 We want to thank the voice of witness for joining us again. We are so enjoying our partnership with this organization and all that they do and the amazing humans they bring to share with the library community. We do want to acknowledge that we are on the unceded land of the Eloni Tribal people and acknowledge the raw mutish Eloni says the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula. And in that doc that I've put in the link there's a list a reading list resources and websites that you can learn more about First Peoples and donate to. The library is celebrating Black History Month which we call more than a month at our library. We run it through mid-January all the way through February. The national theme for Black History Month this year is Black Health and Wellness and we have really taken it to heart. You can see this beautiful art that we were fortunate to be able to commission from artist Tiffany Conway really embraces that theme of health and wellness and I just love her artwork and if you go by the main library you can see this beautiful thing in humongous neural form on the front of the library. So come stop by and a great day to stop by is Wednesday when we have Dennis Phillips our resident meditation leader and he is also an activist and disability rights leader too. So he can be seen in Netflix Crip Camp as well and so every Wednesday throughout February he is doing meditation in our African-American Center. And then Sunday we have artist Ramekin Aristers who's going to be leading us in a crochet jam and this is all about getting in the zone of craft and meditating and letting that be your guide for health. And Wednesdays and Sundays are the best days to come to the library anyway because you can also visit the heart of the market, farmers market. So come check that out. Next Thursday we have Total SF which is part of SF Chronicles crew and they're going to be discussing victories greater than death which is the book by Charlie Jean Anders who is an SF icon a promoter of all authors and all bookstores. So come check that out and I just want to make sure everyone knows we are masked up we are safe and we all are going to spread out in the beautiful library. There is so much space there so come check it out and we'll start to try to gather again as as our community. And Tuesday our on the same page which is a bi-monthly read SFPL has been doing for 17 years. This bi-monthly read is our January February and it's part of our more than a month celebration and we'll have the amazing Jessman Stanley talking about her book Yoke and she will be in conversation with Tameka Kastin Miller and then coming up the next on the same page we have Natalie Diaz which I'm super excited about because I don't think we've ever done a poetry book in 17 years can you believe that? So bi-monthly read will be poetry so an embracing of Women's Herstory Month and April which is National Poetry Month and she will be in conversation with the amazing Michelle Cruz Gonzalez who is an educator and author and ex punk rock drummer so come check that out and yes her story is coming up and we can't do any of this work without our friends the San Francisco Public Library so I want to thank them for all of the work that they do for us they're tireless and they help us promote all of this great work that we do. Alright today's event we're so happy to have Voice of Witness back with us. Voice of Witness is a book series depicting human rights issues through the edited oral histories of people, BOW narrators who are mostly deeply impacted at the heart of solutions to address injustice. The series explores issues of race, gender, and class-based inequity through the lens of migration, displacement, and criminal justice system and every book comes with a educational program with it it's very amazing so educators out there I encourage you to check out the Voice of Witness website and I'll put all of this in the chat box and they just do an amazing job and right now I'd like to turn it over to Ella Banerjee who is a community partnership coordinator at Voice of Witness. Ella, thank you so much. Yeah thank you so much Anissa I want to say a big thanks to you and to the SFPL it's so it's such a privilege to get to partner with the library the library is a huge institution historic institution in the city and in the Bay Area so we love getting to continue this partnership and thank you to everyone who's tuning in right now from all over for this event it's great seeing people responding to the chat from where you're calling from to celebrate the release of our book me Maria surviving the storm voices from Puerto Rico as Anissa said I'm Ella Banerjee I'm community partnership coordinator at Voice of Witness Anissa already mentioned this but I do want to take another moment to acknowledge that if we were gathering physically in one location we would recognize and thank those whose land we aren't we're on and since we're all distanced and spread out all the speakers can share whose land they're calling from I'm calling from Eloni land also known as Berkeley California I just want to briefly pass it over to our speakers so they can say hi and share where they're calling from Marcy can we go to you first hi everyone I'm calling from Puerto Rico today so Anyasko Puerto Rico west side of the island thanks Marcy and Vivian I am Vivian I'm calling from Rincon Puerto Rico the land of Taíno and Arahuaco thanks so much and Eli hello so I'm calling in from Los Angeles because I'm on tour with the film and I know it's the land of the shoe mash and many others and we give thanks thank you everyone so much and as Anissa said we encourage you to share in the chat box where you're calling from too if you don't know where you're calling from you can take a moment to visit native-land.ca which is a great resource to find out more about the indigenous land that you are calling from so we're really excited about this event today based around the launch of our latest voice of witness book me Maria surviving a storm voices from Puerto Rico me Maria is an oral history collection that shares first person stories of surviving Hurricane Maria and the long ongoing aftermath in Puerto Rico and today we're just so thrilled to have three incredible incredible speakers with us to talk about me Maria and also share a larger discussion about storytelling reclaiming narratives and community responses in the wake of climate disaster so I'm excited to introduce our three speakers now in more depth first we have Marcy Denisak Marcy is a writer with a background in journalism and creative writing she's the co-editor of me Maria and also of a narrative and unheard voices of the pandemic which is an oral history collection also produced by voice of witness Marcy's award-winning fiction includes a book of short stories the far away home which has been published in French in addition her work has appeared in anthologies academic journals magazines and special projects she teaches in the department of English at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez and lives with her husband and son and Agnesco Puerto Rico Marcy it's so great to have you here with us today next we have Vivian Miranda Rodriguez Vivian is the founder of Centro La Paz an integrative wellness center in Rincon Puerto Rico she is a mother to two sons a massage therapist birth doula yoga and Pilates teacher and a community organizer she also partners on running an