the latest edition of acentos is in the books. it feels funny hyping up a kick off event to a new venue when, as MANY people pointed out, all that counts is the actual series itself. after tonight, it feels like we could run acentos out of a broom closet in schenechdaty and still pull off a kick ass show.

the poetry gods have been good to us as of late. first by bringing edwin torres on a night where chaos was the order of the day and now by having emmanuel ortiz and magdalena gomez in the house.

i remember manny from the 2002 national poetry slam. he was featured poet on the finals stage (a special showcase spot given to poets that didnt make the actual finals) and at the latino showcase that year. the latino showcase, incidentally, was the first time i ever saw a diverse group of latinos from across the country ripping it in a variety of styles and forms. aint it sweet how it all goes full circle? manny was tight back then and his kung fu continues to be top notch.

speaking of the kung fu, magdalena was beyond on. she only did four poems, the lowest number any acentos feature has dropped, but quality whips quantities ass every time. the crowd was feeling her every word and the duende in the room was powerful. let me say this- the performance she delivered could only happen at acentos. magdalena was beyond comfortable and the freedom of featuring in a spot where you dont have to explain spanglish or excuse code switching from espanol to english let her voice soar. all this leading up to a well deserved standing ovation. the first for our new home at the bruckner bar & grill.

the crowd, ah, the crowd. im happy to report a full open mic of 18 readers with not a carpet micer in sight. the support was strong and all seems well.

was the night perfect? if you follow my definition, which says that some mishap and error must occur, then yes. we need a better mic, increase the lighting and compensate for some outside noise which means we still have work to do. that says we are not anywhere near comfortable enough to lay back and let the show work itself out. good, i love the challenge.

i wasnt loving it 12 hours before. i was tired and nervous. mentally exhausted more than anything else. now, i feel i could this for another decade.

the end of the night saw me go over that. sharing my fears with the crowd in a way i dont even do with my poems. mixing that with a excerpts from a wonderful pre-feature conversation i had with magdalena about the timeline of latino poetry and bronx art and her appreciation for a series that was raw and rugged in the best sense of the words. the shit had me damn near crying. and finally, after two plus years, coming up with an end quote then closes out the night well– “we dont say goodbye, only good night”

if you were there (or if you are tata), i thank you very fuckin much and appreciate each and every one of you. for real, for real.

if you werent there, come through for the next one. cuz it feels like with each show, we are makin a lil history. werd.

love ya like a bolero that makes all the sense in the world

and then keep em even closer

mad people have helped spread the word on tonight acentos show

its good to know that you have friends you can count on when ya need em

this should be the time of the day when i should be doing everything possible to clear my chi for the show

i love going into acentos with a zen like spirit. there has been only one show (which luckily i was not hosting) where the outside world got to real piss me off and i walked into the spot in a less than friendly groove. right now, my spirit is a little off its axis. this is the same feeling i get before a heavy duty feature. where i know that mah kung-fu is tight but still wonder if its good enough for the task at hand.

i have a very well earned reputation as a “manda todo” aka control freak. btw, part of being a control freak is not enjoying when people call me a control freak, i prefer for others to think of me as very ‘detail oriented’ ;-)

so the jitters generally come from not being such an anal bastich and letting the chips fall where they may. its better to bet that shit will not come out like you planned. people will do epics on the mic. carpet micers will act like they is sumbody. folks will try to perform a mini-feature. and, there will be bad poetry on the mic.

all of which, believe it or not, i love. if it wasnt for bad poetry how could we appreciate the good shit. i know a few folks who contribute to the mic on the regular that were inspired by BAD poets. “sheet, i know i may not be dat good but i KNOW im better than dat!” so, praise the revolutionary rant. hail the excessive repetition. sing to the over wrought verse.

this posting has helped clamed me down a bit. has me looking forward to the chaos cuz after the debacle from the last show– i think i am ready for just about anything.

*strikes the tree pose*
TM vmontes

Re: Acentos move to the Bruckner Bar & Grill
I am more worried about the fact that I am not worried.

If they ever make a movie about our lives, the scene where 20 poetry groupies of various ages and backgrounds trek through the streets of Mott Haven in search for a quiet spot to celebrate the word should definitely be apart of the trailer. It’s one of those moments in life that would seem pretty ludicrous on film in that it is just so damn bizarre.

A special thanks to Edwin Torres who was a gentleman throughout. If there is one person who truly appreciates the beauty of the random and chaotic, it is Edwin. If it had been anyone else, one poet who I still catch “Foot in Mouth Disease” around quickly comes to mind, I would have been in a damn near full panic. As it stands, I am lucky to have a nice number of resources readily at hand. I may not know where to find the best house music at 3 in the am but I do know where I can host a poetry event on the fly.

