Latino Culture in New York Unites to Fight for Equity in Funding: LxNY Creates Consortium

New York, Apr 25 (EFE).- Latino culture in New York is tired of its “minority” label and has created a common platform, “LxNY: Latinx Arts Consortium” to raise awareness about the work they have done for years and call for more equitable funding from the public sector.

They are groups of theater, dance, music, cultural centers and museums -up to a total of 40-, which became aware of their precariousness during the stoppage of the pandemic, a crisis that allowed them to come into contact to raise awareness and fight against the insufficiency fund history.

Many of these groups, such as the iconic Teatro Rodante Puertorriqueño (PRTT) or Repertorio Español, have been in the cultural business since the 1960s, and although they say they have stayed afloat thanks to public funds, they assure that they have not benefited from the cast of funds in the same way as companies of “white” culture.

“We are united, tired of the bifurcation and the lack of visibility, to be more effective and have more political power” in the fight for equality, the executive director of the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, the anthropologist Libertad Guerra, told EFE, who proposed the idea.

In addition to the main Latin theaters such as Repertorio Español and Pregones/PRTT, groups such as BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Caribbean Cultural Center and African Diaspora Institute, Flushing Town Hall, the Bronx Documentary Center or the Museo del Barrio.

“There has always been a problem in the way (public) funds are distributed to smaller organizations and organizations of color, but beyond that, it also has to do with the city giving more importance to the cultural sector,” said the anthropologist.

He points out that for ten years the city has not increased the budget for culture, “despite the fact that it is one of those that employs the most people and a channel to many other industries.”

BEYOND BROADWAY AND THE GREAT MUSEUMS

The budget is proposed by the mayor, who “has to begin to understand how culture is a pillar in itself,” a phenomenon that is not limited to Broadway or the big museums, he says.

LxNY has already held talks with Culture Commissioner Laurie Cumbo.

He affirms that these Latino organizations are part of the fabric of their communities, to which they provide services, “it is something more holistic and complex in the way in which we approach the arts, it is a basic link within their well-being and there are studies that show it” .

These groups, which operate on a non-profit basis, receive funds from the city, state and the philanthropic sector since “it is impossible” to survive only with what generates the sale of tickets.

They point out that the philanthropic sector has begun to have a better understanding since the pandemic, although “there is still a lot to do.”

For theaters, these public funds can be 50% and up to 60% -sometimes even more- of the budget with which they work, according to Rosalba Rolón, artistic director of Pregones, in the Bronx, founded in 1979, and the legendary Puerto Rican Traveling Theater.

“Minority companies are in the same situation, how to break that glass ceiling. It is a struggle that takes years and, although little steps have been taken, we do not enjoy the same parity that we deserve,” says Rolón.

YEARS OF IGNORING LATINO CULTURE

“There has been a level of ignoring the importance that we have,” says Charles Rice González, director of BAAD, a center in the Bronx for theater and dance, who stresses that “you have to work to educate in the way they see us, that we have value.

The writer states that “the important thing is that we are creating space and situations for Latino artists to create their work” and serve the community.

Rafael Sánchez, director of Repertorio Español, points out that the fight is “in all sectors” where the funds come from and that there is a strong movement “because together we have more weight than leading individual battles.”

“I think that progress is being made in awareness, in showing that we have been impacting the community directly for years and it is time that the funds are distributed accordingly to that impact. Repertoire is privileged with the funds it receives but it is important to educate” about the work of the groups, which extends to schools, centers for the elderly or public spaces, he stated.

LxNY indicates in its mission statement that the end result of this movement “should be that in New York black communities and the organizations that serve them also have the same level of resources as the wealthier white communities.

Ruth E. Hernandez Beltran