What Is The Why?
Today’s newsletter is dedicated to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who passed away this week at the age of 87, she was a Brooklyn native that was a relentless champion for Women’s rights.
I personally join the chorus of those singing her praises.
Days before she passed she said, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” One can assume that she feels, that a rushed nomination may undo a lot of what she has fought for her whole life.
Here is a quote that personally reminds me of lessons Mama taught me as I sat in the cocina as she made a caldero of asopao.
"I tell law students… if you are going to be a lawyer and just practice your profession, you have a skill—very much like a plumber. But if you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself… something that makes life a little better for people less fortunate than you." — Notorius RBG (2012)
source: Mercury News
On the topic of making the world better, you have an incredible opportunity to use your voice in this next election on November 3rd, 2020. I was recently invited by Twitter Alas to attend the #VotaConmigo event with Univision, ACLU, and VotoLatino. This was such an informative event, I am going to share the link so that you can get some answers to some of the very confusing questions out there.
If you do not have time, VOTO LATINO has an extensive library of resources to make sure that your voice counts. It is going to take us all participating to make it work.
Because Social Media is noisy, and because the platforms want me to pay so that you can get access… there are so many reasons why this newsletter is necessary.
The truth is, WE have all been building our empires on rented land. At any given time, we can lose access to a network that we have built for a number of reasons including a government ban (download your Tik Tok archives today)
So for the past 5 years, I have been encouraging my clients at Sofrito Media Group to think of ways they can connect outside social media. Email newsletters and texting platforms are great ways to get information directly to the people you have build relationships with.
This is me… taking my own advice and keeping myself accountable.
I wanted to create an information pipeline that is timely, actionable and highly shareable no matter what social network you play on the most.
So this is officially the first “semillero” of information.
Vamo Pa’encima!
If you know me, you know I am not a huge fan of Hispanic / Latino / LatinX Heritage month (not really a month… more like a joint custody situation between September and October. I know how social trends are, and a heritage month does provide a lot of visibility to artists, musicians, and poets looking to hot stages all over the world.
Now that stages all over the world are shut down, my business partner Juan Papo Santiago and I decided to bring back some of the virtual style events we were doing way before there was a pandemic. A few weeks back we launched CAPICU LIVE! to continue our 13 1/2 year tradition of celebrating the arts and the artists.
In last week’s episode, we teamed up with SOULETRI & POWER STREET THEATER.
We incorporated an interview series and even added TITA, the new animated series by Victor Cruz that reminds me of your tia… yes you… your tia.
Visit CapicuCulture on Facebook to watch both installments, which are available ON DEMAND & like the page to see more celebrations of our culture on the social web.
WATCH CAPICULIVE! NOW
When Life Hands You Lemons… Ask Chef Yexenia What To Do With Them.
Chef Yexenia is a New York based Private Chef and Culinary Instructor. She has a diverse clientele and has catered many events in the tri-state area. Chef Yexenia teaches after-school culinary classes with Keys to Abundant Life, Inc., as well as her own private lessons for kids, youth, and adults.
She has led healthy cooking demos for hospitals, clinics, markets, and community centers throughout New York City. Chef Yexenia believes in teaching her students the basics of cooking so that they can feel more confident and creative in nourishing themselves.
Chef Yexenia is originally from El Salvador and grew up in Brooklyn. She attained her culinary degree from The Culinary Institute of New York at Monroe College, and her Bachelors from New York University.
Here are some of Chef Yexenia’s Life Hacks
As seen on UNISION, HablaUSA & Sofrito For Your Soul
For rates email gomezyexenia@gmail.com and visit https://msha.ke/chefyexenia/#about
(Chef Yexenia is a founding Siembra Initiative member❤️ and a dear friend)
SUPPORT LATINO BUSINESS
If you follow my Instagram stories you will already know that I am a big fan of Angy Abreu and the whole Dominican Writers movement. I share their content constantly and I was so hyped when I saw that they teamed up with oneKIN to create the ‘LIL DOMINICAN READERS literary box. This is a limited time offer and the preorders are already starting to come in. They also have a YA version at this time.
Get yours today!
Learn more about Dominican Writers here!
CUNY: EDUCATION WORKSHOP FOR EDUCATORS
Monday 9/21 - 3:30 - 5:00pm - RSVP NOW for this virtual event
Ever wonder how to better incorporate diverse texts into your syllabus? We got you! Join us Monday for a workshop on using Latinx and Latin American texts in English in the classroom!!
(I secretly love this because Dr. Melissa Planas is a Capicu Feature and Dr. Teresita Levy was one of my mentors when I was an undergrad at SUNY OLD WESTBURY.)
A note from my friends at NGL
NGL Studios and Ben DeJesus are proud to announce that as part of the American Masters series, our film Raúl Juliá: The World's A Stage has just been nominated for a 2020 EMMY for “Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Series”. We’ve been nominated alongside some hefty competition including Hillary, Tiger King, The Last Dance, and McMillions. Even still, we like our odds!
Coming off of our win at last year’s IMAGEN Awards for our John Leguizamo: Road to Broadway documentary, we’ve also just been nominated for another IMAGEN for Raúl Juliá: The World's A Stage. IMAGEN AWARDS are extra special to us, as they recognize and honor positive portrayals of Latinas and Latinos in media and entertainment. We’re truly humbled and grateful for the spotlight our film continues to shine on the great Raúl Juliá. For a sneak peek, check out the trailer, or watch the entire film on Amazon.
If someone shared this with you, I hope you are ready to subscribe.
I hope you enjoyed this first issue of the Siembra Newsletter, if you want to connect for collaboration, sponsorship or to find out more about the services I offer, email me at engage@sofritomediagroup.com to book a discovery call.
Stay tuned for the complete relaunch of http://www.sofritoforyoursoul.com on October 16th… where we will be adding many new voices to our platform.
As I am,
George Torres
Founder,
Sofrito Media Group
🔥👉🏼📲 👀 Check out my #SocialSofrito InstaStories daily at http://www.Instagram.com/UrbanJibaro
(ps. we will never share your emails with anyone)
About The Siembra Initiative
Siembra Initiative is a grassroots program of Sofrito Media Group that creates free or low-cost training opportunities for entrepreneurs, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, art circles, and community activists to increase their social footprint and elevate influence online.
If you have any questions or you wish to donate to the Siembra Initiative to help cover the costs of technology, please email us at SiembraInitiative@sofritomediagroup.com