Culture

Bronx Week 2021 Brings Some Normalcy & Three New Walk of Fame Honorees

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
Under dark, gray skies, with an intermittent drizzle falling, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. announced the resumption of Bronx Week 2021 on Wednesday, May 6, another welcome sign of things slowly returning to normal, after last year’s celebrations were cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.   Usually, Bronx Week is an annual 10-day series of events whereby The Bronx celebrates the best of the borough. “The fact of the matter is, what we’ve been going through, the last 13/14 months, there was an uncertainty,” Diaz Jr. said. “We weren’t able to do Bronx Week last year. [Now] we’re doing all


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New Grants for Community Groups Offering Free, Outdoor Arts & Culture Performances this Summer

By SÍLE MOLONEY
New micro-grants are available for the City’s most under-resourced communities to provide free arts and culture performances in neighborhood parks, plazas and community gardens this summer and fall.   City Parks Foundation is a nonprofit whose mission is to make parks vibrant centers of community through sports, arts, community-building and environmental education programs. It organizes the citywide “SummerStage” program each year in conjunction with Capital One. Last summer, the program was made virtual. Together with a newly formed “Culture in Parks and Plazas Coalition,” City Parks Foundation announced on Thursday, May 6, the creation of the “Green Arts Live NYC


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Fordham Anti-Racist Alumni Press for Culture Change

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Fordham Anti-Racist Alumni Collective (FAAC) announced on Monday, April 26, that the group had compiled a list of student grievances against the faculty, administration, and staff of Fordham University, which were submitted by victims through the group’s Instagram accounts.   “These powerful accounts of racism, sexism, classism, xenophobia, sexual harassment, lack of professionalism and institutional neglect expose Fordham University’s record of failure to hold faculty, administrators and staff accountable for harm caused in the classroom and on campus,” a statement from FAAC read.   The alumni group, which is committed to amplifying the demands of Black students at Fordham University,


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Cultured Kids Cuisine Seeks Interns to Foster Cultural Awareness through Food

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Cultured Kids Cuisine is a New York City-based, international, non-profit organization striving to foster cultural awareness through food. The group is currently recruiting high school and college students from the Bronx and other parts of the city for a fully funded internship opportunity. The group offers a variety of free services to children, such as virtual cooking workshops, food anthropology courses, educational podcasts, food blogs, eCookbooks, and more.   While no previous experience is necessary, the organization asks that applicants be passionate about building a future of love and tolerance through food. During the internship students will be paired with


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Out & About: Bronx Opera, Pop Culture 90s Edition, Antique Garden Furniture Fair Preview

Editor’s Pick  Join the staff of the Van Cortlandt Library for a fun, virtual game of trivia. Each month, the library staff play a trivia game based on a different category/theme and provide book recommendations based on the categories. The theme for May will be “Pop Culture: 90s Edition,” and the game will take place on May 6, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Boost your knowledge, meet others, and get to know them! The event will take place over Google Meet. To sign up for the event, visit https://www.nypl.org/events.   Events Are you interested in antique furniture? Join The


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Bronx Lacrosse: A Break from the Norm

By JASON GONZALEZ
While basketball and baseball remain king in the South Bronx, a small but growing number of young athletes of color are trying their hand at “laxin,” a sport typically associated with fancy prep schools.   “Laxin” is slang for playing lacrosse, a sport relatively ignored in the “Boogie-Down” until a nonprofit group, Bronx Lacrosse, started luring young players with dedicated coaching, tutoring and opportunities to shine as athletes.   Youth from Mott Haven, Melrose, Longwood, Hunts Point and Port Morris are now congregating in the neighborhood of Highbridge at least four times a week to play a sport that was


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What Does Art Do For You? A Youth-Centered Conversation About Art And Possibility

By SÍLE MOLONEY
“What does art do for you? A youth-centered conversation about art and possibility,” is a virtual art event taking place on Thursday, April 29, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.   The event brings together the Bronx Museum Teen Council and Recess: Assembly Peer Leaders to discuss how an arts practice helps us think and move, with and through hope, struggle, and despair. Moderated by artist and assembly co-founder, Shaun Leonardo, the panelists, representing youth of different ages, will share their lived experiences and explore the possibilities of Art.   The conversation will be centered with the prompt: If you


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SBA Simplifies Process for Arts Organizations & Venues to Apply for Economic Relief

The U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) has enhanced the process of applying for economic relief for operators of live venues, live performing arts organizations, museums and movie theaters, as well as live venue promoters, theatrical producers and talent representatives. The agency is relaunching its Shuttered Venue Operators Grant application portal (SVOG) on Saturday, April 24, at 12.30 p.m. following the resolution of some technical issues encountered during its initial launch on April 8.   Barb Carson is deputy associate administrator of SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance and said the agency recognizes the urgency and need to get the program up


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Out & About: History of Latin Jazz, World Literature Festival, “Whine” Fitness & More

Editor’s Pick  The Bronx Memoir Project (BMP) is a community-based writing project that encourages a cross-generational, multi-ethnic collective of Bronx residents to tell their stories first-hand. Participants engage in free workshops, led by a professional writers, culminating in the opportunity to submit their work for publication in the Bronx Memoir Project Anthology. For more information, go to: https://www.bronxarts.org/programs/connector/bronx-memoir-project.   Events Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: New York and the Birth of Hip-Hop on Thursday, April 29, 2021, 5 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. will discuss hip-hop’s roots and why hip-hop continues to be one of New York City’s great contributions to global culture.


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