Sofrito For Your Soul, cultural online magazine for Latinos! How do you feed your soul?

Happy Mother's Day!

Hot Myspace Comments - Dezrum.com

On behalf of Sofrito For Your Soul, I want to wish all Mothers a very Happy Mother's Day!
Let today be the first out of many days that you show them how important they are in your life...

As I am,
George Torres
The Urban Jibaro...
Hijo De Carmen, Nieto De Gloria!

Bomba y Plena Spring Extravaganza

Sofrito For Your Soul is proud to be a media sponsor for the
2008 "Bomba y Plena" Spring Extravaganza.

Puerto Rican Bomba & Plena Spring Extravaganza

In celebration of Spring awakening come and enjoy the sounds of Puerto Rican folklore, music and dance. “Bomba” rhythms & sounds of African heritage and “Plena” is the type of music that reflect community happenings known as the singing newspaper.

Date: Monday, May 26
Time: 6PM
Admission: $25 In Advance ; $30 Day of Show
Place: Symphony Space 2537 Broadway at 95th St. Upper West Side
More Info: (212) 864-5400
or visit
www.symphonyspace.org

The concert features New York City's legendary group Los Pleneros de La 21, current Boricua Roots sensation Tato Torres & YERBABUENA, the Segunda Quimbamba folkloric ensemble from Jersey City, and the theater/dance troupe Danza Fiesta.

This event is sponsored in part by Mega 97.9 and 93.1 Amor

As I am,
George Torres
The Urban Jibaro

Tesoro on the web: PuertoRicanPower.net

It has been a while since I have highlighted a new "Tesoro" and actually this is one I actually discovered on a trip to the windy city of Chicago a few years back. I got an opportunity to hang out with my friend Dulce Ramos who gave me an amazing tour of all the Boricua neighborhoods in Chi-Town and introduced me to Jibarito Sandwiches.

Before I hopped on the plane, I googled Latino Events in Chicago and found this Tesoro (which I featured on this site before we switched to Blog format) and it has grown so much since then, I find it necessary to feature it again...

PuertoRicanPower.net is an arts and cultural guide (founded by Joe Acevedo and Leo Negron) for "Puerto Rican, Puertorriqueños, Boricuas, Borinqueños, Borincanos" and everyone who loves our culture. The website which originally launched in June of 2003 features art, news, history, culture, local/national resources and announcements of upcoming events. One very special feature is the music store featuring Puerto Rican music, find all of your favorites from salsa, merengue, reggeaton, plena, bomba and boleros.

I am extremely excited at the fact that you can now save, share and recommend Puerto Rican Arts, Culture and Events website articles using websites you love like del.icio.us | Digg | reddit | Google | Yahoo!

Important: When you buy a CD through their website at amazon.com your helping to support the Puerto Rican Arts, Culture and Events website.

Check out the Puerto Rican Power website!

Let them know the Urban jibaro sent you!!!!

buen provecho!

As I am,
George Torres
The Urban Jibaro

If you know a website that should be featured as a Tesoro On The Web, email us at SofritoSubmissions@gmail.com

Special Radio Capicu Tribute To Piri Thomas

As many of you may already know, Author Piri Thomas recently suffered a stroke and is currently doing well in recovery. We had an opportunity just before this happened to have him as a guest of the Capicu Poetry show so that we could pay tribute to him via performances by many people he inspired. At the end of the night, he blessed us with his words and made the night unforgettable.

Now we have an opportunity to inspire him and lift his spirits with our words. Over the past few weeks we have received many emails and phone calls to our Capicu Community Hot line of people wishing Piri well. We are going to make this available to Piri in CD format.

We are going to host a tribute to Piri Thomas on Radio Capicu this Wednesday April 23rd. We will be sharing some of Piri's work, reflecting on his legacy and taking your calls so that your words can help him in the healing process.

The show will run 2 hours and all calls taken will be live.

This will be the last opportunity to be included in this "audio" get well card. We want to make sure he gets it before his 80th Birthday.


To Tune in to the show...

Log in to Radio Capicu by visiting www.BlogTalkRadio.com/RadioCapicu

Again the details for calling in to the show are....
Date: Wednesday April 23rd, 2008
Time: 9:00 PM - 11:00pm (eastern standard time)
Call-in Number: (646) 716-7745

Show description: Hosted by The Urban Jibaro & The Guy, this show will be dedicated to Nuyorican legend Piri Thomas, author of "Down These Mean Streets". We will revisit his legacy, listen to his words and share stories of inspiration in the hope that our listeners and his fans can lift his spirits as he recovers from a stroke.

If his words ever touched you...spend this time sharing your voice with him.

Special guest hosts: Papo Swiggity & Latyn Jazz

Contact Info
Email:CapicuPoetry@gmail.com
Website:www.CapicuPoetry.com ; myspace.com/capicupoetry
Phone:(208) 723-5966 (Community Hotline)
City/Town:Brooklyn, NY

Daily Dose: Taino Spirit

Familia....

I wanted to share some very exciting news, Two talented Taino artists, John “Aguilar” Marrero (Boriken) and Reina Miranda (Kiskeia) have expanded their selection of Taino themed artwork on their CafePress website.

