Close to 75 people showed to to dance and have a good time, but also support the campaign to free Oscar López Rivera by coming out to Multi-Kulti last Sat, where the Bompleneras, Trio Superior and Suena Latin Jazz performed. A wonderful set of performances climaxed in a short presentation about Oscar by the Network. The set lasted until 3am and the Network is the grateful recipient of over $500 that was raised. Thank you MK and Q4!

 

 

 

 

 

We are proud recipients of United Way contributions 

Santiago Flores-Charneco is a Puerto Rican painter, born in Mayagüez 1967, who studied at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas (School of Fine Arts) de Puerto Rico, in San Juan. He finished a Master's Degree in Painting at San Carlos Academy of the Autonomous
University of Mexico, and has been a teaching artist in the community arts program "Educarte" of the Municipality of San Juan and for Expresarte of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. He has given workshops on mosaics and visual arts to diverse
communities in Puerto Rico. His work is characterized by the fragmentation of the canvas, manually sewing pieces of paintings, drawings and graphics, over which, on occasions he also integrates the glossy
element of the sequin. The subject matter of his paintings revolves around stippling, the application of painted dots, which is characteristic of the traditional celebrations of the Caribbean such as carnivals and religious ceremonies that accompany these popular
festivities. The work of this artist has been awarded by the Ateneo Puertorriqueño, Unicaja Foundation, in Málaga, Spain, and received the recognition of the Fondo Puertorriqueño para el Financiamiento del Quehacer Cultural of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. He recently received a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, in New York, as part of
their program for support and recognition of artists whose creative production is of
exceptional quality.

"Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick Visit the Puerto Rican Community"

 

From February 1 to 2, 2013, Academy Award director Oliver Stone and American University history professor Peter Kuznick participated in a series of events in the Puerto Rican community in Chicago.  They came to Chicago to screen and discuss The Untold History of the United States, which is the title of the book they co-authored and the ten-part documentary series they produced that was most recently shown on Showtime.

 

On February 1, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC) and the Illinois Coalition against Torture (ICAT) jointly sponsored a program, "Empire, Colonialism, and Torture" at Roberto Clemente High School.  Marcey Sorenson, the principal, welcomed the overflow crowd of more than 700 people to the school.  Margaret Power, the m.c., introduced the program and the speakers.  Peter Kuznick introduced the film that was shown, Vietnam, LBJ, and the Third World by explaining what had transpired in the previous episodes of the series.  The powerful film offered both a coherent overview of U.S. aggression in Vietnam and telling details of its brutality.  It also, however, placed the U.S. war in Vietnam in the context of U.S. intervention in Indonesia, Brazil, and Chile to illustrate the global reach and impact of U.S. imperialism in the 1960s and early 1970s.  Following the film, Oliver Stone, Peter Kuznick, and historian José López discussed the film and responded to questions from the audience. Stone and Kuznick also sold and signed copies of their book, and generously donated all profits to the PRCC and ICAT.

 

 

Saturday, February 2, Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick spoke at a press conference held at the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (IPRAC).  They then attended a luncheon hosted by IPRAC and the PRCC.  When Peter Kuznick spoke at the luncheon, he thanked the Puerto Rican community for its warm welcome and said he now felt himself to be part of the community and looked forward to future activities together.

 

Yosimar Reyes and visual artist Julio Salgado, will be visiting Ccicago as part of their Jotas Sin Papeles Y Sin Permiso Tour.

 

These two queer, undocumented artist/activists will be sharing some of their incredible work, and then leading a creative workshop with participants. Come through and invite your friends! 

 

Tuesday, February 19th

4pm to 6pm

Batey Urbano 

2620 W. Division

Price: FREE

 

This event is sponsored by Generation L

 

 Read on...