Welcome2TheBronx

Puerto Rican Born, Bronx Raised Rita Moreno to Receive Kennedy Center Honors

Ed García Conde

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October 19, 2015

Puerto Rican Born, Bronx Raised Rita Moreno to Receive Kennedy Center Honors

Rita Moreno Image by and © MIKE LAMONICA for Variety

Back in July, the Kennedy Center announced that Rita Moreno, who was born in Puerto Rico and moved with her family to The Bronx when she was 6, will be one of this year’s recipients of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors which is given to those in the performing arts that have greatly contributed to American culture.

Moreno is no stranger to awards having been the 3rd artist to receive the coveted EGOT: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards and the first Latino to do so back in 1977, the same year Helen Hayes became the 2nd artist and first female in achieving the same.
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Although Rita Moreno’s official birth certificates say she was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico, she was actually from the small, mountain village of Juncos where my mother and her family hail from.

In her self-titled memoir, Moreno opens up the novel by saying:

“My journey begins on December 11, 1931, in Juncos, Puerto Rico. Humacao “claims” me now because I became famous…but sorry, Humacao, I am not from you—I was only born in a hospital there. From Humacao, swaddled, I was carried by my mother—my pretty dark-haired mother, Rosa Maria, who was then only seventeen—back to her village, back to Juncos.

Juncos blooms like a flower in my memory; Juncos is color, scent. And Juncos is music: my mother and other women singing, laughing. No one was ever alone in Juncos.

Why did we ever leave Juncos?

“Because we had nothing there,” my mother said.

Of course, to a five-year old, we had everything in Juncos. What would the unknown America offer that I did not already have?”

At the age of five in 1936, Moreno and her mother arrived in New York City and landed in The Bronx; Mohegan Avenue in between Crotona Park and The Bronx Zoo to be exact, according to her memoir.

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In many ways, Moreno and her family were pioneers of sorts, for you see, she arrived during the first wave of migration from Puerto Rico to the mainland and ended up in a small but growing “barrio” or neighborhood, of Puerto Ricans in our borough—long before the massive post WWII migration which brought hundreds of thousands from the island to our great city.

When one reads the many interviews and accounts of Rita Moreno’s life, it all seems like a fairytale. In an article in AARP, they wrote about Moreno’s life by saying:

“In the Bronx, Moreno learned to defend herself from street gangs and to speak English like a native. At 6, she began to take lessons from a famous Spanish dancer, Rita Hayworth’s uncle, Paco Cansino. At 9 she debuted with Cansino at a club in New York. Once she experienced the applause and stage lights, she knew she had found her destiny. At 13 she was acting on Broadway, and at 16 she moved with her mother and brother (a child from her mother’s remarriage) to Hollywood to work in the movie industry studio system. MGM chief Louis B. Mayer dubbed her a “Spanish Elizabeth Taylor.“

Moreno also is an alumni of Casita Maria, an organization born in El Barrio aka East Harlem which eventually moved to our borough in 1961 and has played an important role in many Bronxites lives both world renowned and otherwise.

Related: Seis Del Sur's latest exhibition opens Friday, October 23rd, click for details! — Related: Seis Del Sur’s latest exhibition opens Friday, October 23rd, click for details!

By 1947 she was already living in Hollywood which would lead her onto a trajectory that landed her in the role as Anita in West Side Story which was played by Chita Rivera on Broadway. This was the role which lead to her Oscar but it wasn’t all roses from there.

Rita Moreno as Anita in her Oscar winning role in West Side Story

Moreno recalls declining many roles because they were too stereotypical and demeaning to latinos and women alike.

Her personal life was rollercoaster just like her personal career with an 8 year relationship with Marlon Brando and even a very brief affair with Elvis himself.

In 1998 she came back home to The Bronx, although it wasn’t the first time back in our borough, as she was being inducted into The Bronx Walk of Fame by then borough President Fernando Ferrer.

We’re very proud to count Rita Moreno as one of the many Bronxites who have made us so proud and are looking forward to December 6th of this year when she receives The Kennedy Center Honors. Despite all of the awards she has received, it is about time she is truly recognized for all that she has contributed to American culture which spans most of her 83 years alive.

The Bronx: New York City’s First Borough

Ed García Conde

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October 15, 2015

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The Bronx: New York City’s First Borough

It’s a little-known fact that our beautiful borough of The Bronx was, in fact, the first borough of New York City.

