126 JUANRA FERNANDEZ

sending e-mails and making phone calls to promote their project, another
couple of hours learning pro-tools (the music editing program) on the new
computer they max'ed out their credit cards to purchase, and then they
have to go to work to pay the rent and put food on the table.
 We do not produce commercial art, meaning the art whose main purpose
is to satisfy an existing demand. We produce cultural projects. We gain
credibility through years of producing great quality innovative work. The
dependence on the artist doing-it-all may take years to overcome, but the
ownership of the body of work produced will never be questioned.
 The long term commitment to continuity directs our attention to the eco-
nomic viability of the projects. We need a degree of conformity to achieve
legitimacy. These projects need the organizational capacity to get and main-
tain all the permits and other paperwork, for instance not-for-profit status.
Many projects have been fully financed by someone's credit card. Even when
a project is subsidized by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquefia, the money
won't make it out of the bureaucracy for six to twelve months if you are lucky.
At the same time, these projects need to compete in the same field as "el tipo."
Although they are not envisioned to sell, there are many examples of projects
that have become economically successful. Such artists as William Cepeda,
Tito Auger, Andanza, Cultura Prof6tica, Denis Mario, Cultura Viva have cre-
ated their own markets of customers who respect and demand their work.
 We might be alternative and underground but we don't want to seem exclu-
sive and certainly don't want to burn any bridges. I have a couple of things I
would like to respectfully say to "el tipo" myself, but I won't throw him out
from one of our activities as long as he pays for the price of admission.
 As a movement, we do have a lot we want to say. When there is a demon-
stration or a strike, teatreros and musicians are usually first in line with
performances, stilts, and costumes, and comparsas, again adding color and
swing to the event. Singer-songwriters, urban poets, hip-hop artists, and
grafiteros dedicate themselves daily to social commentary. But perhaps, in
contrast to earlier generations, we are not willing to put at risk the continu-
ity of our projects for some political radicalism that could alienate some or
even anger "el tipo" enough for him to direct his powerful ire at our projects.
 During the strike against the privatization of our telephone company, I
did not have the Cafe Theater yet and I was able to participate in confronta-
tions with police and line-breakers utilizing all necessary means to protect
our patrimony. When it was time to oust the Marines out of Vieques, I be-
came a civil disobedient and took groups of students to the protestor-occu-
pied beaches. But with my name now on a liquor license, indispensable for
the viability of the caf6, I could not risk a felony conviction and get arrested.
 The building that houses the Nuyorican Caf6, was owned in 1974 by the
church and managed by a bohemian priest named Father Bernard who leased
it to a cooperative of artists, led by Carlos Irizarry, for a percentage of their
profits which of course never existed. They created the Centro Nacional de