Episode 68: Chicago’s Puerto Rican Fest & Creating Community Events for Us, By Us
The Puerto Rican Festival begins today through September 26! It’s been going strong for 39 years, but was once at risk of not happening in 2019 due to the unethical stewardship of the committee in charge at the time that ended in the organization filing bankruptcy. The group of community leaders we have on today’s show actually stepped up during that time to organize the fest successfully within less than 2 months.
They had to be scrappy then and they needed to be scrappy this year, not just because of the pandemic, but because they are starting from square one. They're showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, so we're happy to welcome them to the show to talk about how they are elevating the experience for festival gowers compared to previous years, what you should keep in mind if you want to start a community event of your own for your neighborhood, and their thoughts on what it means to be Puerto Rican.
Episode 12: 100 Years of Lolita Lebrón
Lolita Lebrón's name elicits strong responses from many within & outside of the Puerto Rican community. Let's find out why.
Guests on today's show include the Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center here in Chicago, Jose Lopez, activist and artist Michael Reyes, whose song Lolita You May Cry Now you will hear later in the episode, Former political prisoner, Oscar Lopez, Co-Jefas of Lolita Productions, Brianna Ramirez-Smith and Marisa Diaz-Arce, and a part of my interview that will drop next week with actors Viviana Torres, Nore Feliciano, Efraine Rosa from the play, Un monólogo sobre la vida de Lolita Lebrón. But first, we’re going to take a trip back in time and get some context from Jose Lopez.