Puerto Ricans see another Philadelphia Latino festival as a slight ...

What's in a name? A raging controversy, that's what, now that Philadelphia's half-century-old Puerto Rican Festival is feeling upstaged by the first annual Latino Arts and Cultural Festival.

The decision by the city's oldest Latino social-services agency to market the Puerto Rican festival - held each September - under the banner of the wider Latino Arts and Cultural Festival that begins next month on Penn's Landing and runs through November is a nod to the growing diversity of Hispanic groups, including Mexicans, Dominicans, and others, said Joanna Otero-Cruz, director of Concilio, the 49-year-old council of Spanish-speaking organizations, which sponsors both events.

"It was never about erasing the Puerto Rican heritage," Otero-Cruz said. "It's about opening our arms to the broader community."

Critics of the decision call it "a unilateral renaming" of the Puerto Rican Festival that deletes the heritage and history of Puerto Ricans in the city.

In a statement, Iris Colon Torres, a community organizer, said the change was "an affront" to Puerto Ricans, who, beginning in the 1940s, "sacrificed and struggled" to establish the city's first Latino community, now the nation's second-largest Puerto Rican population.

On Sunday, in response to questions from The Inquirer, Otero-Cruz released an advertising poster and schedule of events that highlighted "the 49th annual Puerto Rican Festival" under the top-billed "Latino Arts and Cultural Festival," a layout choice that she described as a "branding" decision.

"Concilio has never changed the name of these historic events, as you can see in the calendar of events," she said. "What we have done is to name the entire series for the first time, to help build these events as a continuum, building momentum and peaking with the Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sept. 25 along the Parkway."

Angry Puerto Rican activists who say they were not consulted about the marketing strategy plan to demonstrate Monday outside Concilio's North Philadelphia offices to demand separate billing for the Puerto Rican Festival as a sign of respect.

"Our heritage is not a brand to be used to market and position an agenda," the group calling itself the Committee to Save Our Heritage wrote in a news release. The critics include former City Councilman Angel Ortiz, State Rep. Angel Cruz, and community activist Wilfredo Rojas.

Puerto Rico Layout and Intro to my Blog! - Live full of love. Love ...

This will be a blog to share my everyday musing about my family and the things that I love!!!  First of all..introductions.  I have a beautiful family which consists of 3 children..Luke (16), Hannah (14), Jasmine (or Jazzy 3) and hubby Clint.  You'll see alot on here about my children and my obsession with scrapbooking!!  I've been "scrappin" for over 15 years and simply LOVE everything about it. Scrapbooking is my “ME” time.  I love being able to sit down and create something and not think about everything on my “to do” list.  As a mother of 3, it seems that I am always running someone here or there or attending some sort of school/kid function.  Scrapbooking let’s me relax and celebrate life’s precious moments and it brings me joy to see my children look at the layouts that I have created and reminisce about these moments from their past.

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