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"The story of my voice"
performance resonates with HP Youth
"The Story Of My Voice" was a play written and produced by all 30 students. A play that dealt with the realities of our young people, but a play that also instilled hope in our young people to create change and become our transformative agents. On the night of August 3rd, the thirty youth participants expressed themselves through the art of theater and poetry.The event was attended by over 60 family members and friends of our students, as well as several community residents and partners. This was the culminating event for the summer program.
For the past six weeks, a summer program funded by After School Matters allowed for Pedro Albizu Campos High School, Batey Urbano, and Barrio Arts Culture and Communications Academy (BACCA) to give young people in the Humboldt Park community a safe and alternative space to spend their summer. For a month and a half the students were guided through facilitated workshops that developed their writing skills, performance skills, the art of improv, as well as raised consciousness of anti-underage drinking, community issues and community building.
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SAVE THE DATE!
FIESTA BORICUA
Sunday, Sept 2
Vendors apply now!
Since 1993, Fiesta Boricua has offered businesses the opportunity to sell goods, advertise products and services. Participating in Fiesta Boricua is easy. Contact the Fiesta Boricua vendor coordinator, fill out a contract, and pay a deposit or full cost of your booth. When it comes to selecting your booth's location, our policy is first-come-first serve. You will be able to select your space by paying in full, or with a minimum down payment and a signed contract. Download the packet here.
For more information on participating in this year's Fiesta Boricua, contact Zenaida Lopez at zenaidal@prcc-chgo.org
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Our Websites:
View our Photos on Flickr!
(Over 13,000 pics!)
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Campaign to Free Oscar Strong at Cleveland's Puerto Rican Parade and Latino Fest
For the weekend of August 4, a contingent from Chicago went to Cleveland to assist its National Boricua Human Rights Network (NBHRN) chapter in the campaign to free the political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. The head of the chapter, Nozomi Ikuta, warmly welcomed and housed the group and made arrangements for the campaign's presence at the city's Puerto Rican Parade and Latino Festival organized by the Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center.
This included marching in the parade, hosting an informational table during the festival, and speaking about the campaign on the main stage on both Saturday and Sunday before the main musical acts. Aside from distributing hundreds of fliers about the campaign, getting over 100 signed petitions for a Presidential pardon, and recruiting folks for the Cleveland chapter, the group also gave - on stage - a painting of Julia de Burgos made by Oscar to the event organizers to hang-up in their facility. The Puerto Rican community of Cleveland also warmly welcomed the group, chanting "¡Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" when they were on stage and standing respectively when our very own Casandra Figueroa sang the original La Borinqueña. Lastly, the contingent made a connection with members of the Puerto Rican community in Lorain, Ohio and is working to organize a group for the campaign at their festival late next month.
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Guided tours of IPRAC and the surrounding Paseo Boricua community will be available at IPRAC with Eduardo Arocho serving as a docent. If you're interested in arranging a tour for your organization, school or church, please contact IPRAC at 773-486-8345.
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Puerto Rican Cultural Center 2739-41 W. Division St Chicago, Illinois 60622 P 773-342-8023 F 773-342-6609
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"El Futuro es Nuestro"
Youth Day in Humboldt Park
Come celebrate with us the beauty and possibilities of youth. On August 10, 2012 at 6pm the Puerto Rican Cultural Center's Youth Leadership Institute will host its first official meeting at its youth space, Café Teatro Batey Urbano (2620 W. Division) as a follow-up event to our successful Humboldt Park Youth Assembly this past July 27. Here we will discuss having a strong youth presence at "Fiesta Boricua 'Bandera a Bandera'" and preparing for our work in the new school year; we are specifically looking for those who want to be members of the YLI and are eager to carry-out our educational initiatives. Also, this meeting and event is being organized in observance of International Youth Day and accordingly we will begin with games, music, and food! Come by - feel inspired and get involved! Please be on time!
RSVP on our Facebook page: "El Futuro es Nuestro"
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"Drop The Bottle" campaign Produces Two New Videos
The students of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center's (PRCC) After School Matters (ASM) summer theatre program wrote and acted in two films for the "Drop The Bottle" alternatives to underage campaign. These films were produced as part of the work of the PRCC's Youth Leadership Institute, which has multiple youth initiatives including the Barrio, Arts, Culture, and Communications Academy (BACCA) after school program and the Café Teatro Batey Urbano youth space. They were edited by Matt McCanna.
Check out the films on BACCA's youtube page, Staying Sober and Organizing for Alternatives, or on our website.
 | | "Drop The Bottle" - Staying Sober |
 | | "Drop The Bottle" - Organizing for Alternatives |
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José E. López, Executive Director of the PRCC, featured on UNIvision's "Leader in Action" Series
Recently, Uniivision TV featured José E. López, ED of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center on it's series "Un Líder en Acción". Watch the complete video here. |
For the Freedom of Puerto Rican Patriot
Oscar Lopez Rivera
Tito Kayak suspends his Caribbean journey
Alberto De Jesús Mercado, the activista better known as "Tito Kayak" decide last Wednesday night to temporarily suspend his one-month old trip, because of health problems that his parents are suffering from.
De Jesús hopes this will be a brief interruption to the journey that he ias undertaken with the end of calling international attention to the case of Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, convicted of seditious conspiracy in 1981. Read the entire article in Spanish here.
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Orlando Network Chapter Supports LCLAA Resolution
On July 26, 2012 members of the National Boricua Human Rights Network - Orlando Chapter along with Lourdes Lugo, niece of Oscar López Rivera, attended the 30th annual Latin Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) annual convention at Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando. Lourdes presented an emotional message to the those in attendance on the need to pass a Resolution for the release of Oscar López Rivera. Over 500 hundred members from all over the United States and Puerto Rico attended this convention. After some deliberation and discussion by members in attendance, it was unanimously decided that the Resolution for the Liberation of Oscar be passed and approved. It was an emotional event for all of us and a huge victory for the movement to free Oscar. Pictured below are some of the NBHRN members in attendance with Lourdes proudly displaying the Resolution. From left to right are Rosario Martinez, Rico Piccard, Ivan Crespo, Lourdes Lugo, Michael Rodriguez and Zoraida Rios-Andino. Also pictured is Lourdes Lugo during her speech to members and officers of LCLAA.
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Available at IPRAC
"Don Oscar" Coffee, Paseo Boricua Edition
 Café Don Oscar can be purchased for $5.99 at: IPRAC: 3015 W. Division St., 773-486-8345 |
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