agroforestry conservation farm called Finca Hepiti in Las Marias with her husband Ricardo after Hurricane Maria Vivian organized donations supplies and mutual aid efforts in her community she is a narrator who shares her own story in the me Maria book Vivian we're so honored to have you here with us today and finally we have Eli Jacobs Fantause who is an internationally recognized and award-winning filmmaker Eli is the founder of fist up tv immediate platform uplifting and telling stories from underrepresented underrepresented communities across the world his work is circulated through national broadcast free speech tv the teaching channel and pbs he has created content for mezcla okay africa title and vibe Eli is the co-founder of defend Puerto Rico a multimedia project designed to document and celebrate Puerto Rican creativity resilience and resistance his dedication to his craft is deeply connected to his commitment to social justice and the belief in the transformative power of film Eli is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley Go Bears and holds an MA degree from NYU to school of the arts Eli thank you so much for being with us being here with us today so we are going to have a q and a at the end of the panel so for folks tuning in please remember your questions and you can share comments in the chat box if you're on zoom as well as in the chat if you're watching on youtube today so now I'd like to bring it back to this important book reason we're all here today me Maria the first subtitle of me Maria is surviving the storm and so for people who don't know on September 20th 2017 Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico Puerto Rico for over 30 hours as brutal as the storm was the real catastrophe was yet to come lack of government support left many in the archipelago without housing electricity clean drinking water food and medical care for months years later Puerto Rico is still recovering this book me Maria surviving the storm now brings together 17 stories including vivians of perseverance and community to ask what it means to be a US citizen in a colonial context how communities come together in the wake of disaster and how precarity is exacerbated for those on the front lines living on the front lines of the climate crisis as Anisa mentioned at the top me Maria is the latest book in the series from Voice of Witness which is a human rights oral history nonprofit based in SF that works to amplify the voices of people impacted by injustice Voice of Witness provided oral history training editorial guidance and funding for this book and the book was published by Haymarket Books which is an independent publishing house based in Chicago the book is available for purchase now on the Haymarket website and I know we'll be sharing links to that in case people are interested in getting the book this oral history book was released just last fall and it's very accessible for readers of all backgrounds including students as Anisa mentioned Vau has developed a free set of Western plans for the book which which educators can download directly from our website so for folks who have already maybe already read the book we're really excited that you're here but we also aren't excited to have folks who maybe haven't and we encourage you after this discussion after this conversation to go out and get the book whether it's through the library or through the Haymarket website we hope you'll be moved by this conversation and want to read more so I'd first like to start with you Marcy since you are along with Risha Chansky one of the co-editors of the book can you share a little bit about how the book came about um and yeah how how turned into this oral history project there we are I'm unmuted thank you Ella and thank you um to the San Francisco Public Library for hosting this and to everybody who's attending as well um I'm speaking from Puerto Rico today and I'm just going to give you a little bit of background on the memory of project um and then I'm going to turn over to Vivian who's going to read a bit from her story and then Eli is going to share a little bit about his wonderful documentary um when Hurricane Maria made landfall on September 20th in Puerto Rico it really left no part of the island unscathed the hurricane triggered floods and mudslides and washed out roads and destroyed thousands of homes and farms and businesses and caused the largest blackout in US history the second largest in the world it knocked out communications that led to widespread food shortages and gasoline shortages and drinking water shortages and it was ultimately responsible for thousands of deaths my co-editor Risha Chansky and I work for the University of Puerto Rico my guess and we returned to teach classes just over a month after the hurricane made landfall the university had power and running water but most of the staff and students and faculty myself and Risha included didn't have electricity in or running water um so we student in front of our class and you know how do you start teaching after something like this is it just business as usual it's not real not really so um Risha and I were both teaching writing classes at the time and we offered a space for our students to write about their experiences the students came from across Puerto Rico so through their stories we could see the impact um that it had all over the communities all over the island students wrote about searching for drinking water and waiting hours and hours in line for money or food or gasoline they wrote about doors and windows of their family homes bursting open and watching helplessly as the rain and the wind and came in and destroyed all their possessions one of my students wrote about escaping her flooding home she says my neighbor ties a rope to his pants and with my bag and my pets in a cage we swim to his house my blue sweatpants are now brown and I don't care that I don't have shoes on for we are safe and finally we know we won't drown what I didn't know then was while my family was being saved my aunt's house was flying away to pieces so our nightmare was just starting around this time of teaching these courses Risha and I saw the voice of witness but I was a team started working on the book Vivian who was the first person I interviewed for the book and so many of the themes that emerge across the narrative says we gathered more and more stories are actually in Vivian's stories um her story one of those themes is the government's failure to provide for people just one example is in Miliana's story where we see that over two months after the hurricane she and her family still could not connect to 911 she says none of the phones were connecting it was the most chaotic 20 minutes so frustrating a person is dying in front of you and you can't do something as basic as contact the emergency number another theme that emerged was the impact of the financial crisis and the government on a sturdy measures that were happening in Puerto Rico even before the hurricane one example is in Carlos's story he's a line worker for PREPA which was the power utility at the time of the hurricane he tells us that even before the hurricane PREPA had too little of everything and he personally spent over $1,000 of his own money to just buy basic tools and materials that were not being supplied by the government to help fix power lines after the hurricane things as simple as duct tape was not being supplied to him and