In 1874, the lands west of the Bronx River were annexed to New York County aka NYC.

Before this moment, these lands were part of Westchester County and included the towns of Morrisania, Kingsbridge, and West Farms. Within these towns were the villages of Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, Fordham, and many others.

Then in 1895, a full three years before Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island were annexed to create New York City as we know it today, the lands to the east of the Bronx River were annexed.

The town of Westchester had voted against being annexed but was dragged along to create The Bronx as an know it today, along with parts of the towns of Eastchester and Pelham.

But still The Bronx, which was known as the annexed district, was tied to Manhattan and was part of New York County until it became the 62nd county of New York State and the 5th and official county of New York City in 1914 in Melrose at the Old Bronx Borough Courthouse.

Many firsts came from our Bronx as well as many great historical figures from all walks of life and professions but this one comes with major bragging rights: The Bronx—NYC’s FIRST borough.

Frida Kahlo Exhibition Shatters New York Botanical Garden Attendance Record

Ed García Conde

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October 14, 2015

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Frida Kahlo Exhibition Shatters New York Botanical Garden Attendance Record

Last year when we first got wind that The New York Botanical Garden was planning a Frida Kahlo exhibition we knew it was going to be big—but never imagined how big.

When we wrote about the show coming, a full year before it was scheduled to open, tens of thousands of people flooded our servers and shared our posts in excitement that this was happening and that it was happening in The Bronx.

Folks were leaving comments from around the country and the world that they were coming in to see this show and could not wait.

What we didn’t expect was that Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life, was going to shatter attendance records at The New York Botanical Garden—and not by just a few thousand but by a landslide of over 125,000 visitors before the end of its 6 month long journey on November 1st.

In 2012, the Monet exhibition drew about 373,000 visitors, which at the time was a record. Over 500,000 are expected by November 1st for Frida.

From the moment it opened back in May and we had the pleasure of hopping along on the media preview, we immediately saw how huge this was going to be simply because The New York Botanical Garden really went all out to create not just an exhibition but a truly immersive experience that was packed with programming from beginning to the end.

It wasn’t just about the Frida paintings and drawings that were coming to the garden nor the recreation of her famous Casa Azul inside the Enid A Haupt Conservatory but it was also the little things like the Cantina, the food trucks, or the big things like the live music and dancing by Mexico Beyond Mariachi, The Villalobos Brothers, Flor de Toloache, and Calpulli Danza Mexicana, or the poetry walks around the garden with poems by Octavio Paz.

Oh and let’s not forget about Frida Al Fresco Evenings where adults could enjoy the exhibition while listening to the music and enjoy a cocktail or two. Some of the evenings were even dedicated to the LGBT community bringing everyone to the garden from all walks of life.

One of the many highlights, at least one of my personal favorites and one I participated as a judge, was the Frida Look-Alike Contests where dozens entered to strut their inner Fridas and Diego Riveras on the red carpet.

Attendees to the garden really got into the spirit of things because even if they weren’t entering the contest, you would see them roaming about wearing flowers in their hair and emulating the famed, Mexican artist in some special way.

If you haven’t had the chance to catch the show, make sure you do so for there are only 17 days left as of tomorrow for this once in a lifetime experience and all in our own backyard.

Traditional beverages, both non-alcoholic and non-alcoholic are available at the newly built Cantina just for the exhibition.

The Cantina just inside the main Southern Boulevard Gate.

“Frida and Diego lived in this house from 1929-1954”

La Casa Azul Garden inside the conservatory.

La Casa Azul

Artists in Residency, The Villalobos Brothers will be performing at the garden several times during the course of the exhibition.

Recreation of Frida’s desk inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory

Artist Humberto Spindola looks on as two male models pose wearing replicas of his paper dresses based on Frida’s ‘Las Dos Fridas/The Two Fridas’. The use of the male models is an allusion to Kahlo’s bisexuality and she often dressed in drag as even posing in family portraits as a man.

Tats Cru Graffiti Gown Rocked by Casita Maria’s Executive Director, Sarah Calderon

Ed García Conde

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October 14, 2015

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Tats Cru Graffiti Gown Rocked by Casita Maria’s Executive Director, Sarah Calderon

Casita Maria’s Executive Director, Sarah Calderon, shows off her Tats Cru graffiti gown at last night’s gala / Image courtesy and ©Ricky Flores

Last night at The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, The Bronx was in the house in full effect as Casita Maria celebrated its ‘Fiestas 2015’

The high profiled event, which serves as a fundraiser for the 80 year old organization, honored individuals such as John Bernbach, Veronique and Bob Pittman, and Baz Luhrmann, creator of the Netflix original series, ‘The Get Down’ based in The South Bronx of the 70s which premieres in 2016.

