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Founders of Capicu Poetry Give Out Toys To Children At Bushwick United Headstart.

(SofritoWire December 2007)

It was time to make it rain candy canes in Brooklyn!

It was Tuesday, December 19th, 2007. There we were in Bushwick United
Headstart School on Montrose Avenue, which is flanked by the historic
167 year old Most Holy Trinity Church in Williamsburg. Going into this
partnership, we knew that the school itself provides services to many
low-income families from Borinquen Plaza housing projects, which one
easily sees on the street right beyond the school. There was an
element of surprise here for us, as we saw that the children came from
a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds. However, when one comes to
think of it, when we look at the diversity of Brooklyn itself, one
would see that the classrooms were a microcosmic representation of the
County of Kings.

Once we walked into the doors, we were greeted by many appreciative
members, some of whom were not only parents but eager volunteers of
Bushwick United who were with us every step of the way. Coordinator
Jessica Arocho (who was dressed as Mrs. Claus) introduced the program
to us with these words:
"We have 3 classrooms, but there are 5 daily class sessions at our
center. One full-day session and four half day sessions, all in all
we have around one hundred children in our care every day that we are
responsible for. We also feed all of these children, there is a
full-scale, fully staffed kitchen on the second floor. What makes our
school stand out is that we prepare our meals using sofrito seasoning,
and the kids love it!"

In the bustling activity of Bushwick United, it was hard to find a
place that would not be disturbed for our Santa to get into gear.
Nonetheless, George "Urban Jibaro" Torres transformed himself into the
childrens hero of the day, Santa Claus! Or, as the adults took to
calling him, "Jibaro Claus"! In his new supercharged North Pole gear,
and along with Mrs. Claus and myself as PaPo The Reindeer in tow,
Santa was ready to help the children burst into radiant smiles,
inspirational laughter, and the giving spirit of the season.

We spent the entire day giving out gifts to these beautiful kids. We
were even joined by a brother of the Phi Iota Alpha latino fraternity,
who put on some Reindeer antlers and helped us give out toys. Jessica
and I would go in first to prepare the children for Santas arrival,
getting them to clap and chant "Santa! Santa! Santa!" to set the
Christmas mood, and our Capicu Santa would walk in and talk to each
child, take pictures, sing songs and even dance with the children. One
of the many highlights of the day took place in one of the older
classes, where the back of the room became a sing-a-long dance floor,
and we even saw Santa Claus doing the "robot dance"!
The warmth with which these kids received us stirred up powerful
emotions. Throughout the day, volunteers, parents, staff...and even
Santa and his helpers would be found with tears of joy in their eyes.

All in all, every single child at the center received a high quality
toy gift and also a DVD movie, as a direct result of the Pa'l Pueblo
Charity event that we held days earlier in the month for this school.
We recognize that the true, genuine heros of this story are the
community workers at the school who work tirelessly to secure a future
for these children and the parents who fight to defeat the odds
stacked against their children. It is because of these real life
everday Santas that we commit to the neighborhood.

This is the beginning of something dynamic, and we welcome you all to
join in our community movement as we look to continue using our
combined resources to make history in Brooklyn.

Felicidades!

PaPo Swiggity

This event was made possible via sponsorships from the following
entities, Notice Lounge, LatiNation, American Latino TV,
SofritoForYourSoul.com, Blaze – A Page Graphics, 5 Star Events, Phi
Iota Alpha Fraternity Inc, Hermandad De Sigma Iota Alpha Sorority Inc,
Exit Studios, Boricuation.com, Aguilar Marerro & Reina Miranda from
Taino Spirit, The United Confederation of Taino People, Raul Rios from
Despierta Boricua, Pathmark, Rachael Strauss (People in Espanol),
FutuVision and all the Capicu supporters.

Brooklyn Cheers The Pa'l Pueblo Charity Event For Kids!

SofritoWire: December 2007
This year, not only does Santa Claus wear a Pava in Brooklyn, he definitely dances to hot salsa!

The Pa'l Pueblo Charity event held on Friday December 14th 2007; what an incredible success story! So many talented artists of different disciplines took the stage to stand in solidarity with the Capicu Poetry commitment to giving back to the community. Over a hundred kids had a Christmas this year due directly to our Pa'l Pueblo event.

