El Sol Latino | March 2022 | 18.4

March 2022

Volume 18 No. 4

Un Periódico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

Un Periódico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

Un Periódico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

Un Periódico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

UPR y UMass Realizan Investigación PR OUTLOOK sobre Salud de Jóvenes en Puerto Rico

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Editorial / Editorial

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Nothing But the Truth: Holding Politicians and the Media to a Higher Standard by Mark Pinsley

2 Editorial / Editorial Nothing But the Truth: Holding Politicians and the Media to a Higher Standard

You may be familiar with “Just the facts ma’am,” the line from the 1960s TV drama Dragnet. The detective asked witnesses to state exactly what happened, without embellishments or exaggerations.

We need to take action to develop a similar benchmark in our politics and news media.

3 Portada / Front Page Científicas de la UPR y de UMass Colaboran en Estudio sobre el Estrés y la Salud Cardiovascular en Adultos Jóvenes en Puerto Rico

Opinion piece published in Common Dreams on February 19, 2022

For a democracy to function properly, we need politicians and news outlets to provide facts to the public. George Orwell once said, “Political language … is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.” Falsehoods about the COVID-19 vaccine and the embrace of Kyle Rittenhouse— resulting in a preventable death toll and a killer who is invited to give speeches around the country— are just two examples that make his warning relevant today.

There’s no absolute truth in the political world or in news in general, but, at the most basic level, truth is a matter of accuracy and context.

A functioning society needs a common set of facts that everyone can rely on. From there, each of us can develop our own well-informed opinions.

We tend to focus on these issues only at a national level, but we face the same rhetoric and dishonesty here in Pennsylvania. I don’t believe that it is just one party or one news station that misrepresents the facts. Misinformation and lying in politics and dishonesty in the media have become epidemic.

There’s no absolute truth in the political world or in news in general, but, at the most basic level, truth is a matter of accuracy and context. Politicians increasingly use language not to clarify but to muddy the waters. The new technique is to double down on lies in the belief that constantly repeating a lie will bury the truth or reinforce an alternative set of “facts.” This makes agreement on a shared reality impossible.

Because they are trusted sources of information for their supporters or readers, both politicians and journalists have an even higher duty than others to investigate and to speak or report truthfully. They have an obligation to distinguish between fact and opinion so everyone is on the same page.

A few ethical standards attempt to constrain politicians. Usually, the main element to be considered is “malice”—a statement made or published that was made by an official knowing that it was false and inaccurate and “acting with reckless disregard for the statement’s truth or falsity.” But all hope is not lost. Lying in politics may seem like a problem that’s impossible to tackle, but here are several steps that we can take to make things better: 1. Write and call your representatives in Congress to persuade the FCC and other regulators to work with news agencies and social media outlets to create a labeling system—similar to movie and video game ratings—so viewers can understand whether facts or opinions are being stated.

2. Lobby state and local legislatures to strengthen defamation laws and codes of ethics so politicians can be held accountable for their lies, particularly those that cause harm to individuals or communities. Stronger laws, codes, and enforcement can help restrain politicians who consider lying just another tool in their toolbox.

3. Persuade politicians, candidates, and journalists to take a truth pledge. For example, the Pro-Truth Pledge encourages politicians and everyone else to commit to truth-oriented behaviors and protect facts and civility.

Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamaliel (10 B.C.–70 A.D.) said that three virtues sustain the world: justice, truth, and peace. For any society to flourish, truth must be preserved and protected, especially by its leaders, politicians, and journalists.

MARK PINSLEY is the Lehigh County Controller. He is focused on shining a light on issues important to the citizens of Lehigh County and the Commonwealth.

Investigaciones post huracán María señalan aumento en desempleo, pobreza e inequidad 4 Puerto Rico has a plan to recover from bankruptcy — but the deal won’t ease people’s daily struggles 5 AG Healey Visit to Holyoke Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice Invites Applications for Mini Grants 6 Educación / Education STCC experience opens door to Isenberg School of Management 7 AIC Welcomes Hubert Benítez as New President 8 HCC President Christina Royal presents National Education Service Award to Congressman Richard Neal Política / Politics Art of the Ancient Americas at the Museums 9 Medios /Media Radio Universidad - 42 años de Trayectoria de Música y Servicio a la Comunidad 10 Música / Music Catedrático del RUM presenta publicación sobre el legado musical de Juan Neri Libros / Books Casitas de Colores / bilingüe 11 Puerto Rican Studies in the City University Of New York: The First Fifty Years HCC Professor Vanessa Martínez Honored for Inspiring Civic Engagement 12 Knowledge Produced in the Margins: An Interview with Jorell Meléndez-Badillo 15 Salud / Health Campaña “Educar para Vacunar” se Asocia con Empresas Locales en Holyoke

Editorial Policy

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Volume 18, No. 4 n March 2022

Editor Manuel Frau Ramos manuelfrau@gmail.com 413-320-3826 Assistant Editor Ingrid Estrany-Frau Art Director Tennessee Media Design Business Address El Sol Latino P.O Box 572 Amherst, MA 01004-0572

El Sol Latino acepta colaboraciones tanto en español como en inglés. Nos comprometemos a examinarlas, pero no necesariamente a publicarlas. Nos reservamos el derecho de editar los textos y hacer correcciones por razones de espacio y/o estilo. Las colaboraciones pueden ser enviadas a nuestra dirección postal o a través de correo electrónico a: info@elsollatino.net.

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El Sol Latino es publicado mensualmente por Coquí Media Group, P.O Box 572, Amherst, MA 01004-0572.

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino March 2022

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Científicas de la UPR y de UMass Colaboran en Estudio sobre el Estrés y la Salud Cardiovascular en Adultos Jóvenes en Puerto Rico RÍO PIEDRAS, PR | UNIVERSIDAD DE PUERTO RICO – RCM | Febrero 22, 2022 - Las doctoras Cynthia Pérez, Catedrática de la Escuela Graduada de Salud Pública del Recinto de Ciencias Médicas de la UPR, y Milagros Rosal, Catedrática de la Escuela de Medicina Chan de la Universidad de Massachusetts, están realizando la primera investigación, denominada PROUTLOOK, sobre la salud cardiovascular en adultos jóvenes en Puerto Rico.

El estudio es financiado por el Instituto Nacional del Corazón, los Pulmones y la Sangre de los Institutos Nacionales de la Salud por un periodo de cinco años (2019-2024). Los tres objetivos de la investigación son: (1) describir la salud cardiovascular, concepto definido por la Asociación Americana del Corazón, para incluir siete factores que pueden ayudar a alcanzar una salud cardiovascular óptima: controlar la presión arterial y el colesterol, reducir el nivel de azúcar en sangre, realizar actividad física regular, mantener un peso saludable, dejar de fumar (o no empezar a fumar) y tener un plan de alimentación saludable; (2) investigar cómo diferentes tipos de estrés (a nivel individual, social, o contextual) pueden aumentar el riesgo de estas enfermedades; e (3) investigar el rol de los factores de resiliencia de los puertorriqueños en atenuar el riesgo cardiovascular.

sobre la enfermedad cardiovascular se han enfocado en adultos de mediana o mayor edad y no en poblaciones jóvenes, existe poca información sobre en qué momento y qué situaciones contribuyen al desarrollo de estas condiciones a una edad temprana.

Por otro lado, la doctora Rosal expone que la transición de la adolescencia a la adultez se asocia con eventos estresantes y experiencias de adaptación. Además, los factores contextuales de Puerto Rico, tales como la crisis financiera y las secuelas de los huracanes Irma y María, los terremotos y la epidemia del COVID-19, pueden contribuir al riesgo de enfermedades cardiovasculares, pero no se han estudiado en adultos jóvenes en Puerto Rico. Por lo tanto, investigar los factores de riesgo cardiovascular y su posible relación con el estrés entre los jóvenes es fundamental para desarrollar estrategias para prevenir o retrasar la aparición de enfermedades cardiovasculares a una edad temprana.

Esta investigación ha sido endosada por diferentes organizaciones profesionales e instituciones de educación superior en Puerto Rico.

Para lograr estas metas, PR-OUTLOOK está reclutando 3,000 hombres y mujeres entre 18 y 29 años a través de toda la isla, de los cuales 1,100 están participando activamente en el estudio. Las personas elegibles participarán en una encuesta en línea, una visita a una de las clínicas participantes en el estudio a través de la isla, y llamadas de seguimiento breves cada 6 meses.

La doctora Pérez explica que la salud cardiovascular es particularmente importante para los adultos jóvenes dado que la aterosclerosis se desarrolla mucho antes de la manifestación clínica de la enfermedad cardiovascular.

Las estadísticas han evidenciado que la incidencia de enfermedad cardiovascular e infarto cerebral no han disminuido a través del tiempo o incluso han aumentado en personas más jóvenes (menores de 45 años) a diferencia de los adultos mayores. Debido a que la mayoría de los estudios

Además, el estudio está creando un bio-repositorio de muestras de sangre, orina, excreta, pelo y saliva donadas por los participantes, que podrán ser analizadas en estudios futuros para identificar biomarcadores específicos de estrés y salud cardiovascular. El participante recibirá copia de las pruebas de laboratorio relacionadas al perfil cardiometabólico, sin costo alguno y un incentivo económico al completar todos los procedimientos de la visita a la clínica.

Investigaciones post huracán María señalan aumento en desempleo, pobreza e inequidad por GÉNESIS DÁVILA SANTIAGO Oficina de Comunicaciones – UPR Río Piedras RÍO PIEDRAS, PR | UNIVERSIDAD DE PUERTO RICO - RP | Febrero 2, 2022 - La quiebra del país en conjunto con los desastres naturales recientes que ha enfrentado Puerto Rico provocaron cambios sociales y económicos sin precedentes entre los que se encuentran un aumento en la pobreza, inequidad y pérdidas de empleo para algunos sectores, de acuerdo con dos investigaciones del catedrático de la Escuela Graduada de Administración de Empresas de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras (UPR-RRP).

