WEBVTT - Salsa in NYC: Rosie Perez live at WNYC 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:02.920 Dear let you know USA listener. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:05.880 Before we start, you should know that if you want 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:10.040 to listen to this episode, add free. Just join plus 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:12.880 and you can join for as little as seven dollars 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:16.960 a month. Joining also gets you behind the scenes access 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:21.079 and yes, some cheese man. So click the link in 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:25.320 the episode description and after you do that, then click play. 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:37.519 Let's go to the show. 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:36.360 For me. 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:40.920 When the Funnier All Stars came around, they produced a 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:44.360 sound that was the sound of the city. That was 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:46.440 the sound of the subway, that was the sound of 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:48.720 the streets. That was the sound that I knew that 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:51.680 was coming from my kitchen. That was the sound of 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:55.400 rice and beans and my block and the fire hydrant going. 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:59.320 And it was the first time in my Puerto Rican 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:01.800 culture that I've a part of the culture. 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:09.959 From Fortromedia, It's Latino USA. I'm Mariano Hossa Today a 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:15.680 conversation with Oscar Golden Globe and Emmy nominated actress Rosie Perez. 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:26.000 Rosie Perez is the iconic New Yerekan actress that you 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:29.040 might know from movies like Spike Lee's Do the Right 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.560 Thing or the nineties classic White Men Can't Jump. 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.959 Well, you know billy. I've got a different settles amount 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:38.399 you want to hear them. Sometimes when you win, you 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.600 really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win. 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.360 Maybe you've seen her in HBO's The Flight Attendant. 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.160 I have a bounty on my head. Can you believe it? 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:48.880 I'm aprized? 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:51.640 Who would have thought me a prise? 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:56.200 She started her career dancing on the nineteen eighties show 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.320 Soul Trains. Then, she says she was noticed at a 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:02.680 nightclub by Smike Lee, who put her in his critically 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:04.720 acclaimed film Do the Right Thing. 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:08.560 Trust Me, Trust too, Monti the West. Time I trusted you, 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:10.440 we ended up with a son. Remb your son. 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:11.720 I do remember my son. 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:12.960 His name is Hecley. 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:18.240 Rosie is a choreographer, an author, a boxing commentator, an activist, 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:22.400 and now, most recently, Rosie has added podcast host to 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:23.680 her resume. 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:28.800 From Puturo Studios. Amosi Peretz and This is Our Thing. 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:31.079 The Birth of Salsa in. 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:35.840 Nuebayon Futuro Media's podcast, tells the story of Faanya Records, 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:39.760 which is known as the legendary motown of Sansa music. 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.240 Fanya was home to some of the biggest Latin artists 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:45.520 during the sixties, seventies and eighties. 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:47.760 Think about artists like. 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:55.399 Willie Colonne, Ector Lavo, Celia Cruz, and Ruben Blades, all 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.880 of whom broke the mole. A few weeks ago, I 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:02.200 sat down with Rosie a WNYC's Green Space here in 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:04.840 New York City in front of a live studio audience. 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:07.480 We're going to bring you that conversation now where we 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:10.920 spoke about Rosie's love of boxing, what led her to 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.560 use her voice as an activist, and how hosting this 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:21.320 podcast was a dream come true. Rosie Perez, it is 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.240 so great to have you on Latino USA. Welcome to 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:32.720 the show here live at the Green Space. First, and 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:35.600 we're going to do apart from saying, oh my god, Rosie, 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.440 thank you for coming to Lower Manhattan. You've got to 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:42.640 be with the toll, especially with the reason why we're 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:47.240 all here is because of salsa. Salsa music and the 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:50.000 celebration of the birth of salsa here. 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:52.400 In New York City, which would be our new podcast. 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.520 This story stops in Uptown, New York City. 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.200 You heard it as walking at Barrio. 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:05.080 He's Underdogs created a sound that changed music. 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:07.720 Forever, and we called it Susan. 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:12.600 And one label captured that sound like no other Fania 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:14.600 Records Fania Records. 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:24.000 But before we talk about Susan the podcast, Rosie, I 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:26.640 just need to get your take on this moment in 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.320 New York City, Like, how are you feeling? 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:30.479 What's up for you? 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.120 Because like you know, your friends with Spike Lee and 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:36.320 he's like driving around the like the pope in Brooklyn. 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:39.400 You know, all he needs is a little popemobile to 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:42.159 be doing that. It is a moment and I'm gonna 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:45.839 be because I'm one honest all the time. I'm not 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.520 a sports person. I know nothing about sports. I didn't 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:50.599 even know that they were in the playoffs until a 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.040 week and a half. I know, for Shane, I know, 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:56.080 I know small Mexican girls can't jump. 