CHICAGO MEMORIES OF JUAN FLORES (1943 – 2014) This morning my brother (he would refer to ma as “Tocayo”), friend, colleague, and mentor, Juan Flores, passed away. Juan Flores was a professor, author, who has been described as someone who paved the way for many of us to examine issues of race, popular culture, and neo-colonialisman. Juan and his wife/partner, Miriam Jimenez Roman, influenced/inspired me to continue my advocacy work for the Afro-Latin@ presence, not only in Chicago, but also throughout the entire region of the Americas. I first met & collaborated with Juan in May of 1995, while working at the Center for Black Music Research @ Columbia College in Chicago, and he presented a lecture/demonstration based on his book, “From Bomba To Hip-Hop”. In that presentation, Juan was joined by a couple of rappers by the name of “Latin Empire”. On or about the same time I had also the distinct pleasure of meeting Miriam Jimenez Roman, Juan’s wife. In the coming years our friendship grew, and I collaborated with both of them on contributing articles to the CENTRO Journal & the Afro-Latin@ Reader. Their creation of the Afro-Latin@ Forum inspired me to go into action and establish the Afro-Latin@ Institute of Chicago. On September 21, 2007, we launched the institute, Miriam & Juan attended as invited special guest. Throughout the years we would hang in various local conferences, or run across each other in places like San Francisco, or their home in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Juan would always treat me with the utmost respect, and we would have these long telephone conversations where we would converse and catch up on all kinds of things, i.e. music, sports, home repairs, projects, health issues, etc. I am so saddened & shocked by his untimely death. The last time I spoke to Juan was on October 30th, 2014, when Miriam & him called me from O’Hare Airport on their way to make a presentation at a conference at Notre Dame University – we got to talking, and he had to cut the conversation short because he was boarding the plane. We agree to call each other again, just to catch up, and that day will never come again. Rest in Peace My Brother, Rest in Peace! Carlos Flores
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 01:58:07 +0000
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