But the highlight of the evening seemed to be Casita Maria’s Executive Director, Sarah Calderon, rocking a dope graffiti gown by our very own Tats Cru.

Casita Maria has been an integral part of our borough especially in The South Bronx, enriching the lives of thousands of children throughout the decades.

Some of the more notable alumni from the organization are the late and great Tito Puente, David Gonzalez, Ricky Flores, Joe Conzo Jr, Benny Bonilla, Tats Cru’s own BG 183, Tina Ramirez who founded Ballet Hispanico and so many others.

Now let’s talk about REAL avant garde Bronx fashion!

Fordham University Student Feels Like A Stranger in Her Own Home Borough; Says University Should Implement a Class on The Bronx

Ed García Conde

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October 13, 2015

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Fordham University Student Feels Like A Stranger in Her Own Home Borough; Says University Should Implement a Class on The Bronx

Call it the the tale of two boroughs.

Fordham University, our gated community of college students where the tuition is $65k+ a year including room and board, keeps their student body”protected” from the rest of The Bronx by its gates and plethora of security guards have created this sense of otherness in the middle of our borough.

It is something I had observed growing up and while in college. It is something I still see today. Fordham University students tend not to really mingle out and about in our Bronx.

Students have also told me that Fordham often issues “security alerts” whenever something happens outside those gates in The Bronx which creates a sense of fear among the students who are not from our borough.

Shayan Artuz, Fordham class of ’17 student, recently told me that when his classmates found out he was interning in the South Bronx, the first question from his peers was not about the program nor what he was doing but, “Is it safe?”

Third generation Bronxite, Antoinette Legnini, and Fordham University student who lives in Belmont in the shadows of the university has these heartfelt words to say which have resonated with many other students online:

“I have never felt like more of a stranger in my own home on Arthur Ave than when I started going to Fordham.

The disconnect between students on campus with people who have been living in this community for years is so great that local Bronx residents are referred to as the (now derogatory term) “locals” – who are assumed to be predominantly Black or Latino. But even with my discomfort on campus – I’m still a white student and have never felt personally discriminated against because I’m not assumed to be from the Bronx.

This discomfort comes from hearing/seeing the thoughts/actions of other students on the Bronx and of “locals.” I’ve never been called a local/assumed to be from the Bronx – even though my family has been living on Arthur Avenue for three generations. I’ve never been stopped at the gate when I don’t have my ID – not once have I ever been questioned as to whether or not I went to Fordham.

When I hear the word “local” out of some people’s mouths I hear such negativity – it almost sounds like people are referring to an annoyance, an obstacle in their college fun that they have to “deal” with. Now, there’s nothing wrong with calling someone a local, but the tone and assumptions that can be adhered to this name by Fordham students is what becomes so problematic.

The Bronx is not your college playground. Respect the community you’re spending four years in. And the Bronx is NOT just Arthur Avenue. The Bronx has a rich history and culture that cannot be reduced, rolled up, and stomped on to this derogatory “local” term.

A class on the Bronx is something that should be implemented into Fordham’s core curriculum immediately. The Bronx should be a bigger part of NSO and remain an integral part of the Rose Hill experience throughout your college experience.

Don’t let these gates fool you into thinking that everyone outside of them is “othered.” Support local businesses, talk to your neighbors, engage in community activity. Demand that Fordham does a better job. Demand that Fordham does a better job. Demand that Fordham does a better job.

This culture of classism, racism, & sexism on campus is stultifying to our growth communally as well as individually and the safety of our students is at risk.

‪#‎fordhamspeaksup‬ ‪#‎fustudentsunite‬ ‪#‎fordhamstudentsunite‬“

Legnini is not alone with these sentiments.

Earlier this year The Fordham Ram, the university’s school newspaper, published an article entitled, ‘Students Consider the Effects of the Campus Gates (From Both Sides)‘, the authors write:

“It is not the walls of the ivy-covered Gothic buildings that students believe are causing a rift, but the black iron gates that enclose our campus.