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.960 So the email go, what this is? What's going on 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:04.600 for you as. 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:08.240 A lifelong New Yorker New Yurekan moment, It's amazing. 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:15.000 It's an amazing time right now. When they won Game five, Nick, parents, 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:16.240 this is not a dream. 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:20.640 After fifty three years, the next are finally embrya champions 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:21.279 once again. 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.279 Like most New Yorkers my age, I was in bed 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:28.400 watching because it ran late, and I was so excited. 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.720 And you can hear the screams from the street right 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.279 and I wanted to go outside, and I had my 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:38.640 nightgown on, my granny nightgown, and I run to the 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:42.000 window and they're screaming. The neighbors are screaming up out 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.919 my window going woo hoo. When I go, whoa, and 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.360 my husband goes, get out of the window. You look 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:52.119 like a crazy old lady. And the person downstairs she goes, 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:58.160 everyone's a crazy old lady. And it was just so exciting. 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:02.279 Brooklyn was electric. The city was electric, and it was 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:05.960 very nice because the gentrification that's been going on in 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:09.440 the city, specifically in Brooklyn and out of Burrows. It 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.280 was the first time that neighbors who would just pass 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.800 me right by will go yo, let's go next, and 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:16.160 I'll go. 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:16.920 Let's go next. 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.800 I know you, you ignore me all the time. I'm 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:25.280 love hello, I'll take it. So it was just great. 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:29.599 The city really came together over this team was fantastic. 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:30.600 It's a beautiful thing. 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:34.040 I like, Rosie was also in bed, but I was asleep, 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:37.320 and I think one of the best ways to be 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:41.160 woken up is by the screams and cheers of your neighbors. 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.200 You know because I'm in Harlem, and then they took 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:47.080 the speakers out and it was blasting music. 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:47.760 For the next time. 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:49.400 It was such a celebration. 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:54.200 So, Rosie, you've had an incredible career, you know, someone 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:56.279 like me and been watching it from the very beginning. 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:58.599 We're so proud of you and all of your successes 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:00.880 and the fact that you are a actress. 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:05.680 Can I just say so? 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.200 So when you get this call like do you want 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:11.120 to be the host of a podcast about the birth 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:11.679 of salsa? 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:13.920 What made you say I'm going to jump in? 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:17.320 I said, Oh, my gosh, I can't believe this is happening, 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:21.560 because it was a full circle moment for me because 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:24.840 as a new Eurecan it was difficult growing up in 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:27.400 the sense that when I would go back to Puerto Rico, 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:29.920 they would call me a white girl or American and 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:34.080 they would never let me have that moniker of Puerto Rican. 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:38.120 And then when I would come to the States, then 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:40.520 I had to deal with the presudice of them saying, oh, 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:41.600 you're a Puerto Rican. 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:42.160 You know. 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:45.080 It was like where do I fit? You know, where 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:49.800 was my identity landing? And for me, when the Funnier 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:53.440 All Stars came around. They produced a sound that was 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.520 the sound of the city. That was the sound of 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:58.920 the subway, that was the sound of the streets. That 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.040 was the sound that I know that was coming from 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:04.360 my kitchen. That was the sound of rice and beans 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:08.280 and my block and the fire hydrant going. And it 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.440 was the first time in my Puerto Rican culture that 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.000 I felt a part of the culture. I felt like 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.200 they were speaking for me in their lyrics and the 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.320 fun and then the corny love stories and then the 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.440 politics that were in their lyrics. And so when I 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.680 went back to Puerto Rico one summer and they came 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.480 on the radio in Puerto Rico, I am singing the 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:33.000 songs and my Spanish was so bad that they couldn't 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:38.440 believe that I was speaking Spanish so well. And it 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:44.679 was my sister Carmen, who's here tonight. It was the 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:49.360 first time I felt like we bonded bela right, and 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:53.880 because we're both singing the same songs, and she took 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:58.520 pride in saying, yeah, we're from New York and I 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:01.880 never heard thatt Rica. I never heard that in Puerto Rico. 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:06.240 And so when I got this call, to be honest, 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:10.200 I started to cry and my manager was like, you 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:10.920 don't want to do it. 