his crew we also see in his story that nine and ten months after the hurricane there were still people who were waiting for power to be restored to their homes and businesses one final theme that came through every single story that we gathered was the community response to disaster we asked all of our narrators who helped you and the overwhelming answer was family friends neighbors our local church local aid groups so we can see the impact that the community had after the disaster was huge and this again is something that's highlighted in Vivian's story and beautifully documented in Eli's film as well. Vivian is going to read a short excerpt so I'll just give you a little context for that as Ella mentioned she lives with Ricardo her husband and her two sons entering Poland which is a smaller means municipality on the west coast of the island they co-own several small businesses a yoga and wellness center which is awesome and a farm in Las Marías the part of the story that she's going to read happens about two weeks after the hurricane so her home survived the hurricane but all the crops on her farm were destroyed but despite that she very very soon after the hurricane like I mean honestly hours after the hurricane passed she was out there serving the community and channeling her effort into relief work so the section that she's about to read is called 200 sandwiches and I'm just going to pass it over to Vivian. Thank you Marci and to the Bay Area I grew up in San Jose so shout out to the Bay Area family we couldn't call anybody for about two weeks one day all of a sudden my phone started beeping it was one of the first phones to get signal anybody in Rincón who found out we had service was coming over to call their loved ones the first person I talked to was my mother she was freaking out she said what are you doing there you need to come back to California at least be responsible and send your sons this was something we really battled with Ricky grew up here he didn't have family off island so he didn't have the opportunity to go to the states after a hurricane we decided to keep the boys with us and wait to see what would happen but things were difficult I couldn't work no one was going to go come to yoga or get a massage all my doula clients left the island because there wasn't and still isn't good access to medical services we didn't have anything to sell from the farm because everything was torn apart I can't stand being indoors so I thought how can I be of help because my phone worked I was able to ask for donations from family and friends in the states around the end of the first week of October I started receiving supplies which included baby formula first hits batteries solar lamps flashlights clothing diapers the post office wasn't open so I'd meet private jets in Awadiyah I used my yoga studio as a center for people to pick up goods the majority of the people I spoke with hadn't seen any official help not FEMA not the municipality not the military in beginning of October one of my clients who is part of the mason family of the mason sandwiches a local restaurant chain reached out to me and told me that they had shut down the myos restaurant specifically to make a thousand sandwiches a day to distribute to communities in need the people at an ason were very insistent about making sure that the food was getting to the people who needed it and that it was getting to them while it was still fresh a lot of people were eating beans chef boy or d anything can't with no power most people didn't have any another way to heat the food heat food even if you have a generator what good is it if if you don't have a gas or the money to buy gas on October 9 I started delivering sandwiches Ricky was doing other relief work helping people clear fallen trees with chainsaws or he needed to work on our land or home so I was alone with the boys we'd pick up 200 sandwiches and we drive through our nyasko and myos which was majority were majorly flooded by the Rio Grande and the ocean and we distribute those sandwiches to people sometimes and my song would give me cold juice to go with the sandwiches which was amazing most people had no ice no refrigeration so getting a cold drink was something special when people saw what we were what we were offering their faces would just transform my boys kept talking about that how people's faces changed when we gave them a sandwich or a cold drink that continued yeah we can pause there yeah thank you so much Vivian for not only sharing you know your story in the book and when you were in conversations with Marcy and Risha but also right now and I just want to take a second for us to kind of all listening to let that sink in those words and and take a breath you know I think it's really powerful to get to hear you read an oral history excerpt especially from your own story I think I can imagine maybe some people listening aren't as familiar with oral history and we kind of been talking about it Marcy was giving that overview but I think getting to actually read the excerpt you really understand like how immersive it is and getting to hear those details about what the day-to-day was like what you were experiencing is really powerful so thank you Vivian for for taking us back there and sharing those memories I think if I could just finish that section I think the the finish the end of this this story is the one that I never forget and I'll never forget her ever um I'll never forget one woman who was home with her two children Inti won't forget either he always talks about it the neighborhood where this woman lived was between two bodies of water the bea maya west and the mouth and the mouth of Rio Grande everybody was flooded there and it still was full of water we were outside of the house at the front gate both my boys were standing beside me the woman was about my height she had dark brown hair almond eyes light almond skin she looked a lot like me her kids a girl not a boy about the same age as my boys were beside her I asked have you had lunch the woman said no but we were about to eat some pagao pagao was the crispy almost burnt rice at the bottom of the pot we gave her sandwiches and she started to cry crying she couldn't stop hugging me and my boys started crying too because it was a human moment mother to mother and her kids were just so happy because they were going to eat and left a big impression on Inti we left them thinking is she going to be okay are those kids going to have food tomorrow what's help who's helping thank you yeah thank you for finishing that and sharing that woman who yeah that's such a powerful part of your story and and it's only just a few pages of your story the full the full narrative is in the book yeah well Vivian I want to ask you you know what what was the experience like being a narrator in the book and sharing your story and you know why did you want to be part of the me Maria project um I think it's always important I've always been really connected to people through their stories right because that's one thing that all of us have in common we all have stories we all live our lives and and we all live it in different ways and and see different situations in different ways and the one common thread in this whole experience I mean I really was doing their outreach work because I needed it I couldn't stay still I couldn't deal with what was going on so I had to gather with others in the community and and just