Tag Archives: Word Up Community Bookshop

Word Up: Rising in the Heights with artists Randy Mason & Jamell Ogbanna

Hip-hop artist Randy Mason and keyboardist Jamell Ogbanna join Leadlights Ensemble for a hopeful afternoon of hip hop, rhyme, and string music, featuring Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by Amanda Gorman.

Free copies of the book will be available.

Rising in the Heights is a festival of free outdoor public arts performances curated by Leadlights Ensemble in partnership with Word Up Community Bookshop. The festival celebrates the rich artistic contributions of Latinx and Black cultures and promotes children’s literacy through music and bilingual storytelling.

Randy Mason is a Bronx hip hop artist, songwriter, cajón percussionist, educator, pastor, and family man whose life and art reflect the heartbeat of faith, rhythm, and community. Fusing the raw energy of New York City hip hop with the rich traditions of Afro-Peruvian percussion, Randy creates a one-of-a-kind sound that inspires, educates, and uplifts.

Born and raised in the Bronx, the birthplace of hip hop, Randy’s music embodies his Puerto Rican and African American heritage. His performances blend storytelling, live instrumentation, and lyrical depth — a celebration of culture, creativity, and hope. Whether performing on stage, teaching in classrooms, or preaching from the pulpit, Randy brings the same message.

As a hip hop educator and founder of R.H.Y.M.E. (Rhymes Help Young Minds Excel), Randy uses rap, writing, and rhythm to mentor youth throughout New York City. His innovative programs help students discover their voices, develop confidence, and dream beyond their circumstances.

Beyond the mic, Randy is a devoted husband, father, and arts and mentoring program director committed to empowering communities through creativity. With every beat, rhyme, and classroom moment, Randy Mason continues to prove that hip hop is more than music — it’s ministry, mentorship, and movement.

Word Up: Rising in the Heights with storyteller Rachael Harrington

Explore the Haitian folk tale ”The Magic Orange Tree” with storyteller Rachael Harrington and Leadlights Ensemble for an afternoon of music and stories on the sidewalk outside of Word Up Community Bookshop / Librería Comunitaria.

Free copies of the book will be available.

Rachael Harrington is an internationally recognized storyteller who performs in arts venues, schools, festivals, and as a guest lecturer at Rutgers University. Performance: Sugarhill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling, The Story Center at Mid-Continent Public Library. Presenter: The American Library Association, National Storytelling Network Summit. Publications: Storytelling Magazine, School LIbrary Connection, Voices Journal. Member: The National Storytelling Network, NJ Storytelling Network, North East Storytelling, Clutch Full Circle, StateraArts. www.rachaelharrington.com

Word Up: Mercedes Núñez Martínez: “Abre y si no te gusta cierra” (En español)

Word Up da la bienvenida a la autora local Mercedes Núñez Martínez para leer y comentar su primera novela ABRE Y SI NO TE GUSTA, CIERRA, una historia de terror sobrenatural que explora secretos familiares, ambición, traición y posesión demoníaca.

Este evento requiere una donación sugerida de $5 y tiene un cupo máximo de 30 personas. Se ruega registrarse con anticipación.

SOBRE EL LIBRO
¿Y si el libro que tienes en tus manos pudiera abrir una puerta que nunca te atreviste a tocar?

ABRE Y SI NO TE GUSTA, CIERRA no es solo una historia; es una experiencia oscura, intensa y profundamente humana que te arrastrará hacia los rincones más peligrosos del alma, donde la ambición, el resentimiento familiar, la maldad y el dolor pueden destruir incluso los lazos de sangre más sagrados.

En ABRE Y SI NO TE GUSTA, CIERRA descubrirás secretos familiares, tragedias ocultas y una narrativa cargada de suspenso psicológico, terror emocional y drama humano. Cada página de ABRE Y SI NO TE GUSTA, CIERRA te enfrentará a preguntas incómodas sobre el odio, la culpa, la manipulación y las consecuencias de las decisiones que marcan generaciones enteras.

Si amas las novelas de misterio, los relatos de terror psicológico, las historias familiares intensas y los libros que dejan huella emocional, ABRE Y SI NO TE GUSTA, CIERRA fue escrito para ti.

Word Up Community Bookshop: Jacqueline Jimenez Polanco’s SAPPHO EN SANTO DOMINGO

Word Up welcomes Jacqueline Jimenez Polanco to read and discuss Sappho en Santo Domingo: Un poemario lésbico.

Please register in advance.

SOBRE SAPPHO EN SANTO DOMINGO
He conversado en sueños con Sappho. Ella me cuenta los desafíos de su relación con Atthis, sus proezas para verla y estar juntas, sus anhelos no realizados, las lágrimas derramadas y la alegría de vivir felices en Santo Domingo luego de tanto pesar. De esa conversación nace mi inspiración para este libro de poesía lésbica que escribo con gran emoción en honor a Sappho, la gran Musa lésbica de la historia de la humanidad. En este poemario, la lectora se deleitará con una prosa cotidiana de una estética excelsa sobre la isla caribeña, su gente, su arte, sus costumbres, el erotismo lésbico y una reflexión profunda sobre tradiciones que limitan el lesbianismo en su más auténtica expresión.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jacqueline Jiménez Polanco is a Full Professor of Sociology at Bronx Community College, CUNY. She holds a Ph.D cum laude in Political Science and Sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid. She is the author of several academic books, including Dominican American Politics: Immigrants, Activists, and Politicians, and Los Partidos Políticos en la República Dominicana. She is also the editor of Dominican Politics in the Twenty First Century, Divagaciones bajo la luna: Voces e imágenes de lesbianas dominicanas, Divagaciones II: Una antología de mujeres dominicanas lesbianas, bisexuales y queer, y Sexualidades: Entre lo personal y lo político.

Word Up Community Bookshop: Book Talk “SOUP THROWERS AND SUPER GLUERS”

SOUP THROWERS AND SUPER GLUERS – Inside Europe’s Climate Uprising. Four Voices. One Conversation.

Join four European climate activists from the A22 Network for an in-person conversation about direct action, civil resistance, and the future of the climate movement, followed by a workshop. This event is in partnership with the Center for Nonviolent Conflict Research and Sunrise NYC. The featured book will be available for purchase and signing.

FEATURING
Carla Hinrichs (climate activist, co-founder and spokesperson for Letzte Generation, Germany)

Henning Jeschke (Climate activist and co-founder of Letzte Generation, Germany)

Chloé Bertini (climate activist from Ultima Generazione, Italy)

Thibaut Cantet (climate activist and co-founder of Dernière Rénovation, France)

ABOUT THE BOOK
The book tells the inside story of the rise of the Last Generation climate movements across Europe, written collectively by the frontline organizers and activists themselves. It takes readers behind the scenes of hunger strikes, motorway blockades, stage and pitch invasions, and media storms: the late-night planning sessions, the internal debates, the moments of doubt, and the decisions that shaped some of the most audacious climate actions of recent years. Drawing on first-hand accounts from the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, it is at once a gripping narrative, a strategic reflection, and a deeply human portrait of what it takes—and what it costs—to confront systemic inaction.

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