Projects

By Raquel M. Ortiz

Planting Flags on Division Street / <br>Plantando banderas en la calle division

Press

Tasty readings help parents and caregivers understand how to make reading dynamic. This short video, one part picture book, one part tasty music and a dash of singing has all of the ingredients needed to have a good time with a great book.

CUCARACHITA MARTINA’S MUSICAL ADVENTURE
Cucaracita Martina’s Musical Adventure is an 18-minute animated film inspired by Pura Belpré’ and her first picture book, Pérez and Martina: A Portorican Tale (1932). It’s the tale of beautiful Martina who is sought after by sneaky Señor Gato, whiney Señor Pato, proud Señor Gallo, sad Señor Grillo, chatty Señor Sapo, and gallant Señor Pérez, the mouse to sing a duet at the fiesta patronales. Who will Martina pick to perform with her in the talent show? This musical story celebrates friendship and Puerto Rican folklore, music, and culture.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
In the spring and summer of 2020, we created PSAs and outreach to target communities across Cleveland with a focus on bilingual messaging (English and Spanish) for the immigrant and Latinx community to promote the 2020 Census and civic engagement in the 2020 Presidential elections.

We partnered with organizations that have a relationship of trust established through activities across the city of Cleveland and in the Latinx community of Northeast Ohio to promote our partner’s traditional outreach in conjunction with digital outreach. We shared our bilingual message through digital and social media platforms as well as traditional media (television and radio). The PSA had a clear emphasis on the importance of Census and civic participation. We also worked with partners for a series of culturally relevant Facebook Live events to promote Census and civic engagement through the culturally relevant themes of literature, food, and music. In this way, we engage a wide range of audiences from children, parents, young adults, seniors, immigrants, and descendants of immigrants. Our PSAs received over 34K views and were funded by a Cleveland Foundation grant.