Join us on Thursday, April 20, from 6-7:30 p.m., at MoCP for a screening of  the documentary, Resistimos (We Resist), about current socio-economic and political issues in Puerto Rico, as seen through the lives of people practicing Bomba music. Bomba is an Afro Puerto Rican music and dance tradition that enslaved people used to form revolts and escapes communicating through the different beats on the drums. Resistimos documents the resurgence of this music as a tool to fight corruption, gender inequality and the austerity measures imposed in Puerto Rico by the US Fiscal Control Board in 2016.

After the screening, there will be a conversation with the filmmaker Diana Quiñones Rivera and Ivelisse “Bombera de Corazón” Diaz. 

Diana Quiñones Rivera is a Puerto Rican filmmaker based in Chicago since 2015. Since her move away from the East Coast, Diana has collaborated with numerous local artists on music videos, promos, documentaries and a docu-series. After completing her feature documentary, Resistimos, Diana has been dedicating her time to screenwriting and teaching film.

Ivelisse “Bombera de Corazón” Diaz  of Humboldt Park-Guayama is a cultural educator in Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba Traditions. At the young age of five, she began studying Bomba under the mentorship of her beloved uncle Eli S. Rodriguez, a founding member of Chicago's first Bomba and Plena collective, Grupp Yubá.

Ivelisse is the Founder of La Escuelita Bombera de Corazon, established in 2009, La Escuelita Bombera De Corazon was founded out of Ivelisse's commitment to Black and Indigenous art education and her first-hand experiences of Bomba's revolutionary power. She is the CoFounder/Director of the all-women ensemble Las BomPlaneras, Bomberxs De'Cora, and founding member and the lead vocalist of Bomba con Buya. 

This program accompanies the exhibition Shift: Music, Meaning, Context. 

Image: Still from Resistimos (We Resist), Diana Quiñones Rivera, 2020, Image courtesy of the artist.