Brown University

Third World Center

68 Brown St.

Box 1871
Providence, RI 02912

Telephone: (401) 863-2120

TWC@brown.edu

This event will officially introduce the theme of the month, “Diversity is our Strength; Embracing our Diasporas,” with a convocation address by renowned activist/reporter/poet/politician, Felipe Luciano. As founder and chairman of the Young Lords Party, Luciano's commitment to community empowerment, Ethnic pride and civil rights was pivotal in changing the color and complexion of politics, culture, and society from New York to Puerto Rico. Beyond his work in the community, Luciano is a success in all areas of entertainment and media including television, radio, lectures, music, poetry, journalism, and stage productions. From opening up electric journalism as the first Puerto Rican news anchor for WNBC and continuing on CBS-TV's Channel 2's The People and Fox-TV's Good Day New York and Street Talk with Ed Koch, Luciano has not only successfully challenged stereotypes, but also predicted and created changing trends and tastes in the industry and their related markets. Luciano is one of the founders of the rap/hip hop movement having performed and traveled extensively in the 60's as a member of the Original Last Poets. He has also won two Emmys, an ACE, and Silurian Award. Today, Luciano, continues his community activism, having served as a commissioner on the NYC Mayor's Task Force on Police and Community Relations. He regularly contributes articles for New York area newspapers and magazines, such as The New York Times and Essence while continuing his Spoken Word poetry, performing for HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, and Tropijazz and RMM Records.

The Latino Art Exhibition will focus on the visual interpretation and representation of Latino politics, history, heritage and culture through the medium of art. It would speak to the theme of the month and display the diversity of Latino culture and thought. The exhibition will showcase various pieces of art that address the theme of the month from students and members of the Brown community, RISD, Johnson & Wales and other universities as well as contributions from the local Providence community. Artwork will include paintings, ceramic pieces, sculptures, designs, photography etc.

A night full of vibrant colors, delicious food, and exciting music and performances, our Havana-Night themed outdoor concert will feature music by Tato Torres and YERBABUENA. YERBABUENA is a group of individuals who come together to play the music that they love under the musical direction of singer-composer-musician Tato Torres. It is composed of musicians, singers and dancers from the New York City area, who share an intense passion for the musical traditions of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. The music they play is, by nature, participatory. Whether bomba, plena or música jíbara, it's all interactive.The night will start off with free Latin dance lessons offered by the Brown Ball Room dance group before the concert begins and free Spanish food all throughout the night. In addition, there will be some performances by some Brown performance groups and students during intermissions.

Platanos & Collard Greens tells the story of two college students, Freeman, a Haitian/African-American man and Angelita, a Latino woman, both forced to confront and overcome cultural and racial prejudices while defending their bond from the biases held by family and friends. Platanos is a thought-provoking romantic comedy that addresses stereotypes, prejudices and urban myths that exist between Haitians and Dominicans, within the context of Hip-Hop, humor, and satire. The play impels the audience to evaluate pervasive stereotypes. Platanos humorously displays these common, yet outrageous, viewpoints while deftly shooting them down and poetically exposing them as misrepresentations of reality. The play challenges the audience to question conventional attitudes held about themselves and others.

Within the last half of the century there has been an increase in leftist politics in Central and South American countries. This lecture will address the current trend of leftist politics in countries like Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba etc. It will analyze how leftist politics have affected the countries economy, agriculture, policies such as education and healthcare, and the social conditions of its people. In addition, the lecture will acknowledge some the challenges that these countries face as well as the advancements these countries have made under their leaders. Finally, it will attempt to foresee the future of these countries and their relations to the rest of the world. Guest speaker is Thomas Ponniah.

This event will feature The Welfare Poets: a group of activists, educators, and artists that educate about contemporary issues—including poverty, race, politics etc—through poetry and music that incorporates Hip Hop, Bomba and Plena, Latin Jazz and other rhythms. This small ensemble will create a much more intimate setting and a deeper connection and interaction between the performers and their audience.

This event will bring the Latino and LGBTQ community together to address the taboo subject of sexuality within these two communities. Award winning guest speaker, Louis E. Perego Moreno (also known as Tio Louie), will present his short 10-minute documentary on Latino and Black GLBTQ Youth entitled, "I Know Who I Am... Do You?" followed by a recount of his experience being both Latino and a member of the GLBTQ community. As an Interactive Content Producer and Educator, Louis has been the President of SKYLINE FEATURES, an English and Spanish-language multimedia production and educational company focusing on trans-cultural, multicultural and youth edutainment projects. His specialty is developing documentaries for television and national distribution in schools that feature Latinos, Blacks, Urban Youth, Women, Gay & Lesbian Youth and Children with Disabilities. In 1993 Louis founded SKYLINE COMMUNITY; a non-profit organization devoted to the issues of Black and Latino Youth and Women. He produced 70 social documentary shorts by training 1,500 youth in New York City, and New Jersey. Many of these award-winning documentary shorts counter the negative portrayals of ethnic communities and offer solutions to social, public and mental health issues. This event is co-sponsored by the LGBTQ community and the coordinators of Pride Month 2008.

In the past, the Latino Gala has been part of the annual celebration of Latino History Month. This year, the Latino Gala will be the grand closing event of the month that will wrap the theme of the month together. The event will entail a ceremonial dinner and a detailed program that will include various speakers such as alums, professors, students and community members and performances from various groups both on and off-campus such as MEZCLA, Brown Mariachi, Latino Writing Circle etc. This event will be in collaboration with all the Latino organizations on campus and the Brown University Latino Alumni Council (BULAC). Tickets will be sold and part of the money raised will be donated to charity.