Global Voices » Puerto Rico (U.S.)

Puerto Rico: Life One Photo a Day

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:47:27 +0000

The artist and producer Jose Marti (@Jose_Marti) has shot one picture a day for the past two years as part of his online project “Fotos de Hoy” (Photos of Today).

He explains:

Dentro de los temas que publico en su mayoría son fotos casuales donde la foto me encuentra a mí en vez de yo buscarla y bien pueden ser fotos de la ciudad, de mi casa o donde quiera que me encuentre por que en realidad lo importante es expresar algo sobre el momento, donde estoy, que estoy haciendo, etc. Ese es el elemento que me ha llevado ha constantemente publicar en Fotos de Hoy, el poder visualmente resumir semanas y diversas experiencias en un compilado accesible por internet.

They are mostly casual photos, where the photograph finds me instead of me looking for the photograph, and they may well be pictures of the city, my home or wherever it finds me because what is really important is to express something about the moment, where I am, what I'm doing, etc.. That is the element that has led me to constantly publish in “Photos of Today,” to be able to visually summarize weeks and diverse experiences that are accessible online.

I have selected some of his pictures of Old San Juan, the colonial city of the capital of San Juan, Puerto Rico (all photos are republished with his permission). You can follow his visual life daily at Fotos de Hoy.

City with a View.

San José Church.

The window.

Beach El Escambrón.

Fort El Morro.

Bar El Batey.

Luna Street.

Puerto Rico: Extraordinary Decisions

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:17:29 +0000

“What do you say when you meet someone you think is extraordinary? You should say ‘Hi!' and then start a conversation,” says Gil the Jenius, who profiles the extraordinary Andrea Pérez, a speaker at the recently held TEDx San Juan.

Puerto Rico: Corruption & Lethal Force

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:47:28 +0000

Gil the Jenius takes on the issues of political corruption and the authority of the police to use lethal force in this post.

Puerto Rico: The Art of Sound

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:43:12 +0000

Julieta Muñoz interviews artist Carola Cintrón Moscoso for Revista Cruce [es] on the art of sound: “There was light, but something was missing: sound!,” says Carola who works with audio in her pieces. Please check out the video in which Carola talks about her art, and herself, in an interview as part of a recent presentation in Barcelona.

Puerto Rico: Waste of Money

Janine Mendes-Franco — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:25:16 +0000

Dondequiera says of a US $20 million ad campaign to promote tourism: “If we could only use 1/4 of that money to police and clean our beaches, maintain the bathrooms…. I just thought you'd like to know how your hard earned tax dollars were being spent. The whole thing just disgusts me.”

Puerto Rico: Debating Maripily

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:39:03 +0000

In 80 Grados [es], Melissa Fernández Arrigoitia responds to a controversial column written by Nelson Rivera in the same digital publication on the supposed virtues and failings of the model Maripily.

Puerto Rico: Fear or Loathing?

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:29:21 +0000

Blogger Ed Morales reacts to the column published in Huffington Post Latino titled “Fear and Loathing in the Island that Doesn't Exist,” by Mónica Gutiérrez, which has stirred controversy on how Puerto Rico is depicted, imagined, and constructed.

Caribbean: TEDx Shows “Ideas Worth Spreading”

Karel McIntosh — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:02:09 +0000

“Ideas worth spreading.” With this simple slogan, TED.com, which began in 1984 as an annual conference devoted to technology, entertainment and design, has infiltrated the Internet, gathered valuable global mindshare among people interested in changing their communities and empowered people in various countries to spark discussions in local, self-organised, intimate, TED-branded events, dubbed TEDx.

This sharing of ideas has found its way to the Caribbean - in 2011, five TEDx events were held in the region: two in Jamaica, two in Trinidad and one in Puerto Rico, the prelude to which was the hosting of a TED Talk in November 2010 by Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. TED Talks cover science, arts, politics, global issues, architecture, music and more. Events can be held in homes, workplaces, schools, universities or public theatres.