In a country where the contrast between the “haves” and “have-nots” is constantly becoming sharper, many students are beginning to ask how a life inside the gates of campus adds to that divergence.”

Cailin McKenna and Joe Vitale continue to write about a forum that happened earlier this year:

“The discussion also tried to confront the perception of Fordham’s campus — often described as an “Oasis in the Bronx” — but from the perspective of those outside the gates.

The 85-acre campus is among the largest privately owned green spaces in New York City — something the university once listed on its “Fordham Facts” webpage.

Still, students questioned the implications of labeling campus as an “oasis.” “An oasis,” they essentially asked, “from what?”

“The gates symbolize a college versus community campus. They separate us from where the security alerts happen,” said Carlos Salazar, FCRH ’17, another diversity peer leader who facilitated the event. “They develop into an us versus them mentality and create a negative stereotype for anyone who isn’t allowed through the gates.”

Instead of creating this atmosphere of otherness, we should be united together as a borough rather than a temporary layover in a student’s life and career.

South Bronx Unite Meets with Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito to Discuss South Bronx Environmental and Health Crisis, Including FreshDirect

Ed García Conde

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October 13, 2015

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South Bronx Unite Meets with Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito to Discuss South Bronx Environmental and Health Crisis, Including FreshDirect

debb — Back in May, local community residents and members of South Bronx Unite ran into Mayor Bill de Blasio at La Morada Restaurant in Mott Haven where the mayor agreed to meet with the group.

The battle for our community continues as South Bronx Unite members, including Welcome2TheBronx, met with Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City Council Speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito as well as senior members of New York City’s Economic Development Corporation.

From South Bronx Unite:

Last week, members of South Bronx Unite met with Mayor Bill de Blasio, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and senior members of the city’s Economic Development Corporation to discuss the environmental and health crisis in the South Bronx. The neighborhood, surrounded by an 850 acre industrial area and three highways, suffers from asthma rates eight times the national average, and such disproportionate rates of respiratory illness were cited last month as among the causes of the deadly Legionnaire’s outbreak that claimed 12 lives and infected over 100.

Within the last month alone, residents of the over-industrialized nabe have been challenging the re-permitting of two fossil fuel power plants (with routine violations of emission levels) and the expansion of a 3,000 ton per day waste transfer facility (also with routine permit violations).

“For decades, economic development dollars have been given over to industries that are hurting our community,” said Mychal Johnson, member of South Bronx Unite. “But if we can’t breathe, we can’t work.”

Meeting participants addressed the nearly four year fight against the proposed relocation of FreshDirect, a company which stands to add upwards of 1,000 additional diesel truck trips through the neighborhood every day.

“You know that the Speaker and I did not want the FreshDirect project to go forward,” said the Mayor during the meeting. He and his team took notes on the health and environmental impact of the proposed project (which relied on a 21 year old environmental impact statement) as well as the substantial changes the project has undergone since the subsidy approval was passed, potentially triggering the need for a new inducement resolution from the NYC Industrial Development Agency.

“We told the Mayor that while he was telling us he was against the project, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen was having private email conversations with FreshDirect lobbyists promising support for the $140 million subsidy if the company could deliver on living wage jobs, but more than half of FreshDirect’s workforce remains below living wage,” said Harry Bubbins, Director of Friends of Brook Park and member of South Bronx Unite.

The group also presented the breadth of projects for which the community has been advocating to change the tale of two cities, including the Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront Plan, comprised of seven interconnected waterfront projects. The project has already received draft priority status by the State Department of Environmental Conservation Open Space Committee Region 2 (pending approval by Governor Cuomo), and two of the projects have been taken up by New York Restoration Project as part of its Haven Project. Another project of the group presented to the Mayor is the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Trust, a dynamic vehicle owned and controlled by the community to acquire vacant city-owned property to provide space for displaced community organizations as well as affordable housing.

“Solutions are found in the community,” said Ivelyse Andino Austria, member of South Bronx Unite. “All of these problems have been developed because the community has been excluded from the decision making process, while our solutions are routinely and mistakenly overlooked.”

The group ended the meeting by also imploring the administration to establish a long-term partnership with the community to address the South Bronx environmental and health crisis – from enacting a change in policy that allows routine siting of industrial and diesel truck intensive facilities in environmental justice communities without thorough environmental review – to a reduction of the South Bronx’s disproportionately large maritime industrial area – to heightened enforcement of the recurring violations of designated truck routes, among other areas.

