Lower East Side Community Hero
Special acknowledgement from the LES Community Hero Awards selection committee
Power Malu is a pioneering Artist, Athlete, Activist born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Power has dedicated his life to bridging diverse NYC communities in pursuit of a more just world.
From a young age Power learned the value of stamina and perseverance as he trained on the running track of East River Park with his father: a journeyman boxer who came up under manager Cus D’Amato at the Gramercy Park Gym at Union Square. Armed with talent and vision, Power applied the values he learned at home and the skills he developed navigating the streets of the Lower East Side to promoting gatherings and building community.
In a few short years, Power’s passion took him from the clubs of downtown Manhattan to sitting in on studio sessions with the likes of Big Pun and AB Quintanilla, before producing and starring on the groundbreaking MTV’s The Lyricists Lounge Show. After returning to the Lower East Side from filming in Hollywood California Power got back to training at the East River Park track where his father laid the foundation years before, cultivating a community of amateur athletes that eventually led to the founding of the NYC Bridge Runners.
It was with the Bridge Runners that Power participated in a cultural exchange with running crews in the former Yugoslavia, who used the sport to reconnect communities divided by war and ethnic strife. Seeing the power of running to transform collective trauma, Power mobilized his own community to support grassroots disaster relief efforts on his parents’ island of Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane María.
Since then, Power has been on a journey to connect the many paths he’s walked in the service of justice and healing. Using his platform and vast life experience, Power strives to educate and guide young activists fighting for racial and economic justice in New York, Puerto Rico and worldwide.
He founded his own non-profit organization, Artists Athletes Activists to serve low income families. With AAA Power puts his boundless energy and compassion in the service of the mental, spiritual and physical healing of marginalized and underserved communities through his Plant-Based Community Fridge and wellness initiatives. AAA began purchasing produce to help feed Lower East Side families in need during the height of the pandemic. In Feb 2021 we launched NY’s 1st Plant-Based Community Fridge in front of Overthrow New York Boxing gym to provide an outdoor space where people can go to connect with others and grab any plant based food options they needed for themselves and their family. Since then we’ve launched 10 plant based community fridges inside Public Schools in district 1 on the Lower East Side to provide fruits and vegetables for students and their families.
In August of 2022 AAA found itself on the frontlines of the migrant crisis in NYC and founded the Artists Athletes Activists Emergency Response Team.
AAA is currently on the ground in NYC receiving migrants coming in from the border. Mega Bus Station and New York Area airports. We are responding to this emergency as best we could with minimal resources. Everyday hundreds of Asylum Seekers arrive in NYC and we are on the ground to welcome them and assist with food, clothing, shelter and information regarding their upcoming immigration hearings. If you’re interested in supporting Artists Athletes Activists please consider making a donation www.artists-athletes-activists.org (Instagram: @artists.athletes.activists)