Tanya Collazo mural on Wilson and Bleecker
The building that is home to Raydan Deli and Grocery was a paint supply store in the 1940s called “Roman Paint & Wallpapers.” Check it out in the picture. But we are actually stopping at this spot to take in the mural on the front of the deli. Painted in 2016, this mural on the corner of Bleecker and Wilson is in memory of Bushwick resident Tanya Collazo. Collazo was tragically gunned down by her boyfriend in August of 2015. She was beloved in the neighborhood, and this mural was painted in her honor. Public memorials are an integral part of human societies. We remember the fallen in a myriad of ways. Up the block from here you can find the Heisser memorial, commemorating soldiers who perished during WWI. Sculpture, box of candles in front of a building, a poem, or a portrait painted by aerosol can, the sentiment of mourning and memory remains the same, even when the context of the war is different.
Continue to Rest in Peace, Tanya.
Esperanza Pa’ Mañana
By Shy Richardson
If there’s one thing I know about Puerto Ricans,
It’s that we can fight.
We got hands for days
Our history is littered with some of the greatest fighters to ever slip their knuckles into a pair of gloves and dance around a ring
From Felix Trinidad to Miguel Cotto, Wilfredo Gomez to Hector Camacho
‘Chacho!
If there’s one thing I know about Puerto Ricans,
It’s that we can fight.
I saw my moms beat cancer.
I saw my great grandmother
Beat cancer - twice.
I saw my grampa rise at 3am every morning
To slay the day
Avena on the stovetop for me
To have the strength to do the same.
Cuz if there’s one thing I know about Puerto Ricans, it’s that we know what the body needs for battle.
If there’s one thing we know how to do, it’s push thru.
Like the matriarchs who shaped us
who gritted her teeth and pushed out paths
No epidural
Gave birth to lineages
Roots & branch & beginnings
Word to the Finca Imiza
in Sabana Eneas
Paint chipped and still standing
Despite the ocean’s threats to bring
Us home.
There are blessings to count
Even on our worst days
We, remnants of those that made the cut of carrying
Across oceans, and fields and concrete and hoods and hospital rooms
If there’s one thing I know about Puerto Ricans
It’s that we can fight
Every bob every weave every jab and hook
Is a promise to keep it pushin.