move and what people really wanted was just someone to listen someone to tell their story to and so when Inti gave me the opportunity to tell my story I was like in the thick of it and I was just like well if you can keep up I'll tell you my story but I can't slow down so catch me on the way you know and she did she'd catch up with me and and make me sit for a second I think it's also important you know being part of the diaspora I decided to come back to Puerto Rico and when my family left Puerto Rico generations back and people in the states don't understand what's going on in Puerto Rico they don't know what it is to live here to work here to raise your children here to just I thought I knew what it was to be Puerto Rican and then I moved to Puerto Rico you know so I think it's it's important it's important to to just understand you know what what the real situation was and hear it in a human way you know and the way to hear it humanly is just each person's individual experience what what did they go through you know I think it's a healing for people to tell their story and to be listened to yeah I think I think that's so that's so true in reading the book it's so interesting because there's 17 people who share their stories and as Marci said there's a lot of themes that are very much connected throughout like the community response the lack of response from the government but it's also so interesting how different the stories are too and there's people from all over the island going through a lot of different things so there's that connection and there's some things that are universal but also like you see like the huge diversity of experiences that people have and so no one person's experience is the same and even in people's stories you hear them talking like you're talking about the mother you saw and and and you know delivered food too and then some of the other people you help their stories within stories which is really beautiful um you touched upon that disconnect when the U.S. and in your story you mentioned going a few months after the hurricane to to be with family in the Bay Area and how people on the ground were like thought they knew what was happening in Puerto Rico because they were seeing it in the news but that was not the truth at all um I want to ask you like how those misconceptions have continued now that we're you know about over four years after the hurricane um what does that disconnect like even now with the Bay Area or the U.S. the mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico well okay so I live in a bubble and that bubble's name is Rincón and I don't know if any of you have been watching the news but um you know for a long time Puerto Rico has been trying to be turned into Paradise Island and kind of like you know those videos you see from the 1950s the casinos and everything's perfect and the dark people are attending to the tourists and everything is so happy and accommodating and you know that's pretty much how it's trying to be right now and it's happening really really fast um honestly I haven't gone back to the Bay Area for a while because of the fact that I just feel sort of a disconnect and the more similar the most similar thing I can think of is my friends that come back from tours abroad in the military and they can't necessarily relate with the civilians because of what they've been through you know it's like people think that they know what's going on because they saw it on CNN or CBS or I saw something on on PBS and so now I know what's going on in Puerto Rico and they don't and I think one of the major things that I want people to recognize is Puerto Rico's the last colony in Latin America it's still a colony and it still feels like a colony you know um we don't have the right to vote for US government and yet we are affected by all decisions made state side that is a huge thing so it is not a part of the US so that's something that's really important it is a colony it is a prisoner of war a prize of war and those of us who are coming back to the island from generations of Puerto Ricans that left the island in search of the American dream um I think are really wise to this but then finding that that connection and that communication with those who decided to leave and stay where they are um you know having that common dialogue where we can actually understand and respect each other is um one of the one of the goals you know I think it's it's really important I think Eli's you know work is is he's been doing it for so long him and his brother you know and and I really honor that because they've stood by it and they continue to do it you know I can't do what he does I'm I'm too I I gotta stay on the ground I stay in the back but I love that he has that art form that can show the world in a visual form um and really you know gets to your heart um what's going on me I'm like okay that's great let him do that and I'll be over here cooking all the meals yeah I think it highlights all the different pieces we need um yeah thank you so much for having for sharing that and a great transition to invite Eli into the conversation and I just want to highlight that Vivian and Eli you all have known each other um for quiet for a long time um I think you all met in the Bay Area right so it's really cool to get to be in a call together and also in partnership with SFPL I think that's really awesome yeah um well thank you so much Vivian and yeah now turning to Eli who is the director of a really amazing new documentary called We Still Hear um which is a documentary that follows um an amazing group of youth activists in Comerio in Puerto Rico who are organizing and rebuilding like literally and metaphorically rebuilding their community um in the aftermath of the hurricane I know we have a trailer that we're going to show right now but Eli do you want to share any words about the film or the trailer before we play it? Yes um so what you're about to see is the trailer for We Still Hear and what I want you to look for are the signs of what a just recovery look like what does justice look like in the recovery process paralleled with what does non-extractive storytelling look like what does justice look like during the storytelling process and I look forward to talking with you afterwards. Thanks Eli. Okay I think I'm I think Anisa our tech wizard behind the scenes is going to play the the Dock of the Drill. 