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:12.679 I go no, no. 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:14.880 No, no, no, no no no no, and it was why 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:17.199 are you upset? And I said, because I cannot believe 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.040 they picked me. It was an emphatic ya. 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:24.560 I love that so much. I love that so much. 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.200 Thank you. I think that the thing that you feel 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:32.000 with Rosie on this podcast is her full heart being present. 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:35.480 To be clear, I did not grow up in New York. 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:38.160 So I'm a Mexican kid who grew up on the 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:41.640 South Side of Chicago and all right, okay, let's go 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:46.800 to Chicago. Salsa was not part of my growing up. 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:49.320 I would hear it here and there, but it was 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:52.600 not my experience that I get to New York basically 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:57.440 nineteen seventy nineteen eighty, which is when Selsa was happening, 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:01.559 and I got to experience because I was working at WKCR, 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:05.320 all of the salseros coming to the station, and salsa 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:07.920 changed my life and helped to define who I am 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:09.800 as a Latina in the world. 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:12.760 So I do have to ask, do you have a 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:13.400 favorite song? 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:14.359 Plastico? 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:20.200 Oh, We're not surprised that Rosie's favorite song is going 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:42.800 to be from Ruben Blades off the album and Plastico plastica. 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.840 Yes anything by Ruben Blades and a shout out to 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:41.840 the departed Willie Cologne. But that one I loved because 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:46.920 growing up an object poverty, you know, being around so 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:54.720 much of materialism and money is status and this and 0:10:54.760 --> 0:11:00.480 that that that song just pierced my soul, you know, 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:03.400 where they're talking about the plastic people, and they're talking 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:06.760 about how empty they are and the money they spend 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:09.520 just to look a certain way. And when I was 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:12.559 growing up, my sister could tell you I really didn't 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:15.439 care about clothes. I really didn't. Just as long as 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:19.520 my hair looked good, that's all I get. That's very 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:22.720 Porto Rica. How many Porto Ricas understand me, Tony, Yeah, yeah, 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.520 you see. And we were poor, and I remember going 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:29.080 to school with holes in my shoes and feeling that shame, 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.080 but I didn't care. At the same time, I had 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:34.040 to go to school. I had a mission. I was 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.360 going to be something. I was going to make something 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:39.080 up myself. I was going to change my life. And 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.560 these clothes didn't matter, and the money didn't matter, and 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.400 this and that and then that song came on and 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:49.160 as a young person hearing someone so poetic, you know, 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:51.600 and the music was so beautiful. So that's why that's 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:52.199 my favorite. 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:55.760 Coming up on Let you Know Usay, we dig deeper 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.520 into how Sasat shaped Rosie's activism. 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:02.400 Fannio song when they talked about rich people in the 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:07.199 separation of wealth in the city, all that just impacted 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:08.760 me so deeply. 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:10.240 Stay with us. 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:30.760 Notes commentitas Joe est super okay, this clar okay? 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:32.280 Yeah? 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:32.960 What is that. 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:37.839 Here? 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:48.840 They were recorded the podcast Connecticate, Yes and c Spragunta 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:54.160 is your respondo the receivers to podcast est delo prometto Jombo. 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:04.800 It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria no Josa. Today I'm in 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:09.400 conversation with Golden Globe Emmy and Oscar nominated actress Rosie Perez. 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:12.840 Before the break, she was telling us about how salsa 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:13.920 shaped her as. 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:14.600 A New York Weeken. 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:17.520 We're going to continue my conversation now, which took place 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:19.760 in front of a live audience in New York City 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:24.720 at the Green Space. So the thing about salsa again, 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:28.199 we're talking about like the golden era, like seeing the 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:33.240 famous people performing at the salsa festivals and hearing it 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:38.720 on the radio. Bero tamenfem right, because it was so powerful, 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:42.600 Because it was so big, that means that things that 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:47.520 are difficult happen. And when the team set out to 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:49.760 tell this story, that was part of what we had 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.400 to deal with, right, some of the more difficult things 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:55.440 that came up with the birth of Salsa. I mean, 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:59.160 there was all kinds of business issues, obviously, but also 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:04.520 there was the question of addiction aids, marginalized Puerto Ricans 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:08.920 in New York City, and the poverty. So what was 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:11.040 your reaction to that, Rosie, knowing that you're going to 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:13.440 have to share a little bit of the dirty laundry, 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:14.600 how did that sit with you? 