The stage was set for a full scale parranda celebration. The native congas of Notice Lounge were now in the company of magnificent band instruments awaiting their masters calls.

At the door, you were greeted by the warm smiling faces of Bushwick United Headstart volunteers and their Family Coordinator, Jessica Arocho who would take your donations, answer any questions about the event and direct you to the heated trays of delicious arroz, pollo y pernil which were available all night for guests.

On a wall near the stage, one would see large posters of some of our event sponsors, Phi Iota Alpha, American Latino TV, and 5 Star Events.

As one looked around the lounge and saw all the familiar faces of the immediate neighborhood, most of which have never seen anything like Capicu Poetry in their whole lives in Brooklyn, right away we knew that this would indeed be a powerful, significant step towards our goal of community engagement and service. This is what the Pa'l Pueblo Charity represents. This is what we are about.

Showtime. After thanking our sponsors and our staff, Urban Jibaro introduced the evening by saying that due to the budget, we would be celebrating Noche Buena, Navidad, Ano Nuevo and Dia de Los Reyes all rolled up in one night, to which the crowd laughed and applauded. Jibaro introduces the Master Of Ceremony PaPo Swiggity, who immediately gets to work to whip the full house into a frenzy.

Here are some lines from the opening salvo:

"Let me tell you about this rumor I heard today,
I'm bringing you the best bochinche in NYC, uncut.
Are you guys ready for what I found out about cuz it's tssssss hot..

Here it is.. (points to a man in the crowd, asks his name)
I heard that YOU are an ACTIVIST.
(does the same with 2 more people around the room)
The allegations are that tonight you aligned yourself with the
progressive Capicu movement.. yes! You, a Community Activist! An agent
of change. Think not? if you made a donation today, of toys, money, or time..
put your hands up for me. If you are a sponsor of this event, or an artist,
musician, or brought someone with you, thus making you a
promoter.. put your hands up. By your participation, you are directly
responsible for the positive emotional welfare of a child in Brooklyn
who otherwise may not have had a holiday this year, so give yourselves
a round of applause! And we're not stopping here, are we?"

PaPo then tells the crowd that they are now infused with the spirit of the Civil Rights Era Black Panthers, Brown Berets and Young Lords who were all about assuring community control, and gets them to pump their
fist into the air and yell out "Pa'l Pueblo!" and "Capicu!" What a sight.

The energy was high, and right away the stage bursts into live parranda
music by the legendary Joe Falcón & the Coco Rico band. Falcón's bass guitar stood as tall and proud as he, as they swayed together to form the rhythmic dance of music making. We were certainly not surprised that salsa dancing broke out in the middle of the party, as this is becoming a ritual of the Capicu community since MelleSol and Canella had their salsa dance-off in September.

The range of artists was astounding. Conscious hip hop, reggaeton, poetry, comedy, salsa y parranda, Taino art and revolutionary urban art. All delivered as promised by Capicu Poetry, making them indeed the Capicu Cultural Showcase. There were music performances by Peruvian female hip hop artist IllFamed, the hip hop poet OL SoUL who set spoken word to a hip hop beat, a reggaeton performance by La Vision and stand up comedy by Edgar Rivera (of Tangana Comedy; Nuyorican Poets Cafe). Our Poetry session included powerful spoken word by Blaze-A-Page, poet/musician Bonafide Rojas of The Mona Passage, Brooklyn's own Conan, Canella ("but he is not a poet") and poet/painter/playwright (from the Dominican Republic) Yubelky Rodriguez.

We were also honored to feature the urban fashion of 1Soul Designs, a fellow progressive Brooklyn Boricua company which challenges the media, fashion industry, and implements programs for neighborhood High School teens (and, in fact, throughout Latin America) to learn the fashion craft.

