MediaNoche presents
TRANSVOYEUR in WHITE PARK!
An Intervention
No seats, no popcorn — JUST VISION!
GENDER, SPACE, ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Liverpool/New York Artist Exchange
THIS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 AT 7PM!
White Park
East 106th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenue.
Can be seen from the street! Off the handball court wall!
For info call: MediaNoche 212.828.0401
Congressman José E. Serrano
Representing the Sixteenth District of New York
PRESS RELEASE
Washington, DC – September 19, 2007 – Yesterday, Congressman José E. Serrano sent the following letter to the National Science Foundation expressing his deep concerns about the potential closure of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
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September 18, 2007
Dr. Arden Bement
Director
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230
Dear Dr. Bement:
I am writing to express my concern over the National Science Foundation’s current and future intentions for the Arecibo Observatory located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. I strongly believe that Arecibo still has a vital role to play in the U.S. and worldwide scientific community.
As you know, Arecibo Observatory has been, and continues to be, at the forefront of radio astronomy research and atmospheric sciences. Scientists from around the globe use Arecibo’s facilities to further research in everything from astrophysics to the atmospheric sciences. There have been several new discoveries in the past year alone, which continue to justify the importance and necessity of the Arecibo Observatory. The potential loss of this device would not just be a blow to Puerto Rico, but to the scientific community at-large.
Additionally, Arecibo plays an important role in the local Puerto Rican economy, providing jobs to members of the surrounding community. It also has an important public relations mission as well, with more than 120,000 visitors, including 25,000 schoolchildren, coming to the facility on an annual basis. At a time when the United States is trying to promote science-related career opportunities to people of color, it is seems unwise to move to close a facility that serves as such an important resource to more than 4 million Latinos in the United States.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I have helped increase NSF’s major facilities and construction budget by $50 million dollars since 2004. Moreover, Congress has stated its intention to continue this trend. Because of this, I do not understand why the proposal to build new observatories must come at the expense of those that continue to provide important and relevant information to the scientific community. Given Congress’ interest in renewing our nation’s scientific research capabilities, we should be expanding our facilities, rather than closing them.
It is my hope that you will reconsider this decision. However, please be assured that I will do everything in my power to ensure that federal funding does not fall below the critical level that would force the Arecibo Observatory to close. I look forward to hearing from you on this important issue.
Sincerely,
José E. Serrano
Member of Congress
Rodolfo F. Acuña weighs in
on the PBS/Ken Burns Controversy
Dear Ms. Mazur:
Please forgive me if I sound a bit exasperated. It is my understanding that the controversy is about the Ken Burns’ documentary and its failure to integrate Mexican Americans and Latinos into the mainframe of the documentary. Mr. Burns has said in the past that he has a right to artistic freedom and has even claimed that he has a constitutional right to his opinion. I don’t disagree with him — and if this were a novel or a work of fiction that would be great. However, we are talking about a historical documentary.
In defense of your showing the Burns documentary, you have listed a half dozen projects that KCET will offer to California viewers, which is great — but it does not absolve the Ken Burns documentary nor the fact that you will be featuring it. That you are advertising it. That you are touting it as true story of World War II.
Just like the warden said in the film, “Cool Hand Luke,” what we have here is a failure to communicate. You would probably understand me better if you had ever been involved in civil rights. The present controversy is analogous to having the premier school in the school district segregated.
When incensed parents complain, you add a bungalow to the premier school and say, “well you have a bungalow.” When the parents further criticize the school, the response is well Mexicans have a half dozen other schools that are integrated, and we just painted them for you.
Frankly, I am too old to buy the cover up. The damage has been done and you are compounding it. Public television did not do anything after Burns arrogantly disregarded Latinos in his baseball and his jazz documentaries. We were promised that next time there would be more care given to accuracy.
Well, you messed up again.
