08.08.10: Domingo Newsbytes…...

Photo credit: Lea Nuñez On Friday I strolled over to the Tejer y Poder showcase put together by students of the six-week program led by our very own Irasema Gonzalez and Thelma Uranga at at Dvorak Park in the Pilsen neighborhood. The program consisted of 30 students, both teenage girls and boys, coming together to learn to knit, crochet, and work collectively on fiber arts and learn that both can be used a form of art and protest. I was blown away by the effort the students put into their projects. It made me reflect on the wonderful things that happen when you give kids...

08.01.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

“They’ve towed my car with Chisme Box in the trunk!”  That was the alarmed text I sent Diana and Coya on Wednesday afternoon when I walked out of work and discovered that street parking had been restricted due to a neighborhood festival and I had missed the (minute) signage in the morning.  Both stepped in like champions, you see I was due at the  Guild Complex’s, B.Y.O.P event.  Proyecto Latina had an invitation to present with Dancing Girl Press. While I navigated a huge dusty yard of impounded cars, in my brand new sandals, trying to recover...

07.18.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

Last week Diana lamented that summer is passing her by much too quickly.  I’m glad to report that she’s managing to get some fun into her schedule. I got to catch up with her yesterday when she invited me to join her for the Goodman’s Latino Theater Festival’s reading of El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho. Afterward we strolled down to Millenium Park and enjoyed a beautiful summer afternoon sipping cocktails and people watching.   We caught up with our perspective projects and I realized that our crew of women is a busy bunch this summer. Thelma...

07.04.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

This Domingo Newsbytes is brought to you by the letter I.  The words independence and irony are resonating for me right now.  I know most of us are in holiday mode so I’m gonna keep it short and sweet. In Bioshock, a role playing video game my husband played last spring, your character is  left to survive in an underwater city, one of the merits you earn as you fight your way through the game is a badge of irony.  When I first saw this I got a kick out of it.  I first learned irony from my mom, as I was growing up she loved to point it out in an array of...

06.20.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

A few weeks back I sat down with Luz Chavez, reporter for Gozamos.com and we talked about everything that Proyecto Latina does. If you have never attended but wondered, or better yet, if you joined us and now think its something your friend, prima or sister will like and can’t quite find a good way to explain what its all about–Luz captures it precisely. Hopefully then you will plan to join us tomorrow, June 21st for our first summer reading with Alicia Tellez of La Dulce Palabra. Bring something for the chisme box and note that we love to discover new talent...

05.23.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

We dedicated our most recent Proyecto Latina, this past Monday, to responding to Arizona’s anti-immigration legislation.  It was a night of catharsis, everyone was welcomed and encouraged to speak-up–some of us vented, some responded with poetry, and others shared more personal stories that these recent developments have unearthed from our memory.  We had youth from the Immigration Youth Justice League join us and share their stories–they are a talented group of  courageous youth that include college students making great efforts and sacrifices to...

05.09.10 Domingo Newsbytes...

Last night was The Great Collaboration: creative justice roundtable and celebration benefit.  What an amazing vibe, we met  an army of enlightened creatives, there was a scrumptious spread of food, and it was a great honor to be included in the talent line-up.  We brought the chisme box with us and got a head-start on chisme’s for May’s Proyecto Latina. SPEAK UP & SPEAK OUT! is our theme for this month’s Proyecto Latina, which is only a week away on Monday, May 17th. Speaking up and the importance of sharing our opinions was a discussion that came...

05.08.10: The Great Collaboration...

Join us this Saturday evening at The Great Collaboration, a creative justice roundtable and celebration. Reading for Proyecto Latina: Diana Pando, Irasema Gonzalez and Sandra Posadas. Event and ticket information:...

Cindy Mosqueda: blogs the Chicana perspe...

Cindy Mosqueda pens Loteria Chicana, a blog shy of its tenth anniversary I thought it was  a great opportunity to spotlight this veteran blogger and hopefully capture some wisdom that others new to blogging can put to good use.   Cindy documents her thoughts on identity, school, politics and family, often including posts with thoughtful entries and colorful photos of friends and family. Another reason we wanted to feature her on our site is because Cindy also recently interviewed her father and grandfather for Story Corps and has given us permission to re-post her...

04.25.10: Domingo Newsbytes...

What an exciting week it turned out to be.  Proyecto Latina was this past Monday, and we were pleased to have Sandra Posadas feature with us.  She shared inspiring poetry, influenced by her Puerto Rican heritage and her work as a public school teacher that resonated with many in attendance.  We all discovered that haiku chismes can require a lot of counting! Diana suggested we needed an abacus on hand–maybe next year. Dawn Herrera Terry did a brief performance piece that the group determined captured the spirit of census question number nine. We also want to...