What does it mean to feel Puerto Rican when you grow up questioning whether you belong? A conversation about representation, growing up without seeing yourself reflected in movies and television, and finding a sense of belonging in Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community.

What does it mean to feel seen?

In Episode 9 of The Domino Dialogues, host Edwin Desamour welcomes Marángeli Mejía-Rabell, Festival Director and Chief Curator of the Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival (PHLAFF), and multimedia creator, podcaster, and community media advocate Gabe Castro for a conversation about film, identity, and the stories that shape our lives.

Together, they explore how representation influences the way we see ourselves, why community-centered storytelling matters, and how spaces like PHLAFF and PhillyCAM create opportunities for people to share their voices. Along the way, they reflect on growing up between cultures, finding belonging in Philadelphia, raising families, childhood memories of summers on the block, and the power of seeing your experiences reflected on screen.

This episode is a reminder that stories don't just entertain us. They help us understand who we are, where we come from, and how we connect with one another.

In this Domino Dialogues Short, PHLAFF Festival Director Marángeli Mejía-Rabell reflects on the growth of the Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival from its beginnings in 2012 to a six-week celebration of film, culture, and community.

Marángeli shares how PHLAFF evolved through collaboration, adapted during the pandemic, and continues to create opportunities for filmmakers and audiences to connect across Philadelphia. With more than 180 films representing 21 countries, the festival has become a space where stories from across the Latin American diaspora can be seen and shared.

The conversation highlights PHLAFF's commitment to accessibility, community partnerships, and meeting people where they are, whether through in-person events, neighborhood activations, or virtual screenings.

This clip is part of our full conversation with Marángeli Mejía-Rabell and Gabe Castro on storytelling, representation, community media, and the role film plays in preserving culture and building connections.

For tickets and to learn more about the Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival, visit PHLAFF.org.

In this special field episode of The Domino Dialogues, host Edwin Desamour visits Community Academy Charter High School in Philadelphia, where a group of seniors have turned a lunchroom domino table into a space for conversation, competition, and community.

What begins as a discussion about dominoes quickly expands into a broader conversation about identity, family traditions, language, culture, neighborhood pride, and the challenges young people face as they prepare for life after high school. The students share their experiences growing up in Philadelphia, their connections to Puerto Rican culture, and how they see themselves carrying those traditions into the future.

Throughout the episode, the domino table serves as more than a game. It becomes a place where friendships are built, stories are shared, and a new generation reflects on what community means to them. The conversation also highlights the role educators and school staff can play in creating spaces where students feel seen, supported, and connected.

We often use the domino table to explore history and reflect on the experiences of previous generations. This time, we turned our attention to the future.

Recorded at Community Academy Charter High School, this episode is part of Somos Society's ongoing effort to document the living stories of Philadelphia's Puerto Rican community and preserve them for future generations.

The Domino Dialogues is a conversation series produced by Somos Society, where community members gather around a domino table to share stories, memories, and perspectives that help document the past while shaping the future.

The table is the setting. The archive is the purpose.

In this short from The Domino Dialogues, the conversation turns to Puerto Rican bread, coffee, butter, cheese, and the kinds of food memories that instantly feel like home.

Vanessa Vega, Ant Rivera, and Edwin Desamour reflect on neighborhood bakeries, pan sobao, and the small details tied to growing up Philly Rican. From dipping bread in coffee to stopping at spots around 5th & Cambria, the conversation captures how food carries memory, culture, and familiarity across generations.

The conversation touches on Puerto Rican bakeries, neighborhood traditions, food memories, and the everyday moments that connect people back to home and community.

This short is from Episode 8, Art as Responsibility, now available.

Featured topics:

Puerto Rican bread • Pan sobao • Philly Rican identity • Food memories • Neighborhood culture • Community traditions

If this conversation resonates with you, we invite you to share it and continue the conversation with your own memories and traditions.

These conversations are part of Somos Society’s work to preserve the historical living archive of Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community.

In this short from The Domino Dialogues, filmmaker Ant Rivera reflects on Philly Rican identity, representation, and the importance of telling stories rooted in North Philadelphia.

Ant speaks about growing up without seeing his community represented in film and how that shaped the work he creates today. From 2nd & Lehigh to family history, the conversation explores how storytelling becomes a way to document people, neighborhoods, and experiences that are often left out of history books.