It just shows a basic “I don’t give a shit attitude” on KCET’s part. What should have been done is to send the documentary back to the editing table and Mexican Americans and Latinos integrated into the storyline. It did not happen although in cases involving other groups you have done it. I applaud you for being sensitive to the Jewish, women and African American communities — but you know what — you disrespect Mexican and Latinos.
Cordially,
Rodolfo F. Acuña, PhD
Chicana/o Studies Department
California State University at Northridge
racuna@csun.edu
BOYCOTT KCET
BOYCOTT NPR
_____
Mare Mazur responds:
Dear Dr. Acuña:
I am very sorry you were insulted by the Ken Burns letter that ran in our September magazine. As the person responsible for the broadcast schedule and our production slate, including the magazine, I can say with certainty that offending our viewers was anything but my intention.
California Connected, which just received the Alfred I. duPonte-Columbia University Award for journalism, just concluded production on a special one-hour episode titled California at War. California at War premieres August 23rd, and will be repeated several times leading up to our broadcast of The War. This program looks at the impact World War II had on California, and more importantly, the impact California had on winning the war. To that end, it includes the history of contribution from the Hispanic community who struggled with racism on the home front while being the most decorated group of the war.
In addition to airing California at War, we renewed the rights to Valor a 30-minute documentary on Latino stories of heroism during World War II, which KCET produced as part of the LA Stories project in 1989. We have also acquired a film by Mario Barrera, Professor Emeritus, Chicano Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez served as the academic advisor on both of those projects.
We are also running Valentina: Mexican-Americans in World War II from our sister station in New Mexico. All of these programs will be heavily promoted in and around The War. It is our expectation that this will give us the opportunity to introduce a wide audience to the history of contribution from the Latino community.
KCET has a long record of representing the Hispanic community in our productions and programming. In 1996 my colleague Joyce Campbell was the Co-executive producer of Chicano! The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement which won the Nosotros Golden Eagle Award for Outstanding Documentary. She was also the executive in charge of American Family, the first Latino family drama to air on broadcast television, which KCET co-produced with Greg Nava.
In 2006 KCET was recognized by the National Hispanic Media Coalition for Excellence in Television Programming.
Ms. Campbell now serves as our Vice President of Education and Children’s Programming. In that capacity she oversees programming designed to reach the diverse audience represented in the eleven counties we serve.
This department is also responsible for the two shows that give me the greatest satisfaction: A Place of Our Own and Los Niños en Su Casa.
These are companion programs produced in both English and Spanish designed to help caregivers of pre-school aged children better prepare the children in their care for early learning.
These two series were originally developed for California distribution. While running regionally they were recognized with a George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in media, and a local Emmy. The website, which is completely bi-lingual, received the Japan Prize, an international commendation for best website. Based on our success in California, we are
able to make the programs available nationally, and are now being carried in nearly 70% of the country.
As a native Angeleno I have made the commitment that our programming, local and national, reflect the unique and diverse voices of Southern California. Again, I regret that Ken’s letter offended you. My colleagues and I work very hard to create a spirit of inclusion in all that we do, and as I began, I’m sorry that you did not find that spirit adequately communicated.
I do hope you choose to watch California at War and our other programs; we are all proud of the work and hope they resonate with our viewers. I would greatly appreciate your feedback and welcome your call should you have the
time.
Major Latino Organizations Speak Out:
The WAR AGAINST KEN BURNS / PBS’
“THE WAR” IS NOT OVER
Why the Latino Community Can’t Let This Matter Rest
The Latino “war” against Ken Burns’ upcoming documentary, “The War,” to be aired on PBS is not over. Despite recent press statements, key Latino organizations and leaders across the country today publicly announced that the issue is far from resolved and that they will continue pressing for a respectful resolution. Latino organizations and leaders called on Ken Burns and Florentine Pictures to meet with a representative cross-section of the national Latino leadership to explain in detail the changes they have made to the film, how they plan to include the Latino experience in their future projects and how they plan to include Latinos on the Florentine team. They also call on PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger, as well as WETA-TV’s CEO and president, Sharon Percy Rockefeller, to explain the measures that will be taken to assure that such a gross exclusion of the Latino community does not occur again in their current and future programming, and how they will supplement The War with other programming and activities to include the Latino experience, in particular with the educational programming.