All that being said– Don’t be a spectator! The last Acentos proved to be pretty historic in the asteroid crashing into Asia kinda way. This next one marks a serious turn in the page for the little series that could. After last year’s anniversary show, I was told that having survived the first year we can now call ourselves a landmark series. I didn’t buy much into that but I do know that this new chapter in the history of Acentos will be a real measuring stick.

One that I know we will sail through with flying colors but then again ya never know, we may end up doing two steps back and moving from there. Either way, you have a chance to say you was there. Tu Sabes?

Re: Other projects

I am so deep into this thing I actually go to sleep with ideas for shows and wake up with plans for new ways to present the word. No joke. Either that or I am thinking of old girlfriends. Between the two, I like the poetry dreams better.

Re: Starting a movement

To paraphrase Edwin Torres: Everything around us lives, dies and is transformed a multitude of times as we draw a single breath. For every line of poetry that you throw out there, the very thing you invoke is born and passes into the forgotten. The revolution happens on many levels all around us and we don’t even know it.

Conversely, the sun still shines and has yet to engulf the little blue dot we inhabit. Hence, the revolution continues and remains unabated despite our personal birth and will most likely proceed on its own timetable when we expire.

The only real movement you can try to latch onto is the one of your own expanding consciousness. The odds of finding a group of individuals that are ready to enter a transformative space in the same time that you find yourself willing are pretty miniscule. Not impossible, just miniscule. I think I am in the middle of that right now. There are people around me that are making moves and pushing the edges, drawing new borders and then stomping those out in the same hand sweep.

Then again, I could just be reading too many comic books. Time will tell.

Re: An apology to the ether

The French speak of the spirit of the staircase

A space of indecision you step through

After the door is shut

Hearing the echo of your own footsteps

Not knowing if it signals the herald

Or marks the path of requiem

An echo is an illusion

The ether plays tricks with our trail

Responds with a laugh

Of the damned welcoming

Kindred home
* * *

STOP CAFTA

CAFTA is a “free” trade agreement that includes the United States, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica. The Dominican Republic may also be added to the group. Negotiations for CAFTA were complete in December and January.

CAFTA must now be approved by the National Assemblies in each of the participating countries. The U.S. Congress will probably debate CAFTA in late spring or early summer of 2004, with a vote possible in June or July.

CAFTA is modeled after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA has been a disaster for small farmers and working people in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, family farms foreclosed, and public interest laws overturned or challenged in secret NAFTA courts. Despite this dismal record, the Bush administration is seeking to expand NAFTA to Central America and the rest of the Western Hemisphere.

From the beginning of CAFTA negotiations, the Bush administration has been clear that completion of CAFTA is crucial to move the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations forward faster, by adding extra pressure to countries like Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina to either accede to U.S. demands, or be left out.

CAFTA is NAFTA Extended to Central America

All the same issues human and labor rights organizations have with NAFTA (and FTAA) are present in CAFTA, including:

Secrecy Instead of Transparency: No formal public input or oversight in the negotiations.

Corporate Domination Over Democracy: At the expense of democracy and people’s right to self-rule, CAFTA would likely give corporations powers to object to barriers to free trade, including laws people enact for their own protection. For example, NAFTA established the right for companies to sue governments over public-interest laws that may limit their profits. This right has been employed 27 times by companies since 1994.

Increased Inequality: A minority of rich companies and wealthy stockholders will benefit from reduced costs. The poor will get poorer and more people will move into poverty: workers will get lower pay and lose their jobs while shouldering higher costs of living as more services are privatized.

Disappearing Public Services: Resources such as education, health care, energy, and water utilities owned by everyone in a community will more likely become owned by corporations. This could put essential public services out of the hands of many people. For example, When Bolivia privatized its water utility, water rates increased 200 percent, leading to riots that resulted in six deaths.

Reduced Labor Rights: Labor laws such as those that protest worker’s safety can also be challenged and the “race to the bottom” for pay will likely hurt workers in all countries involved in CAFTA.

Negative Agricultural Impact: Increased corporate domination of farms and possible devastation of family farms and farmers in the US and Central America.

Environmental Destruction: Environmental laws are just one types of barriers to trade that can be gutted. This decreases costs to companies but increases costs to local communities which suffer more health problems as a result of pollution.

There is an article on New Orleans Indymedia that covers the many potential negative impacts on communities in Louisiana.

More Info

For more information and analysis, please see our collection of links to CAFTA info on other websites.