Puerto Rico and Cuba: Two Wings of the Same Bird – A Hurricane Relief Fundraiser

$10- $20 Sliding Scale *No one turned away for lack of funds

Please purchase your tickets in advance to secure a seat!

Please join us for an important evening in solidarity with Cuba and Puerto Rico and their historic relationship, featuring very special guest speakers!

Dating back to the 19th century, and onward through their common, mutual struggle for independence from Spanish colonialism and US imperialism up to today’s conditions, Cuba and Puerto Rico have long had historical, linguistic, cultural, and political ties that have bound them inextricably.

This program will speak to that relationship and its relevance to the situation both nations face today in their struggles for genuine national self-determination and integral environmental development, most especially after the recent disastrous Hurricanes that badly damaged both islands.

For this event, we are enormously pleased to have the presence of noted Cuban cultural workers DAYSI SALAS and NANCY MOREJON – both of whom are key figures in the cultural scene in Cuba.

Daysi Salas will speak to this historic relationship and Nancy Morejon will perform selections from her vast poetic work.Berkeley-based translator and  poet Kathleen Weaver will be interpreting Nancy Morejon’s poems in English.

The event will also feature the participation of Puerto Rican-born geographer, environmental activist and Assistant Professor at UC Davis, Javier Arbona.

JUST ANNOUNCED: Cuban singer​-songwriter Marcos Pereda will be gifting us with his music at this Sunday’s fundraiser! Marco’s music combines the melodic style of Nueva Trova (“New Song” music made popular by fellow Cuban Silvio Rodríguez) with his own original style of soulful poetic lyrics. Marcos’ most recent project was an album collaboration with guitarist Alex Degrassi.

A $10.00 – $20.00 sliding scale donation is requested. Funds collected will go Puerto Rican Hurricane Relief efforts so please give generously. However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

SPEAKERS’ BIOS:

Nancy Morejon  is, without doubt, one of Cuba’s greatest living poets. Morejon is presently the editor of Union, the journal of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). The recipient of numerous awards for her poetic work, both internationally and in Cuba, she is also an essayist, critic, and an active collaborator at the famed Casa de las Americas cultural center in Havana.

Daysi Salas is a key organizer in the UNEAC and plays a leading role in that organization. Salas works closely with Nancy Morejon on many of the activities and projects of the UNEAC, as well as with other cultural entities in contemporary Cuba’s ongoing, revolutionary process.

Javier Arbona is an Assistant Professor in American Studies and Design at the University of California – Davis. He received his PhD in Geography from UC Berkeley. He presently focuses on militarism, race, memory, and the politics of physical space. He is at work on a book about the historical erasures of Black resistance to segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area during World War II. Born in Puerto Rico, Arbona is a specialist in geography, planning, and architecture.

Sponsors: Bay Area Friends of Nancy Morejon and Daysi Salas, La Peña Cultural Center, and The Turquino Project.

****No refunds can be issued for this event****

La Peña Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94705www.lapena.org