On December 16, 2011 the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture (IPRAC) hosted an opening celebration for a photography exhibition with over 50 people present, including the twelve Puerto Rican and Latina/o youth who participated as co-researchers in the educational project. The project, “Exploring Place Attachment, Sociopolitical Development, and Community Action among Latino Youth” is a part of the doctoral dissertation of the lead researcher, Mayra Estrella, and was executed by the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in partnership with the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Institute of Policy and Civic Engagement and the School of Public Health.
The project and exhibition, utilizing the “PhotoVoice” methodology, included four original photographs by each youth printed on four by six feet paper with a short narrative accompanying the picture describing its importance and meaning. This was done with the purpose of inquiring about the significance and relationship of place attachment for the youth and how they develop an understanding of the ways in which social forces affect the well-being of the community. Moreover, it was designed to provide a voice for the diverse experiences and expressions of Humboldt Park residents and for the youth to reflect upon the implications on becoming transformative citizens in their community.
This special event also included some influential and prestigious leaders, such as our State Representative Cynthia Soto, who spoke on the importance of bridging resources between the community and Chicago universities. Also present was Dr. Joe ‘Skip’ García, Vice Chancellor for Research at UIC, who said a few words on the important and inspiring aspects of this community-inspired project. Other attendees included Marvin García, a member of the Board of Trustees at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) and Dr. Michelle Kelly, Associate Professor from the UIC School of Public Health.
Moreover, the audience was able to hear from the youth who co-researched this project. Jazmira Bota, a Boricua freshman at DePaul University and a life-long Humboldt Park resident, spoke on how eye-opening this project was for her because she was able to witness the commonalities and differences among her peers in the community that she never fully reflected upon before. The audience also heard from Alyssa Villegas, a Boricua Sophomore at NEIU who grew-up in Uptown and Albany Park, but with deep roots in Humboldt Park. In her conversation with the audience, Villegas spoke on the importance of this community being a nexus for Puerto Ricans throughout the city and how in this place she and others will find their identity and discover a sense of belonging and meaning.
The event concluded with certificates of completion given to each youth by Estrella and myself. The youth will also receive a free laptop at the end of this month in recognition of their hard and important work, and to assist in their educational studies.

By Xavier “Xavi” Burgos

“You can not buy the wind / You can not buy the sun…
You can not buy my joys / You can not buy my sorrows…
The juice of my struggle is not artificial /
For the fertilizer of my land is natural…
You can’t buy my life / My land isn’t for sale…
I’m what my father taught me/
If you do not love your country, you do not love your mother…
I’m Latin America / A people without legs yet walks …”

Under the pouring rain and the sounds of Venezuela’s youth orchestra, the lyrics of Calle 13’s Grammy award winning song “Latinoamerica” were chanted by thousands present for the closing ceremony of the first summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Held in Caracas, Venezuela on December 2 and 3, the CELAC represents the formation of a new political and economic regional bloc that unites thirty-three countries from across Latin America and the Caribbean, but which does not include the United States and Canada. This song, one of Calle 13’s most recent, has become the international anthem throughout the Spanish-speaking Americas. Not only does it poetically describe experiences of historical injustice, poverty and the ruthless operations carried in Latin America by the United States and its allies, but also it has reinserted Puerto Rico and its colonial situation on the Latin American and international stage.

Prior to CELAC summit, Bolivian President Evo Morales made an acknowledgement of Calle 13, stating that “their songs, their interpretations, represent the people of, not only Bolivia, but of Latin America as well.” Historically, Calle 13 has distinguished itself from other performers by giving voice to the voiceless, just as they did on the last day of the summit. Among the 33 nations invited to CELAC, Puerto Rico’s absence was the most felt. The absence of Puerto Rico is due to the fact that Puerto Rico is a colonial possession of the United States. Since the signing of the “Treaty of Paris” on December 10, 1898, which concluded the so-called Spanish American War, the fate of Puerto Rico and its people have been determined by the U.S. Congress.

Calle 13 is composed of stepbrothers René Pérez, Residente (lead singer), Eduardo Cabra, Visitante (producer), and their sister Ileana aka PG-13 (choirs). The group has created a bridge that connects Puerto Rico to the rest of Latin America. In addition to their ability to incorporate sounds and slang from throughout the Americas, the lyrics of Calle 13 have courageously denounced the contradictions of capitalism, the brutality of colonialism and right to free education. In doing so, they have assumed the mantle of visionary musicians like the likes of Silverio Rodríguez, Bob Marley, Femi Kuti, and the late Facundo Cabral. Through their music, they have reminded their fellow Puerto Ricans about the ills of U.S. colonialism and the importance of independence. For this reason, they have been consistently criticized and attacked by Puerto Rico’s upper middle class and conservative sectors. Through rhymes and beats, Calle 13 has advanced the patriotic work of Puerto Rican revolutionaries, such as Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Juan Mari Bras and Juan Antonio Corretjer.