Fordham University Professor Wants to Turn Home of Late Jazz Legend, Maxine Sullivan Into A Cultural Center

Ed García Conde

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October 12, 2015

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Fordham University Professor Wants to Turn Home of Late Jazz Legend, Maxine Sullivan Into A Cultural Center

The following is a guest post from Dr Mark Naison and syndicated from his blog.

Turn Maxine Sullivan’s House into a Cultural Center Honoring the Bronx’s Jazz Traditions

Today, I had the honor of participating in a street naming ceremony to honor the great jazz singer, radio personality, and community leader Maxine Sullivan. Neighbors, elected officials, jazz musicians and educators came from all over to pay tribute to this giant in the world of jazz who opened her home to neighborhood children, became chair of her local school board and in the middle of a time of devastation in her Bronx neighborhood opened a community center – The House That Jazz Built- which became a safe haven for neighborhood youth.

The renaming of Ritter Place in honor of Maxine Sullivan is part of series of initiatives to publicize and reclaim the musical heritage of the Morrisania and Hunts Point communities, who during the 1940’s 1950’s and 1960’s produced more varieties of popular music than any place in the US with the possible exception of Treme in New Orleans.

But there is an irony in this process of cultural reclamation. Now that the once devastated areas of the Bronx have been rebuilt, and the Bronx’s great musical heritage is being recognized, not only here, but around the world, there is a danger that developers might come in and push out the very people who created the music and rebuilt the communities that were once endangered.

Today, we all felt that threat when we saw for sale signs outside Maxine Sullivan’s beautiful house-818 Ritter Place. And in response, the great jazz pianist and educator Valerie Capers came up with an idea- Why doesn’t the Bronx Borough President buy the house and turn it into a cultural center to honor the Bronx’s jazz traditions.

I think this is a GREAT idea. And through this post, I am inviting all people who love the Bronx, love its people, and love its culture, to work together to make this happen
If you are with me on this, weigh in here and contact your elected officials- including the Borough President- to help make this a reality!!

Mark Naison is a Professor of African-American Studies and History at Fordham University and Director of Fordham’s Urban Studies Program. He is the author of three books and over 100 articles on African-American History, urban history, and the history of sports. The Bronx African-American History Project, Dr Naison’s most recent venture, was launched collaboratively with the Bronx Historical Society in the Fall of 2002 . Since that time, Dr Naison has conducted over one hundred and fifty interviews with African-American professionals, community activists, business leaders and musicians who grew up in Bronx between the 1930’s and the 1980’s. . Naison is currently working on two books related to the BAAHP, a collection of oral histories and a memoir written by Allen Jones entitled “The Rat That Got Away.” When not doing historical research, Naison likes to play tennis, golf and basketball, and make periodic forays into the media. He has appeared on the O’Reilly Factor, the Discovery Channel’s Greatest American Competition (as Dr King’s advocate), and on the Dave Chappell Show, where his “performance” has been preserved on that show’s Second Year DVD.

Doctor Who Found Legionnaires in Patients’ Drinking Water Fired; NYC DOH Needs to be Held Accountable for Gross Negligence

Health

Ed García Conde

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October 12, 2015

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Since the beginning of the largest Legionnaires outbreak in New York City’s history occurred in the South Bronx, we have been adamant that our drinking water supply systems must be tested as per recommendations by various agencies and scientific journals.

New York City Department of Health Commissioner Dr Mary T Bassett responded to us at the first town hall meeting in The Bronx this past summer by saying there was no need to test because they didn’t see a pattern.

Dr Bassett AGREED with the data that we presented which states that the majority of cases arise from public drinking water supply systems.

Watch the video where we questioned DOH Commissioner Bassett at 1:42:30 mark in the video:

Two weeks after the outbreak was announced over, Melrose Houses, a NYCHA public housing development, turned up with their water drinking supply systems contaminated by legionnaires—in a development where several individuals had fallen ill during the outbreak.

Now a physician who worked at Lincoln Hospital for over a decade has been fired because he took it upon himself to do what the city was neglecting to do and that was to test the water supply systems of the homes of patients who became ill or victims who passed away from legionnaires—and he FOUND the deadly yet curable bacteria in their faucets.

As an infectious disease physician, Dr Michael Skelly was at the core of the team treating the patients infected with Legionnaires and knew that the city was wrong for focusing in cooling towers.