Aunque las investigaciones de José Caraballo Cueto se centran en el impacto del huracán María en la economía y el empleo, el profesor del recinto riopedrense contextualizó sus estudios en la crisis fiscal del país, y aseguró en entrevista, que la serie de terremotos de 2020 y la pandemia reafirman el impacto que toda crisis provoca a nivel socioeconómico.

“Yo creo que una de las lecciones de estos estudios es que, cada vez que llega un desastre natural, el ambiente socioeconómico cambia, no vuelve a ser el mismo. No es como que si ocurrió el desastre, hubo una recuperación, y ya todo volvió a ser igual que antes… Hay unos sectores que van a estar mejor y otros que van a estar peor después de ese desastre natural”, explicó el también economista, mientras resaltaba que las comunidades que estaban en desventaja previo al desastre, comúnmente, son quienes reciben las consecuencias con un impacto mayor.

Asimismo, subrayó que se necesitan políticas públicas sensibles para atender las necesidades de estas poblaciones en desventaja.

En su estudio ¿La Economía de los desastres? Puerto Rico antes y después del huracán María, el también profesor expuso algunas sugerencias para que el gobierno local y el gobierno federal José Caraballo Cueto disminuyan el impacto socioeconómico negativo que dejan desastres naturales tales como el huracán de 2017.

Entre los recursos que enumeró se encuentra que Estados Unidos se involucre y acepte su responsabilidad dentro de la crisis del país, un gobierno local que diversifique su exportación más allá de Estados Unidos y sustituya la importación, exigir la generación empleos, proveer consejería gratuita a las empresas locales para mejorar sus empresas y expandirse, auditar la deuda, promover la agricultura orgánica, y trasladar las agencias gubernamentales fuera del área metropolitana para reducir la inequidad a nivel de localización, entre otros.

“El tiempo es apropiado para una reingeniería gubernamental profunda; al reducir los procesos superfluos, se logran ahorros a la vez que mejoran

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Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino March 2022

Puerto Rico has a plan to recover from bankruptcy — but the deal won’t ease people’s daily struggles

by CARLOS A SUÁREZ CARRASQUILLO This article was originally published in The Conversation | February April 11, 2022 Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy problem is complicated — but the various ways the crisis hurts most Puerto Ricans is unmistakable.

Since Puerto Rico declared bankruptcy in 2017, it’s become harder for people to decide where they can afford to live and where their children can enroll in school.

The island declared a form of bankruptcy in 2017. At the time, the island faced historic levels of debt, topping $72 billion. But Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, far worse than Detroit’s $18 billion bankruptcy claims in 2014, has now reached a potential turning point.

U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain approved a large-scale debt restructuring plan on Jan. 18, 2022, that would cut $33 billion from Puerto Rico’s debt and work to pay back its creditors.

Because Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States since 1898, the bankruptcy plan unfolded in a unique way that has limited residents’ say over financial cuts to public programs that directly affect them, angering many Puerto Ricans.

As a scholar of Puerto Rican politics and a native Puerto Rican, I believe that the island’s recently announced debt agreement will not make it easier for citizens to find homes, schools, and jobs. But it will fuel and test Puerto Ricans’ ability to mobilize politically.

Puerto Rico’s controversial bankruptcy crisis

Puerto Rico’s money problems, which have grown over the past two decades, are the result of many factors: Years of borrowing to cover budget deficits, poor economic growth, political corruption and a population decline all play a role.

Since Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, and not a state or city, it does not have the right to officially file for bankruptcy.

In 2016, Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act, a law known as PROMESA, that created a new government agency.

This agency, the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, was responsible for laying out Puerto Rico’s debt repayment strategy.

But local people had no say in the creation or composition of this board, known simply as the Junta – meaning council in Spanish. None of its current seven board members are from the island. Puerto Ricans have also not been involved in the Junta’s financial decisions.

Puerto Rico’s debt was never publicly audited, which lent to public concerns about lack of transparency in managing this crisis.

The Junta primarily made financial cuts, or austerity measures, to address the debt. They achieved an agreement with the Puerto Rican government to partially pay back its debt.

But, for everyday people, these cuts have worsened their quality of life.

One unpopular austerity measure the Junta took was freezing public school teachers’ pension plans. Financial cuts also limited Puerto Rico’s Medicaid spending and have threatened funding for people’s pension plans and public universities.

Thousands of teachers, earning a starting salary of $1,750 a month, have taken to the streets in protest. Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi announced on Feb. 8, 2022, that teachers will receive a temporary monthly raise of $1,000 starting in July.

The teachers’ demands echo the sentiment of many Puerto Ricans, who do not like these austerity measures.

Public schools take a hit

Puerto Rico’s Department of Education has regularly closed public schools over the last few years because of financial cuts, at a pace that was previously unseen for decades.

Since 2016, 523 schools have closed in Puerto Rico. The education department has plans to close 83 schools by 2026, affecting 18,644 students.

Julia Keleher, the former secretary of education in Puerto Rico, is an advocate of school closings.

Keleher was a polarizing public figure — she was also a mainland American official in Puerto Rico — a reminder of the island’s colonial history. Keleher pleaded guilty to federal fraud conspiracy charges over mismanagement of CARLOS A SUÁREZ CARRASQUILLO public funds in June 2021.

Puerto Rico’s Department of Education has new leadership. But some specialized arts schools, such as the Central High School in San Juan, have continued to shut down, prompting online petitions for change.

School closings more broadly sparked significant protests in San Juan by parents, students, teachers and politicians over the last few years. Many working-class students needed to travel farther to reach open schools that were outside of their communities, disrupting their learning experience.

Gentrification amps up in Puerto Rico

Rising housing costs compose the latest chapter of Puerto Rico’s layered financial saga.

The housing problem coincides with Puerto Rico attracting foreign investors with new tax breaks.

Economic development experts have argued that the arrival of new investors, combined with the Puerto Rico government’s tax relief measures, create new gentrification concerns about affordable housing. This is particularly true along the coastal regions — that may hurt Puerto Ricans.

American financier John Paulson is one example of a growing wave of outsiders who have purchased property in Puerto Rico, seeking to receive tax breaks.

This investment was made possible by a new law, which aims to attract wealthy foreigners to the island. It does this by providing new Puerto Rican residents with exemptions from paying income tax on all “passive” income, meaning money from investments, for example.

The net result is significant local resistance to foreign investors.

Now that a judge has approved Puerto Rico’s debt restructuring, the austerity measures cannot be changed on paper. But Puerto Rico’s public still has the chance to push back and lobby for change, as they continue to do through protests to advocate for their political demands.

CARLOS A SUÁREZ CARRASQUILLO is a Senior Lecturer and the Director of Master and Graduate Certificate in Latin American Studies at the Center for Latin American Studies, Department of Political Sciences and Affiliate at the Department of Regional and Urban Planning at the University of Florida. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and a Graduate Certificate in Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a B.A. from the Universidad de Puerto Rico - Río Piedras.

His primary teaching and research interests are in urban politics, gated communities, city marketing/branding, and urban politics in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and Latin America. He has examined how city marketing has been used as a tool by the municipality of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico to attract residents of a higher socioeconomic class, resulting in an increase in gated communities and a more gentrified Guaynabo.

He has held teaching positions at the Universidad de Puerto Rico-Carolina, Hampshire College, Connecticut College and most recently at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Suárez has contributed to publications such as The Conversation, Cities, Diálogo, EURE, 80 Grados, and Ámbito de Encuentros.

Portada / Front Page AG Healey Visit to Holyoke HOLYOKE, MA | 11 de febrero, 2022 - La Procuradora General de Massachusetts (Attorney General, AG) Maura Healey visitó Holyoke hace dos semanas atrás. El 11 de febrero, Maura Healey, se unió al alcalde de Holyoke, Joshua García y al director de Planificación y Desarrollo de la ciudad Holyoke, Aaron Vega, en un recorrido por la ciudad. Estos visitaron a varias pequeñas empresas y organizaciones de la ciudad.

El Sol Latino March 2022

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Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice Invites Applications for Mini Grants HOLYOKE, MA | CARLOS VEGA FUND | February 8, 2022 2022 marks the 11th year of The Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice mini grants and the ten year anniversary of Carlos’s passing.

Local non-profits and individuals are invited to apply for the eleventh round of grants which open February 21st and must be received by March 18th 2022 through our online application form at www.carlosvegafund.org.

In addition to our grant cycle, the Carlos Vega Fund advisory board is looking to the fall of 2022 to name our 7th Carlos Vega Social Justice Award and to honor founding member Mary Birks who passed away in 2021.

For more than forty years, Carlos Vega fought for social justice in the Greater Holyoke area. In 2010, a small group of family and friends started the Fund to support the kind of social justice initiatives that were important to Carlos.

La Procuradora General Maura Healey en las oficinas de la orgnización comunitaria EforAll.

Entre las empresas visitadas incluida EforAll, una organización aceleradora de empresas que enfatizel espíritu empresarial inclusivo. Tambien visitaron El Paraíso Colombiano, un restaurante colombiano de propiedad familiar localizado en la High Street.

La visita de Healey a Western Massachusetts también incluyó una visita a Hope for Holyoke Peer Recovery Center, un centro de apoyo a la recuperación administrado por Gándara Mental Health Center. Hope For Holyoke es un beneficiario de la iniciativa de la oficina de AG, Promoting Cultural Humility in Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Grant cuyo objetivo es promover la equidad en los programas de tratamiento y los servicios de recuperación en Massachusetts.

