Tag Archives: Bernardo Ruiz

PBS’s American Experience – Roberto Clemente

Monday, April 21 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings)

On December 31, 1972, Roberto Clemente, a thirty-seven-year-old baseball player for
the Pittsburgh Pirates, boarded a DC-7 aircraft loaded with relief supplies for survivors of a catastrophic earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua. Concerned over reports that the Nicaraguan dictatorship was misusing shipments of aid, Clemente, a native of neighboring Puerto Rico, hoped his involvement would persuade the government to distribute relief packages to the more than 300,000 people affected by the disaster. Shortly after take off, the overloaded aircraft plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, just one mile from the Puerto Rican coast. Roberto Clemente’s body was never recovered.

On Monday, April 21, PBS’s AMERICAN EXPERIENCE premieres Roberto Clemente, a one-hour documentary about an exceptional baseball player and committed humanitarian, who challenged racial discrimination to become baseball’s first Latino superstar. From independent filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz, Clemente features interviews with Pulitzer Prizewinning authors David Maraniss (Clemente) and George F. Will (Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball), Clemente’s wife Vera, Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda, and former teammates, to present an intimate and revealing portrait of a man whose passion and grace made him a legend. Go to www.pbs.org for more info. Also, check out www.robertoclemente.si.edu/english/index.htm.

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CENTRO Calendar of Events- Fall 2008

September 18, 2008

Playing America’s Game

A roundtable discussion of Latinos in baseball focused on historical and
contemporary issues about race, place, and identity for Afro-Latinos with Prof.
Adrian Burgos, University of Illinois and Bernardo Ruiz from Quiet Pictures and
winner of the 2008 NCLR ALMA Award(R) for Outstanding Made-for-Television
Documentary on Roberto Clemente
6:30-8:00 pm
Faculty Dining Room- Hunter College West Building 8th Floor

September 25, 2008
Welcoming Event: In pursuit of Puerto Rican Studies
New Centro Director Edwin Meléndez opens a community dialogue about the current
challenges and opportunities in Puerto Rican Studies and shares his vision on
Centro’s role in the process.
6:00pm
Lang Theater- Hunter College North Building 4th Floor

October 16, 2008
Book Presentation: (in Spanish)
Mirada de Doble Filo con Ana Lydia Vega and Magali Garcia Ramis
Moderador: Pedro Lopez Adorno, Hunter College

Un libro de ensayos con temas tan variados como los huracanes, la guerra, el
reguetón, las elecciones, el matrimonio gay, la violencia doméstica, las fiestas
criollas, los desastres ambientales, los símbolos nacionales, y hasta los ritos
fúnebres de la sociedad puertorriqueña contemporánea.

Faculty Dining Room- Hunter College West Building 8th Floor
6:30-8:00 pm Co-Auspiciado por Editorial UPR

www.centropr.org