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Sofrito News: Author Piri Thomas suffers stroke

We have just received news late last night that 79 year old author Piri Thomas suffered a stroke this past Tuesday in the state of California. We have just obtained an email from Piri's wife Suzie updating us on Piri's condition (Special Thanks to LatynJazz, Esteban Jimenez and Fish Vargas for getting us this information)

We ask that you all keep Piri in your prayers that he make a complete and speedy recovery. We will update you as more information becomes available.

In February 2008, Piri came down to our showcase in Brooklyn NYC as the featured artist of our Love Our Culture event. We are honored to have hosted him and his wife, and now reach out to our Tri-State family for a show of support.

If you want to send Piri Thomas a get well message please email us at CapicuPoetry@gmail.com or call our community hotline (208) 723-5966 and we will compile these in a transcript and audio CD that will go directly to Piri, so that collectively we can raise his spirits and lend him our strength to survive this ordeal.

The Capicu family would like to thank you in advance for prayers.

Siempre Palante,
Capicu Poetry & Cultural Showcase
Community Hotline: (208) 723-5966

On The web:
www.CapicuPoetry.com
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/capicupoetry
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2321473731

Here is the letter from Suzie;

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Familia y amigos,

Our querido Piri has had a stroke. Yesterday, March 24 in the morning, we
called 911 and he was taken to Kaiser Hospital in nearby Richmond. It is a
"hemorhagic stroke", meaning it was a burst vessel with a small bleed, rather
than a clot/blockage.

He was admitted to the hospital ICU, and is still there. The cat scan today
indicated that the bleeding has stopped, so he will be transfered to a
regular room tomorrow.

His right side has been affected. Presently he cannot hold his weight on his
right leg, nor raise his right hand to his mouth with a fork, although his
strength in both has improved since yesterday. His speech is slurred
intermittently but understandable and also improved since yesterday. He is in
good spirits, but I know he soon will be very sick of the hospital and at not
being able to get chuletas and rice and beans. Right now they are feeding him
through a tube, as his ability to swallow completely has been affected.

We are cautiously optimistic that much of his function can be regained
through physical and speech therapy. Already they have seen him improve.

In terms of me, I realize that this is one of those events that marks a sea
change in our lives. I am trying to keep from thinking too far ahead right
now, since we just don't know, and Piri has up to now had miraculous powers
of recovery from all his various malaises. The dogs and some home repairs are
keeping me busy for now.?

I want there to be a circle of prayers and good wishes that extends from
England to New Zealand. I will keep you posted via email should anything
change. This is a hard time for me, and for all of us, so let us keep the
faith that all will turn out as it should.

Peace and love,

Suzie and the dogs

In the Heights

Daly Martinez: Siete Pajaros

Siete Pajaros

This morning I walked

and saw seven birds,

siete pajaros,

lined up on a bare branch

of a tree

waiting for something.

They stared at me silently

with piercing black eyes;

without a sound

without a word.

So I turned away.

As I looked back,

there are still seven birds,

siete pajaros,

lined up on a bare branch

of a tree

waiting for something.

Daly Martinez is a writer and visual artist currently living in Montgomery Village, Maryland. She is a student at Montgomery College and intends to major in foreign languages. Daly likes to experiment with art, whether it'd be a collage, a painting, or even something bizarre with miscellaneous objects. Her writing has been published in the school literary magazine Temet Nosce (Watkins Mill High - Gaithersburg, Maryland) and in the poetry anthology Immortal Verses.

You can read her poems and short stories at http://www.writerscafe.org/writers/Timehopper

Urban Jibaro Review: In The Heights On Broadway

I'll begin this review stating upfront that I am not a bonafide theatre critic. In fact my overall experience has been mostly independent off-Broadway productions along the vein of "Quien Mato a Hector Lavoe" and "La Lupe." This is the opinion of a young Latino male that has not had exposure to "traditional Broadway," if there is such a thing. I hope you have the privilege to discover Broadway as I have.

According to the official site "IN THE HEIGHTS is a new musical about three days in the life of Washington Heights, a vibrant and tight knit community at the top of the island of Manhattan. It's a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. Find out what it takes to make a living, what it costs to have a dream, and what it means to be home.

So, I get ready to experience this new show that has so many of my friends talking and I am wondering where the hell I have been that I was not aware of it sooner! My friend Shellz da Stunna told me she saw this show years ago off-Broadway and I laughed because to be completely honest, I discovered it through a video on YOU TUBE. The video that the show put out called "Abuela" (spoofing Rihanna's smash hit "Umbrella"), was a brilliant piece of work that actually summarized "In The Heights" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda's struggle to make it to Broadway...and the chorus says it best, if it does not work out for you, "you can come home to your Abuela."

When I arrived at the theatre, sat in my seat and glanced at the stage, I suddenly felt as if I was smack in the heart of Washington Heights due to the amazing set that resembled a life-size rendition of Justin Bua's "The Block" painting. The music was an explosive blend of the best Latino Caribbean music (Salsa & Merengue) with a strong Hip Hop vibe that really brings this story of a working class neighborhood to life. The music carries you through reflections of dreams as seen by Latinos that immigrated to the US in pursuit of a better life and their children who struggle with how to make that dream their reality. The rythm of this show lifted me and took me for a two hour ride that actually made me wish that I could jump on stage and dance with the cast. For anyone who was raised in any Latino neighborhood in NYC, the characters from Abuela to Sonny are all people you knew and loved at some point in your life. For anyone that is not familiar with the Latino experience as portrayed in this musical, it gives a great glimpse into the strong sense of Familia that is present in many Barrios. There is so much to say about this show, I do not want to delve any deeper for fear of saying too much and spoiling what promises to be a carnival of music and visual imagery that only a play set in Latino NYC can bring you.

In summary, to me anyways, "In The Heights" was everything that "West Side Story" was not. In comparison, this was an authentic story about Latinos that did not have to weave tales of drugs and gang life into the narrative in order to make for an interesting "peek" into nuestras vidas. My only dissapointment was that there were not more Latinos in the audience...I am happy to have discovered this show and the experience makes me feel as if there will be many more of our stories told on Broadway in the near future.

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For more information and for tickets click here!
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Buen provecho...

As I am,
George Torres
The Urban Jibaro

Special thanks to SPOTNYC for making it happen!!!!