Erin Brockovich, the famous environmental advocate who came to fame after Julia Roberts portrayed her in the movie which landed the actress an Oscar, has been on top of this since day one.

According to City and State:

“It is an outrageous gesture of contempt for this community that HHC [New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation] would persecute and fire Dr. Skelly simply because he acted to protect Bronx residents in the middle of an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease,” said Gregory Filosa, Skelly’s lawyer. “We cannot wait to try this case before a jury of residents of the Bronx.”

Filosa plans to file the lawsuit on Friday.

Skelly, who worked in the infectious disease department at Lincoln Hospital for 13 years, was part of a small team that helped oversee the treatment of legionella patients during the outbreak. He decided to independently culture faucets and shower heads in patients’ homes, because he believed the health department decision not to test their drinking water was wrong.

Skelly says his direct supervisor was aware of his testing and agreed with what he was doing.

“We knew there was a problem,” Skelly said of the health department’s policy of only testing cooling towers and not testing the patients’ home water supply. “Especially when they were identifying the Lincoln Hospital cooling tower as a source as well. We knew that wasn’t a source.”

Skelly suspected the patients’ drinking water.

After consulting with Dr. Victor Yu, a leading legionella expert who runs the Special Pathogens Laboratory in Pittsburgh, Skelly began going to patients’ homes and requesting to take water samples to test for legionella. The tests showed that out of 37 patients’ homes Skelly tested, legionella was present in six, Filosa said.

The results are significant, says Dr. Yu. “There is evidence that he was right.”

A health department official called Skelly’s supervisor a few days after he began the testing, according to a claim Skelly filed against HHC last month. “‘They know what you’re doing and they expect it to stop immediately,’” Skelly remembered his supervisor saying.”

Dr Yu’s recommendations were exactly what we presented at the town hall meeting and were told it wasn’t necessary YET we continued to ask how can they declare our drinking water supply systems to be safe without actually testing them?

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Dr Skelly says, “I called patients and asked if I could come,” he said. “I told them who I was and of my concern that the water inside the apartment might be part of the problem.” He said most people welcomed him in.

This is a huge failure on NYC’s Department of Health and its commissioner as well as our Mayor Bill de Blasio for allowing this to happen given all the evidence stating that cooling towers are not the sole culprits nor the source in the vast majority of cases historically.

Erin Brockovich acknowledges our conclusions which have been based on scientific data and research.

For our complete coverage of this deadly Legionnaires outbreak, head over to our archives.

Exhibition Explores The Complexities of Dominican and Haitian Relations Through Art

Ed García Conde

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October 9, 2015

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Exhibition Explores The Complexities of Dominican and Haitian Relations Through Art

Tonight at the Andrew Freedman Home from 6pm to 9pm ‘La Lucha II DOM & HTI: Visions of Tomorrow, One Island’ opens up and continues the conversation it began earlier this year on the complex relationship between two countries that have similar shared histories and an island: Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The first exhibition earlier this year was extremely popular considering the climate between the two nations as the Dominican Republic began the process of stripping away Dominican citizenship for hundreds of thousands of people of Haitian descent.

“The last exhibit received a lot of support from the community and it also brought many heated discussions. There were people protesting the first night simply because they couldn’t accept that Dominican and Haitian artists were in the same space; however the majority was very positive.” said Yelaine Rodriguez, curator of this exhibition, in an interview with Laura James, one of the founders of Bx200.

The exhibition brings aboard 15 artists from the original exhibition and an additional 13 to create this dialogue through various artistic mediums such as sculpture, painting, video, screen printing, and photography which focuses on the aspect of immigration.

The Dominican and Haitian artists featured in this exhibition are: Alex Guerrero, Anthony Louis-Jeune, Carlos Jesus Martinez Dominguez, Ezequiel Taveras, Fermin Ceballos, Francks Francois Deceus, Jose Arias, Jules Joseph, Kishner Deprinvil, Kenny Rivero, Klode, Leslie Jimenez, Maria Monegro, Mc Alexander S. Ciceron, Miguel Luciano, Mildor Chevalier, Nadine Lafond, Patricia Encarnación, Pepe Coronado, Rejin Leys, Rene de los Santos, Sable Smith, Sasha Huber, Scherezade Garcia, Shakespeare Guirand, Sophia Domeville, Vladimir Cybil Charlier.

We’re extremely happy that this important conversation continues and double the size of the original.