25 They lost their roofs and only six of them received the help of FEMA in the installation of all of them. Paltill, that is the happiness. I asked you once, what is happiness? Happiness is with Paltill. With those who don't have it. My uncle's house was destroyed. All the walls were crossed. Maria unveiled the reality that was underneath the surface. And I think for many of us, we knew for many years how alone we were and how much the government didn't have our backs and how much being a colony was so debilitating to ourselves and to our sustenance, right, and our well-being as a people. It's something that I've always liked to do. To be a leader, to help. This is me. I'm going to be a tour guide today. I like Maria very much. How it is that you envision the future of your community, right? So how is it that you envision infrastructure, education, community workforce, economic development, solar power, water? To empower leaders. To give a vote and you to our community. If you look like this, you can self-organize. Because that's part of what we've been told on this island. The government is not there. Maria highlighted the lack of support that we have in this country. We have a change in the country. It's not just for one, it's also for the community. For the one coming. Because we have to take it collectively. It's not just me. It's just us. And here we are. Yeah, I think it's so, I feel it's like so connected to what Vivian was saying earlier about like people, like that disconnect for people, maybe on the mainland, like think they know what's happening or hearing it. Second hand, third hand from like another outlet about what might be happening on the ground in Puerto Rico. But I think what's so powerful about this film is that it's really on the ground and from the perspective of the community. And I think it's so powerful as a compliment to, you know, the community, which we've been talking about, which is very much immersive in a specific way. And we got a taste of that when Vivian was reading her excerpt, you're really inside the head of a narrator. You're in their mind hearing their thoughts, hearing their reflections. And then just in a different way, this film is so immersive, but in that visual way where you're really seeing through the eyes of people as they're living through the aftermath. And so it's so interesting to think about that other facet of the film that you're seeing the aftermath. So on that subject, I wanted to ask you, Eli, you know, what were the images and the visuals that you were most passionate about getting to capture and getting to share through this documentary. So the documentary really came about naturally. I didn't go to Puerto Rico saying I wanted to make a documentary. I went because I was asked to buy my community. And they kind of sent me as a representative to bring donations and to document because the news wasn't telling really what was happening. And I was supposed to go just for one week. And then I've been living, you know, I've rematriated basically, I've been living there for years now. So it just, you know, it's hard to give people, it kind of like Vivian's story, a thing of food if they don't have a roof over their head. And that's literally what we saw when the kids invited us in their home. So we said, we'll be back next week with TARPs. And then the community was organized. They had called their aunts, uncles, their neighbors, and they started putting up the TARPs. And then we met Ioana and Chino and their whole house was destroyed. And you see it in the trailer and they have four kids. So I said, I have my camera. Do you want to do a crowdfunding? And so that's the first time we take out the cameras and we start raising funds. And then people see with their funds that the materials are showing up. And so you get to be a part of the process. And when we pulled out the cameras, the kids are, oh, can I take pictures? So they start taking pictures. When you take out the drone, they go crazy. Oh, let me see the drone. And so we saw their interest. Then we do photography and video workshops. And then they create their own group that's called Mensajeros de Palomas to tell their own stories. And then maybe halfway through the year, we're like, we've documented so much of this and raised money and done little side stories. Why don't we tell a story of the larger picture together? And I think when you think about just storytelling, justice and storytelling, it's really about not telling a story about a community, but telling a story with the community. And doing it in a way that's non-extractive, doing it in a way where people are feeling empowered. And that's from beginning to end. You don't want to just jump in and drop off resources and have people fight over little resources. You want to do it in a just manner. You don't want to go in and be a filmmaker, a storyteller, or write a book and say, okay, now I know what it is. Let me talk to you. You invite the people to come and tell their story. And it's a platform. So even on this tour in California, for the first time, we're bringing three of the community members. They're going to be joining us in San Francisco on the 24th at the Roxy Theater and their first time in Califa. So let's give them a bienvenida. Let's give them a warm welcome when they come at the Roxy Theater. Well, that's awesome. That's so exciting. And yeah, I think a really great part of the documentary is seeing the evolving relationship that the young people have. Like when they start to pick up the cameras, they start to film. It's really exciting. And like you said, it's about the community first and leading that organic process. And one thing I just want to highlight is the time that takes, like it's a long term collaboration. And, you know, it's not just like a quick sound bite, a quick, a quick news clip that, you know, as Vivian says, like on CBS, like, you know, me and Maria was four years in the making like as the book. And it sounds like it was similar amount of time for the documentary. Now that the documentary has been released, Eli, what was it like for you and for like the young people you're working with to see it on a big screen to see the final thing? What was that like to have it released? So again, I'm sure this is similar with your process, but anytime I make a film with the community, they get to be a part of it. So it was important. We flew the editor to Comedio. We edited with them. Each phrase of the documentary, we do a feedback session. They tell us what they like, what they didn't like. Oh, you should add more of this. And so, you know, it wasn't surprising when the film is done because they're like, yes, show this to the world. This is who we are. This is, this represents us. But I'd say that it was super special for Yale to get on the plane for the first time, landing in New York for the world premiere at the Urban World Film Festival and to a sold out theater and be awarded the best documentary film audience award. And I mean, this whole process has changed all of our lives so deeply. And that's what, that's what you get in return when, when you make yourself available. And like Vivian said, it was, it's so much not about like giving, but we receive so much. So I feel like I've received so much more than I ever gave to the project. And even in the trailer, he's like, what's happiness? You know what happiness is? Happiness is sharing. And I think that's, that is true is like that, that true happiness comes when you're able to, to give of yourself. Yeah. Yeah. That's that, that happiness. And I think that joy really does come through in the film. And I think that's so important that like, three dimensional part of these stories, both in me, Maria, when you're reading the book and when you're watching the documentary, it's so important that it's not just, you know, I'm going to use the phrase trauma porn, which comes out a lot when people, especially folks who are being extractive, like you were using that word, Eli, like it's just showing like this moment of, of trauma or this tragedy. And certainly not to minimize that, that pain that people do go through, but it's so important to see also the joy and the happiness. And like the, the strength and the love of a community and show how this is a very full and real life people are going through. It's not just a sound bite. It's, it's people's lives and they're, they're whole people with a whole range of emotions and experiences. Yes. It's about healing. It's