At the urging of a corporate sponsor, Burns met with two Latino groups in early May and reiterated that he would include interviews with some Latino veterans in the 14.5 hour documentary, without offering many details. This was a commitment that he and PBS had already made publicly. Citing the results of this meeting, Burns and PBS officials at both the national and local levels have declared the issue closed. “Ken Burns cannot choose to make a secret deal with only two of the many Latino groups that were involved in this issue and in discussion with him and PBS, and then claim that the matter is resolved,” explains Marta García, co-chair of the New York Chapter of the National Hispanic Media Coalition and one of the founders of Defend the Honor, a Latino grassroots mobilization that first raised the alarm about Latino exclusion from this PBS documentary at the beginning of this year. “He must bring closure to this issue by paying the Latino leadership of this country the respect, respeto, of meeting with us to explain himself and his future relationship to the Latino community.”
Some progress had been made on the issue over the past several months in that Burns has added interviews with two Mexican American veterans and one Native American to the 14 hour and 28 minute documentary. “But make no mistake,” said Iván Román, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, “we will withhold judgment on how meaningful that additional material is – whether it truly speaks to the Latino experience and whether it is reflected in the companion book and educational material.” In subsequent statements to the press, Burns has been dismissive of the arguments that the inclusion of Latinos is about historical accuracy rather than political correctness.
“It is unfortunate that Ken Burns continues to see this issue as one of politics and rhetoric that he must rise above,” said Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez, the University of Texas journalism professor who co-chairs the Defend the Honor Campaign. “It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with historical accuracy andinclusion.” Rosa Rosales, national president of LULAC, said that it was crucial for the Latino
organizations to publicly challenge statements in the press by Burns and PBS that the issue had been resolved. “As Ken Burns travels across the country as part of the $10 million promotional effort by PBS, he still characterizes this as a terrible misunderstanding,” Rosales said. “It’s no misunderstanding. We understand perfectly that he only added the new interviews under pressure and, right now, it looks like he’s not very proud of that new material.”
Another sticking point are the discrepancies between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant proposal that provided federal funding for the film, and what he and PBS have said in recent months. For instance, Burns has said repeatedly in news interviews that in the more than 6 years of production, “no Latinos came forward” to be interviewed about their WWII experiences. But he apparently excluded Latinos from the beginning: in the NEH grant proposal submitted in 2004, Burns and Florentine Films said that the film “will celebrate American diversity” and that
it will be about the “diversity of wartime America . . . African-American, Japanese American and white.” “This is certainly very different from the way he discusses his film today in defending himself against Latino criticisms,” observes Jess Quintero, president of the Hispanic War Veterans of America. That documentary will shape how Americans view WWII, and if short shrift is given to the Latino contributions, there will be a reinforcement of the widespread ignoranceof the Latino contribution to the building of the U.S. “Ken Burns and PBS are playing recklessly with our history, both as Latinos and Americans,” observes Gus Chavez,one of the co-chairs of the Defend the Honor. He concludes, “This is something every
American should be upset about.”
“We are very uncomfortable with taking Burns and PBS’ word that they have addressed the Latino community’s concerns before actually seeing the product,” Armando Rendon of Defend the Honor Campaign of Northern California adds. “The anger in the grassroots Latino community continues unabated by the manner in which he and PBS have handled this matter.”-30-
Preliminary signatories to this statement include the following, with additional signatures to be added through Sept. 22, 2007.