It is in this spirit that Calle 13 doesn’t forget their ancestors who have given their lives to free Puerto Rico. If we look back at Calle 13’s first political song, “Querido FBI,” it was angry denunciation of Machetero leader Filiberto Ojeda Ríos’ assassination by the FBI in 2005. Ojeda’s death, in fact, marked a major turning point for the group, as they soon after embarked on a journey to better understand the social injustices that have and continue to occur on our continent.

On the last day of the summit, René Perez (Residente) became the most important popular voice that Puerto Rico has thus far in 21st century. Its significant contribution to Puerto Rico is so relevant that it invites the question: Who, in the absence of Calle 13, would popularly connect Puerto Rico to the rest of Latin America? Their presence in Venezuela not only gave voice to all the Puerto Ricans who believe in a sovereign Puerto Rico, but also made the point that the CELAC summit was incomplete without Puerto Rico. This important point was powerfully reiterated during the summit by the Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, who noted: “We are thirty-three, but are still missing Puerto Rico; sooner rather than later, Puerto Rico will incorporate itself.”

by Jonathan Rivera Lizardi

For more on CELAC visit: http://www.telesurtv.net/secciones/afondo/especiales/CELAC_2011/ or Facebook/TeleSur

“I have only the power of my indignation,
the power of my convictions.”
Danielle Mitterrand

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement is stirring and awakening the people’s righteous indignation throughout the nation.  Its call to action is germinating and sprouting like wild flowers (hopefully perennial ones) from Wall Street to the universities and from the ghettoes all the way to the suburbs.  It’s this response of the people that clearly demonstrates the potential it has to radicalize the masses and to find solutions to the prevailing crisis created by Wall Street and the politicians who control the reins of government.

The people are responding because OWS has clearly identified the problems affecting them and the culprits responsible for the crisis and the prevailing pernicious conditions. According to OWS, what are the main problems and who has caused them?  They are: 1). the inequality in the distribution of wealth – one percent controls it and 99 percent has none; 2).  the concentration of capital in fewer and fewer hands; 3). the skulduggery of Wall St.; 4). the corruption of the politicians who control the reins of the government; 5). the government’s inability and refusal to resolve the economic crisis; and 6). the workers, the elderly, parts of the middle class, the minority communities and  the young people who find their dreams deferred and sabotaged.

There’s an organic relationship between Wall Street and the politicians who are in control of the government.  The former controls the finances the politicians need to be elected, and thus determines who’s going to win.  The politician who gets elected owes his seat to Wall St.  or is a big money person whose interest is the same as the others honchos on Wall St.  For the politicians, their most important task is to defend the interest of Wall St.  A good example of the relationship is how the government dealt with the demands of the corporations that were “too big to fail.”  Wall St. claimed there was an economic melt down and that the government had to bail out the corporations that were too big to fail.  The government’s response was immediate.  Billions of dollars were dispensed and the politicians had no qualms or hesitation in answering Wall St. demands.

One of the corporations that the government bailed out was General Motors.  At no moment did the politicians mention the fact that while GM in the U.S. was going broke in China it was one of the most profitable U.S. corporations.  If that was the case, then why not use the money it was generating in China to bail itself out? What’s most interesting about the bail out is that the bulk of the billions of dollars sent to Wall St. ended up in the pockets of the bankers and of the CEO’s of the big corporations.

While the politicians were bailing out the big corporations, the problems of the millions of families who were facing foreclosure, the millions of workers who were unemployed, the students who owed almost a trillion dollars in student loans and couldn’t pay  were totally ignored by them.
The politicians seats were safe because Wall St. was doing what it had to do to protect them.  It had the finances, the lobbying groups, the think tanks, the media and such nepharious entities like the Tea Party and ALEC -American Legislative Exchange Council to make sure the status quo would not be changed at all.  For example, ALEC made sure the neo-liberal legislations needed would be enacted at all levels of government.  That’s how anti-immigration, union busting, and anti-public funding laws were being passed at the state and federal levels.