More highlights of the evening included the spontaneous collaboration of Edwin Berroa (of 5 Star Events) playing congas with Coco Rico, comedian Edgar Rivera's hysterical performance as he poked fun at the crowd, The Taino Godfather Kahayarix (of Despierta Boricua) coming through with big red bags full of toys! They came from a host of organizations connected to Kahayarix and Taino Spirit from the Lower East Side to Yonkers. Last but not least, artists Reina Miranda & Aguilar Marrero (from Taino Spirit) raffling off their hand painted Taino themed denim jackets. This stunning artwork helped Capicu Poetry raise an additional $400.00 to buy toys for the Bushwick United kids, and we thank them deeply for showing such strong support for the kids and offering their creations to our public.

Indeed, a magical night in a sense, if you consider a handful of people set out to bring Christmas to over 100 kids, and to have done so succesfully. We want to thank all who showed support, and we'll see you at our New Years Open Mic on Friday, January 18th, 2008. Happy Holidays to you and yours from the staff at Capicu Poetry!

Note:
This event was made possible via sponsorships from the following
entities, Notice Lounge, LatiNation, American Latino TV,
SofritoForYourSoul.com, Blaze – A Page Graphics, 5 Star Events, Phi
Iota Alpha Fraternity Inc, Hermandad De Sigma Iota Alpha Sorority Inc,
Exit Studios, Boricuation.com, Aguilar Marerro & Reina Miranda from
Taino Spirit, The United Confederation of Taino People, Raul Rios from
Despierta Boricua, Pathmark, Rachael Strauss (People in Espanol) and
FutuVision.

Hermandad De Sigma Iota Alpha Supports Capicu Poetry in Brooklyn Toy Drive.

Sponsor of The PaL Pueblo Charity Event!

Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, Inc.

In the mid 80's, a group of women from 4 different universities in New York set out to create an organization that would meet their needs, help their communities, unite all women, and uphold a set of distinct goals.

Although the sisterhood's history can be traced back to 1985 in Troy, NY, the sorority was founded on September 29, 1990. Thirteen inspiring women from SUNY Albany, SUNY StonyBrook, SUNY New Paltz, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute founded our precious and rare Hermandad.

For more info visit their site at www.Hermandad-SIA.org

Proud Sponsors Of:
The Pa'L Pueblo Charity Party


Comedy * Poetry * Cuchifritos * Music * Community

Hosted By: PaPo Swiggity / Capicu Poetry
When: Friday Dec 14, 2007 (Save the date!) at 7:00 PM
Where: Notice Lounge
198 Union Ave (between Broadway & Montrose)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
J Train To Lorimer, G Train to Broadway, NY 11211
Description: Toy donations and proceeds from the door will benefit children of Brooklyn's Bushwick United Head Start Program

Click Here To View Event And RSVP


This event is being made possible via sponsorships from the following entities:

LatinNation, American Latino TV, SofritoForYourSoul.com, Blaze - A - Page Graphics, 5 Star Events, Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity Inc, Hermandad De Sigma Iota Alpha Inc, Boricuation.com, Exit Studios, Radio Capicu and Futuvision Productions.

For more information, visit the Capicu Poetry website

Sofrito For Your Soul partners with Capicu Poetry for Brooklyn Toy Drive.

Capicu Poetry Hosts “Pa’L Pueblo” Charity Holiday EventToy Drive To Benefit Head Start Christmas Program In Brooklyn.

For Immediate Release

Brooklyn, NY --(Sofrito PR Wire) -- November 27th, 2007: Capicu Poetry in association with Notice Lounge has partnered to host the "Pa'L Pueblo" Charity Holiday Drive. Toy donations and proceeds from the door will benefit children of Brooklyn's Bushwick United Head Start "Toys For Head Start" program, located at 153 Johnson Avenue in Brooklyn NY. This event will be hosted by co-founder Papo Swiggity and will feature live "Parranda" style music, Nuyorican/Urban poetry, conscious hip hop, comedy and community.

This event is being made possible via sponsorships from the following entities:

LatinNation, American Latino TV, SofritoForYourSoul.com, Blaze - A - Page Graphics, 5 Star Events, Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity Inc, Hermandad De Sigma Iota Alpha Inc, Boricuation.com, Exit Studios, Radio Capicu and Futuvision Productions.

For more information, visit the Capicu Poetry website