So, we do a little bit of everything to support the patient, the caregiver, and the family going through the cancer journey. Damian because i would imagineyou know, and i lost my father to cancer, but when you get the news, you wanna get into the fetal position, and you dont wanna talk to anybody about it, and you start thinking of people or things to blame for that. So, i meanso, its critical when you have this type of counseling, maybe peer support from those whove been there and those who know how to maybe walk you through perhaps the most difficult time in your life. Cecilia correct, yeah. When they started cancer carepoint, it was important to provide the whole care of the patient. There was something lacking than just going to your doctors appointments and going home and dealing with all the information on your own. Cancer carepoint is there to support you, help you with education. If you have a question about the diagnosis you have, we either have the answer or we can help you find the answer. And just the oneonone support, you know, having Human Interaction and being able to talk to someone about everything that youre going through. Damian and tell us about the new endeavor that youre cecilia so, were expanding our services to the spanishspeaking community because we do know that there is a need. And we are going to have a nutrition class in east side san jose on april 23 at our lady of guadalupe parish. Its gonna be in spanish from 2 to 3 p. M. And then in english from 3 to 4 p. M. On sunday the 23rd. Damian why nutrition . Talk about the role that nutrition plays in the care. Cecilia so, nutrition is very important because when you are diagnosed, you start the treatment and you kindasome people kinda stop eating because the treatment is very intense. And because you do lose a lot of weight, sometimes they do stop the treatment because youre not in a healthy weight to be able to continue, cause it is a very intense treatment. Also, theres a lot of things that you should eliminate, and you should probably eat more things that youre not used to eating because you do need a lot more things to be able to withstand the treatment. Damian plus, at the same time, i know that your appetite changes completely, so some of the things that youre used to eating, your stomach cant hold it down. Cecilia right, nausea is a very common side effect with most cancer treatments. So, the nutritionists that we have kinda have tips for the patients on what to eat if that does happen, and also how to make meals more appetizing and nutritious, cause you definitely have to have more nutritious meals. Damian because you dont have anything to do with the cure for cancer, but youre there to help those who have been diagnosed to better deal with it as theyre going through the process. Cecilia yes, its all to reduce the stress of going through cancer. Either have someone to talk to, find other people that are going through the same thing you are through the support groups, and just have information that you dont necessarily get or receive at your doctors appointments or even from your doctor themselves. Damian and so, the event at guadalupe church, is that more about nutrition, or can i just go in case i have questions and id like to getmaybe sign up for counseling or whatever . Cecilia yeah, so, we will havewe now have a spanishspeaking social worker. Her name is Barbara Richmond and she will be there the day of the nutrition class. She will be there to take peoples information if they wanna set up an appointment with her. And also, you can come pick up our schedule of classes that we have at our center. And we can also arrange to speak to another counsel social worker for counseling. Damian good, all right. Well, there is the information on your screen. If youd like more information, there is the web address and phone number for the bilingual social worker, that way you can getcounselor or social worker . Cecilia social worker who offers counseling. Damian theres the number, her direct line there for more information. Well, thank you so much for the work that youre doing. Cecilia thank you. Damian thank you very much. And up next here on comunidad del valle, the Mexican Museum of San Francisco. Stay with us. With me from the Mexican Museum of San Francisco on comunidad del valle is edgar de sola, the coo of the museum. Welcome to the show. Edgar de sola thank you. Damian so, we have the beautiful images that you provided. Tell us about Tramas Urbanas and what the exhibition is about. Edgar well, Tramas Urbanas is an exhibit by Paloma Torres that we just started about 2 weeks ago. Shes a mexican artist. Shes been all over the world. She has more than 100 collectives which she has participated and she specializes in tapestries and sculptures, abstract sculptures. Theyre all made of felt material. Most of the felt material is really left over from other artists. Shes very creative in the way she puts it together. So, shes a very unique artist and shes been practically all over the world. Damian thats awesome. And this is a collaboration with the secretaria de relaciones al exterior and the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco. Edgar thats very correct. Damian tell us about that collaboration, why its vital in