Honoring the March

Celebrating the Hunts Point Fish Parade and Summer Festival

In collaboration with THE POINT CDC, Honoring the March: Celebrating the Hunts Point Fish Parade and Summer Festival seeks to document and display the cultural impact of the annual event on its 21st anniversary. Via a series of workshops, interviews and portrait sessions, Honoring the March archives the oral history of individuals who have led, and have been shaped by, the parade and cultural festival. This project pays homage to the Hunts Point community in the South Bronx which continues to use its cultural richness to build resilience. Each project component offers personal insight into how the Fish Parade had offered them an outlet for their creativity, activism and desire to be a part of something of greater significance.

Inspired by the rich history of the Fish Parade and Summer Festival, the project commenced with a story circle led by Prof. Cynthia Tobar of CUNY Bronx Borough Community College that included Hatuey Ramos-Fermin, current Artist-in-Residence at THE POINT and myself. This laid the groundwork for a series of followup events that included a luncheon with veterans of the parade and festival, and a series of art interventions with POINT students and families who used archival photographs to make lively collages. From these engagements, large scale portraits of noted local leaders and residents throughout Hunts Point were printed and wheat pasted throughout the peninsula as well as mounted onto boards for marching at the parade. Accompanying these portraits are audio clips of interviews from participants via Soundcloud, an installation at THE POINT CDC that features the artworks created via workshops, and this dedicated accompanying site.

Interview subjects include: Carey Clark, Hatuey Ramos-Fermin, Maria “Mariposa” Fernandez, Rachelle Fernandez, Joanna Garcia, Jason “DJ Pusha” Garcia, Michael Glazebrook, Adam Leibowitz, Eric Orr, Danny R. Peralta, Angel Rodriguez, Ana Garcia AKA Rokafella, Edgar Vasquez and Tiffany Williams.

Art Collages by:

From the interviews we get a clearer understanding of the impact the Fish Parade has on individuals and communities. The Fish Parade and Summer Festival:

Celebrates History and Cultural Legacy
Celebrates Individual and Neighborhood Identity
Serves as a Vehicle for Community Organizing

Celebrates History and Cultural Legacies

Again and again, individuals have commented that one of the most important aspects of the Fish Parade is that it continues to celebrate local history and the legacy of those who make an impact with their everyday efforts. Leading the parade are Grand Marshals that are a who's who of the residents, leaders, organizers, artists, educators, and other change makers who would probably never receive public acknowledgement for their work. The Summer Festival component of the day is still led by a DJ and MC, and offers the podium for performers who embody the talents of the neighborhood, with an emphasis on the new and the old styles of music, dance, and spoken word. The artists also play a pivotal role in making the day colorful via costumes, floats and signs, and hands-on workshops for children and families.

"Tengo un corazón, Mutilado de esperanza y de razón, Tengo un corazón que madruga donde quiera, Ay!

Y este corazón, Se desnuda de impaciencia, Ante tu voz, Pobre corazón, Que no atrapa su cordura.

Quisiera ser un pez, Para tocar mi nariz en tu pecera, Y hacer burbujas de amor por dondequiera, Pasar la noche en vela, Mojado en ti, ¡Hunts Point! Mira se me paran lo pelo, because this is a love song."

Angel Rodriguez, Founder of Living Legends Concert Series, Percussionist, Poet, and THE POINT CDC Laureate Artist-in-Residence

Tiffany Williams

Edgar Vasquez

Celebrates Individual and Neighborhood Identity

Like most activities led by THE POINT CDC, the Fish Parade serves as a vehicle to empower the individuals that collectively embrace their Hunts Point and South Bronx identities loud and proud. The Summer Festival Stage continues to serve as the local debut of performers with unique talents as poets, dancers, singers, circus performers, photographers, craftspeople, DJs, etc. Hailing from different walks of life, and representing a variety of ages, cultures, as well as gender orientations. The main stage exemplifies the cultural richness of past, present and future that defies the negative perceptions that still exist about the area. Together, these moments of cultural excellence strengthened the conviction of artists to make artwork that is at the service of their communities.

"I remember Charles Rice Gonzalez was reading a scene from the novel Chulito, a story of a gay teen based in Hunts Point, and the people were yelling. People from the street, people from the audience were yelling, "there's children here!". They were yelling homophobic responses to what he was reading. For me that memory is important. Charles, we spoke about this - how the parade just shows that it was an expression of who we are as a community and all the members of our community, and the resistance to not only the actual pollution of garbage and diesel truck fumes but also the pollution of negative things like homophobia. We who were there as his audience was a part of giving him the space to express himself, and got that story to be told, and for his voice to be heard."

Maria "Mariposa" Fernandez, Poet, Educator, and THE POINT Poet Laurete

Ana Garcia AKA "Rokafella"

Eric Orr

Serves as a Vehicle for Community Organizing

I quickly figured out that the Fish Parade served as THE POINT’s main organizing activity by how many partners were, and weren’t, at the table to take part in the planning of the yearly event. Representatives from throughout the peninsula would meet to decide on important parade topics like the theme and t-shirt color for the year, as well as sponsorship leads and to invite vendors, etc. In reality, what they were really doing was becoming stronger and more capable of taking on the compounding challenges unique to Hunts Point. From November to June of the following year, representatives from local schools, the NYC Parks Department, community-based organizations and gardens, resident volunteers, the Local Community Board #2, city agencies and even the NYPD would convene on a regular basis to ensure that the Fish Parade was a fun, family-friendly and safe experience for all. These meetings continue to lay the groundwork for the social cohesion that's born from collaborations that are genuine in seeking success without reward.

"So many memories, so much work, and coordination. Give me the invoice, and who are we going to pay, and getting the checks ready. And the basketball game, oh my god, the different color t-shirts, its so much, so much. But it all was worth it, because afterwards we can feel so proud of what we accomplished together. Together."

Rachelle Fernandez, THE POINT CDC Co-Founder, Finance and Operations Manager (1994-2023)

Adam Liebowitz

Hatuey Ramos-Fermin

Acknowledgements

Archival images provided by Tiffany Williams, Abigail Montes, Carey Clark, Adam Lieboweitz, Danny R. Peralta, and other POINT staff and former participants.

For more information about this project, and to view the on-site archival installation currently at display at THE POINT CDC, 940 Garrison Avenue, Bronx, NY. Follow their story at www.point.org.

This project is made possible by generous support of THE POINT CDC, NOCD-NY, CUNY Bronx Community College and the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs.

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