Salsa Legend Tito Nieves and Ramón Rodríguez from ABC’s Will “Trent” Join Lisa Lisa in Leading the 67th Annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade

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Jasmin Espada

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A Diverse and Distinguished Line-Up of Honorees to Be Celebrated on June 9

New York City – (May 21, 2024) At a press conference at the esteemed Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, the Board of Directors of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade (NPRDP) unveiled additional themes, tributes, and honorees for the 67th annual celebration. Under the 2024 theme, Boricua de Corazón (Puerto Rican in My Heart), the two-week extravaganza of Puerto Rican culture, history, and contributions to global society commences this Saturday, May 25 and reaches its crescendo with the iconic procession up New York City’s Fifth Avenue on Sunday, June 9, at 11am EDT.

"We have carefully curated a diverse and distinguished roster of honorees, each one a shining example of the excellence Puerto Ricans have contributed across numerous professions; from Music, Art, Theater, Film, and Television to Sports, Science, Literature, Politics, and Journalism," shared" NPRDP Board Chair, Lillian Rodríguez Lopez. "We extend a warm invitation to everyone to join us on NYC’s Fifth Avenue as we celebrate these outstanding individuals and our collective pride in our heritage and culture under our 2024 theme, Boricua de Corazón."

The 2024 Grand Marshal will be acclaimed salsa singer, Tito Nieves. Born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico and raised in Brooklyn, Nieves spent his formative years in the musical scene of New York City. He trained as a musician as a young child, demonstrating tremendous talent and vocal power by the time he was a young teen. He started performing professionally at 15 years old. Today, he has an accomplished career that spans over four decades, with multiple Billboard and Grammy-nominated hit songs, including "Fabricando Fantasías”,

"Sonámbulo”, "El Amor Más Bonito”, "Tuyo”, "Mi Eterno Amor Secreto”, "Más Que Tu Amigo”, "De Mí Enamórate”, "Almohada,” as well as the cover of the Tito Rodríguez’ hit song, “I Like it Like That.”

Recognized as Padrino (Godfather) of this year’s celebration is the dynamic and versatile actor, Ramón Rodríguez. Born in Río PIedras, Puerto Rico, Rodriguez has crafted a distinguished career in film and television. He currently stars as the title character and is a co-executive producer on the ABC drama series “Will Trent,” a role that has earned him several accolades, including the Spotlight Award at the 2023 National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts Visibility Awards and a Best Actor in a Drama Series nomination for the Critics’ Choice TV Award. Rodríguez will next be seen starring alongside Viola Davis in the Amazon MGM Studios and MRC action thriller movie, “G20.”

The 2024 Athlete of the Year is one of the newest members of the New York Yankees, Marcus Stroman. Born in Medford, NY, Stroman is one of the Yankees premier starting pitchers. Widely regarded as one of the best pitchers in the game, Stroman spent the previous two seasons with the Chicago Cubs and pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets before joining the Yankees in the 2024 offseason. Stroman represented Team Puerto Rico at the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC). He was part of the United States

National Team in the 2017 WBC, where he was named MVP. A philanthropist that is committed to giving back to his community, Stroman founded a non-profit foundation, HDMH (Height Doesn't Measure Heart), as well as a scholarship program to help advance the education of youth in The Bronx.

In April, the NPRDP announced that the 2024 Madrina (Godmother) will be Lisa Vélez, aka Lisa Lisa from Cult Jam. Born in Manhattan to a Puerto Rican family, Vélez is recognized as an iconic singer/songwriter and pioneer in the genres of Latin Hip-Hop, Freestyle and Pop music. Her hit songs, like “Can You Feel the Beat,” "Head to Toe,” and “Lost in Emotion,” have made generations of people sing and dance to her unique, Latino-inspired sound. An active performer, Lisa Lisa is touring this year. In 2025, her classic hit, “I Wonder If I TakeYou Home," will mark 40 years since its release.

Additional Parade Honorees Announced Today

• Hijo de Borinquen (Son of Puerto Rico) – Frankie Cutlass: DJ, Producer and recording artist who is celebrating the 30th anniversary of his classic Hip Hop song “Puerto Rico”
  

• Sports Star: José “Piculín” Ortíz – Retired professional basketball player who played for the NBA and Puerto Rico's Baloncesto Superior Nacional
  

• Sports Star: Xander Zayas: Professional Boxer and prominent rising star in the sport

• Ambassador: Andrea Navedo: Author and TV actor best known for her role as Xiomara Villanueva in Jane the Virgin

• Ambassador: Liza Colón Zayas: Emmy Award-winning actress and playwright, currently starring as Tina Marrero in the The Bear