The exhibition opens tonight from 6pm to 9pm at the Andrew Freedman Home located at 1125 Grand Concourse and runs through November 6th.

Young Women Rock! FREE Mentorship Program To Start 2nd Year in The Bronx

Ed García Conde

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October 8, 2015

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Young Women Rock! FREE Mentorship Program To Start 2nd Year in The Bronx

Image courtesy of The Women Worldwide Initiative Facebook Page.

Attention young ladies and women seeking to mentor our future: The Women Worldwide Initiative‘s ‘Young Women Rock!’ is set to begin their yearlong mentorship program on Saturday, October 17th at St. Mary’s Community Center.

The program runs every Saturday from 1PM-3PM and is seeking Bronx girls ages 14-18 to participate in this program (click the link to apply to become a mentee) where these young ladies will be paired up with a mentor for these weekly one-on-one sessions. (Mentors are also needed so make note-click link to apply to become a mentor!)

According to the press release issued by The Women Worldwide Initiative:

“We encourage their ambition and empower their confidence, but most of all, the mentees and mentors in our program are shown the power of sisterhood, community and self-love,” says Founder and Executive Director, Uraidah Hassani. The philosophy behind the YWR! curriculum is to empower young women by having them think critically about themselves, their identity and their goals, while breaking down negative messages fed to them by society and the media.

A curriculum based, group, and one-on-one mentorship program, Young Women Rock! (YWR!) is dedicated to strengthening the lives and communities of adolescent girls in impoverished neighborhoods. Following the length of the academic year, the program provides participating girls with one-on-one matches with screened and trained mentors in addition to benefiting from weekly group sessions and monthly culturally-enriching outings. YWR! sessions foster self-respect, leadership skills, creativity, critical thinking and collaboration while discussing curriculum topics, including: Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence Building; Sexual Health and Decision-Making; Broader Women’s Issues and Future Options; and Community Service and Global Citizenship.”

Bronxite, Jani Rosado, who is an organizer and intern for the program told us that, “As a young girl in The Bronx, my potential was recognized. I received a stellar education from a Manhattan private school via Prep for Prep. But I didn’t live up to the challenge. I lived in a psycho-social box. I slammed against the glass ceiling. I couldn’t envision myself becoming anything more than what the streets told me I was and that internal discord didn’t allow me live up to the challenge. I had no role models to guide me.”

“When I saw what Ms. Hassani was doing I leapt at the chance to provide assistance, performing at a fundraiser for WWWI. THIS program was exactly what I needed 20 years ago. I believe that this was the factor that would have allowed me to achieve my goals. 18 years after leaving high school I’m completing my Bachelors degree in Human Services and was asked where I’d like to do my internship and this was where I thought my efforts would be most useful. I know their story. I was these girls. It makes the struggle I went through as a girl worth it. Every single Young Women Rock! mentee has graduated from high school and gone on to college. It’s a dream come true to be able to accomplish my goals, while uplifting young women from my community in the process.” added Rosado.

Bronxite Jani Rose (2nd from left) is one of Young Women Rock! mentors. (Image courtesy of The Women Worldwide Initiative Facebook Page)

This is a wonderful opportunity for our young ladies, especially those that are underserved, to participate in a program that will enrich their lives and forge relationships with their mentors to help them every step of the way so please take advantage and thanks to Bronx Works for sponsoring the program.

Once again:

To apply and become a mentor and make a difference in a young woman’s life, click here (there’s still room for more mentors!).

To apply and become a mentee and become connected with a mentor, click here.

St Mary’s Park Community Center is located at 595 Trinity Avenue

From The Bronx to Brazil & Back: How One Bronxite Inspired Artists Across the World

Ed García Conde

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October 7, 2015

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From The Bronx to Brazil & Back: How One Bronxite Inspired Artists Across the World

Photographer Ricky Flores, born and raised in The Bronx during our most tumultuous times had a front row seat to what was happening—along with his camera.

Ricky’s work from those times are not just of the devastation that happened but the humanity that was present and how alive the areas were with people, culture, and art despite all of that.

Decades later and the advent of the internet into the mainstream, his photography was available to the larger audience of the web and this is where 8 years ago 2 graffiti artists from Brazil, Ananda Nahu and Izolag, became so enthralled and connected to the images that they began to use them as templates for creating beautiful murals in Brazil.

