Puerto Rican Day Parade 2014: Calle 13's Front Man René Perez Will Be King of Annual Festivity; Lauren Vélez, Polito Vega, Frankie Negrón to Lead Event
Calle 13's frontman René Pérez Joglar will be the King of this year's 57th annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City.
Today, the parade will float down New York's Fifth Avenue, running from 44th Street to 79th Street, and will start at 11 a.m. The parade will honor two late greats of Latin music, who died last year, Cheo Feliciano and Gran Combo of Puerto Rico founder Eddie Pérez, Billboard reported, as well as the liberation of political activist Oscar López Rivera, according to Huffington Post.
Calle 13 is a Latino multi-Grammy winning duo group that is well known in Puerto Rico and all across Latin America. Speaking at the Gracie Mansion on Friday, Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, the first Latina to serve as city council's speaker, praised and congratulated the reorganized board for this year's parade.
While at the Gracie Mansion on Friday, elected officials not only bestowed Pérez but also Eduardo José Martínez, another member of Calle 13, with a proclamation that praised the group for "igniting minds, imaginations, and conversations around the world," the Huffington Post reported.
The King of the parade Pérez uses his music with Calle 13 to make statements about social issues, and is involved in political activism. Has had regular meetings with Latin American presidents and recently collaborated with Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder and so-called whistle blower, on the band's recent album "Multi-Viral," Billboard reported. Pérez is also an outspoken member of the Puerto Rican independence movement.
At today's parade, Perez will also be joined by the queen on the royal float, along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, Puerto Rican actress Rosie Pérez. Pérez will also be joined by Lauren Vélez, Polito Vega and Frankie Negron.
Not only will López be honored at this year's parade, the parade will pay tribute to the 100th anniversary of the birth of poet Julia de Burgos, as well as the 65th Infantry Regiment, known as the Borinqueneers. The Borinqueneers got its name from the indigenous name of the island, "Borinquen." The Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment fought in both World Wars, and in the Korean War, before they were disbanded in 1959, the Huffington Post reported.
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