Organizations:
Afro-Latino Project, Queens College (CUNY), Flushing, NY
APITO Centro Cultural de Puerto Rico (ACCPR), San Juan, Puerto Rico
Defend the Honor
Latino Literacy Now, Los Angeles
League of United Latin America Citizens (LULAC)
Lic. Rudy L. Ramos Civil Rights Chapter of the American GI Forum, San Antonio, Texas
National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Washington, DC
National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), Los Angeles, CA
National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), Los Angeles, CA
National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP), New York, NY
National Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention (LCAT), New York, NY & Wash., DC
Individuals (affiliations for identification purposes only):
Vicente “Panama” Alba, New York, NY
Frances Aparicio, Ph.D., Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies, University
of Illinois at Chicago
Luis Aponte-Parés, Boston, MA
Louise Bonanova, Civil Rights Investigator (Retired), Office for Civil Rights, United
States Department of Education, San Francisco, CA
María Cabán
Grissele Camacho, Esq.
Ed (Gato) Castillo-Rubio, Commander, Viet Nam Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post
9305 of Imperial County
María Elena Cepeda, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Latina/o Studies, Williams College,
Williamstown, MA
Evelyn Collazo, New York, NY
Edgar De Jesus, AFSMCE East Region Area Organizing Director, and National Bronx
Member, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LACLA)
Minerva Delgado, Bronx, NY
Dra. Rosalina Diaz, Associate Professor of Education, Medger Evers College (CUNY), Brooklyn, NY
Martin Espada, Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Jaime Estades, Brooklyn, NY
Myra Y. Estepa, Brooklyn, NY
Dolores M. Fernández, Ph.D., President, Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College
(CUNY), Bronx, NY
Ricardo R. Fernandez, Ph.D., President, Herbert H. Lehman College (CUNY), Bronx, NY
Juan Flores, Ph.D., Visiting Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, New York, NY
Cynthia Garcia Coll, Ph.D., Charles Pitt Robinson and John Palmer Barstow Professor
Professor of Education, Psychology & Pediatrics, Brown University, Providence, RI
Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Queens, NY
Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Sociology, City College of New York, City University of New York, New York, NY
Hilda Hernández-Gravelle, MSW, Ed.D.
Tanya K. Hernandez, Professor of Law and Justice, Frederick W. Hall Scholar, Rutgers University School of Law, Newark, NJ
James Jennings, Ph.D., Professor, Tuft University, Boston, MA
Miriam Jiménez Román, Afro-Latino Forum, New York University, New York, NY
Francisco J. Gonzalez, Cottage Grove, MN
Aldo Lauria Santiago, Ph.D., Rutgers University
Raul Madrid, Ph.D., Department of Political Science, University of Texas at Austin
Miguel “Mickey” Melendez, New York, NY
Carlos Molina, Ph.D., New York, NY
Edwin Karli Padilla, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of Houston-Downtown
Franklyn Perez, Esq., Hostos Community College, Bronx, NY
Luis O. Reyes, Ph.D., New York, NY
Eugene Rivera, Clinical Coordinator, Hill Health Center, Middletown, CT
Clara E. Rodriguez, Ph.D., Bronx, NY
Luz Rodriguez, New York, NY
Carlos Rodriguez-Fraticelli, Ph.D., University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Placido Salazar, USAF Retired Vietnam Veteran, State Veterans’ Affairs, Officer
of The American GI Forum of Texas, San Anotnio
Carlos Sanabria, Ph.D., Coordinator of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Eugenio
Maria de Hostos Community College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY
Izzy Sanabria, publisher, Latin NY Magazine; Salsamagazine.com
Dr. José Ramon Sánchez, Chair, Department of Urban Studies, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
Nelson Sierra, Albany, NY
Hector Soto, Esq., La Resurreccion UMC Social Justice Committee, Bronx, NY
Candida Tapia
Donato Tapia, JD, San Francisco, CA
Hon. Esteban Torres, former U.S. Congressman, California
Gloria Tristani, former Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Luis Urrieta, Jr., Ed.D., Department of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Texas at Austin
Richard Valencia, Ed.D., Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
Angela Valenzuela, Ed.D., Department of. Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Administration, University of Texas at Austin
Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Ph.D., Chicano & Latino Studies Department, California State University, Long Beach
Emilio Zamora, Ph.D., Department of History, University of Texas at Austin
A pioneer in the art world, he sought to establish an international platform for Puerto Rican artists. Early on, Marrero saw the role the web might play and collaborated with PRdream, most recently in a “Conversatorio on trends in Puerto Rican Art” during CIRCA 2007 that involved Galerias Prinardi in San Juan and West Palm Beach, and MediaNoche in New York City. We extend our deepest condolences to the Marrero Family. Please read below.
