Episode 68: Chicago’s Puerto Rican Fest & Creating Community Events for Us, By Us
The Puerto Rican Festival begins today through September 26! It’s been going strong for 39 years, but was once at risk of not happening in 2019 due to the unethical stewardship of the committee in charge at the time that ended in the organization filing bankruptcy. The group of community leaders we have on today’s show actually stepped up during that time to organize the fest successfully within less than 2 months.
They had to be scrappy then and they needed to be scrappy this year, not just because of the pandemic, but because they are starting from square one. They're showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, so we're happy to welcome them to the show to talk about how they are elevating the experience for festival gowers compared to previous years, what you should keep in mind if you want to start a community event of your own for your neighborhood, and their thoughts on what it means to be Puerto Rican.
Episode 57: From Humboldt Park to Grey's Anatomy
Melissa DuPrey joins the show this week. She’s a Black Puerto Rican performer, storyteller, & comic. She’s been on shows, such as Empire and Chicago PD, and in films, like Cherry on Apple TV. She’s also had success on stage with shows like SUSHI-frito and currently has a recurring row on Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Sara Ortiz. We’re going to talk about her experience on Grey’s Anatomy, projects she’s worked on and what she has in store for the future, how her life as a live performer was impacted by the pandemic and more.
Episode 42: The Taste of Sugar & the Publishing Industry with Novelist Marisel Vera
We welcome novelist, Marisel Vera, to the show! We talk about growing up in Chicago, specifically in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, the white-dominated publishing industry, and, among other things, her latest novel, The Taste of Sugar. Without giving too much away, the story takes place just shortly after Puerto Rico came under U.S. rule in 1898. It follows newlyweds Valentina Sánchez's and Vicente Vega’s journey from Puerto Rico to work on sugar plantations in Hawaii after losing everything in the San Ciriaco hurricane.
Episode 16: 25 Years of Chicago's Puerto Rican Flags
The Puerto Rican Flags here in Chicago turn 25! Located in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, they act as gateways to Puerto Rican culture on Paseo Boricua. They're huge too! These two 59-foot banderas have won countless architectural awards and are the world's largest monument to a flag. Our guest on today's episode, CEO of the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture and former Alderman at the time, Billy Ocasio, played a key role in getting the flags built along with former Congressman Luis Gutiérrez and former Mayor Richard M. Daley. Billy takes us back in time to January 6, 1995 to understand how these flags came to be and shares what he thinks they represent for the future.