Durante la visita a Hope for Holyoke, la AG Maura Healey visito El Paraíso Healey se reunió con el personal de la Restaurant. organización, incluyendo los entrenadores de recuperación, cuyos puestos fueron financiados a través de la subvención, y los pacientes para analizar los esfuerzos del centro para abordar el trastorno por uso de sustancias, incluido el apoyo entre pares, la prevención de recaídas, la capacitación laboral y el entrenamiento de recuperación. servicios que brinda.

La Procuradora General Healey también visito la ciudad de Easthampton previo a su llegada a Holyoke.

The Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice awards small grants, typically ranging from $250 to $1,000, to individuals and non-profit groups for a specific, one-time program or project that focuses on the fundamental primary causes of injustice, fosters change, and promotes self-help and empowerment.

The purpose of the grants is to support the efforts of those who are addressing issues of poverty and oppression, and involve people who are socially and economically marginalized in Hampden County.

Previous mini grants have supported a variety of organizations including: Clinical and Support Options, Enchanted Circle Theater, Girls Inc. of the Valley and Plunge Arts, First Shift Productions, Granby Public Schools, The Gray House, Holyoke Public Schools, Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative, Holyoke Senior Center and Western Mass Elder Care, Home City Development, OneHolyoke CDC, The Performance Project, Treehouse, Seeds of a Father, and Wistariahurst Museum.

The Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice is administered through the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and is overseen by an advisory committee. Since 2012, the Fund has awarded $66,570. to fifty-two organizations in the greater Holyoke area.

Our deadline for applications is March 18, 2022. We expect to award grant funding on May 20, 2022. Grantees are expected to participate in the awards ceremony.

For further information and/or to obtain an application, please visit the Carlos Vega Fund for Social Justice website at http://www.carlosvegafund.org/ or contact Aaron Vega at carlosvegafund.413@gmail.com

Investigaciones post huracán María señalan aumento en desempleo, pobreza e inequidad los servicios públicos. Un programa de austeridad limitado a solo recortes presupuestarios a las agencias gubernamentales, algo que se ha incluido en casi todos los planes fiscales, es una tarea más fácil que la reingeniería, pero no cosechará el mejor resultado para esta sociedad”, reza el estudio publicado en el volumen 33 de la revista académica Centro Journal.

El estudio reveló algunos beneficios socioeconómicos luego del ciclón entre los que se destaca la organización comunitaria con sus propios planes de desarrollo, un mayor respaldo a la energía solar, una conexión más fuerte entre residentes del país y ciudadanos en la diáspora y un cambio en la orientación de las universidades públicas hacia la investigación. Sin embargo, deja claro que el huracán María provocó pérdidas económicas que fluctúan entre $43 y $159 miles de millones, convirtiéndolo en el huracán más costoso para Puerto Rico y el tercero más costoso para Estados Unidos.

Por otra parte, el estudio Efectos del huracán en el empleo por sector, evidencia desde Puerto Rico reflejó que las industrias de transporte, comunicación, agricultura y fuego sufrieron pérdidas en empleo luego del ciclón, mientras que

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industrias de construcción, intercambio y manufactura tuvieron un incremento a corto plazo. Asimismo, los trabajadores por cuenta propia aumentaron.

De igual forma, la investigación publicada en el capítulo 4 del libro Huracán María en Puerto Rico: desastre, vulnerabilidad y resiliencia apunta a que los empleos dedicados a servicios tuvieron una baja drástica inmediatamente después del desastre, pero se recuperaron en el 2018.

Caraballo Cueto también incluye en el estudio algunas recomendaciones para reducir el impacto en el desempleo luego de los desastres tales como: desarrollar programas de entrenamiento para facilitar la transición de los empleados a otros ambientes y mejorar la integración de los trabajadores por cuenta propia en la economía.

“Un evento natural no necesariamente implica un desastre económico si se implementan políticas efectivas y específicas de manera oportuna”, concluye el estudio, mientras establece que otras jurisdicciones propensas a huracanes pueden aprender de la experiencia de Puerto Rico con el huracán María.

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Educación / Education

El Sol Latino March 2022

STCC experience opens door to Isenberg School of Management SPRINGFIELD, MA | SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE | January 25, 2022 - Damian Breton admits he wasn’t a good student when he first went to college in 2005. But years later, he went back to school and seriously applied himself at Springfield Technical Community College. His diligence paid off. He’s now a student at the highly competitive Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

It wasn’t instant academic success for Breton. When he decided it was time to go back, he looked into UMass. “They said go to community college. Go to STCC and get good grades,” the Springfield resident said.

With the goal of one day getting into Isenberg, Breton enrolled at STCC and took advantage of the MassTransfer program, which offers seamless pathways to state institutions like UMass. One of STCC’s transfer options, MassTransfer also provides financial incentives to bring down the cost of a four-year degree.

He excelled during his second time at STCC where he focused on accounting and finance and earned A’s and A minuses. When he graduated in 2020 with an associate degree in business administration, he had a strong grade point average, even when factoring his less-than-stellar grades from 15 years ago.

He also successfully completed “predictor” courses Isenberg uses to evaluate applicants, along with their overall academic performance, personal and professional achievements, demonstrated leadership experience engagement at the university and respective communities throughout their college career.

Breton likely would not be an Isenberg student today if he did not first go to STCC. He cited the professors, class sizes and affordability of STCC as top reasons why he was transformed into a successful student.

Rhoda Belemjian, a professor of Business Administration, described STCC as a good choice for students who want to transfer to Isenberg, or any other four-year university, because faculty focuses on preparing them.

“We know how important it is for them to succeed in foundational courses so they can move forward,” Belemjian said. “We communicate with the four-year universities that our students transfer to. We ask, Damian Breton’s experience at STCC helped him ‘What can we do to better prepare succeed at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. our students to transfer to your institution?’ This includes technical and soft skills.”

Belemjian added, “Damian showed strong leadership skills in my classes.

He was eager to learn and share that with his classmates. He was helpful in groups, communicated thoughts and ideas well, and demonstrated good problem solving skills. Damian has a positive attitude. He was an awesome student in class.”

Breton said he succeeded thanks to the guiding hand of professors like Belemjian.

“Having the support from the professors helped a lot because you could meet with them easily after class or email them for more information,” Breton said.

STCC, he explained, is an ideal environment for non-traditional students people who are returning to school after being in the workforce or parents who might be juggling raising children and working.

“The professors at STCC are more understanding of people who might have kids. They might be working while going to college,” Breton said.

Breton worked as a restaurant manager while going to STCC. He continues to juggle working and being a student. “I work about 50 hours a week for Moe’s and I do my classes up here,” he said.

Going to STCC kept costs down for him. He estimated he paid about $6,500 for his two year degree at STCC. By contrast, the price tag of UMass is about $16,000 a year.

¿No sabes qué carrera profesional es mejor para ti?

¡ST CC te puede AYUDAR! Visita nuestro servicio Career Coach.

Consigue detalles sobre las tendencias de empleos y salarios para cientos de trabajos actualmente en demanda en el área de Springfeld y sus alrededores.

Admisiones (413) 755-3333 stcc.edu/career-coach 1-18-22 El Sol Latino 1/4 page: 4.75” x 5.75” Manuel Frau Ramos: manuelfrau@gmail.com Due: 5 days prior to the run month Runs: Feb 2022

It’s not just the affordability that drew him to STCC. Breton noted it would have been more of a struggle for him if he returned to school and faced a large university environment where upwards of 100 students might be seated in an auditorium.

“I’ve talked with students up here (at UMass) where their introductory accounting class might have several hundred kids in them versus STCC, where there’s maybe 30,” Breton said in an interview at UMass. “You get more individual attention from the professors.”

Breton feels strongly about the quality of STCC’s business program. He said his finance classes prepared him for the rigorous Isenberg program. He recommends that anyone dreaming of going to a prestigious university or college program consider starting at STCC. “Anyone who is an STCC student can come up here if they put their mind to it,” Breton said. “They can be a student at one of the top business schools in the Northeast. STCC will open the door to get you here.”

Interested in applying to STCC? Visit stcc.edu/apply or call Admissions at (413) 755-3333.

Educación / Education

El Sol Latino March 2022

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AIC Welcomes Hubert Benítez as New President SPRINGFIELD, MA | THE AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE | February 16, 2022 – The American International College (AIC) Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that Hubert Benitez, DDS, PhD, has been unanimously selected as the twelfth president of the 137-year-old institution.

Benitez will succeed President Vince Maniaci who is retiring after seventeen years of service.

“We believe Dr. Benitez is a leader who embraces the mission and strategic vision of American International College. Although these are challenging times for higher education, in the institution where Dr. Benitez previously served as president, he successfully expanded enrollment and developed new programs, while he increased the financial health and sustainability of the institution. He did this in a spirit of teamwork, ownership, and accountability, along with dedicated community outreach and engagement.

As evidenced by his own career path, Dr. Benitez is an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. He is committed to providing access, opportunity, and pathways for student success,” said Board of Trustees Chair Frank Colaccino.

“I am extremely humbled to have been selected as AIC’s new president and cannot be more excited to join an institution with such a rich history and strong commitment to access and opportunity. I am looking forward to working with the AIC faculty, staff, and students, as we, together, envision how to further impact the communities we serve. I am grateful for this opportunity and consider it the honor and privilege of my lifetime,” said Benitez.

In his most recent position, Benitez served as vice president for Strategic Initiatives and Academic Innovation, and as acting chief inclusion officer at Rockhurst University (RU) in Kansas City, Missouri. RU is a comprehensive institution of higher learning, offering educational programs to a diverse student population in business, communications, education, engineering, healthcare, humanities, performing and visual arts, science, and mathematics.