*****
“El arte fue su vida”, dijo enfática la curadora Judith Nieves sobre su esposo Andrés Marrero, galerista que falleció el pasado martes en la noche y cuyo cuerpo será cremado mañana luego de una ceremonia de despedida que tendrá lugar a las 5:00 de la tarde en la Funeraria Amador, situada en el Sector Molinari, en Hatillo.
Complicaciones derivadas a su padecimiento de leucemia causaron su muerte el martes a las 10:45 de la noche mientras estaba recluido en la Unidad de Cuidado Intensivo del Hospital Universitario.
A Marrero, de 59 años, le sobreviven su esposa Judith y sus hijos Carlos Andrés y Benjamín.
Hoy iniciará su velatorio en Hatillo con un servicio religioso a las ocho de la noche. La familia respetará los deseos del galerista y esparcirá sus cenizas en el Río Jayuya.
Integrantes del mundo de la plástica en el País coinciden en que los esfuerzos de Marrero -desde que comenzó a laborar con el arte puertorriqueño como marchante en la década del 70- siempre estuvieron dirigidos a darle altura al mismo y a establecer el valor del entonces incipiente mercado.
Abogado y propietario de Galerías Prinardi desde 1992, su relación con el arte evolucionó gracias a Taller Andrés, espacio que abrió en el 1980 en la Avenida Muñoz Rivera. Desde esa época impulsó el arte boricua en esferas locales e internacionales y se mantuvo en el difícil escenario plástico de modo consistente.
Desde su espacio impulsó la carrera de artistas consagrados, como por ejemplo la del Maestro Rafael Tufiño, al tiempo que brindó foro a manifestaciones callejeras como el grafitti. Hace poco, apoyó el nacimiento de la primera feria de arte en la Isla, Circa Puerto Rico.
Sylvia Villafañe, presidenta de la Asociación de Galerías de Puerto Rico, describió a Marrero como “un pilar en el mercado del arte”.
“Su solidez se basó en mantener un espacio adecuado de galería de arte para la venta de obras y el desarrollo de los artistas plásticos puertorriqueños. Fue un pionero de los años 70 cuando el proyecto de las galerías de arte era bien poco conocido y aceptado en Puerto Rico. Ocupará un lugar prominente en la historia del arte de la Isla”, agregó Villafañe.
Oriundo de Jayuya, Marrero colaboró de modo directo con el nacimiento y el desarrollo de la valiosa colección de arte puertorriqueño de la Cooperativa de Seguros Múltiples.
“Andrés fue como un maestro para nosotros” dijo Juan Lugo, curador de la Colección de la Cooperativa, “nos brindó todo su apoyo, nos ayudó a definir el marco conceptual de la colección, a desarrollarla y siempre iba más allá, independientemente de si uno le compraba la pieza a él o a otra persona. Fue una persona puntal en la misión de darle jerarquía y valor al arte puertorriqueño”.
A inicios de este año, Marrero anunció a los medios el establecimiento de Galerías Prinardi USA en West Palm Beach, Florida desde donde buscaba fortalecer el posicionamiento internacional de la plástica puertorriqueña.
Don’t waste your money! Don’t waste your time! This movie was no movie at all. I felt assaulted and disrespected.
Let me tell you what it was. It was one dragged out drug-ologue. Every other scene was about him doing drugs. EVERY other scene! There was no storyline whatsoever.
