Junta for Progressive Action
JUNTA strives to celebrate and promote Latino culture.
JUNTA has recently helped coordinate the Latino community's participation in the New Haven Arts & Ideas Carnival 2004. The celebration brought together members of New Haven’s six historic neighborhoods including Fair Haven, where the Latino population is predominant.
The Carnival was a colorful celebration, where Festival’ artists-in-residence, community groups and community members of all ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities, formed a large parade that marched from Grand Avenue, in Fair Haven, to the Green in downtown New Haven.
The joyful procession left the intersection of Ferry and Grand Avenue at 1pm Among the participants were marching bands, dancers, costumed groups, vejigante masks, drumming, afro-Caribbean dancers, capoiera, martial arts, giant puppets and drill teams.
JUNTA is pleased of its contribution to this celebration of cultures, and aims to continue its efforts to cultivate the Latino legacy in New Haven.
In conjunction with JUNTA, the Peabody Museum of Natural History holds an annual day-long festival named Fiesta Latina!that is becoming increasingly popular in the city. This year the celebration took place on Saturday, March 6, from 10am to 4:30pm
This day-long fiesta includes different performances of traditional and contemporary Latin American music and dances that celebrate and nurture the traditions of the many Latino communities living in New Haven. Throughout the museum facilities, Fiesta! offered many activities for kids and families including storytelling, the Aztec Stories series by Michael Heralda, face painting, and mask making for kids. Adults could enjoy the live music performed by Mariachi Mexamerica, the music trio Fiesta! and Guakimbojazz; attend the food demonstration by the head chef of Roomba restaurant, Arturo Franco Camacho; and enjoy a tour of the museum in Spanish among other activities.
Next year we plan to continue participating in this wonderful one-day Fiesta that offers families all over New Haven the opportunity to meet, share and enjoy a day full of authentic Latino flavors.
Gumersindo “Gumpy” del Río. JUNTA’s Founder.
JUNTA is proud to be one of the community groups who collaborated with the project known as “Nuestra Herencia” (Our Heritage) in the Fall of 2003. As Latino Heritage month went by, Manuel “Manny” Rivera had the idea of create an event that would unite the diverse Latino communities living in New Haven through a common past. The idea materialized in a historical photo exhibit featuring Latinos, and an evening of art, poetry, dance and music at the New Haven Educational Center for the Arts.
JUNTA’s contribution included photos from its founder, the late Gumersindo "Gumpy" Del Rio, a political patriarch for the Latino community in New Haven until his death in 1986. Along with JUNTA, many other groups got involved in the project including Hispanos Unidos, Centro San Jose, Casa Otoñal, FLECHAS and ASPIRA; representatives from Yale-New Haven Hospital, the Regional Water Authority, the Agency on Aging and La Voz newspaper, as well as local politicians, educators and business owners.
The organizers expressed their wish to make this an annual event. JUNTA hopes to become an annual contributor!