Colonialism Unmasked: A Commemoration of Grito de Lares

Doors & finger food for sale at 6:15pm / Program starts at 7pm

$15-$25 Sliding Scale General Admission / $5 Youth Under 18 / Lap Children Free

La Peña Cultural Center, Bay Area Boricuas, La Tertulia Boricua, Bay Area Alliance for a Sustainable Puerto Rico and the International Committee for Peace and Justice present:

WHAT THE WINDS LEFT BEHIND … COLONIALISM UNMASKED, A COMMEMORATION OF EL GRITO DE LARES (Lares Uprising or Cry of Lares)

This community-sponsored event features keynote speaker, Puerto Rican human rights activist Zulma Olivares Vega, direct from Puerto Rico, who will give an update of the present conditions and challenges facing the island one year after hurricane Maria. The event also features a selection of Puerto Rican music, poetry and a short film from Bay Area artists, activists and diasporicans committed to raising political awareness, celebrating Puerto Rican culture and advancing positive change and autonomy in Puerto Rico.

THIS VENUE IS WHEELCHAIR ACCESIBLE – PLEASE CALL US IN ADVANCE SO WE CAN SET UP SEATING FOR YOU

ABOUT GRITOS DE LARES:
People of Puerto Rico annually observe Grito de Lares (Cry of Lares) to commemorate the events of the first large uprising against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico. The uprising began on September 23, 1868, the first major revolt for Puerto Rican Independence.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Zulma Oliveras Vega (San Germán, Puerto Rico 1970). Puerto Rican Activist of Human Rights, Former Director of M.A.S.A. (Lesbian Latinas: social and active). She has been published in the anthology “NOT IN OUR NAME: Contra la ayuda de Estados Unidos a la masacre en Gaza” (2016), and in the Anthology “¡Despierta Humanidad! en homenaje a Berta Cáceres” (2017). She currently works in a non-profit dedicated to educate about Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, as Program Coordinator for Social Empowerment at: www.pazparalamujer.org

MUSIC BY:
Taller Bombalele (directed by Denise Solis and Julia Cepeda)
Madelina y Los Carpinteros (Fernando Torres, Madeleine Zayas y Craig Thomas), with Pedro Pastrana
Art3mis Prime
Quenepas (Directed by Hector Lugo and Shefali Shah)

POETRY BY:
Aya de León, Raina León, Rico Pabón, Aurora Levins Morales and Susana Praver-Pérez

VIDEO BY:
Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi

Doors & finger food for sale at 6:15pm
Program starts at 7pm

$15-$25 Sliding Scale General Admission
$5 Youth Under 18
Lap Children Free

Proceeds from this event will benefit grassroot efforts in Puerto Rico.

La Peña Cultural Center: 3105 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94705