Among his responsibilities, Benitez had direct oversight of strategic planning, institutional effectiveness, accreditation and assessment, distance education/eLearning and the Prosperity Center for Financial Opportunity.

Prior to Rockhurst, Benitez served as president and chief executive officer for Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences for almost five years, where he provided visionary and strategic leadership that included growing and diversifying the college’s academic portfolio; promoting a culture of assessment; increasing the visibility of the institution through community presence, engagement, and outreach efforts; engaging in recruitment and enrollment management practices that increased the college’s population while meeting the needs of a new and diverse demographic of students; and implementing a financial strategy that increased the institution’s fiscal stability and outlook.

Benitez received his first doctoral degree in dentistry from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Latin America. He subsequently completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences Center, later earning a PhD in higher education administration from Saint Louis University’s College of Education and Public Service. Benitez is a graduate of the Institute for Educational Management (IEM) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, and he completed the Executive Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Benitez has dedicated the last two decades to higher education as an academic and administrator, and fifteen years prior as a clinician.

A member of numerous academic organizations, boards and advisory committees past and present, Benitez currently serves on the board of directors for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Kansas City; the board of trustees for Cristo Rey Kansas City, a Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth High School; is a peer reviewer for Middle States Commission on Higher Education; is a member the Hispanic Advisory Committee for the Kansas City Public Schools; and is a member of the KC Rising Steering Committee,

a body of the KC Rising initiative, composed of business and community volunteers from across the Kansas City metropolitan area who are committed to regional collaboration. Benitez’s professional associations include the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, American Dental Association, and Golden Key International Honor Society among others.

Hubert Benítez

In addition to an extensive selection of published works, Benitez has been a guest lecturer in the US and abroad and has been the recipient of federally and privately funded research grants. His work ethic and commitment has been recognized by Univision-Kansas City for his ongoing support for Hispanic heritage and by Universidad Piloto of Colombia for forging international and interdisciplinary exchange programs. He has been a recipient of the Hispanic Heritage Award and received special recognition for service to the community through Excellence in Education. His contributions to Suffolk County from the Office of Minority Affairs have been praised in addition to being selected as one of the Top 25 Advocates for Latino Empowerment in Long Island, New York.

Benitez will join American International College on April 11, 2022.

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Educación / Education

HCC President Christina Royal presents National Education Service Award to Congressman Richard Neal HOLYOKE, MA | HOLYOKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE | February 11, 2022 – Congressman Richard E. Neal, D-Massachusetts, received the 2022 National Education Service Award earlier this week at the Community College National Legislative Summit in Washington, D.C.

El Sol Latino March 2022

“As chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Neal has worked tirelessly to fix the tax code in a way that would benefit community college students and support workforce training programs,” Royal said.

She noted that Rep. Neal is a key proponent of the Tax-Free Pell Grant Act, which would exempt students from being taxed on the portion of their Pell award that exceeds tuition costs. He was also instrumental in securing $1.2 billion in funding for a potential successor to the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training Grants in proposed legislation.

“The community college system in America plays a critical role in preparing individuals for the workforce,” said Congressman Neal, an HCC alum from 1970 who now represents the First Congressional District of Massachusetts.

“I have been a longtime supporter of our community colleges because they are successful. They provide technical career training, serve as a stepping stone, and welcome individuals looking to retrain or refresh their skillset.”

“Western and central Massachusetts is lucky to have many of these types of educational options right outside their doors and at their fingertips,” he said.

“I am thankful for this recognition, and I am committed to continuing to provide for the community college system so that all students have a path to higher education.”

President Royal previously served on the AACC’s Commission on College Readiness.

PHOTO courtesy of ACCT: L to R: Richard Rhodes, American Association of Community Colleges Board Chair and President, Austin Community College, Texas; Chairman Neal; Christina Royal, President, Holyoke Community College, Massachusetts; James Cooksey, ACCT Board Chair and Trustee, Moberly Area Community College, Missouri; Jee Hang Lee, ACCT President and CEO

Holyoke Community College President Christina Royal introduced Neal and presented the award to him on behalf of the Association of Community College Trustees and the American Association of Community Colleges, the summit organizers.

This annual award honors a national leader who has made extraordinary contributions to national public policies and resources that support education, training, and post-secondary learning.

“It was an honor to present Congressman Neal with this award,” President Royal said after the Tuesday night reception at D.C.’s Marriott Marquis Hotel, where she attended the weeklong summit. “He has long been an advocate for progressive programs and federal funding for community colleges and our students, particularly in the area of workforce training. He recognizes that investments in our community colleges support regional growth, job creation, and economic mobility for individuals and families. I know this was a proud moment for him as it also was for me and should be for all the communities in Massachusetts that he represents.”

Previous winners of the National Education Service Award include President Barack Obama in 2010.

Política / Politics

Leading Latino Businessman Calls for Massachusetts Electronic Signature Legislation

by CESAR RUÍZ | cruiz@goldenyearsusa.com Western Mass businessman Cesar Ruiz, one of the state’s first-ever elected Latinos and the President and CEO of Golden Years Home Care, is urging Massachusetts to adopt electronic signatures as a means for candidates to access the ballot statewide in constitutional offices.

As a result of the pandemic, the Massachusetts Supreme Court in a ruling in 2020 allowed the gathering of electronic signatures needed by candidates to see their name on the ballot for election. The ruling was temporary, and Ruiz is advocating for this to be made permanent. Ruiz announced the formation of a group, Citizens for Transparency, to lead the effort to bring about this change and to support other initiatives that encourage enfranchisement of voters and those attempting to gain ballot access.

Ruiz and his business are based in Western Massachusetts, and he will be calling on the Western Massachusetts delegation to file legislation immediately to make the 2020 ruling on electronic signatures permanent.

Ruiz said, “We hear so much in the political discourse today about inclusion and enfranchising all in the electoral process. The sad truth is, as we see around the nation with voter suppression legislation being enacted and the failure of Washington to pass a voting rights bill, that there is still a very long way to go. The Commonwealth should immediately adopt the use of electronic signatures to provide more access to the ballot for those seeking office.

“How in good conscience can any reasonable elected official oppose a ruling that was implemented during the height of the COVID pandemic to

leverage technology to help candidates access the ballot? Our elected officials often preach inclusion in our electoral system and this is an opportunity to put those words into action. Citizen and candidate participation are the cornerstones of a healthy democracy, and I look forward to working with the Western Massachusetts legislative delegation and other sponsors to file and pass this legislation this year.”

Ruiz, who was recognized by the Massachusetts Cesar Ruiz (via Facebook) State Senate for being the first Latino ever elected at large in Massachusetts history, said another avenue would be for Secretary William Galvin to permanently adopt the 2020 ruling.

Ruiz was elected at age 25 as the first Hispanic in Springfield on the School Committee, and served until 1986.

Golden Years Home Care was named Entrepreneur of the Year for 2020 by BusinessWest magazine. Ruiz was also featured by Hispanic Executive, a publication spotlighting business’s most influential Latinos.

Launching Citizens for Transparency is hoping to make electronic signing the law of the land, while also supporting other electoral initiatives. As President and CEO of Golden Years Home Care, Ruiz leads an organization that provides quality and compassionate home care services to those who need assistance performing their day-to-day tasks due to disability, injury or aging. Golden Years is based in East Longmeadow.

Medios /Media

El Sol Latino March 2022

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Radio Universidad - 42 años de Trayectoria de Música y Servicio a la Comunidad por ÁMBAR GUTIÉRREZ BÁEZ | Editora / Oficina de Comunicaciones UPR-RP RIO PIEDRAS, PR | UNIVERSIDAD DE PUERTO RICO – RÍO PIEDRAS | Febrero 2, 2022 - La cadena Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, con estaciones en San Juan y Mayagüez, está de plácemes al cumplir 42 años de trayectoria, y lo celebrará con una programación especial el próximo martes, 8 de febrero, a partir de las 6 de la mañana.

“Toda celebración se enmarca en el ánimo de un punto y seguido; de festejar un legado y avanzar en el desarrollo creativo de programación de excelencia. En el cuadragésimo segundo aniversario de Radio Universidad, acogemos el compromiso de avanzar en una trayectoria de calidad, y servir a los ciudadanos, con todo un mundo de música e información”, indicó el director general de la radio emisora pública, José Ortiz Valladares.

A tono con la celebración, la estación contará con una programación especial desde las 6:00 a.m. que iniciará con el programa mañanero Alborada, le seguirá Hoy en las Noticias a las 7:00 a.m. De 8:00 a 10:00 de la mañana, por sus ondas radiales, se escuchará un programa especial con los productores Judith Felicié y Elmer González, quienes compartirán música de los años 80, comentarios y anécdotas.

Radio Universidad (WRTU 89.7 FM San Juan y 88.3 FM, Mayagüez) configura una cadena de emisoras educativas ubicadas en los recintos de Río Piedras y Mayagüez del primer centro docente del país. Inició sus operaciones el 8 de febrero de 1980, y está adscrita a la recién establecida Facultad de Comunicación e Información (FaCi), antes Escuela de Comunicación Pública.

Por su parte, el profesor Jorge Santiago Pintor, decano interino de la Facultad de Comunicación e Información (FaCI), indicó que “durante 42 años, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico ha demostrado su gran contribución y servicio a la comunidad mediante sus diversos programas musicales e informativos. Además, ha servido de espacio de formación y taller, tanto para nuestros estudiantes y profesores como para nuestros muy comprometidos productores. Su valor académico es reconocido por la agencia acreditadora de los programas de Comunicación, y su valor cultural y musical se evidencia por el consistente respaldo de los RadioAmigos de esta estación pública. Estamos muy contentos y orgullosos por el camino recorrido, pero aún más comprometidos por su desarrollo futuro”.

