THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: BURUNDANGA BORICUA LOOKS AT PUERTO RICO’S UNFINISHED JOURNEY, RICARDO ROMO ON PORFIRIO SALINAS PIONEERING BORDER ARTIST, 1967 PUERTO RICAN PLEBECITE AND QUETZAL PERFORMS TRAGAFUEGOS.
This week we have a lot check out.
We begin with José M. Umpierre’s regular column, Burundanga Boricua. This week he reviews a new book that looks at a unique figure in Puerto Rican history, Roberto Sanchez Vilella. In 1964, Vilella was the hand picked successor to Luis Muñoz Marin’s Partido Popular Democrático. But Vilella’s divorce and subsequent marriage to a divorcee created a scandal in the Puerto Rico of the 1960s. Although he governed for four years and brought about many positive changes for Puerto Rico, he was defeated in 1968, largely due to the scandal. Now a book Puerto Rico’s Unfinished Journey by Celina Romany Siaca reexamines Vilella and his times. Check out Umpierre’ erudite take on the whole thing.
To remind us of the times, we are posting a video about the 1967 Plebecite in Puerto Rico that gives us a sense of what was at stake back in the day. Not to different, some would say, from the issues we find on the island today.
Also this week, Ricardo Romo’s Tejano Report informs us of a little known pioneering borderland artist, Porfirio Salinas. This Texas artist was working before the Chicano art movement and his artwork is informed by his landscape predecessors. But his vision was nonetheless awesome. He became a favorite of Texas art connoisseurs including Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson who purchase many of Salinas’s paintings.
Lastly, we join with the East Los Angeles music group Quetzal as they perform “Tragafuegos,” The “Fire eaters” one sees on the streets of Mexico City.
Enjoy your week on Latinopia.
Tia Tenopia