“I love you Pucchi” “I love you Hector” Why? Was there one scene that showed “love” or why they loved each other? No.
Why was he famous? I don’t know. I know my Mom used to play his music. That’s all I know. That he filled up Madison Square Garden. Oh I think I saw that in a quick clip in the movie between him snorting and him shooting up.
That him and Willie Colon were friends? I guess. All the movie showed was Willie Colon in the background in almost every scene. Why were they friends? How did they meet?
How did Hecor LaVoe become famous anyway? Wouldn’t know from watching the movie. His first hit? Don’t know. It wasn’t in the movie. It was more important to show 3 scenes of him in the bathroom half comatose.
What was his contribution to Salsa? My Mom says he was one of the pioneers of Salsa. Really? No mention of that in the movie AT ALL.
For those that say, “But that was his life… if that’s what he was, then…” Please! He was so much more than drugs. When people packed Madison Square Garden, did they go to see him get high or did they go for his music?
Where was the music in the movie? A few clips here and there. Him rushing on the stage – stoned and belting it out. That’s it. 
“Tu Amor es un Peridico de Ayer
Never played that song. How is that possible?
The song “Yo Soy El Cantante That song should have been the triumphant culmination of the movie. Instead you feel like noooooooo. You’re just depressed by the time they get around to that song. Ruben Blades
Latinos have enough drug addicts on mainstream media. We don’t need to portray ourselves in such denegration. You don’t see red-blooded Americans saying “Elvis Presley – the King
Meanwhile, Jennifer Lopez “Que Cante Mi Gente” or “Yo Naci en Puerto Rico“ all we can do is cringe.
Thanks Señora Lopez. Thanks a lot. You also did a disgrace to your husband who is I dare say: the “Hector Lavoe” of our time. But now how can I compare if all Lavoe was an addict? But anyway, Marc Anthony has been struggling to act now for years. First he is type cast as a s p i c, gangster, drug dealer, and now you just officially graduated him to play the role of a junkie.
For those that say, “Hey she’s just trying to make money and that’s the bottom line.” If she wanted to make a quick buck you either cater to mainstream white America, or you give us a movie to be proud of. After all, WHO went to see that movie anyway? There was a line all the way around the Whitestone Multiplex in the Bronx. Was there a line at the Beverly Hills Multiplex? I didn’t think so. It was hard enough getting my Dominican friends to go. There’s no way a white person is going to say, “Let me see L Con-Ton-Tay. Not going to happen.
The movie starts off with “Nuyorican Productions”. Here I am feeling proud! Damn it! Don’t be putting my race all up on the face of Drugland.
J-Lo, ¡no sea tan tonta! It’s like someone making a movie about you 20 years from now and only talk about your mistakes. Never mentioning that you were the highest paid Latina in Hollywood. Never saying that you had a top selling movie and top-selling CD at the same time. Never saying anything except about all your failed relationships. How would you like that?!
Jenny, M’hija, ¡¿qué hicistes?
Commercial Shares in Sunny, Spacious Loft – Available NOW!
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and Third Avenues
Convenient to all public transportation. Easy parking on street or in
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Call 212.828.0401
On Saturday, July 22, 2007, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer attended the launch of the East 106th Street Farmers Market. The outdoor fresh fruit and vegetable market is part of the Go Green East Harlem Initiative spearheaded by the Manhattan Borough President’s Office with the concerted efforts of the political leadership of the district and several community organizations and individuals. PRdream covered the opening.
Will the FCC make an issue of ‘War’ language?
Two months before the premiere of Ken Burns’ series,
“The War,” PBS CEO Paula Kerger still isn’t sure
By Ellen Gray
Philadelphia Daily News (July 12, 2007)
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif – Though Kerger yesterday told the Television Critics Association that PBS would offer its affiliates unexpurgated and edited versions of the World War II series, she said she doesn’t know yet how many stations would carry the edited version.
