Sites: Brook Garden and Sunshine Garden Air Date: 11/30/20 @ 7:30pm Host: Rob Vassilarakis Featuring: KARLA MEJÍA – A community organizer born in Mexico and raised in the Bronx. She focuses her time in supporting immigrant rights, especially for undocumented women. DANNY CHERVONI – Head/OG Gardener and beekeeper at Brook Garden. Danny has lived in the South Bronx community since he was 14 and is the unofficial Mayor of 140th Street. He went to De Witt Clinton High School where he swam, and before graduating he joined the Marines. Danny is a skilled DJ and donates his time for local events at the garden and the neighborhood. THAHITUN MARIAM – A Bangladeshi American feminist poet, activist and community organizer. She writes about displacement, migration, diaspora identity and social justice inspired poetry. She is a 2918 recipient of the Bronx Recognizes It’s Own (BRIO) Award from the Bronx Council on the Arts, a founding member of the South Asian Diaspora Artists Collective. She has performed her poetry at Bowery Poetry Club, NYPL for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, and other venues across NYC. PEGGY ROBLES-ALVARADO – She hails from Washington Heights and is a proud resident of The Bronx, which she credits for making her an artist. For this episode of Stage Garden Rumba, this Pushcart Prize nominee, 2020 Atticus Review Poetry Contest winner, and a BRIO award winner, shares a poem titled “Hybrid” that details where she comes from. YAJAIRA SAAVEDRA – A Dreamer activist and organizer fighting for the rights of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Originally from San Miguel Ahuehuetitlán, Oaxaca, Mexico, Saavedra has been living in the United States with her family for more than 20 years. As a DACA recipient, she has been involved in the Dreamer movement along with her brother, Marcos Saavedra. The Saavedras run acclaimed restaurant La Morada, a family-run Oaxacan-style eatery, community hub, and modern-day sanctuary for all people seeking rest and refuge in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx. HOMMY RAMOS – A Puerto Rican composer, arranger and educator. He is a graduate from La Escuela Libre de Música in San Juan, and the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has performed with some of the most recognized Latin music greats of today, including Roberto Roena, Tego Calderón, Andy Montañez, Giovanny Hidalgo, Paquito d’Rivera, and The Ray Charles Tribute Band. His first album, Trombeatz – A Caribbean Thing, was released in spring 2019 to great acclaim. With Pregones, he was recently seen as one of the original members of The Razor Blades, in the company’s production of Flaco Navaja’s Evolution of A Sonero. VIOLET MONTES – Retired from the healthcare industry, Violet is an active member of the Sunshine Community Garden, helping to coordinate it’s events and public programming. She also volunteers for the garden’s food distribution pantry program, which serves hundreds of meals and fresh produce to the surrounding community. As such, she is a prime example of the long history of people-led “community action” environmental struggle in the region, and testament to the enduring “Bronx Strong” spirit. ROB VASSILARAKIS – This Bronx-based poet and LGBTQ+ activist is one of the original members of El Grito De Poetas, an all-Latinx poetry collective. Among many other accolades, Rob is the subject of the 2011 film Simply Rob by Tom Shrapnel. Estranged from his family when he was just a teenager because of his sexuality, Rob fell into a world of self-hatred and drug abuse. In 1993 he was diagnosed with H.I.V., he was 22 years old. After years of rehabilitation Rob now uses his eloquence and honesty to inspire and educate others.