Radio Universidad como Centro Educativo y Práctico

Las instalaciones de Radio Universidad incluyen unidades de radio, televisión y cine, las cuales sirven como centro de práctica para los futuros profesionales de las comunicaciones. La misión de Radio Universidad es servir a la comunidad, mediante programación que eduque, informe y entretenga.

Los espacios noticiosos e informativos que se transmiten a través de sus ondas radiales, exponen los asuntos más apremiantes del sistema universitario público como en los principales ámbitos de la sociedad puertorriqueña. Hoy en las Noticias reúne a profesionales, junto a estudiantes de comunicaciones y periodismo, en un espacio noticioso que representa una alternativa de contenido ante lo comercial. De igual forma, Radio Universidad comprende programación que abarca discusiones profundas y análisis ponderado de temas locales e internacionales, dirigidos por destacadas personalidades del mundo académico, cultural y social.

Radio Universidad abraza al mundo

En el 2002 la emisora inició su jornada en la internet, para llegar a todo el mundo, a través del portal de internet: www.radiouniversidad.pr.

Fotos Juan M. Ortega Cosme

A partir de las 10:00 a.m. hasta mediodía Radio Universidad transmitirá un programa del Archivo Sonoro, con selectas piezas que se consideran joyas de programación, sobre la música e historia del puertorriqueño Hernando Avilés, integrante fundador del Trío Los Panchos.

En la tarde, continuarán los diversos espacios transmitiendo los programas de música Marhaban, Rumba Africana y Son de Cuba. Le seguirán entrevistas especiales en los programas Hilando Fino sobre las ciencias sociales y en Voz y Cultura, sobre la música y la educación. En el programa de Salud y Nutrición, Vilma Calderón compartirá la importancia de estos conceptos en Puerto Rico durante las pasadas cuatro décadas y le seguirá Hasta las Piedras Hablan, sobre historia y arqueología.

Radio Universidad está comprometida con ofrecer programación de alto contenido cultural, educativo y de interés público. La emisora transmite 168 horas de programación, 24 horas, los siete días a la semana. La programación incluye producciones locales, de servicios de radio emisoras públicas de los Estados Unidos e internacionales, así como programas de interés comunitario, servicio público y algunos musicales en francés, árabe y otros.

Sus espacios musicales representan un 75% de la programación semanal y cubren las expresiones autóctonas de todos los rincones del planeta, desde las más arraigadas en la tradición y el folclor hasta las más sofisticadas y vanguardistas. En Radio Universidad coexisten la música típica puertorriqueña, la de los países árabes, la africana, la brasileña, el jazz, la música clásica, el tango, el bolero, la nueva trova, el hip-hop y el rock.

Veanos@www.issuu.com/elsollatino

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Portada//Music Música Front Page

El Sol Latino March 2022

Catedrático del RUM presenta publicación sobre el legado musical de Juan Neri MAYAGÜEZ, PR | UPR - RECINTO UNIVERSIRARIO DE MAYAGÜEZ | 21 de enero de 2022- El doctor José Antonio López, catedrático del Departamento de Humanidades del Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) y maestro de la guitarra clásica, presentó su más reciente publicación titulada Juan Neri: Una enciclopedia musical, dedicada a la trayectoria del cantante y requintista, quien fuera la primera voz del trío Los Tres Ases.

Una cosa es emocionarse escuchando a Juan Neri y otra muy distinta es emocionarnos al poder tocarlo. Consciente de que existe una marcada diferencia entre sembrar flores y sembrar árboles, quedo con la enorme satisfacción de facilitar para las nuevas generaciones el universo musical que nos legó”, puntualizó.

La presentación, que se llevó a cabo en la Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular en el Viejo San Juan, estuvo a cargo de Pablo Marcial Ortiz Ramos. También, desde México -de forma virtual- participó Ana Neri (hija de Juan Neri). El moderador del evento fue el doctor Hermelindo Ruiz Mestre.

La prolífica trayectoria musical de Juan Neri, incluyó al Trío Los Tres Ases, de 1952 al 1960, con Marco Antonio Muñiz; y luego, con otros integrantes hasta el 1964.

Se trata de la primera entrega de una serie de 10 libros dedicados a la vida, obra y patrimonio del arte y cultura de Neri.

“Como aquellos libros sagrados que han sido admirados por muchos, pero leídos por pocos, así han sido los acordes de Juan Neri, apreciados por muchos, pero tocados por pocos. Con la presente edición, saldo una deuda que tenía conmigo mismo. Siento que desde que nací, fui elegido para descifrar y afirmar la complejidad en el arte de Juan Neri. Disertar sobre su figura, con la formalidad e integridad con que se examinan otras disciplinas del arte y la ciencia, ha sido un placer para mí”, indicó López.

Nacido en México, Juan Fidel Neri Mancilla, falleció a sus 42 años, dejando un legado musical incalculable, ya que lanzó la mayoría de las canciones románticas de bohemia que persisten en la memoria de América Latina. En su publicación, López elabora sobre la vida del músico, así como de sus canciones, incluyendo sus partituras musicales.

“Llevaba esperando por realizar esta publicación con la paciencia de quien cruza el planeta a pie. Las miles de horas escuchando y armando cuidadosamente el rompecabezas constituido por el enigma de sus acordes representan uno de los esfuerzos más grandes que he hecho en mi vida.

“Sería muy gratificante que se utilizara esta colección como material didáctico para escuelas y conservatorios de música. Confío que sean incontables los jóvenes que a partir de ahora puedan perpetuar a Juan Neri, sintiéndose UPR.edu. La presentación de el doctor José seguros de sus armonías. Sería la Antonio López, que se llevó a cabo en la Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular, mejor manera de hacerle justicia, concluyó con la participación del cantante honrarlo y celebrarlo. Ojalá que el Danny Rivera. Foto Stefano Corcella tránsito por esta enciclopedia sea recibido como una ovación de pie a Juan Neri. De esto ocurrir, habrá valido la pena mi vida de entrega dedicada al estudio de este gran genio”, afirmó.

Para más información pueden acceder a: https://enciclopediajuanneri.com.

Para contacto directo con el autor Dr. José Antonio López (Clases individuales online, Clases magistrales o Conferencias) pueden utilizar el siguiente enlace: www.aunasolaguitarra.com

Libros / Books Casitas de Colores / bilingüe por SAMUEL GONZÁLEZ RODRÍGUEZ • casitasdecolorespr.com | 2021 | ‎210 páginas Narrado por Samuel González Rodríguez, artista creador y autor de los macromurales de Pintalto y Yaucromatic, Libro oficial de los macromurales de Pintalto y Yaucromatic que narra la historia de los pintorescos proyectos creados en comunidades de varios municipios en Puerto Rico.

De norte a sur, de este a oeste, te invitamos a un recorrido por uno de los proyectos de arte más emblemáticos y reconocidos en Puerto Rico en el siglo XXI: las Casitas de Colores, también conocidas como macromurales, causantes de cambios importantes en comunidades desventajadas y espacios deteriorados en varios municipios, y cuyos distintivos mosaicos pintados se han convertido en una sensación turística a nivel local e internacional.

Conoce su origen e historia por medio de fotos, dibujos y anécdotas narradas desde el punto de vista del creador de esta colección de iniciativas artísticas, en el que además se reseña la labor de diversos muralistas y personas que se unieron a la causa para crear un legado que ha impactado el ámbito artístico y social de la Isla del Encanto.

Libros / Books

El Sol Latino March 2022

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Puerto Rican Studies in the City University Of New York: The First Fifty Years Editors: MARÍA ELIZABETH PÉREZ Y GONZÁLEZ AND VIRGINIA SÁNCHEZ KORROL New York, NY | CENTRO Press | January 25, 2021 | 308 pages Book’s description: Authored by leading scholars in the field of Puerto Rican and Latinx Studies, this volume is an important milestone in documenting the power of collective consciousness and action to create change in and access to higher education for all peoples. The book features a comprehensive fifty-year trajectory in the field of Puerto Rican Studies (PRS) at the City University of New York in a series of critical essays on scholarship, the social sciences, bilingual education, media, and its counterparts beyond CUNY, in addition to retrospectives from founders of the field, current professors, and alumni. The student founders of PRS, its pioneering faculty and groundbreaking interdisciplinary focus on the intersectionalities of race, culture, gender, power, and class, elucidate a contentious path to forging an anti-racist and decolonial pedagogy. The critical analysis in the scholarship found in this volume assesses the current status of Puerto Rican Studies in continuing to meet its academic mission, challenges and opportunities, and points to future directions in the 21st century.

• How a Few Students Transformed the Ivory Tower: Puerto Rican Studies and its (R) evolution at Brooklyn College by María E. Pérez y González • Puerto Rican Studies: Transitions, Reconfigurations, and Programs Outside the CUNY System by Edna Acosta-Belén • So Much Knowledge and We Still Ain’t Free: Puerto Rican Studies Fifty Years Later by Juan González IN RETROSPECT: Voices from the Field • Past is Prologue: A Look Back at the Evolution of Puerto Rican Studies in the Academy by Jesse M. Vázquez • Puerto Rican Studies at Baruch College by Regina A. Bernard-Carreño • Camuyana en Brooklyn: Reflecting on My Journey Through Puerto Rican and Latino Studies by Gisely Colón López • Reflections on a Return to Lehman College by Andrés Torres

Preface Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION: by Virginia Sánchez Korrol and María Elizabeth Pérez y González

Editor’s bios: MARÍA ELIZABETH PÉREZ Y GONZÁLEZ is a Puerto Rican born in Brooklyn, New York, and Associate Professor in the Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College, CUNY, where she has served as faculty for 30 years with 17 of those years as Chairperson, including two as Acting Chairperson. Her research includes the Puerto Rican diaspora, Latinxs, women in ministry, and Pentecostals. She is the author of Puerto Ricans in the United States (2000) and scholarly pieces on Latinas in Christian ministry.