“I thought . . . that there would be more clarity” from the Federal Communications Commission by now about the use of certain language on broadcast TV (specifically, a word that’s already gotten a pass during airings of “Saving Private Ryan” from an FCC whose makeup – and agenda – has changed since then).
“We got a lot of coverage of this documentary because it has four words in it – four out of 14 1/2 hours,” she said, noting that two of those are used to explain the origins of “snafu” and “FUBAR.”
Though the issue drew headlines at the TCA’s winter meetings six months ago and still matters to many PBS affiliates, some of which could be crippled by an adverse FCC ruling and the accompanying fines, “that seems like the quaint old days,” the PBS executive acknowledged.
That’s because of pressure brought in the interim by Hispanic groups who were upset that Burns had not singled out the experience of Latino soldiers in his examination of World War II from the perspective of four American cities and towns: Sacramento, Calif; Waterbury, Conn; Mobile, Ala.; and Luverne, Minn.
In questioning Kerger, and later Burns, critics and reporters here, usually quick to lambaste networks on diversity issues, displayed little sympathy for the groups raising this particular one.
Admittedly, none of us – and none of Burns’ critics – has yet seen the final version of “The War,” which will incorporate some interviews and material he agreed to add at what in documentary terms could be considered the 11th hour.
Kerger was a bit vague on just what’s entailed, Burns a little less so.
“We’ve produced some new material and included it at the end of three of the episodes that doesn’t alter” what was largely completed more than a year ago, he said.
The added material, which will also include a Native American narrative, will run at the ends of episodes 1, 5 and 6, before the credits, Burns said.
It will add 28 to 29 minutes to the total length.
“It was, of course, painful to us on one level” that his work was being misinterpreted, “but we didn’t have the luxury” of arguing for too long, Burns said, reminding reporters that World War II veterans are dying at the rate of about 1,000 a day.
Noting that Hispanics in America are “a group of people who for 500 years have had their story untold,” he said, “We’ve done more than we were asked and were expected to . . . honoring our own interest in doing this right.”
Asked if he expected that to be enough to satisfy his critics, he replied, “There are a lot of different people with a lot of different agendas and a lot of concerns.”
Rather than try to address all of them, he said, the filmmakers “tried to hear . . . the larger question, and that’s what we tried to respond to.”
Note: See the very end of this article about former Secretary of State Norma Burgos’ “Puerto Rican citizenship.” What are the implications of this for the right of Stateside Puerto Ricans being able to vote in a plebiscite on the political status of Puerto Rico? Interesting.
—Angelo
PUERTO RICO
Court win fuels Puerto Rican citizenship debate
After a long battle, the elder statesman of Puerto Rico’s independence movement finally has what he wanted: citizenship
BY FRANCES ROBLES
Miami Herald (July 14, 2007)
MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico — The seeds of Juan Mari Brás’ quixotic patriotism were planted when his parents draped a Puerto Rican flag over his crib.
Those seeds flourished 13 years ago, when the elder statesman of Puerto Rico’s independence movement renounced his U.S. citizenship in an effort to be officially recognized as a Puerto Rican. He’s 79 now, and after a 60-year anti-colonial crusade, he has something new to adorn his surroundings: a certificate of Puerto Rican citizenship.
He is the first Puerto Rican in history to have one. And as the U.S. Congress considers Puerto Rico’s status, Mari Brás’ newfound and hard-fought citizenship has refueled the heated debate about what it means to be Puerto Rican.
The certificate was issued in October after Mari Brás successfully sued for the right to vote in local elections. Last month, the Secretary of State’s Office here offered citizenship to eligible islanders. About 450 have requested certificates, and legislators are drafting bills to codify the process of obtaining them.
The tangible value of the certificates is in doubt, even among some of Marí Brás followers.
”With this certificate, can I travel from here to some other country?” asked independence party legislator Víctor García San Inocencio. “When I come back, will Homeland Security let me in?” The answers: no and no.