The website "Taino Spirit" sells orginal artwork by the duo whose works were recently donated to the Pa'l Pueblo Charity event to help raise money for the children of Bushwick United Headstart.

Now you have an opportunity to buy or gift this beautiful artwork and represent for your cultura.

Visit Taino Spirit at www.cafepress.com/aguilar

As I am,
Your friendly neighborhood Jibaro

Tesoro On The Web: Boricuation.com

Boricuation is a special undertaking by Jose Medina, a Puerto Rican Self-taught Graphic Designer from New York City. Jose decided to use the popularity of the internet to showcase this project, to expose Puerto Rican culture and history to Boricuas..com

Boricuation is the combination of two words . . . Boricua and Education. I was at lost for words when coming up with a title for this special project. Then it just came to me as I was doing research for this project. It sounds natural when it rolls off your tongue.

Boricuation is located in the heart of Puerto Rican history and culture. It’s the exposure of the struggles and accomplishments made by our Puerto Rican Ancestors. Making sense of the many questions that arise about whom Puerto Ricans are and where we come from.

There are countless reasons why someone would take their own personal time and resources to take on such a vast subject like Puerto Rican history. There are many places where people can access information about Puerto Rico: Books, magazines, newspapers and the internet. Through José ’s curiosity about his own identity and ancestry, Boricuation.com was created to enlighten other Puerto Ricans who are miss-informed or just do not know and are curious about their Puerto Rican roots.

Now, I share just a little of our culture and history through graphic design and various articles about Puerto Rico. I take this project personal and hope to expose this information through my perspective and blast it out into cyberspace for everyone to acquire and grasp a piece of Puerto Rican Soul. I would like to initiate an educational look into a rich culture, mi gente boricua!

About Jose Medina

Me llamo Jose Medina, I am a NuYorican / Puerto Rican born and raised on The Lower East Side in New York City. First took my eyes to see La Isla de Encanto in 1992 when I was 25 years old. It was magic! When I got off the plane, after the first plane ride in my life, I felt it. The spirit of El Jibaro. It took over like the heat of the humid less air that surrounds you when you exit the airport terminal.

I felt the love of my country explode with pride within me, being introduced to Mi Isla, Mi Tierra. I was born again! Born again A Puerto Rican!

Within one hour I had Mi Gorra on and was barefooted driving west on La Autopista heading to San Lorenzo. I could imagine how many others like me, Nuyoricans, who experience the same feelings I did that day. Since then I expose myself to my culture through Mi Familia, Friends, even people I have never met.

Creating a Network

I am developing and organization through boricuation.com, to bring Puerto Rican educational and cultural events to places where there are very little or non-existing access to these kinds of events. To bring together a network of boricua people and organizations from different facets of the corporate, entertainment and private sector. Through this network, all members will have access to all types of services at a discount or pro bono basis.

This will assist in the advancement of fellow boricua organizations and people who are trying to either start or promote a current business, venture or event. We would be in a direct position to help uplift each other while enriching the community through educational and cultural events. The foundation is in place and the Bori Network is in the starting phase and we expect many to come forward and contribute to the network.

Together we can prove that we can work as a united people and organize ourselves to better serve our youths. We need to assist each other to contradict the genderfication that is pushing us and our culture out of our neighborhoods. We need to plant our seeds and bring life to boricua community. We are registered voters and have contributed to this society and continue to do so. Our people are productive citizens and are not the minority that they claim us to be.

To contribute or join the Bori Network contact Jose Medina E-Mail:boricuation@gmail.com

Organizations Boricuation.com is currently or has been involved with:

Tato Torres Y YERBABUENA

Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center

La Bodega De La Familia

The Puerto Rican Parade Council of California

The BoricuaFest Company, LLC

Latinas4Life

boricua.com

JOSE MEDINA

http://boricuation.com

Hispanic Reading Room

We are proud to present the Tesoro on the web to the Hispanic Reading Room, a project of the hispanic division of area studies.

The Hispanic Reading Room serves as the primary access point for research relating to those parts of the world encompassing the geographical areas of the Caribbean, Latin America, and Iberia; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S., and peoples of Portuguese or Spanish heritage in Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

Click here to go to the Hispanic Reading Room

About the Project
Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier is a bilingual, multi-format English-Spanish digital library site that explores the interactions between Spain and the United States in America from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. A cooperative effort between the National Library of Spain, the Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular of Seville and the Library of Congress, the project is part of the Library of Congress Global Gateway initiative to build digital library partnerships with national libraries around the world.

Through the presentation in digital form of books, maps, prints and photographs, manuscripts, and other documents from the collections of the partner libraries, this project illuminates five main themes related to the history of Spain and the parallel histories between the United States and Spain: Exploration and Early Settlement, Colonization and Settlement, Meeting of Cultures and Religious/Evangelical Activities, American Revolution, and Mutual Perceptions. Exploration and Early Settlement was launched in June 2005; the other sections are in process.

Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier is part of the Library of Congress' Global Gateway project to establish cooperative digital libraries with national libraries around the world. The site of the National Library of Spain, The Library of Congress’ partner in this project, is located at http://www.bne.es.