It's Hispanic Heritage Month!!! YAY US! A whole month to celebrate how wonderful and colorful and super-cool we all are! Thank you, White Man, for allowing us 30 whole days- two more than the Blacks- to honor our culture. Without you to remind us, why, we might forget and start speaking Thai or something!Thank you for Taco Bell and Beyonce and Jessica Alba, and all the other faux-Hispanicisms you throw our way. We are EVER so grateful for your humbling generosity...
Okay, I'll stop. I was even starting to annoy myself for a minute there.
For those of you who actually give a rat's diseased ass, Hispanic Heritage Month, which I believe should be changed to Latino Heritage Month, but I digress, goes on from September 15th to October 15th. Yes, in the middle of two months. Why? Because it just so happens that the independence days for five different Latin American countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, plus Mexico and Chile, took place within that time. So it sort of makes sense.
As you can imagine, cities with a high concentration of Latinos are sponsoring some events, mostly in schools, and New York City is no exception. Here's what you should be doing, besides worshipping the ground I walk on, for the next 26 days:
SEPTEMBER
20: Call Raquel and tell her how glad you are that she's in your life. Leaving a comment on this blog will also be acceptable, in case she has not graced you with her digits.
21: Watch (or TiVo) "The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo" on your local PBS station.
22: Tune in to XM Radio (Viva XM 91) for NOCHE DE CONCIERTO featuring Shakira, Ricky Martin, Alejandro Sanz, and Maná.
23: Attend (or watch) the Yankee game. The Bronx Bombers will welcome Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna, President of the Dominican Republic, to throw out the game's ceremonial first pitch.
24: For a limited engagement-- Celia, the musical about the life of Cuban icon Celia Cruz, will be at the New World Stages/Stage 2 (340 West 50th Street).
25: Visit El Museo del Barrio on Museum Mile (1230 Fifth Avenue @ 104th Street) and check out our art.
26: Go to the library and check out "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez. You'll love it. For you men who might think it's too "girly" feel free to read "The Feast of the Goat" by Mario Vargas Llosa.
27: See Willie Perdomo, author of "Where a Nickel Costs a Dime, at The Boys Club of New York (321 E111th Street).
28: S.O.B.'s (204 Varick Street) is featuring my friend DJ Medina on the wheels of steel, and a live performance by Cuban artist Danny Lozada.
29: The hottest spot in BK- Bembe (81 South 6th Street) will keep you dancing til you drop...because DJ Medina will be spinning, of course! And it's my Papi's Birthday, too, so call him and wish him a happy birthday.
30: El Repertorio Español (138 E27th Street) will feature a production of El Quijote. Be there or be square.
OCTOBER
1: Attend HBO and the Instituto Cervantes screening of Casi Casi
2: In the mood for Spain? Flamenco Guitars @ Euzkadi (108 E4th Street)
3: El Taller Latino Americano (2710 Broadway) presents "Venus Recaptured", an exhibition of a print series by award-winning Mexican- born artist Andrea Arroyo.
4: Go into the City and eat at Mesa de España (45 E28th Street). Order the paella. You won't be sorry!
5: Visit the Bronx Museum of the Arts for the Quisqueya Henriquez exhibit.
6: Want a good peek at Puerto Rico's La Perla ghetto? Then force yourself to sit through Feel the Noise (in theater's starting 10/5), produced by Mrs. Marc Anthony herself and featuring Omarion, the inevitable film about a "musician" who discovers reggaeton and dreams of making it big.
7: Hispanic Day Parade! Pick a Hispanic flag, any Hispanic flag, and display it proudly along the parade route (Fifth Ave. from 44th to 86th Street).
8: Do you dare? It's like a train wreck...you have to...Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony perform live, together @ MSG.
9: For a more normal evening of Latin music, Maná is also in concert @ MSG; check it out!
10: LQ's (511 Lexington Avenue) hosts Legends of Salsa every Wednesday...a must for the salsa enthusiast in all of you.
11: It's Latin Jazz Thursdays at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (236 East 3rd) and you know you want to go...
12: Settle in for a quiet movie night with these Pedro Almodovar classics: Todo sobre mi madre, Habla con ella and La Mala educación.
13: Go see "Do Collard Greens Go With Platanos" at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center (199 Chambers Street)
14: It's Hector Lavoe Day, but don't go see El Cantante, tune into XM Radio (Caliente XM 94) featuring a hit song every hour from the legendary salsa singer.
15: Call Raquel and thank her for giving you a month of things to do to honor those beautiful, talented and "spicy" Latinos!
*besos...orgullosamente Latina*
---------
And now,
now has come the hour of the countersong.
We the railroad workers,
we the students,
we the miners,
we the peasants,
we the wretched of the earth,
the populators of the world,
the heroes of everyday work,
with our love and our fists,
enamored of hope.
We the white-skinned,
the black-skinned, the yellow-skinned,
the Indians, the copper-skinned,
the Moors and dark-skinned,
the red-skinned and olive-skinned,
the blonds and platinum blonds,
united by work,
by misery, by silence,
by the cry of a solitary man
who in the middle of the night,
with a perfect whip,
with a meager wage,
with a gold dagger and an iron face,
wildly cries out
I
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