For Mari Brás, the citizenship certificate is more legal test than meaningful evidence of nationality. He said his win is important because it marks the first time the government here has recognized a national identity not tied to the United States. But he shrugs off the significance of his long court battle, recognizing that while it may have been the most important achievement Puerto Rico’s tiny independence movement has seen in years, it is a far cry from the sovereignty he craves.
”Biologists experiment with plants and animals and chemists do so with elements,” he said in a recent interview at his office at the Eugenio María de Hostos Law School in Mayagüez. “Since I am a lawyer, I experiment with the law. The certificate is an achievement, but it’s not the independence of Puerto Rico.”
When Mari Brás was born to a deeply political Mayagüez family, the U.S. military had seized Puerto Rico from Spain barely 30 years earlier. People like nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos were frequent dinner guests at his uncle’s house next door.
”Back then, we thought independence would happen the day after next,” he said. “We never thought we would remain the most important colony of the most important empire.”
His father took him to political events, and he founded an independence movement in high school. It became a passion that got him jailed seven times, kicked out of law school and a heart attack at 36.
Mari Brás graduated from American University Law School in Washington. As a lawyer, he took on controversial cases such as the independence activists who opened fire on the U.S. House of Representatives. He founded the Puerto Rican Socialist Party and ran a spirited campaign for governor in 1976 until his son was murdered, a death Mari Brás blames on the CIA.
A Marxist with close ties to Havana, he was disbarred from practicing in federal court when he skipped a client’s appearance to attend a conference in Cuba.
But after decades of sometimes violent activism, even now the independence movement gets only about 4 percent of the popular vote. The vast majority of Puerto Rico’s 4 million people are split between wanting to become the 51st state and keeping some form of its current commonwealth status.
In a mission to prove Puerto Ricans had a separate national identity, Mari Brás in 1994 went to the American embassy in Caracas and renounced his U.S. citizenship. When he returned to Puerto Rico, a local statehood activist sued him, arguing that Mari Brás no longer had a right to vote in local elections. Puerto Rico’s electoral law says that only U.S. citizens can cast ballots.
”I wanted to see if in Puerto Rico you could continue breathing without being a U.S. citizen,” he said.
The case made the Puerto Rican Supreme Court, and, last fall, Mari Brás won.
”It’s extraordinary,” said Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York group that has represented Puerto Rico’s independence activists. “He has been after this for 30 or 40 years. The next step is people will demand passports. What other things can flow from there?”
The Popular Democratic Party, which seeks more autonomy for Puerto Rico while keeping the island’s current relationship with the United States, agrees.
”An empty wallet does not have everything a full wallet has,” said legislator Charlie Hernández, who has submitted a bill to codify the citizenship process.
Puerto Rico’s New Progressive Party (PNP), which supports statehood, is vehemently against the citizenship plan, calling it a useless and illegal residency certificate. It also alleges that current Secretary of State Fernando Bonilla, of the ruling Popular Democratic Party, agreed to go along with it in order to attract votes within the independence movement.
In a statement, Bonilla said he offered the certificate to obey the constitution and the court decision. He stressed that it doesn’t replace the U.S. passport.
‘I understand Juan Mari Brás’ purpose and respect it, but Puerto Rican citizenship does not exist,” said PNP Sen. Norma Burgos, a former secretary of state who once denied Mari Brás’ petition for citizenship.
To prove her point, Burgos, who was born in Chicago and moved to Puerto Rico when she was 5, asked for citizenship. Under rules that the Secretary of State drafted after Mari Brás’ court victory, she did not qualify.
”Was the Secretary of State going to tell me, Norma Burgos, ex-secretary of state, ex-lieutenant governor, and sitting senator, that I am not Puerto Rican?” she said.
Bonilla redrafted the requirements to include Burgos — and lots of other people. Now, if you live in Puerto Rico and one of your parents was born here, you qualify. U.S. citizens who have lived here more than a year are also eligible.
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National Institute for Latino Policy
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