Archive for the ‘El Centro’ Category
BP February 2011 Update
Latino Folclórico, Staten Island, 9 January 2011
El Centro del Inmigrante’s dance troupe performing yesterday at the Historic Richmond Town Courthouse. A fine afternoon.
Guitarist/El Centro staffer David Suarez
2010 Pre-holiday and new year update
From the El Centro del Inmigrante series, 19 November 2010
El Centro annual gala, Staten Island, NY
BP Newsletter #1
Staten Island community responds to hate crimes
For the past seven months, I have been photographing at El Centro del Inmigrante, a dynamic community organization in Staten Island, NY, that serves a largely Mexican immigrant population. El Centro, started as a drop-in center for day laborers, provides a tremendous number of services: daily breakfast and food pantry; labor-rights information session; referrals for jobs and job training; English classes; HIV counseling; and many others.
El Centro’s been in the press lately for less uplifting reasons: it has been one of several Staten Island groups that has responded to and spoken out against a spate of bias attacks recently, most, but not all against Mexican or Latino residents. Luis and Richard Viera, a couple, were beaten in front of a White Castle on 7 July. Below, some photos from a vigil held outside the restaurant by an impressively and hearteningly diverse group of Staten Islanders—and of course, a gaggle of news media.
