Notes From A Native Daughter

This episode 26, is a Spanish podcast with an English intro. Here is my mom, pops and I sitting around mom’s dining table a few days ago.

In this episode dad and I talk about one of my theories on why I’ve lost my “joie” for holidays in general, his love for Christmas, his Pido Paz album, childhood and Christmas in Puerto Rico in the 1950s, a song for Sister Isolina Ferré, and all the while Bebe, my mother, throws her wisdom of historical references. She didn’t “want to be” interviewed but she spoke anyway. ‘Tis her style to let her voice be heard. I owe her so much I can’t even, I’ll save her for Mother’s Day. Dad is incredible. At 71 his voice is solid, mature, profound and uncracked. A beast. He’ll get more episodes, I mean he’s a series onto itself.

Later today, I’m spending Christmas with my parents for the first time in over 35 years. Amazing and beautiful. I’m verklempt and grateful. Here’s to wishing you all a Merry season and a prosperous and bountiful year 2017. Resist neo-fascism

Here in New York City Louis Perego Moreno, also known - far-and-wide - as Tio Louie, is a staple character of the hustle and bustle Latino arts and entertainment scene. He supports and champions filmmakers, actors, and musicians, but really all the arts. He’s hell-bent on arguing his point on how Latinos are not at the table at almost every turn. And, while I do agree with Louis on several points, I favor other equally and arguably more important points, regarding Latinos “at the table,” mostly that, I think we can do a better job of telling and presenting our stories. It’s a big one and a conversation that Louie and I and others can continue to have and expand. Don’t expect a cat fight here, we’re civil, loving, and listen to our conversation.

#Latinos #arts #entertainment #tiolouis #ourstories #film #television

Innocence and wisdom shine out of Trina’s eyes when she speaks. Trina is an American, Venezuelan, and Italian extract, who from dancing to cycling to producing, does it all with gusto and bravado. El flamenco is one of the greatest loves of her life. Because of it, she holds to el duende (sprite) as a means to sustain living with meaning and purpose. We talk about that, her Made in NY fellowship year, Habla, Latino Media Works, and Flamenca Films.

#habla #hbolatino #hablayvota #flamencafilms #duende #latina #director #flamenco

Episode 24 is part two of two, of my conversation with Elba Cabrera. Here In New York City, Elba Cabrera is an esteemed figure of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Of strong stock, with strength and honor, she’s of one of those people everyone here knows. Her sister, the beloved and legendary leader hailed as the mother of the Bronx was Evelina López Antonetty.

She personifies cultural legacy. She greeted me with homemade banana bread, coffee, and quiche, and then gave me a tour of her apartment while she went on about her paintings and pictures. Her eyes and times have seen much.

Here In New York City, Elba Cabrera is an esteemed figure of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Of strong stock, with strength and honor, she’s of one of those people everyone here knows. Her sister, the beloved and legendary leader hailed as the mother of the Bronx was Evelina López Antonetty.

She personifies cultural legacy. She greeted me with homemade banana bread, coffee, and quiche, and then gave me a tour of her apartment while she went on about her paintings and pictures. Her eyes and times have seen much.

Episode 23 is part one of two, and this first part of our conversation plays unedited because is nuanced - history bits and in-between the lines…

Lucía Castellano Vega and Inés Mongil Echandi is the team of directors behind the lovely short doc., Clubman 13.3.13. The piece trails one man whose work ethic, dignity, and elegance reveals itself by his own words and actions. For over sixty-years, this man devoted himself to men’s wear. His sense of honor and duty reflected. The story is so simple it feels like a caress, a gesture.

What gets us up each day? How come we live and for what? What is our purpose? How does time change and alter what we do and focus on? What happens when circumstances change and we must take a different course? Clubman 13.3.13 addresses these themes. A poetic story about lifelong commitments but also about a changing labor market and workforce.

The protagonist holds to his work ethic because he knows only it, will save him. As long as he has his will to live there is always something to do.

Inés and I talk life, finding stories, elegance, and dignity.

#clubman13313 #clubman #santurce #shortdoc #womendirectors #work #menswear

Melissa Montero is an Ecuadorian-Puerto Rican warrior, activist, filmmaker who dances the hustle. Automatic five stars, in my book. Her moral compass directs a lot of her creative efforts. We talk dance, the hustle, salsa, discipline, Oscar Lopez Rivera, and Isabel Rosado.

Melissa is one of the core committee members of the 35 Mujeres NYC X Oscar, a group of 35 women of different ideologies, faiths, and backgrounds who gather in neighborhoods throughout New York City the last Sunday of every month to rally until Oscar Lopez Rivera is pardoned and released from prison.

She’s been working on a documentary, Mi Madrina Revolucionaria (My Revolutionary Mother) for several years, about her search for a deeper sense of her identity as a Nuyorican through her encounters with Isabel Rosado, a woman whose life encompassed the history of Puerto Rico over the last century, and whose struggle reflects the politics that have divided Puerto Ricans to this day. 

#freeoscarlopezrivera #PuertoRico #film #art #identity

If last week I smiled, this week I cried. Not sure which of the drops was the last drop that kicked it out me, but inspired by T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” and during my sleepless night of Thursday I wrote. And, a letter to President Barack Obama came out of me, which I sent to The White House and the Council of Environmental Quality on Friday morning. Later in the afternoon, I recorded myself reading it - 3 minutes and 50 seconds long.

#IStandWithStandingRock #poetry #TheFuture #climatechange #SOS #beforetheflood

This is episode 20 of Notes From A Native Daughter. My guest is Puerto Rican award-winning actress, writer, and filmmaker Kisha Tikina Burgos. In our second go at recording, we end up having a heart-to-heart philosophical conversation about creativity and purpose. Lovely.

On November 9th, her award-winning film “Antes que cante el gallo” (Before the Rooster Sings) directed by Ari Maniel Cruz, opens the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival (IPRHFF) here in New York City. Among other awards, “Antes que cante el gallo” just received the Mejor Pelicula de Infancia 2016 by UNICEF Colombia during the 33rd edition of the Bogotá Film Festival. This is very cool and head over to Google translate to learn what this is all about. The film’s executive team are all a bunch of super Puerto Rican pros. Also very cool.

So be on the lookout for streaming and listen to us if you wish. This is a Spanglish podcast.

#antesquecanteelgallo #IPRHFF #artist #woman #filmmaker