Notes From A Native Daughter

Hugo Perez’s Documentary OMARA on Afro-Cuban Singer and cultural icon, Omara Portuondo is now playing in the 39th Miami Film Festival. The documentary will be streaming nationwide with in-person Miami screenings through March 13, 2022. Toward the end of our 26-minute talk, I admit to feeling pressured to write something that does Hugo justice. In the simplest of words and from my sincere heart, this episode is a true candid talk. What a story and journey to the medium of film. So much grace across his insights, perceptiveness, and down to earth-ness. Hugo really rocks. Look out for him and do check out OMARA.

Adriana Bosch is fantastic—humble, open, present, giving, loving, sincere, and elegant. Really. She came in as an equal and a woman artist sharing her journey.  Her latest documentary, Letters to Eloisa, is a lyrical must-watch profile dedicated to the late and great José Lezama Lima. It airs tonight—October 15— on PBS 10-11 p.m. EST (check local listings) under the New Season of Latino Public Broadcasting’s VOCES. She wants people to watch this film. You will not regret it. Adriana captures so much in so little time. Towards the end, my tears just flowed. She knew how to place Lezama’s letters to his sister Eloisa to reveal everything she wanted to say. I guess that’s what artistic prowess, agility, and humanity are. Letters to Eloisa is an ode about “an obscured artist.” And yet, the film is about the larger picture—Cuban history, dissenters everywhere, artistic freedom, and the fragility of brave people. She has a lot to say about a man who lived by his word—no small feat. I hope sometime soon, Adri

She’s been a part of some cool stuff, like serving as a Curatorial Assistant for Latinx Studies at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. She has worked with El Museo Del Barrio, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Loisaida Center, among other institutions. She was a 2018 Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Fellow, a 2017 Museum Education Practicum participant at the Studio Museum in Harlem. She is an Editorial Assistant at Small Axe Journal (since 2018). She holds an MA in Latino, Caribbean, and Africana Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center and a BA in Latin American Studies and Art History from Purchase College. 

Bernardo Ruiz, is a two-time Emmy® Award-nominated documentary filmmaker and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. 

The 45-minute talk that covers a gamut of topics from how Puerto Rican society is based on enslavement to how ultimately, “people value a joyful life and they know that joy doesn't come necessarily, and not that it's unimportant, but it doesn't come from money.”

What black and brown people go through to strive for a better life is for the books of champions. Which brings me to Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez, another champion from The Bronx. His story is moving and filled with a type of God sent blessing is hard to explain. But it is, the skinny is that here’s a kid that took to comics back in the day when the Bronx was burnt and is known today far-and-wide for his comic La Borinqueña. 

Gisela is one of Puerto Rico’s most recognized filmmakers and performers. She blends in with themes universal as in humanity first and particulars of Puerto Rico as in Jayá. An unveiling of sorts, a daring artistic proposal because it is absent of pretense, and that is elegant.

This conversation was recorded between Howard Jordan (professor, activist, journalist, and lawyer) and Alex Rodríguez a couple of years ago. Jordan was and continues to be the Chair of the Behavioral & Social Sciences Department at Hostos Community College and Alex was enrolled in the Sound Engineering program. Today, Alex works at the Hostos Sound Studio and the rhythm of this share is as real as it comes. A South Bronx native, Alex is a lyricist, an emcee, producer, and a full artist at heart.  Sol