The conversation touches on representation, filmmaking, cultural memory, family stories, and the responsibility artists feel to preserve the humanity of their communities through their work.

This short is from Episode 8, Art as Responsibility, now available.

Featured topics:

Philly Rican identity • Storytelling • Representation • Filmmaking • Cultural memory • North Philadelphia

If this conversation resonates with you, we invite you to share it and continue the conversation with your own memories, stories, and experiences.

These conversations are part of Somos Society’s work to preserve the historical living archive of Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community.

In this short from The Domino Dialogues, Vanessa Vega, Ant Rivera, and Edwin Desamour discuss gentrification in North Philadelphia and the ways longtime residents experience cultural and physical displacement in their own neighborhoods.

The conversation reflects on changing blocks, disappearing cultural identity, housing politics, and the frustration many community members feel watching resources suddenly appear only after outside investment arrives. Vanessa and Ant also speak about erasure, development, and the importance of protecting the people and culture that shaped these neighborhoods long before redevelopment conversations began.

The conversation touches on housing, redlining, neighborhood change, cultural memory, and the realities of trying to preserve community in a city that continues to shift around it.

This short is from Episode 8, Art as Responsibility, now available.

Featured topics:

Gentrification • North Philadelphia • Housing • Cultural erasure • Philly Rican identity • Community memory

If this conversation resonates with you, we invite you to share it and continue the conversation with your own experiences and reflections.

These conversations are part of Somos Society’s work to preserve the historical living archive of Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community.

In this short from The Domino Dialogues, Vanessa Vega and Ant Rivera discuss gatekeeping, mentorship, and the frustrations younger creatives often face trying to navigate community spaces and opportunities.

The conversation reflects on generational differences, the importance of sharing knowledge, and why many younger artists feel they are still waiting to be taken seriously. Vanessa and Ant also speak about the role creatives play in shaping community identity and preserving culture.

The conversation touches on leadership, access, collaboration, and what it means to create space for the next generation instead of making them repeat the same struggles.

This short is from Episode 8, Art as Responsibility, now available.

Featured topics:

Gatekeeping • Mentorship • Young creatives • Philly Rican identity • Community leadership • Art and culture

If this conversation resonates with you, we invite you to share it and continue the conversation with your own experiences and perspectives.

These conversations are part of Somos Society’s work to preserve the historical living archive of Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community.

In Episode 8 of The Domino Dialogues, Philly Rican artists Vanessa Vega and Ant Rivera join Edwin Desamour for a conversation about storytelling, art, identity, and the responsibility of preserving culture through creative work.

Filmed inside the Taina Sisters cultural space on Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia, the conversation moves through filmmaking, murals, Puerto Rican history, neighborhood change, representation, family traditions, and the importance of documenting stories that are often overlooked or erased. Vanessa and Ant reflect on creating from where they come from and what it means to carry community memory into their work.

The conversation touches on Philly Rican identity, gatekeeping, gentrification, cultural preservation, neighborhood bakeries, saying “bendición,” and why younger creatives deserve space to tell their own stories.

This episode is Episode 8, Art as Responsibility, now available.

Featured topics:

Philly Rican identity • Storytelling • Cultural preservation • Gentrification • Murals • Filmmaking • North Philadelphia • Puerto Rican culture • Community memory

If this conversation resonates with you, we invite you to share it and continue the conversation with your own memories, experiences, and reflections.

These conversations are part of Somos Society’s work to preserve the historical living archive of Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community.

In this short from The Domino Dialogues, the conversation turns to the meaning behind saying “bendición” in Puerto Rican households.

Vanessa Vega, Ant Rivera, and Edwin Desamour reflect on growing up asking elders for their blessing, how traditions shift across generations, and the small cultural practices that continue to connect families and communities.

The conversation touches on respect, memory, family, and the ways culture gets carried forward through everyday moments.

This short is from Episode 8, Art as Responsibility, now available.

Featured topics:

Family traditions • Puerto Rican culture • Generational memory • Philly Rican identity • Community

If this conversation resonates with you, we invite you to share it and continue the conversation with your own memories and experiences.

These conversations are part of Somos Society’s work to preserve the historical living archive of Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community.