bringing, you know, items such as this. Edgar well, let me give you an example. The collection has been all over the world, as i said before. It was last time in thailand. So, thanks to the secretaria of mexico, it was possible for us as a museum to bring it from thailand to San Francisco. They were very important in the way to make all the transactions and all that is involved to get this collection. Its about 40 or 60 pieces, and you know, it requires special crating, and permits, and customs, and so on. And thanks to the Mexican Consulate, we could achieve these. Damian so, its not edgar put it available for the people. Damian yeah, but its not like going on amazon and saying, i wanna order this collection. Edgar absolutely not. Absolutely not. Its difficult. Damian you know, talk about the classy material exhibitions that the museum is used to bringing, because you dont just bringing whatever exhibition and display it there. It has to do with class and it has to do with style and a lot of cultural artifacts, if you will. Edgar yeah, well, the Mexican Museum, as you know, we try to expose what the mexican culture has to offer, not only from mexico but also for the mexicanamericans. So, we have a lot of chicano art there. We have contemporary art there. And also, we have a very significant precolombian collection. But its quite unique. So, we just had one before Paloma Torres and it was very successful. Damian and the fort mason center, thats treated you i mean, im sure its going well there for you guys at the fort mason. Edgar yes, yes; its well for us at fort mason, but were excited about a new facility. We plan to have a new building by 2019. Damian wow. Edgar its gonna be right there in the yerba buena area, along with the jewish museum, moad, and sfmoma. And will really will catapult the museum internationally. Damian talk about the importance of having the museum in a centralized location like the one youre mentioning. I mean edgar well, its very simple. The traffic of people that just walk by yerba buena. Its right next to the moscone. Its gonna increaseits gonna be exponentially. You know, now people that wants to go to our museum needs to really look it up, find out what it is, and get the information. Traffic will explode and well be very proud. Were very excited about having this new location. Damian what do you want, when youre looking at Tramas Urbanas, what do you hope that the viewer or the visitor goes home with after witnessing the artwork . Edgar well, the viewer will walk away with a sensation that they saw something unique. It is unique, you know . You dont see that type of art often. Its not common in many museums. So, its very, very unique, very particular, and i invite everybody to see it. Well have it open til may the 28th, and please come. Its free. Damian yeah. Edgar admission is free. Damian is it a specialnot that youre an artist, but is it a special talent to produce that kind of art . You mentioned, i dont wanna say scraps, but using the leftover material from other artists. Edgar well, just, im telling you, manually, the talentive seen her working. Manually, the talent is tremendous. Its extremely laborintensive. On top of that, she can became creative by using leftovers from other artists. So, what other artists would toss away, she would rescue them and put them together, and thats where the creativity comes in. And so, its a lot of merit and a lot ofits very special. Just look at the images. Its all done that way and laborintensive. I saw her at her studio in mexico. Its tremendous. Damian are you in partnerships with any museums in mexico . Edgar well, were affiliated to the Smithsonian Museum. Were very proud of that affiliation. You know, the Smithsonian Museum is one of the largest museums in the country. And also, we are starting more connections with museums all over the world, but mostly in mexico. Damian okay, all right. Well, this is called Tramas Urbanas. Its going on for the next few weeks over at the Mexican Museum of San Francisco. There is the web address for more information. Thank you very much for bringing this to our local. Edgar youre welcome, damian. Thanks for the interview. Damian gracias. Edgar gracias. Damian and well be back with more after this. Stay with us. Called project n. With me on comunidad del valle today is Denise Soler Cox on the show. You know, denise, welcome to the show. Denise soler cox thank you. Damian i know that i belongim a member of the National Association of hispanic journalists. Denise yes, i love those guys. Damian the symbol is the enye. Denise yes, i love that. Damian talk about the significance of the enye and why project n. Denise so, the significance of the enye, the enye is our letter. When a latino looks at the letter enye, you know damian this is us. Denise that its for us. Right, versus the n. The n is like our american side, and the enye is our latino side. Damian whatwere gonna show you the trailer in its entirety, but right now we wanna show you just some video. What made you decide to do something on us who are latinoborn americans . Denise yeah, what made me decide was really a lifelong feeling of feeling disconnected and not feeling latino enough for my latino family and friends and not feeling american enough