Literanista
October 16, 2009
After a $35 million renovation, El Museo del Barrio now reflects the changing reality of what it means to be Hispanic in the U.S.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
11:00 am – 9:00 pm
El Museo del Barrio
Admission: Free
The all-day open house festivities celebrating its 40th anniversary year will be packed with fun events taking place throughout its whole beautifully renovated building, Latin music shows by children and adults in the brand-new courtyard and the theater, children book readings and art-making workshops at El Taller, a preview of Soledad O’Brien’s upcoming documentary Latinos in America, and walking tours around el Barrio will be only part of the fun.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
11:00 am: RIBBON CUTTING – The Courtyard
El Museo kicks-off its grand opening celebration with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Doors open to the public for a full day of free admission and fun activites, shopping at La Tienda, and a bite and drink at the new El Café!
11:00 am: INAUGURAL EXHIBITIONS – Las Galerias
Artist Educators will be on-hand in our galleries to provide visitors with information on our inaugural exhibitions: Nexus New York: Latin American Artists in the Modern Metrópolis, and Voces y Visiones: Four Decades Through El Museo del Barrio’s Permanent Collection. Galleries remain open until 9pm!
11:00 – 12:00pm: COLORIN COLORADO – El Teatro
Mariposa, renowned poet and writer hosts children storytelling! Estrellita Says Goodbye to Her Island, is a lovely story by Samuel Caraballo about a girl from Puerto Rico and her experience when she leaves her Isla del Encanto,
11:00 – 12:45am: STARTING WITH A BAND! – The Courtyard
To celebrate El Barrio’s musical heritage, El Museo welcomes two live performances: at 11am, Zon del Barrio, playing a great variety of Latino music genres, including African Diaspora, New York urban, and more; and at 12pm, Yerbabuena, the Boricua-roots band based in New York City.
11:00am – 3:00pm: QUE BONITA BANDERA! – El Taller
Families come together in El Taller to create their own version of a flag that represents their family, barrio, culture and/or identity.
1:00 – 2:00pm: COLORIN COLORADO – El Teatro
As a continuum to the previous book reading, El Museo presents Estrellita in the Big City by Samuel Caraballo. In this story, also read by Mariposa, Estrellita narrates to her Abuelita her experiences upon arriving in NYC.
3:00 – 4:30pm: SALSA IS NUYORICAN – El Teatro
Take a musical journey with José Obando, renowned ethnomusicologist, through the History of Salsa in El Barrio. Preceded by a live performance by The Harbor Latin Youth Ensemble, comprised of the most advanced students ages 12-19 enrolled in the Harbor Conservatory’s Pre-Professional Latin Music Program. A dose of laughter will be provided by Puerto Rican stand-up comic Bill Santiago, host and MC for the afternoon.
1:30 – 3:30pm and 4:00 – 6:00pm: DESTINATION EL BARRIO – El Barrio
El Barrio has been home to El Museo for 40 years. Come explore its impact on our history and development through walking tours around El Barrio! Highlights include the Graffiti Wall of Fame and local murals. All tours start in El Museo’s lobby.
6:30 – 8:30pm: LATINO IN AMERICA – El Teatro
CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and El Museo present a special preview of her upcoming documentary Latino in America, featuring the cultural diversity of Latinos, highlighting Garcias! Special offer: Calling all Garcias! El Museo offers FREE MEMBERSHIP for one year to the first 25 Garcías attending this program.
www.elmuseo.org for details
To learn more about Julián Zugazagoitia, the man behind the renovation, who is Mexican-born, Paris-educated and the first non-Puerto Rican to lead the Museo, read Beyond the Barrio, With Growing Pains
Soledad O’Brien is such a phony. In April 2008, Reverend Jeremiah Wright gave a speech in Detroit to the NAACP. One of the things that he said in this speech was that black and white children learn with different parts of their brain, and then gave an "unflattering imitation of the way white pastors speak." Peoples comments were that he gave a racial speech. Soledad O'Brien, on CNN, was quoted as saying, in a gushing manner, that the speech was a "home run" and "really funny." When questioned about the things he said in the speech, she would say things like, what he really meant was …..or what he wanted to say was… Once again she's covering the truth and being racist. Just as with the Henry Gates incident. In an appearance on Anderson Cooper, the night or so before CNN's "The Moment of Truth" she appeared enraged that it was a racial profile against Gates. She said that she got calls from her FRIENDS saying it was all about Gates being black. She went on that show with the purpose, at all costs, to destroy the credibility of the white police officer and throw him under the bus. When Cooper was talking she wanted to make the point that Gates said "Thank You" to the police officers. By mentioning that, she was purposely misrepresenting the truth by playing down Gates' belligerence and racial remarks, which she didn't even mention. Even Gates' attorney and friend, said to the media that he used very strong language. Colon Powell and President Obama both said he should take blame in the incident. I have seen this in many occasions with her, where she doesn't speak the truth and hides the true facts. Another time on Anderson Cooper, Cooper said to O'Brien that Senator John McCain hasn't brought race into the campaign, like he said he wouldn't. You would think her response would have been something like, that's great because he shouldn't. Instead she strongly insinuated that he would, even in the last week of the campaign. Also, her questioning style, in interviews is completely different with a white person than it is with a black person. Like in her interview with Henry Gates in "The Moment of Truth" She just went along with his lies. I have seen several comments on various websites about her racism. There are many other examples I could give of her racial bias, dishonesty and hypocrisy. She seems to consider herself to be black. She mentioned in an interview that her parents made it clear to her “you’re black” and that’s all there is to it.
She’s all about being #1, she wants the world to revolve around her. She comes first, before her family. She wants to be a celebrity figure and a star. In interviews she says she works 6 days a week, mostly out of town, and on some holidays. She goes to gala events, concerts, lots of entertainment events, as a single woman, leaving her husband and kids behind.
I think Soledad O’Brien is a very poor journalist. What ever happened to the days of CNN with Bernard Shaw and Judy Woodruff? They were honorable journalists. You could believe what they said. John Las Vegas