Teaching Seniors How to Meditate on the Lower East Side: What I’ve Learned

…”The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (known as “The Clemente”) was opened in a former Lower East Side public school in 1993, the year that the Puerto Rican Nationalist poet it was named after died. Executive Director Libertad Guerra wanted to revisit his metaphysical aspirations of serving community through creative and spiritual liberation, so we threw ideas around over the course of the COVID-19 lockdown.

A vision came into focus when we found statistics on the plight of the elderly during the pandemic, how social distancing had accelerated their physical and mental decline as well as their mortality rates. Addressing this problem with creative and holistic tools fascinated me as a teacher and program consultant whose work has focused on vulnerable communities such as the undocumented, LGBTQI youth of color, and elders of color.”

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