Showcasing local live speakers and featuring TED video talks, the Caribbean events each had a different viewpoint. All TEDx events share TED's format of short, prepared talks on a wide range of subjects to foster learning, inspiration and wonder, and to provoke conversations about the topics for discussion. Interestingly, for all of the interest they garnered and the reportedly high attendance at each of these events, very few bloggers actually wrote about them, and a survey of the respective events’ hashtags showed a trail of mainly the organiser’s tweets.

The first Jamaican event, TEDxIrie, aimed to “show the world that Jamaica's size doesn’t limit what [they] can contribute globally in all areas of human activity.” Speakers included Carolyn Cooper, Ebony G. Patterson, Jacqueline Sutherland, Kaiton Williams, Mark A. Jones and Wayne Marshall.

TEDxJamaica, held in October 2011, featured a mix of local and foreign speakers and seemed more business-oriented. The Jamaica-born featured speaker, Barrington Irving, is confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest global solo flyer. He used the event to announce a global initiative with Brazilian aeronautics manufacturer Embraer to create the world's first Flying Classroom at 40,000 feet in the air.

Other speakers included Andrew Simpson, Information Technology guru expert of CASEWare; former “Apprentice” winner Randall Pinkett, who now heads his own multimillion-dollar company; Simon Benjamin, an artist whose portfolio includes television commercials, music videos and branding for major entities; JJ Geewax, who helped establish the real-time, online advertisement exchange company Invite Media, as a market leader before its acquisition by Google and Divya Narendra of ConnectU, the campus-based, social-networking platform, the central ideas of which would eventually morph (albeit with bitter litigation) into Facebook.

In contrast, Trinidad’s latest TEDx event, TEDxPortofSpain, the theme of which was “Changing Conversations”, attracted a crowd that seemed largely filled with persons from the arts and creative industries. Featured speakers included Global Voices’ Managing Director, Georgia Popplewell, who spoke about Global Voices’ work around the world; Wendell Manwarren of the Rapso Group 3Canal, who is a singer, writer, producer, teacher, sound designer and director, entrepreneurs Ria Ramkissoon and Kiran Shiva Akal; architect Mark Raymond and Stefan Grosberg, food artisan.

Students at the University of the West Indies also threw their hat in the ring, hosting a TEDx event, TEDxUWI with the theme “Beyond Your Limits” in February 2011. Speakers included students Amilcar Sanatan, Brandon O’Brien, and Stephan Taylor and UWI graduate Omar Mohammed. Sanatan spoke about youth and culture in Trinidad and Tobago and examined how self-acceptance affects the way we live.  Taylor talked about new ways of thinking about innovation, discussing how the Caribbean region is developing through fresh ideas, and O’Brien discussed “Compassion as 21st Century Enlightenment”, outlining how compassion can be used to border the differences between different sectors of society and push towards a new unity. Mohammed focused on the ways in which Caribbean countries are responding to Climate Change.

Local celebrities, Miss Universe 1998 Wendy Fitzwilliam, and comedian Learie Joseph, were also featured. the former beauty queen focused on encouraging the audience to recognize opportunities, while Joseph shared his life's journey, comically illustrating how perseverance can help to overcome boundaries.

The response to the student-led event was so positive that the university held another TEDx event in November 2011 event, themed “Cultural Reality Imitated in a Mutual Environment”. The focus, inspired by the Trinidad and Tobago's government's imposition of a state of emergency to combat the escalating crime situation, looked at crime “as part of the cumulative narrative of Trinidad and Tobago and its connective ability”.

Finally, higher up the Caribbean archipelago, in December 2011, TEDxSanJuan was about to its mark. At first, bloggers seemed uncertain about what the event was meant to accomplish and how successful it would be. Gil the Jenius quipped:

As I write this, TEDx San Juan, first edition, is to start in 17 hours.

I have no idea who's speaking. Or what they'll talk about.

The only information I have is that the theme is “Bursting the Bubble,” referring to My Brethren who are pushing the envelope, boricuas breaking new ground. Good. Marvelous. But to be blunt: so what?

So Jenius, if you're so down on the event, why are you going?

Because I could be wrong. I could be wrong that the agenda, when it is finally revealed, will be a flop, a collection of butt-buddies brought in to present a skewed shadow of “Bursting the Bubble” excellence.

