Wednesday, November 1, 2017
6 PM – 9 PM
“I am in love! In love with Puerto Rico, my homeland, the place of my family origin, my ancestry and my rich heritage. HOME. I am in love! I am in love with my people, en la isla and here in the diáspora, from the Bronx, where I was born to the Virgin Islands where many Puerto Ricans live. I am making a life-long commitment, one that I made long ago but will NOW make publicly. In the wake of Hurricane Irma and Maria that destroyed homes, crops and lives, resulting in the complete destruction of the power grid, infrastructure and water filtration systems and has caused an escalating health crisis. Due to the negligent emergency response from the U.S. government, the number of deaths since the hurricanes continues to steadily increase and tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans have been displaced. Our commitment to our homeland needs to be a lifelong commitment and so my guests are invited to, along with me, make a lifelong vow to love, honor and cherish Puerto Rico, mother earth and humanity, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, etc., and call for a FREE PUERTO RICO.
A Boricua Mass Wedding!”
– MARIPOSA
The needs are immense: the health crisis, the need to rebuild homes, schools, domestic violence shelters, community centers, clinics and churches, the need to plant crops. The demands include: 1) That FEMA immediately release material aid: food, emergency supplies and water being sent to Puerto Rico from those of us here in the diaspora. 2) for the Media to report on and expose the many injustices occurring, such as material aid being withheld in the docks while FEMA gives out snack packs that include a small can of Vienna sausages, chips laden with sodium and skittles to a starving people 3) Protection for Puerto Rico from disaster exploitation and corporate vultures 4) cancellation of the debt and repeal of the Jones Act and BOLDLY CALLING FOR A FREE PUERTO RICO.
Addressing these issues while getting aid to our people, requires creativity, hope and commitment.
People are literally dying, from kidney failure due to dehydration, diseases from rats such Leptosporosis, and according the Julie Gonzalez, Head of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSA), “either Typhus or a version of Bubonic plague.”
This has been an extremely difficult time, a scary time that has filled Puerto Ricans both aqui y allá, with sadness, worry, rage and grief. Marrying the island and her diaspora is a poetic way to bring my family and community together, to celebrate how much WE LOVE PUERTO RICO and to commit to the process of DEMANDING a #JUSTRECOVERYand a sustainable future for a free Puerto Rico where we can all thrive together. I hope this idea is replicated and goes viral. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE OH MY BIG DAY!
3 WAYS TO SHOW LOVE:
1. Purchase an item from the Wedding Registry MARIPOSA FERNANDEZ & PUERTO RICO
2. GIVE A MONETARY DONATION OR TOY. Guests who come to my wedding can gift a monetary donation (in anticipation of Christmas) and thereby donate to Mariposa y las mujeres con maletas brigade, an upcoming trip to Puerto Rico in December to hand-deliver material aid and access future work. Paypal Mariposa: mariafernandezma@gmail.com
3. Donate to: SOS for Puerto Rico. New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) is partnering with the Filipino American Health Workers Association (FAHWA) and the National Association of Hispanic Nurses to bring dozens of nurses, doctors and other medical personnel in the next few weeks to Puerto Rico. NYSNA has over 200 nurse volunteers as of today. A group has already been sent and is on the ground. The need for medical attention in Puerto Rico is overwhelming. (copy and paste link into url to donate)
https://
Checks can also be made payable to: Filipino American Health Workers Association. In the memo line write: SOS for PUERTO RICO. The check can be mailed (preferably overnight mail) to:
FAHWA
Att: Chito Quijano
131 W. 33rd St, 4th Fl,
New York, NY 10021
100% of the donations will go to medicine, including vaccines and antibiotics), medical supplies, food and water for the patients, solar panels, and medical equipment. The nurses are volunteering, however their airfare, food and basic necessities while they are on the island needs to be covered. There are 8 centers that are being set up by the UGT Health Care Union. Arecibo, Ponce, Barranquitas, Utuado Humacao, Mayaquez, San Juan and Fajardo. The centers that NYSNA will be hitting first is the rural areas: Arecibo, Ponce, Baranquita, Utuado
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I KNOW MANY OF US HAVE GIVEN. PLEASE LET’S DIG DEEPER WITHIN OURSELVES AND WITHIN OUR RESOURCES INCLUDING OUR LIMITLESS IMAGINATION AND TOGETHER WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS!!!
TE QUIERO MUCHO. MORE THAN YOU’LL EVER KNOW!