for the mainstream culture that i grew up in. I just didnt know where i belonged and i didnt feel enough for either side. And one night, i had an amazing dinner with my friends where i felt incredibly connected to something and i felt incredibly connected to something right in the middle, the both place, something that was enough of both. I just felt so, like, connected and i wanted to share that connection with other people. So, that was 20 years ago, and i decided that i would make a movie. But then, i waited 17 years to actually make it because i didnt feel like i was latina enough to make it. Damian isnt that something . What is it thatdo you think that makes us latino or latina . Is theredo you ever get there . Denise that is an awesome question, and honestly, i think we get there when we say were there and we get there when we say you know what . Im not being able to be perfect speaking spanish, like me. That doesnt define my latinaness. Not knowing how to bachata, cause i can merengue, i can salsa, i cant bachata. Guess what . Im still latina, you know . I know some of my mothers recipes, i dont know all. I know some of the puerto rican culture where my familys from, i dont know everything. But that does not define my latinaness. I say how latina i am, and i think one of the most important things for our community right now is to accept each other in allwhether were, you know, partial speakers, or partial dancers, or know our culture, you know, just a little bit, i think its important for all of us all together to accept each other exactly the way that we are and exactly the way were not, and not to assign enoughness to each other. And when people watch the film, they start thinking, hmm, have i done this before or do i empathize with this . And it creates a healing for the audience thats like nothing ive ever seen. Damian cause were all part of the stew, right . When you talk about boricuas, when you talk about salvadorenos, and mexicans, its all part of the same stew. And so, you start thinking of the character traits that puertorriqueno might have, hey, i can relate. Or salvadoreno, hey, i can relate to that. Denise yes, its so true. And having the American Experience i think is the through line. A lot of peopleyou know, i might not be able to identify really with a salvadorian, right . Thats totally different food. Same language, same dancing, same flavor. But the fact that we both are on this kind of american journey, that is the connective tissue and that connects all of us all together, because we know what its like to be ni de aqui, ni de alla. We know that feeling, and once people are woken up to that, theres a connection and a unification among latinos in the audience thats phenomenal, and its so, so needed right now more than ever. Damian no, right. I mean, los tigres del norte have a ballad that addresses just that, that they dont want us here. They dont want us there. Where do we belong . Denise yes. Damian do youis there an answer or are we just kinda creating our own identity here . Denise i think the answer is just selfacceptance and also acceptance of others and not assigning enoughness to other people because they dont x, y, or z, right . So, like, where do i see myself as disconnected and divided, and then taking responsibility for those areas. Like for right now for me, i have a tutor in spanish. So, im finishing learning spanish. But whether i did, or whether i didnt, or whether i dont is not an indication of how latina i am, right . So, like, selfacceptance and then a declaration. Like, im gonna include myself. Im gonna be here. Im latina too, and all of this, like, enyeness and thats, likethat is what a latina looks like in the United States today. And so, a lot of it is kinda selfcomes from here, which is great, because thats what were in control of, right . Damian so, we kinda challenged you to ask you to be also on the telemundo show, comunidad del valle, because that requires spanish. Denise ahh damian let me tell you what i did. When i first started this show, the telemundo show, about 2 years ago, i had to apologize to the viewers and say, my spanish is not perfect. Its street spanish. Ill say raite, ill say garage. Ill say these words that we say on the street. I hope you can accept me for that. And its been beautiful. Its been so accepting. But i mean, thats just the language we speak. Denise yes, and you know what, thats so true. And i think that thats awesome that they were accepting. Theres some other people that have the same experience and theyre not accepted, and people use that to judge each other, and im so tired of that. I mean, i just really feel like now more than ever, we need to unify, stop judging each other. Theres plenty of people that are judging and criticizing the latino community. The last thing we need is to judge each other. And so, accepting each other for where we are and where were not is super, super important. And understanding that were just going through human experience, you know, really thats what it boils down to, and everyones entitled to their very own experience. Damian exactly, youre my sister. Denise ah, haha, thats awesome. Damian if youd like more information on this film, its called project n. Damian how accomplished do you feel after