about decolonizing and, and this system of colonization is through every part of society is through our education, the way that we teach is the, the limitation of dreams of what we believe we can achieve. And so we really need that. Sanitation with that, that healing to go through. To be able to dream freely, to be able to imagine, right? Well, the future that we want to build for ourselves. And that's why I was so inspired to see these young people really, like be able to map out, be able to plan, be able to dream and create it and not wait for anybody to come and say, yes, you can or no, you can, or wait for a grant or the government to know, we're going to do this to self. And with that unity, people are going to come. People are going to come and say, yes, you can or no, you can or wait for a grant or the government to come. People are going to help that dream become a reality. Yeah. Yeah. Beautifully. We've said, Eli, thank you so much. And I want to invite, you know, Marci and Vivian back into the conversation for kind of, kind of a group conversation to connect all the different points we're talking about a recurring theme in both the book and the documentary is just, you know, the complete lack of government response, federal government response to the hurricane and how it came together to organize themselves, to rebuild and are continuing to do so to this day, you know, and so now it's been over four years after the hurricane. And so I wanted to ask you all, you know, what, what the government response has been like more recently and also, you know, what has, what is the community continuing to do to respond and to rebuild and look out for each other. So wanting to, you know, this, the hurricane was four years ago, but bring it forward to the present. What has it been like these days? All right. So as a small business owner and as a farmer, I can tell you right now, they just released funds from Maria at the end of last year. Wow. I got a call from the Departamento de Viviendas in San Juan, which is the Banco de Desarrollo, which is like the central bank. And I thought it was a scam because they're, they're like, Hey, so we're calling you because we saw you applied for help for small businesses that were affected by Maria. And I was like, you got to be kidding me. This four years later, we took care of ourselves. What do you want? You know, and so they're offering like now, I mean, they don't make it easy at all. It's like four months of going through this crazy bureaucratic system. And they're like, I'm originally approved a solar system for my business. And then after approving it, the committee decided, oh, no, we're not going to prove it anymore because the government developed another program that's called. Where they work with their own chosen local solar companies that they'll give you up to $25,000 to get a system, but you have to go through a huge application process. And maybe you'll, you'll apply. Not apply. He accepted. You'll, you'll be accepted, right? By that time, I already took a loan out from my company. And I said, I'm done. I'm good. Bye. That's basically how the programs are working now. Same with the farm programs. So there are all these funds, but let me tell you how it works because it's a business just like the Vulture funds came by after Hurricane Maria. It's then they're still here very much. So right now with the farming of funds that there's one that's called rena said. And it's a huge one. It's like up to 120,000 something dollars for farmers. If you can get it. They're pushing that people get these funds, these programs, because if you get the funds and they help you get the funds, they get a huge kickback in funds. The Puerto Rican government. Otherwise they wouldn't help you. To get the funds, but it is a huge one. The hard part here is most farmers don't keep books. They don't, they don't know how they don't have computers. A lot of them don't have phones. So. How are you supposed to apply for something that you don't know what the heck any of the terminology means. And you don't have somebody literally like example. I had to help people. So I had to help people. I had to help people. I had to help people fill out applications for FEMA and for. Programs. When they decided to come out the West coast because they didn't deem the West coast after Maria as a disaster zone for months. After Maria. Which means there was no attention being served to the West coast from the middle of the island over to the West coast. So it's nothing. So I had to help people. I had to help people fill out applications for months because it wasn't deemed a disaster zone. So there are so many people that you had to like literally have a translator to help them submit forms to get support. So it's the same situation right now. So no, all these funds that were frozen. A bunch of them are still frozen because back to farmers. There was a program that it was going to reimburse farmers for their farms. So it was going to reimburse farmers for their farms. So it was going to reimburse farmers for their farms. As long as they made the investment in buying back. What they lost. So example, I lost 90% of our trees in our farm. We invested thousands of dollars in the loan money to buy those trees and replant them on our farm. We submitted all proof of that. We are waiting still for reimbursement. I know three farmers just in my region alone that completely lost their farms. So they're still. They lost their farms. They have their farm service and USDA and NRCS. All government owned programs. And still they're saying you're in the process. So while the government is still in the process, people are losing their homes or losing their livelihoods, and it's still going on today. So. I mean, this book was written in and took four years, right? But that ripple effect is still being felt. So that's why I've formatted like my business and my community efforts in a more cooperative model because we found you can't you can't depend. The best way to be is independent and self-sufficient and just keep working towards that and get together with people who have different talents. Don't try to do everything yourself. Connect with people within your community and help each other out and format you know sort of interactions and exchanges through trade because trade is worth so much. You know I'm attending births on trade you know like you figure out a way to do it it's it's not all just money you know so yeah sorry I had to get that off. No thank you so much Vivian and for giving us that but inside book that even years later responses still delayed it still has you know like the other two drops of like there's a catch or it's just so inaccessible and I know that's a theme I believe several times right Marcy in the book of like there are forms recovery forms that might not even work and they're in all in English. Yeah or I mean they're telling you to fill out online forums but nobody has an internet connection. I mean it's truly absurd like that is just absurd and I think there were watchdog reports that came out you know about three years after the hurricane it said that FEMA if I if I'm remembering from what correctly the statistics lost over 40% of the goods that they were supposed to distribute and I mean we have seen you know pictures of warehouses where the goods are just sitting there um and and they took an average of two months for FEMA to get food to places and I think Vivian