Once Ricky got wind of this, conversations began to happen between the 3 which at first was more about the fact that his images were being used without his permission but once he heard their story and how they loved all that the South Bronx represented to them (and in many ways shaped their artistic careers), a friendship between this unlikely trio began to blossom.

8 years after their first contact, this friendship turned into a collaboration and Ananda and Izolag came and stayed in The Bronx for one month this past summer and created a series of murals across Mott Haven and Hunts Point using iconic photographs by Ricky Flores as their inspiration thanks to Casita Maria and their sponsorship for this endeavor.

During their stay they also had an exhibition at the Bronx Arts Space where they showed some of the portraits they had done and even tagged up two of the walls in the gallery.

Each time they were ready to throw up a new mural we would run to that location to document the process, something to me which was fascinating to see how they both worked in tandem or separately.

During a chat with Izolag, he said something very powerful. I asked how did it feel to be in The Bronx doing what he loved in a place that he admired so much.

Izolag told us it was a bit bittersweet because The Bronx is the birthplace of such a movement with graffiti yet he didn’t realize the amount of red tape one has to go through now to express themselves through the art form and even now are you really expressing yourself if you have to get permission and approvals of what you’re putting up?

And it’s true for the most part you don’t have this great freedom of expression that you once did.

By the time Ananda and Izolag were done leaving their mark in the Bronx using Ricky’s photography as inspiration, they had been embraced by the community during their month long project.

They brought the people in Ricky’s photographs alive once again and for a wider audience to experience in an entirely different way.

It’s a great feeling when you have international artists come to our borough to show respect to the millennia old craft that was honed in The Bronx in modern times and set the world on fire as a form of expression.

It’s even better to see it as a collaboration with one of our borough’s own and to know that Ricky’s photography has had such a deep impact across the globe. ‘Faces From The Block’, as the residency and exhibition is called, did just that.

Click the gallery below to check out some of the works they left in our borough as well as their exhibition at Bronx Art Space.

International Artists Begin Work on a Mural Project Spanning The South Bronx & El Barrio

Ed García Conde

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October 5, 2015

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International Artists Begin Work on a Mural Project Spanning The South Bronx & El Barrio

Several years ago, ‘Los Muros Hablan’ (Spanish for The Walls Speak) project came to El Barrio and The South Bronx by way of Puerto Rico thanks to City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito who brought this urban art project from San Juan to our neighborhoods.

This year, the project is called MONUMENTART and is bringing an eclectic mix of artists from around the world From Puerto Rico to Mexico to South Africa and even Argentina, these artists will be tackling the topic of immigration, especially as it pertains to our city as the capital of the world and destination for those from every corner of the globe, in their murals.

MONUMENTART is an evolution of Los Muros Hablan and is also sponsored by New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and also is a project presented by La Marqueta Retoña which has transformed the famous La Marqueta in El Barrio into not just a marketplace, as it has been for well over 100 years to various ethnic groups, but to an important artistic and cultural venue as well.

The importance of this project goes beyond the complexities of immigration and the international artists who will be leaving their own interpretations behind but it is about two communities who’s histories have been intertwined for over a century.

The South Bronx and East Harlem populations have historically mirrored each other during this span.

When East Harlem had a large Italian and Jewish population and Puerto Ricans were migrating from the island into the neighborhood, the same was happening in the South Bronx especially in Port Morris, Mott Haven, Melrose, Hunts Point, Longwood, and others.

In recent decades, as the Mexican America population increased in El Barrio, the same thing happened this side of the river.

These are communities that, although are located in two separate boroughs, share very similar histories, people, social issues that go beyond political boundaries and the river that separates them and the many bridges and council district which unites them.

It’s extremely fitting that the artists who will be doing The Bronx mural at 138th Street and Grand Concourse are a Puerto Rican and Cuban duo who go by the name of ‘Dos Alas’, or two wings in Spanish as a reference to the famous Puerto Rican poem known as ‘A Cuba’ (To Cuba) in which the late Puerto Rican poet Lola Rodríguez de Tío calls both islands two wings of one bird.

And that’s exactly what the South Bronx and El Barrio are. Two wings of one bird with shared, similar trials and tribulations.

Welcome2TheBronx is excited to present this project to our borough so stay tuned as we will bring you the finished products along with a handy map as well as places to visit along the way as you take this journey in the outdoor museum that is the South Bronx and El Barrio.

MONEMENTART is curated by Puerto Rican born and based artist, Celso Gonzalez.

Check out the artists’ bios below: