In this week's installment of my Stairwell Teatro, my friend Kathy is given a new name by her 7th-grade teacher, and she has to use it the entire school year. Although this happened decades ago, Kathy still feels the sting of the experience. I'm so grateful to all of you who generously share your name stories with me. Keep them coming.
NASHVILLE
Greetings from Nashville. I love this place and am so glad I was invited to present at two different venues in this great city. AllianceBernstein's Latino ERG asked me to be part of the Hispanic Heritage Month activities. I gave an excerpt of my play and had a roundtable conversation with two Alliance Bernstein staff members, Kristen Junco and Levis Padron. A diverse audience attended and shared their name stories as part of the program. We were fortunate to be in the top-floor conference room with smashing views of the Nashville skyline.
And check out Nashville's famous Batman Building, the nickname of the ATT Headquarters.
In the late afternoon, I was at the Nashville Public Library at TN Justice For Our Neighbors annual event, Oye Vecino, which was also being recorded for an upcoming podcast. In addition to performing some scenes from my play, Two TNJFON staff members, Aineth Murgia, Alvaro Manrique Barranchea, and I talked about the organization's work and my career in law, journalism, and now as a playwright addressing social justice issues. TNJFON represents immigrants from many different countries, the Americas, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and educates the greater Nashville community about immigrant rights. It is led by Tessa Lemos Del Pino, Executive Director. Shout out to the TNJFON staff and board for their dedication and hard work.
Thank you so much, AllianceBernstein and TNJFON, such an honor to join you today, and I'll say it again, I LOVE visiting Nashville and hope to be back. Would love to return to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on some future occasion (just 'sayin).
NEXT STOP - San Antonio
I will be at St. Mary's University's beautiful Guadalupe Chapel at Treadaway Hall next week, on Thursday, September 28th @ 7:30 pm.
The St. Mary's show is open to anyone and is a free community service -- no charge, GRATIS. I love the materials prepared by St. Mary's for my show. Chulo, verdad?
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Mil gracias.