is right that on the west coast you know we didn't even see them two months afterwards so and also right that it's still going on here and the austerity measures you know forget about you know the health that are supposed to be coming in after a hurricane there's just severe austerity measures that are happening on the island that are cutting schools the court of the public schools closed down you know healthcare pensions and just everything so forget forget the help they're they're cutting they're actually actively just keep chopping away at um at social programs and things that are supposed to be there to help uh the people yes Eli go. I completely agree and um as Boric was in the diaspora hear this that's a lot of what we hear we hear about promesa we hear about all the messed up things the the water but so let me just say a little bit of the other side of the coin and kind of what um nos tenemos talks about in the film is that all of these schools are closing but our people the stories that you don't hear are taking over those schools there are mutual aid programs happening that you could support you could come to the island you could help plant gardens you could help rebuild you could help the workshops that are happening all over the island i'm not talking about one ten twenty like all over the island there are these amazing mutual aid projects that are popping up and they're interconnected they're not doing them just by themselves and so there's these beautiful um protest resistance uh unity happening on the island and i want to uplift that as well and it's important to know all the injustice that's happening but like Vivian said we're not we're not gonna wait for anybody we are changing our reality we believe in self-determination and we got each other's back and and that means that in colonialism if you feel like you're worthless if you don't feel like you deserve more you can't fight for justice it's when you know that something is incorrect it's when you know that something's that i don't have light i don't have what that you know you can fight for justice you can say this isn't right and it's that same energy that took to the streets for the biggest protest ever in Puerto Rico to oust the government and say get the hell out of office we are in control of our lives and that's the energy that we want to continue to see continue to uplift because we want control of our destiny yeah thank you ila and i just like to add to that um just seeing a shift in the change of the students that i work with you know post maria they're so much more aware of social justice issues and they're so much more active and present and it's it's really phenomenal to see what they do all the time you know in their communities on campus and and that have a larger impact as well absolutely i just want to give a real direct shout out to specific movements there's eliecer molina who's a huge activist on the island right now he is shouting out bombing what's going on right now in terms of that extra level high level of colonialism be you know the island becoming pleasure island to the mega rich um and the government facilitating that there's also proyecto plenitud in la marias that is gathered communities for forever and created abandoned schools and and spaces for the community as a community kitchen learning site sports center multicultural center there's also levantando el vaya relief in anyasco there are so many so many projects right now that um people can get involved in there is not a lack of that but they're all a reflection of that like one person in the feed said self-determination which if anything island people have is self-determination because there's something to be said about simplicity and limited choices and limited options it makes you super creative and and you get together and you make things work because like my abuela says what else are you going to do you got to make it work exactly yeah and i think it's it's so important all these things like the people i think i'm sure people listening are hopefully getting pumped up riled up from this conversation and want to support and so it sounds like there are so many different like like local on the island community led community driven projects that people can find out about um some of them you all just mentioned and i want to um highlight gladus in the chat shared in fact while we listen to you right now there are thousands of public service workers marching and protesting and send one for just salaries and pensions um thank you gladus for sharing that i think it's important to know what's what's happening even in this very moment and so just being aware of those things um and doing that research and supporting local efforts i know marcie did you want to um mention uh one of our narrators pastor jose some of his efforts that are still going on yeah it's true he was um one of the people who like one of your um people in the film that we saw in the trailer said you know that hurricane just highlighted the problems that were already sort of present and even before the hurricane he saw you know families that were struggling to feed themselves and so he had set up a uh crisis center which unfortunately was blown away with the storm but that didn't stop him so you know he from his little um sort of back area from his church he started providing food and he has just kept going and especially with covid he's been super active and it's a very small local um uh project but he just spreads everything so wide and so far he's so active he's just a great person to you know there's there's many um like vivian was saying there's just so many local people like that that are doing really um impactful things yeah and at the um in the back of our book we we have um attend things you can do list so when you finish reading the book there's lots of suggestions for ways to get involved if you're a reader um whether you're living in Puerto Rico or on the mainland us and some of those things include um you know contacting your congressperson if you are a us citizen who can vote which you know folks in Puerto Rico do not have that self-determination ability to vote um being able to contact your congressperson and write or call them and advocate for self-determination for Puerto Rico um also because climate change which is you know something we've we touched on briefly today but is very much at the center of this story as well and so getting involved with climate change efforts locally especially things that are connected to waterways um and just continuing to support supply drives and volunteering when you can um I know we're running running short on time with this with this really wonderful and rich conversation um so I wanted to um include a couple questions from um the chat that are going on um thank you everyone has been really active in the chat it's been exciting to see those comments and questions come in I think we have time for a couple before we're going to wrap up soon but um someone asked um Gianella um um if I pronounce your name correctly as a bariqua from the diaspora hoping to go back soon where can I find the mutual aid groups to help support um there's so many you could be in touch with us be in touch with me be in touch with Vivian one's that uh one that I love in Carolinas by two sisters called the no no it's called la gonde in Carolina um you could definitely check them out so yes there there's a there's a if you look up a mutual