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.600 It said very well, in the sense that in any 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.320 type of storytelling, you have to tell the good, bad, 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:25.040 and ugly, or else you're not doing the story. It's service. 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:28.040 You know, you're doing a disservice to this storytelling. But 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:30.720 it was hard. It was hard to read. It was 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:36.200 hard to say because what I thought of Fania, it 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:39.720 was all glitz and glamor and the music. And then 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:43.200 when I heard about other issues, like you said about 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:48.000 business issues, misogyny as well, and all these acism and 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:52.680 the racism is I was like, oh wow, okay, But 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.040 at the end of it, I just felt like, Okay, 0:14:56.080 --> 0:15:00.440 so they're human beings, you know, things happening, and through 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:04.920 all of that mess that happening, the music was so powerful. 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:08.760 That's what prevailed, That's what pushed through. That's what we 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:12.280 still remember. But I still think that that had to 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:13.200 be told as well. 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.720 I love the fact that you spoke about how salsa 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:21.640 really helped you with your New Yorrekan identity. Talk a 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:25.640 little bit about how salsa helped you understand this connection 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:28.880 between the island and New York City. 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:32.000 Well, first of all, being a New Yorkan, which just 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:35.080 basically means a Puerto Rican who was born in New 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:38.800 York and raised in New York. Majority of us are 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:40.840 in the closet about it, and I came out a 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:43.720 long time ago because I just got sick and tired 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:48.000 of it. Our Spanish isn't great because it was a 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:53.560 misguided attempt of assimilation of our parents. They were treated 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:59.160 so poorly. The racism was so palperable that they didn't 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:03.600 want us to struggle. So it was like English, English, English, 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.000 And then you would go to the island and you're 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.040 the kids would make fun of you because you couldn't 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:13.320 speak Spanish well. So that's why when Fania All Stars 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.920 came around, you know, I felt. 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:16.640 A part of it. 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:20.120 I felt like it was mine. You know. It was 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:23.080 something that I could bring back to the island and say, hey, 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.400 look at this, you know. And then all of a sudden, 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:29.640 I got I became cool, you know, I became like 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:33.160 really cool, and it was just it was pretty amazing. 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.040 And like half of the people from New York that 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:37.680 went down to the island used to lie their asses off. 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:40.240 They would say, oh, I was at Yankee Stadium at 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:44.760 the concert. No you weren't. You know, Oh I was 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:46.360 at the Cheetah Club. No you weren't. 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:47.520 Stop lying, you. 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:50.240 Know, and you know, but that's how proud we were, 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:52.400 you know. And then you know, people would lie and say, 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:54.960 oh I met Willie Cologne on the subway. I said, no, 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:58.960 you did it, you did it. But you know, a 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:01.880 lot of times I remember allowing some of the lies 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:05.200 just because I saw people just feel proud. 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.400 So the other thing that was happening in New York 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:15.359 around salsa was that it was deeply political. Seisa was 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:19.480 very much related to the political activism of the time. 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:24.399 And frankly it was protest music. It was absolutely protest music. 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:28.439 It was played loudly on the street, and often it 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.360 was a community experience, right, people would just suddenly take 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.160 out the club and they'd be playing. But in specifics, 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:36.520 what was it like for you to talk about this 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.679 in the podcast and talk about the Young Lords and 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:43.760 their relationship with salsa and the politics of salsa. 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:48.639 There were two things that really gave birth to me 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.600 becoming an activist. One was Muhammad Ali the way he 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:54.159 stood up. You can agree with him or not, but 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:56.359 he did stand up when he stood up with something 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.160 and he paid the price for it, and he didn't 0:17:58.200 --> 0:17:58.640 back down. 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:01.920 Negros going out. 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.879 If I'm gonna die, I'll die fighting you. I'm gonna die. 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.440 As a white people not be calls Chaplin's and Japanese 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:13.520 that freedom. 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:17.239 And for me as a little girl, that was very 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.879 impactful because I love boxing. And the other thing was 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:25.359 the Young Lord's when they hijacked an X ray truck 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:29.160 so that the people who were ignored and marginalized and 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:32.560 weren't getting health care in the barrio, they provided health 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:34.800 care in the bodrio. They took over a hospital. 