LEGACY: • Remaking Puerto Rican Studies at 50 Years by Pedro Cabán • Puerto Rican Studies: A Legacy of Activism, Scholarship, and Collective Empowerment by Edna Acosta-Belén • Bilingual Education and Puerto Rican Studies: From Vision to Reality by Antonio Nadal and Milga Morales Nadal • Five Decades of Puerto Rican Studies: Influences on Sociology and Allied Social Sciences by Christine E. Bose • The Evolution of Puerto Rican Studies at City College by Conor Tomás Reed

VIRGINIA SÁNCHEZ KORROL is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College, CUNY, where she chaired the Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies from 1989 to 2004. Her publications include From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York (1983, 1994), and the three-volume Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia (2006). She serves on the boards of the New York Historical Society Center for Women’s History, Arte Público Recovery Project, and the Latino Expert Panel of the National Park Service. She is a 2020 recipient of the prestigious Herbert H. Lehman Prize awarded by the New York Academy of History.

Puerto Rican Chicago: Schooling the City, 1940-1977

A perceptive look at big-city community building, Puerto Rican Chicago reveals the links between justice in education and a people’s claim to space in their new home.

Table of Contents: Foreword: 50 years of Puerto Rican Studies at CUNY by Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, Chancellor

by MIRELSIE VELÁZQUEZ Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press | January 25, 2022 | 224 pages About This Book The postwar migration of Puerto Rican men and women to Chicago brought thousands of their children into city schools. These children’s classroom experience continued the colonial project begun in their homeland, where American ideologies had dominated Puerto Rican education since the island became a US territory.

Mirelsie Velázquez tells how Chicago’s Puerto Ricans pursued their educational needs in a society that constantly reminded them of their status as second-class citizens. Communities organized a media culture that addressed their concerns while creating and affirming Puerto Rican identities. Education also offered women the only venue to exercise power, and they parlayed their positions to take lead roles in activist and political circles. In time, a politicized Puerto Rican community gave voice to a previously silenced group--and highlighted that colonialism does not end when immigrants live among their colonizers.

About the Author MIRELSIE VELÁZQUEZ (mirelsie.velazquez@ ou.edu) is an educational historian at the College of Education of the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Velazquez interests’ focus on issues of race/ethnicity, historical research in education, and gender and sexuality. She teaches courses on History of American Education, Critical Race Theory, Latino Education, Oral History, and Historiography of Education. Her research is on History of Latino Education, Puerto Rican history in the diaspora, social movements, and history of Latinas in the U.S. Locally, Dr. Velazquez is working on issues pertaining to community involvement in Latino and African American communities, as well as access to higher education for underrepresented communities of color. (credit - Center for Puerto Rican Studies @ Hunter College)

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Libros / Books

El Sol Latino March 2022

Knowledge Produced in the Margins: An Interview with Jorell Meléndez-Badillo

by MARISOL LEBRÓN This article was originally published in the The Abusable Past | January 5, 2022 Reprinted with permission from Marisol Lebrón In The Lettered Barriada: Workers, Archival Power, and the Politics of Knowledge in Puerto Rico (Duke University Press, 2021), Jorell MeléndezBadillo details how a cohort of self-educated workers challenged the cultural elite to reshape the Puerto Rican intellectual terrain in the wake of the U.S. occupation of the archipelago. The community that these organic intellectuals crafted, what Meléndez-Badillo coins as the lettered barriada, worked to speak to the conditions of coloniality and capitalist exploitation faced by the poor and working classes, as well as theorize new forms of emancipatory politics. In addition to tracing the emergence of the lettered barriada, Meléndez-Badillo shows how these workers fundamentally changed print culture and created new archives of knowledge in early twentieth century Puerto Rico. While these “obreros ilustrados” or enlightened workers, challenged elite hegemony through their impact on print culture, politics, and national mythology, Meléndez-Badillo shows that these workers reproduced exclusions that further marginalized women and Black workers as outside of the intellectual life of the archipelago. In this way, while Meléndez-Badillo is dedicated to telling the story of the lettered barriada and its impact, he does not craft an uncritical or overly celebratory narrative. Instead, throughout the book he embraces the complicated, and sometimes contradictory, nature of these intellectuals and the political communities they built in order to paint a picture of a society in flux as new forms of colonial rule upended the existing power structure and created openings for insurgent intellectuals to transform their lives and the future of the archipelago.

Marisol LeBrón: You start and end the book talking about a desire to find your family in the stories of the Puerto Rican labor movement and being surprised about their place within it. You say that this revelation about your family and how they fit into formal narratives of labor history profoundly shaped your approach to this book. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Jorell Meléndez-Badillo: First and foremost, thank you so much for taking the time to do such a careful reading of the book. I truly appreciate your questions and engagement with the text’s main ideas.

This book is the product of many years of thinking and writing about the Puerto Rican working classes. I first became interested in the topic because of my own working-class background and politics. I was raised by my grandparents and our family was very big. Every time there was an excuse to celebrate, I would hear them talk about their upbringings. I heard stories about how they practically raised their own siblings, milked cows in the morning, and about how seven or eight of them slept in the same room. I also listened to stories about their times in the cigar workshops or my great grandparent’s work sugarcane fields.

As an adolescent, I was a part of the punk rock movement in Puerto Rico.

By the age of fourteen or fifteen, I was already organizing events with local and international bands. It was an empowering experience sustained by a D.I.Y. ethos that could be read as an anarchist praxis or, at least, influenced by it. When I began studying and taking history seriously, I decided to explore the legacies of anarchism in Puerto Rico. To my surprise, there was not much written about it. I decided to write my M.A. thesis about the history of anarchism in the archipelago. During that time, I was also part of an anarchist collective that was trying to open a Social Study Center in Santurce, Puerto Rico. The thesis, which eventually became my first book, was an attempt to trace a radical genealogy to help us engage in transhistorical dialogues with those that had come before us. I saw it as a tribute to my working-class background.

I begin The Lettered Barriada with the moment when I first learned about my great grandfather’s scab days because it forced to rethink my understandings of Puerto Rico’s working-class history. Why were people like him absent in the historical narrative? As I began to think about this question, I quickly realized that it was not solely the scabs who were absent.

The historical narratives written by Puerto Rico’s working class intellectuals silenced and erased women, Black folks, and non-skilled workers, among others. This realization forced me to reconceptualize my research question.

Instead of seeking to explore who was absent, I began thinking about the ways that those erasures were historically produced.

The Lettered Barriada is not a history of the Puerto Rican working classes.

Instead, it is a history of those that dominated the means of working-class knowledge production at the turn of the twentieth century. This small group of ragtag intellectuals saw themselves as the self-appointed interlocutors of the masses. As I demonstrate in the book, these self-identified obreros ilustrados [enlightened workers] did not challenge the patriarchal and Eurocentric logics of the cultural elite, but often reproduced them in their writings, speeches, and spaces. In the process, they created historical narratives that centered an idealized worker that was male, skilled, and raceless (i.e., white or aspiring to be whitened).

ML: One of the things I really loved about the book was the way you fight against seeing the Puerto Rican working class as incredibly isolated, and, well, insular, in relation to larger global movements and the transnational circulation of ideas. You have this great line in the book where you say that the literate obrero [workingman] could pick up a working-class newspaper and “imagine himself as a global subject, all without leaving the cafetín.” Can you tell us how the archive of labor periodicals you discuss in the book enabled working-class Puerto Ricans to participate in global phenomenon?

JMB: As nineteenth-century intellectuals began crafting their idea of the nation, the regeneration of the workingclasses was seen as crucial and necessary. Workers, however, were usually excluded from these conversations. The workers whose steps I trace in the book developed complex ideas about society, the nation, and citizenship.

Through newspapers, books, and theatrical plays, the obreros ilustrados not only sought to produce knowledges but also assert their identities as agents of political and social transformation.

While scholars of Puerto Rican labor history have studied these newspapers and books for decades, print media was only understood as part of workers’ class struggle or as labor propaganda. Though that is definitely the case, in the book I am reading those sources differently. I am arguing that taken together, this vibrant intellectual production signals the emergence of other aesthetic and political sensibilities. I took seriously the identities workers carefully crafted because they took themselves seriously. Workers projected themselves as journalists, poets, and sociologists, among other things. But since they were excluded from the conversations that the lettered elite were having, they began looking elsewhere.

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Knowledge Produced in the Margins: An Interview with Jorell Meléndez-Badillo continued from page 12 At the turn of the twentieth century, Puerto Rican workers were not the only ones building intellectual communities. There were other lettered barriadas across the Americas, and across the world. They were connected through global networks of communication that were sustained by the circulation of working-class print media. In Puerto Rico, workers consumed these knowledges by reading them out loud in plazas, creating makeshift libraries, or reproducing articles in their local newspapers. They also became active participants by writing articles in the international press, exchanging news and ideas, and swapping newspapers. While the cultural elite ignored them, they were able to imagine themselves as part of a global community.

These interactions allowed Puerto Rican workers to craft global imaginaries while shaping their local subjectivities. Europe and the United States remained at the center of the planetary imaginary that workers developed, however. These global exchanges, then, created a desire to become modern and civilized; that is, whitened. Working-class intellectuals used print media to discursively articulate proximity to the laboring masses at times, while also distancing themselves from the “ignorant masses” at others. Instead of challenging elites’ Eurocentric, heteropatriarchal, and racist conceptions of the world, working-class intellectuals ended up reproducing them.