completing this . This is pretty awesome. Denise thank you so much. And i have to say, i feel pretty darn accomplished. I mean, i had an idea and then i did not do a thing with it for 17 years. I talked about it. I talked everyones ear off about it and i didnt act on it. And then one day, i said, enough is enough. I am sothis is so not gonna happen if i dont move on this and if i dont do anything about it. And i did, and i tell you, it was a really long road. Its been 5 years since i pitched the concept to my creative partner and we released the film last year. And tojust the idea of taking Something Like this im not a filmmaker before this. That i was able to engage enough people, and get excited about it, and actually get it done is, next to my children, the pride of my life. Damian and its serious and funny at the same time, right . Denise right, very typical latino. Like, one minute youre crying, one minute youre laughing, you know . Its justit takes you on this emotional journey. And then in the end, i mean, we just had a screening at a local high school and the kids were just so authentic. And afterwards, the teachers were, like, so surprised at how authentic and honest the kids were after seeing the film, because it really opens the door to a conversation that we dont allow ourselves to have and, like, to address feelings that we had when we were kids but that we didnt think mattered. Because as enyes, as latinos, were trying to be successful. Were trying to make good on the promise of the sacrifices that our parents made to come here. We need to do well in school. We need to be successful. Were not thinking about all of these weird feelings that were having and were not giving importance to those feelings. And once we have a chance to see them on the screen, i mean, i always say grown men cry. Like, the biggest criers in the audience are men because theyre like, oh my god, like, i feel like this and i cant believe i havent experienced these feelings before, or you know, im in touch with feelings i had when i was a little boy, and it reallyit heals people. It engages people and it heals people, and we need that right now. Damian and i think everybody recognizes luis, the actor there. Denise yes, luis guzman, yes. And we actually had a chance to interview him in three different cities, and hes a big fan of the project, and im just so grateful that he was in the film, along with some other really interesting characters. Actually, one of the other characters thats in the film is the guy that wrote carlitos way, and he kinda makes a quick cameo in and out, yeah. Damian so, luis seems like hes gonna get a tattoo with an enye on. Denise oh my gosh, that would be awesome. Damian well, this is great. Again, the film is calledgive us the name of the film again. Denise the film is called being n. Damian okay, and there is the web address for project n. Its projectenye. Com for more information. Its a film by Denise Soler Cox. Any final thoughts, denise, before we let you go . Denise oh, just thank you so much for giving us some attention here in the bay area. Were so thrilled to take this film all over the country, and it means a lot to us, especially in kind of this infant stage where we are in the project, that communities embrace us. So, i just wanna say thank you so much for doing that for us today. Damian all right, good luck. Denise thank you very much. Damian all right, thanks. Damian project n, what a project. Up next here on comunidad del valle, mariachi vargas returns for mothers day. San jose, stay with us. In your comunidad on que pasa. Damian and our saludos for those celebrating a special day. Felicidades. Damian here is our contact information. You can follow me on twitter. My handle is newsdamian. Also pick up a copy of El Observador newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. Also, may 13, mothers day. Thats a saturday night at the san jose civic, the City National civic its called now. Mariachi vargas de tecalitlan returns to san jose to celebrate mothers day. Thats may 13 at the san jose civic with los mestizos de san jose, so my girls will be dancing with mariachi vargas de tecalitlan. Were gonna leave you now with a little bit of little joe and flaco jimenez. Buenos dias. Little joe agua bendita. Gracias, flaco. Ando borracho de celos y sentimiento. Porque ayer tarde a mi prieta la vi enojada. Quien es ese amigo que ayer te tenia abrazada. Pero, ay, que caray. Que retraidora mujer. Tu tienes la culpa. Que yo de borracho viva. Tu tienes la culpa. Que yo de borracho muera. Sirvame otra copa senorita cantinera. Que Quiero Olvidar la traicion de esa mujer. Little joe digale, flaco tu tienes la culpa. Que yo de borracho viva. Tu tienes la culpa. Que yo de borracho muera. Sirvame otra copa senorita cantinera. Que Quiero Olvidar la traicion de esa mujer. [music theme, george to the rescue] hi, im jason. Im jillian. And were from roxbury township, new jersey. Jason and i met at hillside church. We both grew up there. We started dating after i graduated high school and dated about 2 and 1 2 years and got married a year and a half later. I would describe jillian as creative, beautiful obviously, a wonderful mother. Jason is very trustworthy. Hes devoted. Hes a great husband and father