CUÉNTAME - Stories of our community
About the Series
Cuéntame - historias de nuestra comunidad is a six-episode web series about community organizing, cultural storytelling, immigrant rights, and the impact of citizens working to help one another. Each video features the work of members of Philly’s vibrant Latinx community, on a first-hand account of the impact of their cultural project or social activism. From initiatives of distributing books in Spanish around the neighborhood, revitalizing an entire area with small businesses, to advocating for domestic workers’ rights, battling food insecurity and gentrification, and fighting for the preservation of Latino ethnic traditions, these stories show the power and importance of immigrants to the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection.
Series Episodes
Episode 1: Philibros (4:17 min)
A group of six Latinx immigrants embraces the challenge to bring Spanish-language books to the community to encourage Latinx children to feel proud about the language of their parents, this is how PHILIBROS came to fruition.
Spanish: Un grupo de seis inmigrantes Latinx aceptan el desafío de llevar libros en español a la comunidad para alentar a los niños Latinx a sentirse orgullosos del idioma de sus padres, así es como PHILIBROS nació en la ciudad de Filadelfia.
Episode 2: Puebladelphia (5:42 min)
Journalist and Mexican Historian Leticia Roa Nixon explains the origin of Puebladelphia - an area of South Philly revitalized by Mexican immigrants, from the city of Puebla in Mexico. Over the last decades, an impressive number of Latinx restaurants and small businesses occupy Calle 9 (9th Street), sharing space with the Italian Market and attracting tourists from all over the world with their authentic cuisine and colorful shops.
Episode 3: An activist for Domestic Workers’ rights (4:22 min)
Activist Mercedez Reyes, originally from El Salvador, shares her personal journey in the United States, working as a domestic worker and becoming a social activist for the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Mercedes along with hundreds of workers and activists pushed for the creation and passing of the Domestic Workers Bill which guarantees several labor rights for domestic workers. The Bill was passed in 2020 by the Philadelphia City Council.
Episode 4: Iglesias Gardens
Cesar Viveros and Philly Socialist started the Cesar Andreú Iglesias Community Garden as a way to fight against gentrification. Viveros discusses the motivations behind the garden’s creation and the challenges that have occurred in the development of the garden, including being forced to create a human chain in order to avoid the destruction of the garden by developers. Iglesias Gardens continues to supply the community with a space to grow produce, plant medicine, and pay tribute to stolen land.
Production Team
¡Presente! Media Team, Production & Post-Production Supervisors - Gabriela Watson-Burkett, Kristal Sotomayor, Melissa Beatriz
Researcher, Producer, Script & Editing - Michelle Myers
Cameras - Alex Wiles, Michelle Myers
Additional Camera work - Scott Burkett
If you’d like to suggest an story idea for the web series, please contact us at info@presentemedia.org