And wrong he was! Post-event, the Jenius wrote here that “TEDx San Juan was a rousing success“:

As I tweeted: I'll eat some of My words, happily.

Let Me dismiss My off-targets first: I sill don't agree with hiding the speakers line-up until just before the event.

Now for the positives: TEDx San Juan is the first event I have ever attended locally that exceeded My expectations…for My money, every speaker was a huge hit. TEDx San Juan was interesting, dynamic, moving and impressive. Three thoughts came together during the event:

1) I'm so used to events like these being “what could have been” that I have become too cynical about “what could be.” I won't do that again.

2) I, and We, are not alone. There are plenty of My Brethren who not only want to make a difference, they actually are making a difference.

3) The next TEDx has already begun. And it will be even better than this one.

Dondequiera was excited to attend the event from the get-go and noted that:

2011 has really been a breakthrough year for the Internet in Puerto Rico…everyday, I see more signs that the Internet is gaining broader and deeper acceptance locally. I have two predictions:

We're still on training wheels here in Puerto Rico, but the rollercoaster ride that is the Internet, is just about ready to take off. Look for a more ubiqitious Internet presence in 2012.

The Internet marketing embargo that the local advertising agencies controls, is starting to leak. When the dam breaks, it will break a tidal wave of opportunity.

After the event, the blogger noted that despite the limited number of invitees for the conference, which he called a “barrier [that] caused many local social media users to express their disgust with the process and the exclusion it caused”, there was a bright side:

Pissing people off because they couldn't register for an event is a great problem to have. Let's reframe this. 900+ people in Puerto Rico wanted to attend the TEDx San Juan Conference! People are hungry for ideas. What a optimistic signal!

I talked to one of the organizers and we agreed that, if nothing else we celebrate TEDx San Juan for having told us this one story: I am not alone. You are not alone. They are others. And they're here and in many different places around the world. Many speakers talked of transformation, to becoming fueled by passion.

TEDx is one way in which the Caribbean creative and technology fraternities are getting their ideas out and sharing them with the world - and the phenomenon seems to be a harbinger of innovation for the regional online community.

The thumbnail image used in this post, “TEDxPortofSpain”, is by TEDxPortofSpain, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit TEDxPortofSpain's flickr photostream.

Puerto Rico: Vigilance over SOPA & PIPA

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:57:46 +0000

Dondequiera says of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA): “Mark my word, this issue is not dead. More like the living dead, a zombie issue, if you like. Many companies…believe that the only way to kill the intellectual property rights legislation is to out innovate Hollywood and deliver solutions that make their demands obsolete. I wish them the best of luck.”

Latin America: Museum Releases Digital Archive of 20th-Century Art

Silvia Viñas — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:36:22 +0000

The International Center for Arts of the Americas (ICCA) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has released a digital archive of 20th-century Latin American and Latino art, which, “is now available, free of charge, to the research and teaching community as well as to the public at large.” Culture magazine Ñ [es] briefly interviewed Mari Carmen Ramírez, the project's director.

Puerto Rico: The 365 Project

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:12:06 +0000

The online edition of the magazine Cruce has published some of the photographs the photojournalist José Rodrigo Madera [es] shot as part of his 365 project: a photo for every day of the year 2011. (All of the photos were originally posted on his Facebook account)

Puerto Rico: The Latest in High School Sports

Firuzeh Shokooh Valle — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:57:54 +0000

The website Activao [es] offers the most complete and best news and pictures on high school sports in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico: Levels of Crime?

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:34:55 +0000

In response to an editorial suggesting that the citizenry “may have been complicit in the senseless murder of Karla Negrón, the latest victim of a stray bullet on New Year's Eve”, Dondequiera says: “It is pure hypocrisy for anyone to accuse Karla's murderer of breaking by the law by anyone who knowingly and willingly bought and discharged illegal fireworks.”

Puerto Rico: Economic Reality

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:24:28 +0000

Gil the Jenius shares “a bitter pill of economic information”, asking: “How screwed are We? On a scale of 1 to 10, about a 9.5.”

Caribbean: Solidarity with SOPA Protest

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:32:06 +0000

A few regional bloggers have joined “the largest online protest in history”, against the proposed PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), here, here, here and here.