda como mía acerca de la falta de información fidedigna sobre una de las formas musicales másantiguas practicada en Puerto Rico: la Bomba, y además mostrar los comienzos de otra forma musical como lo es la Plena. El propósito de este libro es documentar aquellos ritmos afropuertorriqueños que por mucho tiempo estuvieron relegados a un segundo o tercer nivel en el ambiente cultural de Puerto Rico. Además de documentar los ritmos (alrededor de 19), proporcionamos un trasfondo histórico de la práctica, incluyendo información sobre los practicantes de este género y los lugares donde se practicaba. Además, incluimos una sección de cómo algunos de los ritmos de Bomba y Plena pueden ser utilizados en otros géneros como jazz, funk, rock y otros géneros afro-descendientes con la batería.
Este libro va acompañado de una serie de materiales didácticos que refuerzan su contenido. Agregamos a este trabajo vídeos, audios y escritos que indican cómo tocar los diferentes ritmos que aquí comentamos y aspectos históricos tanto de la Bomba como de la Plena, y las circunstancias históricas que les dieron forma.
JESÚS M. CEPEDA BRENES, hijo del Patriarca de la Bomba y la Plena Don Rafael Cepeda Atiles y Doña Caridad Brenes, es un experto en todo lo relacionado a este arte del folclore puertorriqueño. Se ha destacado como profesor en y fuera de Puerto Rico al adiestrar a músicos, investigadores, estudiantes de música y público en general. Ha ofrecido charlas en universidades, escuelas superiores y elementales sobre los fundamentos de la Bomba y la Plena. La educación artística que posee es la tradición que ha ido pasando de padres a hijos y a nietos a través de los años, al crear un
folclore clásico dentro de la línea musical nativa con mayor énfasis en la Bomba y la Plena puertorriqueña.
Jesús Cepeda Brenes es director ejecutivo de la Fundación Folclórica Cultural Rafael Cepeda, Inc. y de la Casa Museo Rafael Cepeda. Desde hace alrededor de veintidós años dirige el Grupo Folclórico Nacional Hermanos Cepeda.
DIMAS SÁNCHEZ es un baterista y percusionista nacido en Puerto Rico y residente en la ciudad de Orlando, FL. Ha estudiado con músicos como Tony Sánchez, Keith Copeland, Ignacio Berroa, Ángel “Cachete” Maldonado, et al. Además, pudo estudiar el folclore afro-puertorriqueño cuando participó en los años 80 junto a La Familia Cepeda donde Jesús Cepeda, Petra Cepeda y Don Rafael Cepeda fueron sus tutores
Dimas ha tenido la oportunidad de tocar con los siguientes músicos y grupos: El Taller de Jazz Don Pedro; David Sánchez; Giovanni Hidalgo; Eddie “GuaGua” Rivera; Milly Puente; John Benítez; Néstor Torres; Anthony Carrillo; Iba a Se; Gabriel Hernández; Edsel Gómez, “La Familia Cepeda”; Eric Figueroa; Lucecita Benítez; Juancito Torres; Chuchito Valdés; Ray Coén; Tito Puente Jr; Marty Morell, Orquesta de Xavier Cougat, et al. También ha producido grabaciones de Jazz Latino con el grupo Opus Mundi de Eddie “GuaGua” Rivera y con su propio grupo Fusión Beat.
Pueden conseguir el libro contactando a la Fundación Rafael Cepeda al siguiente enlace https://www.fundacionrafaelcepeda.com/home
Únase a la celebración de la apertura de la Temporada 2022-2023 del Fine Arts Center con una serie de eventos virtuales y presenciales que celebran la humanidad presente en todos nosotros.
Jueves, 16 de febrero, 7:30 p.m Bowker Auditorium
Asientos Reservados $35 y $20 – Jóvenes menores de 17 y estudiantes de los Five College $10 Aclamado por el Chicago Tribune como “ofreciendo una lección objetiva sobre lo que un músico de jazz inventivo puede hacer con una canción familiar,” el guitarrista Bobby Broom ha estado desafiando los convencionalismos durante cuatro décadas.
de Febrero 2023
En esta gira de primavera, Broom y su cuarteto interpretan material del lanzamiento Keyed Up de septiembre de 2022, alabado por la crítica. El álbum, el decimocuarto de Broom como líder de banda, agrega al dinámico pianista/organista de Chicago Justin Dillard al trío de Broom.
Serie ¡Guitarra!
Sábado, 25 de febrero, 8 p.m. | Old Chapel Entrada General $15
William Kanengiser, miembro fundador del Los Angeles Guitar Quartet y ganador del Grammy, es uno de los principales guitarristas clásicos y educadores musicales del país. Ha grabado música clásica, jazz, caribeña y del Cercano Oriente, ha creado múltiples producciones teatrales y se ha presentado en todo el mundo. En su ¡Guitarra! Kanengiser presentará un fascinante programa multicultural, Diaspora, con obras para guitarra clásica de compositores irlandeses, armenios, serbios, persas, cubanos y tibetanos que reflejan la experiencia de los inmigrantes.
Wellness for Musicians Lecture Viernes, 24 de febrero, 8 p.m. Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts lobby Gratis / Free Únase al artista y educador para una charla especial que explora temas de salud y bienestar para músicos.
Política de Salud y Seguridad COVID-19: El Centro de Bellas Artes se adherirá a las políticas actuales de la Universidad de Massachusetts Amherst. Para mas información visite la guía actualizada para los eventos en el campus UMass Amherst: www.umass.edu/coronavirus/news/public-health-preparations-fall-semester
Para conocer nuestra programación de la temporada completa o boletos de entrada llamar al: 413-545-2511 ó al 800-999-UMAS ó en línea fineartscenter.com