José Ferrer y Ferrer’s book cover for Los Ideales del Siglo XX. Jorell Meléndez-Badillo’s personal collection.

ML: Race and gender occupy a vexed position in the archive of obreros ilustrados you follow in the book. You show how both Blackness and femininity were erased in the publications produced by the labor movement.

This silencing occurred even though some of these key figures of the labor moment were Black, such as Juan Vilar, or women, such as Luisa Capetillo and Juana Colón. I guess my question is twofold: How do we make sense of these absences? And how did you grapple with these absences as you were writing this book? In other words, how did you approach the archive in order to avoid reproducing some of these silences in your own work?

JMB: One of the things that animated the writing of the book was the question of why people like my family were absent from the historical record. When I began to conduct research and write the book, I understood that I needed to carefully interrogate the archive to avoid reproducing erasures, epistemic violences, and silences. What I did not understand back then was that I was doomed to fail for, as Michel-Rolph Trouillot noted, any historical narrative is a bundle of silences.

As I began reading primary sources and engaging in archival research, it was clear to me that race and gender were excluded from these narratives purposedly and forcefully. This had also been theorized and studied by scholars that greatly influenced me, such as María del Carmen Baerga, Eileen Findlay, and Ileana Rodríguez-Silva. What I was interested in, then, was understanding the ways that these silences were created.

Juan Vilar is a fascinating case. He was a Black cigarmaker from Caguas, an avid organizer, and the founder of Puerto Rico’s first anarchist group, Solidaridad. He was also well-known in Puerto Rico’s lettered barriada because of his activism and writings. But he died on May 1st in misery, abandoned by the Federación Libre de Trabajadores (Free Federation

of Workers, FLT), the labor organization he dedicated his life to, and was quickly forgotten. Vilar is also absent from the historical narratives contemporaneous working-class intellectuals crafted. In the book, I argue that he was erased because he was Black at a moment when labor organizations articulated a “raceless” discourse. He was also an anarchist at a moment when the FLT frowned upon working-class radicalism and enforced “non-political” trade unionism.

These erasures also showed me was that there was not a single archive.

There were multiple competing archives operating in early twentiethcentury Puerto Rico. I am not referring to physical repositories, but to traces of the past that were collected intentionally or haphazardly, to paraphrase Antoinette Burton. Beyond the hegemonic national archive, there were minor ones that fed into it. There were also counterarchives that challenged and operated outside of these hegemonic logics. Some were erased, but others survived and can serve as ways to decenter what I have termed following Lorgia García Peña’s work on the Dominican Republic the archive of puertorriqueñidad.

People like Juana Colón or Paca Escabí were silenced and erased. But in the book, I did not simply want to include them into a working-class canon or to incorporate them into labor’s archive. Instead, I was interested in exploring how they were erased and, perhaps more importantly, how their lives became counterarchives that not only challenged (and continue to challenge) labor’s ideational archives, but also the archive of puertorriqueñidad.

ML: One of the most surprising chapters for me as I was reading the book was chapter 5, which details a 1933 strike at the University of Puerto Rico. A strike at the university isn’t necessarily surprising since it’s long been a site of political activism and struggle, but the reason behind the strike really shocked me. Students were protesting the appointment of Rafael Alonso Torres, who you describe as “an autodidactic labor leader turned politician” to the UPR Board of Trustees. The announcement of his appointment was immediately met with outrage as students argued he was intellectually and culturally unfit to be in a leadership position within the university, often comparing him to an ox. Students went on strike until Alonso Torres was eventually forced out. Today, the UPR is often seen as aligned with labor and indeed many of the recent struggles at the university have been about opposing austerity alongside workers and creating more opportunities for the working-class to study at the University. How does the story of the 1933 strike help us think about not only the evolution of the UPR, but also the way that workers have slowly become recognized as part of Puerto Rico’s intellectual architecture?

JMB: When I first presented the research for this chapter at a conference, an older Puerto Rican radical organizer whom I greatly respect was in the audience. He took a turn in the Q&A and asked, “where the students on the right side of history? Or where they wrong?” Focusing on this strike, however, was a way of challenging that binary logic of winners or losers, of right or wrong. The strike had been a political microcosm and had meant different things to different people.

For rank-and-file Socialist Party-members, the strike was a shame. They argued that the university had been dominated by the privileged elite, and that having an autodidact from the world of labor would facilitate the entrance of workers into the ivory tower. For Alonso Torres and the party’s leadership it was a position of power to be defended at all costs. For the governor, it was a political nightmare. But not everyone was against the strike, students were able to mobilize support from different social sectors.

Students believed that someone cultured and educated needed to occupy that position. In the process, they articulated classist attacks ridiculing Alonso Torres. But the student movement was not monolithic. Two of the participants, for example, were César Andreu Iglesias and Arturo Morales Carrión. Andreu Iglesias became one of Puerto Rico’s most prominent Marxist intellectuals while Morales Carrión later became president of the university and worked in the high echelons of the Luis Muñoz Marin and John F. Kennedy’s administrations.

A survey in a national newspaper demonstrated that many people supported the students. Communists attacked Rafael Alonso Torres and the Socialist

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Knowledge Produced in the Margins: An Interview with Jorell Meléndez-Badillo continued from page 13 Party’s bureaucratization, while nationalists sought to defend the university from someone that believed in the annexation of Puerto Rico the United States. Luis Muñoz Marín, who will later become Puerto Rico’s first elected governor, utilized the strike to advance his political career and the Liberal Party. He secretly met with students and the UPR’s Chancellor, Carlos Chardón, to craft the narrative through his newspaper La democracia.

To that end, I was not interested in choosing a winner or a loser. I am not claiming objectivity, for that is impossible. Instead, in this chapter, I wanted to show that a single event had multiple meanings and interpretations even as it was unraveling. The strike also demonstrated, for the sake of my book’s narrative arc, that workers were recognized as legitimate politicians, but not as legitimate intellectuals.

The strike of 1933 does not neatly fit into broader genealogies of struggles at the University of Puerto Rico. In part, this is also because the strike did not stem from a strong pro-independence movement or from a radicalized working-class as will happen in later strikes at the university. The 1933 strike does show, however, that the cross-class alliances that have taken place in university strikes during the last fifty years are not ontological but took a lot of work, organizing, and imagination. That historical outlook might provide insights into how to foster them in the future as the university is being attacked from multiple fronts including the Fiscal Control Board, the government, and internal bureaucrats.

ML: As I was reading the book, I texted to ask you about a periodical produced by the Insular Police called La Fuerza Pública, which ran from 1915 to 1916. You note in the book that there was only one surviving issue from March 21, 1916. I was dying to get my hands on it! You explained to me that the lone copy was at the University of Puerto Rico’s Humacao campus at the Centro de Documentación, which had been badly damaged during Hurricane Maria in 2017. The copy you made of that issue while doing your research is probably one of the only, if not the only, copy that currently exists since the original was likely destroyed by the storm and subsequent damage.

Recently, following the passage of PROMESA and the imposition of a fiscal control board, the UPR system has undergone intense austerity and there was even talk about shutting down or consolidating some of the smaller campuses.

I’m wondering if you can talk a little bit about the precarity of doing archival research in Puerto Rico?

How does the economic and political situation in the archipelago impact researchers?

JMB: In his essay, La memoria rota (The Broken Memory), Arcadio Díaz Student protest in San Juan. Front cover of El Quiñones argued that in Imparcial, October 2, 1933. the 1940s and 50s, Puerto Rico broke away from its memory to create new ones. I believe that something similar has happened with the ongoing crisis we’ve been living for almost two decades now. The State has broken away from memory once again. This time, however, there is no new historical memory to take its place. The State broke away from memory and replaced it with trauma, austerity, and colonial violence.

Conducting archival research in Puerto Rico has always been challenging.

But conducting research amid colonial collapse is an uphill action. Funds

for municipal and national archives have dwindled. Historical knowledge does not matter and is not part of the national project (because there is none). Those archives related to working-class knowledges matter even less.

It breaks my heart knowing that if I wanted to write this book now, it would be impossible. The bulk of my research took place in the Centro de Documentación Obrera Santiago Iglesias Pantín (CDOSIP) located in the UPR’s Humacao campus. The underfunded and understaffed collection had been suffering for years before hurricanes Irma and María hit the building with might and fury in September 2017. These hurricanes caused massive infrastructural damage and thousands of deaths in the archipelago.

Lesser known is the unnatural bureaucratic catastrophe that followed and wreaked havoc in archival collections like the CDOSIP. For months after the hurricane, those collections were exposed to water-leaking roofs, humidity from lack of power, and bureaucratic inefficiency. Instead of moving the collections to another location, they were left to rot. It’ll be 2022 in a few days, and they’re still there. Scholars and researchers have not been able to access it since the storms hit in 2017. Because these collections were never fully catalogued, we might never know what has been lost forever.

To be sure, the CDOSIP was created to perpetuate the myths that I seek to challenge in my book. The name itself reproduces the idea of Santiago Iglesias Pantín, a Catalan migrant that became president of the FLT and the Socialist Party, as the “creator” of the labor movement. While the collection and the documents within it were created with a particular purpose, they also allowed for other readings. In my book, for example, I read those documents critically and against the grain to see how power was mediated through them. Thus, the destruction of collections like these, and I am sure there many others across the archipelago, constitutes an enormous loss to our historical memory. Their disappearance also adds to the transhistorical power of the archive that working-class intellectuals created in the lettered barriada.

ML: Can you tell us about what you’re working on next? Do you feel like you’re still living within the world of this book or do you feel like you’re in an entirely different space?