aid projects at Puerto Rico they have even a website there's a huge one in Caguas that's like one of the founders and really beautiful so we look forward to being in touch with you thank you Eli I see Vivian I think in the feed there yeah in the feed there was Casa Pueblo in Arjuntas that is a wonderful and they've been around for years they're building strength again they've gone through a lot so yes support them also uh from our fellow farmer um iang has el josco bravo he's dedicated years to building um a self-sufficient um uh generation teaching people how to live off the land how to produce how to find food how to become really really food independent especially since Puerto Rico receives the majority of their food is shipped in and it's not local so um that is a really that's a big one thanks Vivian and yeah Eli and Vivian if you um are able to share your whether it's contact info or social media handles um I know it's the way that people say it touched a lot um please drop them in the chat um or we can share them um in the email folks are going to get after after this event um to make sure people can can stay connected and learn about these amazing efforts um one I do want to um I pull one other question from the audience someone asked um this is this is kind of a big one what sort of covid vaccine efforts or lack of efforts have been such are happening on the island anyone want to tackle that one um I'll just go really quick and say that it's a colony of the united states we have more fast food restaurants per square mile than anywhere else we have Walgreens and CVS and so the vaccine rates were number one like the most and it's part of the colonization process but it's also has its positives and then I'll say we're also the playground for the rich and and people coming back so after the holidays we became the most infected so then it it completely flipped um and I'll kind of leave it at that that again I think it's about self-determination it's about the people being able to decide um how this how the flow of this pandemic should go right and and and what rules and what barriers and and how they how they want to move in the world and it not be a top down decision thank you Eli um and I know some other uh narrators and community members we've talked to especially early on in the pandemic we're saying like you know when their infrastructure is still um you know so needs so much rebuilding and some people might not have one running water how are you supposed to keep your hands clean and follow those COVID restrictions when you don't even have running water are those supplies so um the the need sounds like it's still there yeah did anyone else want to say that sorry the earthquake swarm was happening when we were in lockdown so there are people in the south of the island you'd say you know stay safe and shelter in your home but when the earthquake swarm is happening it's hard to shelter in your home when you don't have a home so there were sort of you know multiple layers happening over here especially at the beginning of it yeah thank you and thank you um to to the person who asked that question I think it highlights that yeah there's the on the aftermath hurricane continues things like the earthquake happening and then COVID so all these things are layered they're not in a vacuum um but it's but it's it has been really inspiring to hear about all the community organizing and rebuilding efforts that are continuing to to happen and I hope folks listening today will feel inspired um to to watch Eli's amazing documentary we still hear to pick up me Maria and to support these mutual aid efforts or I'll find other ways to get involved um it's been a wonderful conversation and I know we're just out of time now um I just want to um you know ask our speakers if you'd like to share any final thoughts before we close today um maybe Marcy we can start with you oh I just there's so many things to say but I wanted to pick up on something that Vivian said too about um just projects like this and Eli mentioned as well you just um you still want to do something so everybody sort of can do what they can I mean I'm a writer so I went out and collected stories you know Vivian it's like super active in the community so she could just gather people around her and I think that that's a model for other places that also as you mentioned might be suffering from storms from climate change or whatever it's just it's that sort of model of everybody's sort of place to their strengths and can do what they can thank you Marcy um and Vivian do you want to share a final thought just stay connected talk to the people be involved in your communities where you're at there's always something to do in your home like my father always says charity begins in the home so start in the home and uh and just move through there you know like uh attracts likes so stay within your flock and keep your energies high your vibrations high and stay positive because things could always be worse thank you Vivian and Eli solidarity is action um so it's not just posting on social media it's action make it happen unite um let's support each other this isn't just happening in Puerto Rico this is happening all over the world and when we connect and tell each other stories and learn from each other we become stronger so I look forward to building community with you and taking this further thanks Eli um and I just want to pop in um the chat again uh the library has been sharing um ways to support the documentary to if you're in the Bay Area go to the Roxy screening um it's going to be awesome um and you know there's ways to get to get the book from the Haymarket website um also um if you are an educator if you work with young people there is the free curriculum for me Maria um and I want to shout out um our one of our awesome narrators Zaira who's a narrator in the book she's the first one and she um is our curriculum specialist and so it's really awesome she created an amazing lesson plan um for folks so also want to shout out that um Voice of Witness has a sharing history initiative um which is going to start in a few months where you can get free class sets of me Maria for your classroom um so make sure you if you go to the our website make sure you check that out um that's a great resource for for students and for community partners um and so I just want to say thank you so much um to our amazing speakers to Marcy Vivian and Eli thank you so much for your time and energy um for this conversation I want to give a big um thank you also to my fellow Voice of Witness colleagues and the library to Vanessa especially and to the to the SF library who are just wonderful partners it's great hosting an event with you and um most of all when I give a big thank you to the editors and to the narrators of me Maria who shared their stories so generously in the book I hope everyone yeah thanks thanks everybody for that copy I hope everyone will um read this book and we'll learn from these stories um so yeah thank you so much to those narrators for for sharing their experiences with all of us um thanks everyone for tuning in thank you library community and get the book I put the link in the chat and like Ella said we'll be sending you a follow-up email we have extra copies of this book at the library so you can check it out today thank you so much narrators always amazing Ella thank you so much and we'll look forward to our next partnership