• Ambassador: David Zayas: TV actor, best known for his roles in Showtime's series Dexter and HBO drama series Oz, and is currently starring in the Off-Broadway play Brooklyn Laundry
  

• Ambassador: Taína Beatriz Caragol-Barreto: First curator of Latino Art & Historia at the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery

• Ambassador: Roberto Sueiro: Lawyer, composer, playwright, advocate for copyright rights for Latino performers

• Ambassador: Ricardo Alberto Maldonado: First Latino Executive Director of the prestigious Academy of American Poets

• Ambassador: Victoria Cruz: LGBTQIA and transgender civil rights activist and retired domestic violence counselor

• Ambassador: DJ Charlie Chase – Recognized for his contributions to the Bronx' early Hip Hop culture

• Ambassador: Edison “Señor Edison” López – Content creator whose social media platforms help diaspora Gen Z connect with Puerto Rican and Latin American culture and history
  

• Education Leadership: Leslie Torres-Ródriguez, PhD: Superintendent, Harford Public Schools and Lecturer at Yale Education Studies Program

• Education Leadership: Mildred García, PhD: Chancellor, The California State University

Posthumous Honorees

Four legendary Puerto Ricans and their legacies will be posthumously honored at this year’s celebration:

• Rafael Cepeda Atiles and Caridad Brenes de Cepeda: Recognized as the patriarch and matriarch of Afro-Puerto Rican dance and musical genres, Bomba and Plena
  

• Lola Rodríguez de Tío: Poet and activist dedicated to women’s rights, the abolition of slavery and the independence movement in Puerto Rico; born in San Germán, Puerto Rico
  

• Raúl Juliá: Celebrated Theater and Film actor known for his roles in Kiss of the Spider woman and Gomez Addams; nominated in the Best Actor categories for the Golden Globe® and Tony® Awards

Gala Honorees

The NPRDP will host its annual Scholarship Gala Fundraiser at The Plaza Hotel, on June 7. Three distinguished honorees to be recognized for their excellence in leadership and commitment to Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican/Hispanic communities:

• U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona

• Senior Vice President, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Comcast Corporation, Juan Otero

• Author, Activist, Philanthropist and Founding Partner of The Mirram Group, Luis Miranda

A press release with the initial announcement of honorees can be found at www.prparade.org.

The NPRDP Board of Directors thanks these sponsors and media partners for supporting for 67th Annual celebration and scholarship program: Corona, Modelo, Manhattan Beer Distributors, the Walt Disney Company and ABC7 New York, Verizon, GOYA Foods, Procter & Gamble, City University of New York, Liberty Coca-Cola, the Amazing Mets Foundation, Miranda Family Fund, Comcast Corporation, TWU Local 100, Bronx Lebanon, Acacia Network, MetroPlusHealth, Montefiore, Popular Bank, GFR Media and Junte Boricua, Charter Communications, Lincoln Center, United Federation of Teachers, NBC4 and Telemundo47 NY, Spanish Broadcasting System, CNN en Español, NYC Health + Hospitals, Monster Energy, United Federation of Teachers, Dollar Tree, Rainbow Apparel, AARP, Door Dash, Ponce Bank and Amalgamated Bank.

2024 NPRDP Event Calendar

• 152nd St. Cultural Festival on May 25 – Between Jackson and Tinton Streets, at 11am – 6pm

• Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on June 2 – Fifth Avenue and E. 51 Street, New York City, at 4pm

• Scholarship Gala Fundraiser on June 7 – The Plaza, 768 Fifth Ave, New York City, at 6:30pm

• 67th Annual Parade on June 9 – Fifth Ave between 44th and 79th Streets, New York City, at 11am

The National Puerto Rican Day Parade will march up New York’s Fifth Avenue, in one of United States largest cultural celebrations with an estimated attendance of one million people. The Parade will be broadcast on the WABC Channel 7 in New York at 12 noon EDT and streamed on the station’s website, abc7NY.com, and on the station’s free news and connected TV apps on Amazon FireTV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku. For more

information about the Parade and a more details about the calendar of events, visit www.prparade.org.

About the National Puerto Rican Day Parade

Renown for being America’s largest celebration of Puerto Rican pride and achievement, the Parade is an iconic platform for cultural preservation and collective legacy-building that was born from the New York City Puerto Rican community’s struggle for equity, inclusion, and validation in the 1950s. Under its slogan, Un Pueblo, Muchas Voces (One People, Many Voices), the NPRDP promotes Culture, Arts and Education, with special tributes to historical figures and key themes to raise awareness of critical issues and causes to our community.

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