JMB: I am currently working on various projects. The first is a book titled Puerto Rico: A National History, under contract with Princeton University Press. The book seeks to offer a historical genealogy to understand the current fiscal and social crisis in Puerto Rico and how it is tied to five centuries of colonialism. It also seeks to demonstrate how Puerto Ricans have resisted colonialism and have also created complex, diasporic, and ever-changing ideas of the nation in the absence of a nation-state.

I have begun conducting research on another book project tentatively titled Following the Revolution: The Transnational Lives of Blanca and Juan Moncaleano. It traces the lives of two anarchist pedagogues from Colombia as they traveled and organized with anarchist communities in Cuba, Mexico, and the Los Angeles. The book seeks to explore the materiality of anarchist migration by paying attention to the role of newspapers and printing presses in facilitating these processes. It also seeks to demonstrate how even though some migrant lives have been romanticized, they were often full of hardships, heartbreaks, and difficulties.

More recently, I have finished an article where I begin to concretely think about global circulation of ideas through the concept of the Counter Republic of Letters. I also have a forthcoming book chapter exploring the genealogies of anarchism in Latin America. I am also beginning a coauthored article with a good friend, Joaquín Villanueva. Although he is a geographer, he’s good peoples. I am excited about that piece because of its collaborative dimension. There are one or two other things also brewing but in very early stages.

All these projects and publications stem from two simple questions that guide my intellectual trajectory: How is knowledge produced in the margins?

And how does the circulation of ideas impact local subjectivities?

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Knowledge Produced in the Margins: An Interview with Jorell Meléndez-Badillo continued from page 14 I also have scheduled “chilea y bájale un poquito” in my Passion Planner because academia is already taking a toll on my physical health. I guess that is my new year’s resolution is based in a song from Pirulo y la Tribu: “la vida no es pa ajorarse, la vida la vivo sin prisa, si hay que morirse de algo, entonces me muero de la risa.”

JORELL MELÉNDEZ-BADILLO is an Assistant Professor of History at Dartmouth College. His work focuses on the global circulation of radical ideas at the turn of the twentieth century from the perspectives of workingclass intellectual communities in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and Latin America. His most recent publications include The Lettered Barriada: Workers, Archival Power, and the Politics of Knowledge in Puerto Rico(Duke University Press, 2021) and an edited volume, Páginas libres: Breve antología del pensamiento anarquista en Puerto Rico, 1900-1919(Editora Educación Emergente, 2021). He is currently working on a book titled Puerto Rico: A National History for Princeton University Press.

MARISOL LEBRÓN is an Associate Professor of Feminist Studies and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

She is the author of Policing Life and Death: Race, Violence, and Resistance in Puerto Rico (University of California Press, 2019) and Against Muerto Rico: Lessons from the Verano Boricua (Editora Educación Emergente, 2021). She is also the co-editor of Aftershocks of Disaster: Puerto Rico Before and After the Storm (Haymarket Books, 2019). She is currently working on a book that explores the centrality of policing to the emergence and consolidation of Latinx identity in the United States.

Salud / Health Campaña “Educar para Vacunar” se Asocia con Empresas Locales en Holyoke HOLYOKE, MA | 25 de enero de 2022 – La pandemia del coronavirus ha afectado a las comunidades del área metropolitana de Springfield de manera intensa y repentina, especialmente a aquellas con grandes porcentajes de personas que se desplazan diariamente al trabajo; la ciudad de Holyoke no es una excepción. La ciudad se enfrenta a un reto único para mitigar la propagación del coronavirus y aumentar la vacunación.

sobre las vacunas y los beneficios de aumentar la vacunación en el lugar de trabajo. La campaña también creará conciencia sobre los incentivos y programas que ayudan a mitigar la pérdida de productividad debido al tiempo libre necesario para vacunarse o los posibles efectos secundarios relacionados con las vacunas. Los servicios de la iniciativa se ofrecen sin costo alguno para las empresas y sus empleados.

“Abordar los desafíos sin precedentes que plantea el COVID-19 requiere un esfuerzo igualmente sin precedentes a nivel local,” dijo el alcalde de Holyoke, Joshua García. “Esa es la idea detrás de Educar para Vacunar: implementar un programa audaz de educación pública para que toda la comunidad entienda que vacunarse es lo mejor que puede hacer para protegerse a sí mismo y a sus seres queridos. Mi esperanza para el programa es superar las barreras institucionales que han desalentado a algunos habitantes de Holyoke a vacunarse, al mismo tiempo apoyar a las empresas cuando están más vulnerables”.

La iniciativa Educar para Vacunar es un esfuerzo de colaboración que involucra a instituciones, organizaciones y funcionarios electos locales, entre ellos: • Joshua García, Alcalde de la ciudad de Holyoke

Clínica de vacunación de Covid-19 en el Holyoke Mall el 22 de enero de 2022.

• Patricia Duffy, Representante Estatal del Quinto Distrito de Hampden

Holyoke tiene una comunidad vibrante formada por una variedad de grupos raciales y étnicos que tienen, históricamente, tasas más elevadas de factores sociales determinantes de la salud. La pandemia no ha hecho más que exacerbar estas disparidades, como demuestran las menores tasas de vacunación entre estos grupos. Esto se complica aún más por las sólidas industrias manufactureras, tecnológicas y de minorías de Holyoke, que atraen a los trabajadores de las zonas aledañas.

• Juan Anderson-Burgos, Concejal del Distrito 6 de la Ciudad de Holyoke y asistente legislativo de la Representante Estatal Patricia Duffy

Para enfrentar este desafío único, la ciudad de Holyoke ha lanzado la iniciativa “Educar para Vacunar”, una campaña integrada que tiene como objetivo educar, alentar y empoderar a las empresas de Holyoke para que trabajen junto a sus empleados para aumentar las tasas de vacunación contra el COVID-19. La campaña fue posible gracias a los fondos de ayuda para el COVID-19, incluyendo CARES, ARPA y Vaccine Equity Best Value Grant, y durará hasta el 10 de marzo de 2022.

• Kate Preissler, Gerente de Programas Especiales para el Desarrollo Comunitario de Holyoke

Este programa de educación y divulgación multilingüe dirigido a grupos específicos brindará oportunidades para que las empresas aprendan más

• Rory Casey, Director de Operaciones y Logística del Centro de Operaciones de Emergencia de Holyoke • Sean Gonsalves, Director de Salud de la Junta de Salud de Holyoke • Jordan Hart, Director Ejecutivo de la Cámara de Comercio de Holyoke

• Aaron Vega, Director de la Oficina de Planificación y Desarrollo Económico de la ciudad de Holyoke “Nuestro objetivo es ayudar a construir espacios de trabajo más seguros, combatir la desinformación y apoyar a nuestras empresas locales durante este momento difícil,” dijo Sean Gonsalves, Director de Salud de la Junta de Salud de Holyoke.

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Fine Arts Center

Atracciones de Marzo 2022

Únase a nosotros para celebrar la apertura de la Temporada 2021-2022 del Fine Arts Center con una serie de eventos virtuales y presenciales que celebran la humanidad presente en todos nosotros..

ARTS.LIVE.HERE. UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center

Danú: St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Viernes, 11 de marzo | 7:30 p.m. | Bowker Auditorium Boletos $35, $20 | Estudiantes de los Five College y jóvenes de 17 años o menos: $10

Danú ha sido uno de los grupos mas importantes de música irlandesa tradicional desde el lanzamiento de su primer álbum en 1997 el cual fue muy bien recibido. Por mas de dos décadas, los virtuosos músicos de Danú de flauta, silbato, violín, acordeón, bouzouki y de canto (irlandés e inglés) han deleitado a audiencias alrededor del mundo. Ganadores de numerosos premios de la BBC y del Irish Music Magazine.

Learn about Irish Music with Danú

Sábado, 12 de marzo | 10 a.m. | Bowker Auditorium

Únase a los miembros de Danú para una interesante conversación sobre música irlandesa tradicional. Los miembros de la banda conversarán y demostrarán los instrumentos, hablarán sobre la historia de la música irlandesa y las tradiciones musicales de su área, County Waterford, y contestarán preguntas de la audiencia.

Este programa es gratuito y está abierto al público. No se requiere registro previo. Asistentes deberán cumplir con los mismos requisitos relacionados con el uso de las mascarillas, prueba de vacunación o resultados negativos de la prueba de COVID-19.

Asian and Asian American Arts and Culture Program

Small Island Big Song

Domingo - Marzo 27, 2022 | 4:00 p.m.

Fredrick C. Tillis Performance Hall - Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts Boletos $35, $25, $20 | Estudiantes de los Five College y jóvenes de 17 años o menos:$10

Small Island Big Song es una impresionante colaboración que reúne las tradiciones musicales del Océano Indio y el Océano Pacífico. El resultado es una creación musical contemporánea y relevante de una región a la vanguardia de retos culturales y ambientales.

Este espectáculo que combina música, la palabra hablada, danza, película, ocho músicos y vocalistas de las naciones de Taiwan, Australia, Madagascar, Tahiti, Mauritius, Marshall Islands, y Papua New Guinea se presentará en vivo en el escenario del Fine Arts Center.

Aviso sobre COVID 19: The Fine Arts Center requiere que los asistentes a las funciones estén completamente vacunados. Los estudiantes, el personal y los voluntarios de UMass deben estar completamente vacunados de acuerdo al reglamento de la universidad.

Además, se requieren máscaras en todas las funciones, así como en los museos y galerías de la universidad. Recomendamos encarecidamente el uso de máscaras quirúrgicas, KN95 o N95, que brindan una protección superior a las máscaras de tela.

Para nuestra programación de la temporada completa o boletos de entrada llamar al: 413-545-2511 ó al 800-999-UMAS ó en línea fineartscenter.com