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:39.480 Our plan was to take over Lincoln Hospital. Taking over 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:40.160 the hospital. 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:41.480 We're gonna run it. 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:44.160 You're out and I will walk into your car. 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:47.720 The city totally ignored Spanish Harlem in regards to picking 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:50.159 up the trash, and it was just piling up. You 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:53.159 thought COVID was bid. You have no idea what was 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:56.080 going on. And these activists, and they were all college 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:59.200 educated kids, they took the trash and they put it 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:01.000 in the middle of the stry and they burned it. 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:02.879 We have to begin to stand up to the people, 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:04.919 the Puerto Rican people, and says a novel. 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:08.760 And it was pure anarchy. And at first when you're like. 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:09.720 What are they doing? 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:12.440 Oh my god, no, this is bad. The garbage got 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:15.000 picked up and it continued to get picked up. In 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:18.960 regards to the hospital, things got improved. And you may 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:23.439 agree or disagree with their methods, but what inspired me 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:28.720 was their tenacity and their dedication and their follow through. 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:34.760 And what also with Fania songs. They would talk about 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:39.320 criminals and they wouldn't glamorize them. They would say, this 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.000 is look, how pathetic, this is what are we doing 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:44.919 as a people. When they talked about rich people and 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:48.560 the separation of wealth in the city, all of that 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:53.040 just impacted me so deeply. And these were people who 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:57.520 were fearless because there was a heavy prejudice about being Latino, 0:19:57.600 --> 0:19:59.440 specifically about being Puerto Rican. 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:19.440 We'll be right back. Hey, We're back with our live 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:21.000 interview with Rosie pres. 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:24.240 I want you to try to talk about a little 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:28.200 bit more what's it like to be a young Latina 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:33.200 in Brooklyn hearing salsa and how you made that connection 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:39.000 to I, little Rosie understand that I can be an activist, 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:44.080 that I can make a stand on political issues, on 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:47.199 social justice. I am going to vote, I am going 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:51.840 to be see myself as an organizer, an activist. Kind 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:55.320 of make that connection because what we do know is 0:20:55.359 --> 0:20:58.800 that this very thing is also happening right now in 0:20:58.840 --> 0:20:59.560 New York City. 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:01.080 Gets back well. 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:04.199 I was awarded the state until my father and my 0:21:04.240 --> 0:21:07.840 aunt got me out, and I came out in abject poverty, 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:11.760 but I was happy. But still I grew up surrounded 0:21:11.760 --> 0:21:15.240 by injustice. And there were people in my life that 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:17.880 I saw who would fight and they would get fired 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:20.480 or they would get pushed back or at least in 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:22.639 that and I would see that the thing that I 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:26.640 didn't see with the Fania all Stars. In their music 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:30.960 was fear. I didn't see fear. I didn't hear fear. 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:36.560 I heard well composed, un apologetic. This is how it is, 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.040 and something needs to be done. And when they would 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:45.640 get on stage, it was the same feeling. They were 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:51.359 just so self assured and there was jubilation and fire 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:55.720 and compassion all built in it at the same time. 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:59.280 And then when they would step off the stage, they 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:02.719 were still that and that's inspiring as a young person, 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:05.879 it really is inspiring. And they were friends with the 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:08.800 Young Lords. Ray Boretto was very That's what I learned 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:10.399 in the podcast. I might feeling like I knew this. 0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:12.359 I didn't know it, and I'm reading it. I'm not like, 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:16.280 oh snap, you know that he would show up for them, 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:19.359 and they would show up for each other. But I 0:22:19.440 --> 0:22:23.960 think that it was their composed fearlessness that spoke to 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:29.000 my heart and made my chest puffet. And when there 0:22:29.080 --> 0:22:33.639 is a scary moment in life, to stand up is terrifying, 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:36.280 and you got to find a way because if you don't, 0:22:36.320 --> 0:22:42.399 things won't change. And you got to find your way. 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:45.399 Not everybody has to be a loud, big mouth, not 0:22:45.440 --> 0:22:47.520 saying I am, but you know what I'm saying. Everyone 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:50.879 could find their way, and they did. Everyone thinks that 0:22:50.960 --> 0:22:53.879 they have to be out marching in the streets. There's 0:22:54.000 --> 0:22:57.320 other ways that you could find, and I found my way. 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:01.240 So we're going to talk about boxing a little bit, 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:02.479 because you know I'm a boxer. 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:04.080 I don't know if you know that I did. 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:08.960 And I'm very excited right now. My god. 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.200 But here's the thing, Rosie, unlike you who you are 0:23:13.359 --> 0:23:17.040 a boxing fanatic, you're known as Cows, the first Lady 0:23:17.040 --> 0:23:17.640 of boxing. 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:19.639 Okay, I didn't know that. 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:24.840 My story about boxing is that in twenty fifteen, several 0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:28.160 close people to me, including my dad, were dying and 0:23:28.640 --> 0:23:32.000