Fortunately, the OWS movement responded and has seized the moment.  It is challenging the status quo and mobilizing the people.  Instead of idleness, there is movement.  And the movement has the potential to create the necessary changes in the political structure and to find solutions that will lead to a better distribution of wealth and for there to be a more just and better system.  If you aren’t a supporter of OWS or a righteously indignated person, become an occupier.  If you want a better and more just world dare to struggle for it.  Dare to struggle, dare to win. En resistencia y lucha, OLR.

Great news for Paseo Boricua as we end the year on a plus with the opening of two new businesses. La Cosecha (2701 W Division St.), which opened in September for Fiesta Boricua is now fully loaded with fresh produce. They have fine Puerto Rican coffee like café Don Pello from Ciales, Puerto Rico. They also have ahí dulce, fresh plantains (green or maduros), as well as other favorites from la cocina criolla. La Cosecha also has fresh fruit and a juicer where you can get amazing freshly squeezed orange juice to go.

La Cosecha’s reopening brought in lots of support from community residents and workers, as well as several restaurant owners like Victor García from Papa’s Cache, Pablo Espinoza, owner of Nellie’s Restaurant, Roberto Tañón, owner of La Bruquena Restaurant, and Jaime Cruz, owner of Latin American Restaurant. All were there to take advantage of the fresh produce that La Cosecha has to offer.

La Cosecha wants to provide fresh produce at affordable prices to an area considered a food desert. It also seeks to provide an alternative diet to those residents who suffer from diabetes and asthma.
DSBDA also welcomes Architechs Inc. that officially opened last week and is located at 2541 W. Division, on the site of a long-standing blighted building which has been refurbished to include rod-iron balconet, French doors, lamps and a wood colored storefront. President Eswin Guerra says that Architechs Inc. is a design and build company or one-stop-shop for planning and building projects. Eswin Guerra is a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University and attended the UIC School of Architecture as well as the National School of Superior Architecture of Versailles. For more information on Architects Inc. visit their website at: www.architechs-inc.com.

by Eduardo Arocho

Hundreds of children filled Division Street again for one of the most fun-filled, family friendly events in Humboldt Park. The 10th annual Haunted Paseo Boricua is giving new meaning to Halloween in our community. Businesses opened their doors to costumed treat-seekers of all sizes, but this was no average trick or treat activity. Several landmarks like the Casita de Don Pedro was converted into a haunted cemetery. Batey Urbano had their usual scary basement and La Cosecha Fresh Produce Market handed out healthy candy that included a Ritz cracker with a delicious avocado and chocolate topping. Yum, Yum!! This year’s Haunted Paseo also had a skate and bicycle park zone on Campbell Street. Ciclo Urbano and Barreto’s Boys and Girls clubs did a small parade with their custom decorated bikes along Division Street to the delight of many.
Division Street Business Development Association wants to thank its many partners for helping put on a great and safe event including: Alderman Roberto Maldonado 26th Ward, the Puerto Rican
Cultural Center, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School, Ciclo Urbano, the Chicago Park District, 72 Block By Block, COMCAST and all of the volunteers who helped make this a wonderful event.

By Eduardo Arocho

Imagine this: A community that is viewed as an expansive campus, home to elementary schools that specialize in all sorts of things from Montessori to math and science to language. Parents don’t have to apply and pray to win the lottery, but are guaranteed a seat for their child if they live in the neighborhood.

The high school would build on the specialties taught in the elementary schools, to draw in students from the community rather than having them travel far and wide.

This is the vision of the Community Action Council of Humboldt Park, one of four groups that have met for a year to come up with a comprehensive plan for what schools in their neighborhood should look like. Another council, in Bronzeville, has a similar vision. The four councils wrapped up presentations to CPS senior staff members last week.

When they came together last year, during the tenure of former CEO Ron Huberman, the councils were a novel idea. After years of experiencing school closings, consolidations, turnovers and takeovers handed down from above by CPS, a council would come together and create a vision for local schools.

In addition to parents and community advocates, aldermen and other elected officials would serve on the councils to give them some political leverage.

The plans are as different as the communities. Humboldt Park outlined a strategy to meld neighborhood schools and school choice. Englewood focused on creating more structures in schools to beef up parent involvement.

Yet all the groups want more high-quality preschools, and for schools to build on what students are learning as they transition from early childhood programs to elementary school to high school.

No mention of closing, consolidations

None of the plans, however, specify which schools the councils believe should be closed or consolidated, even though the communities–Englewood, Grand Boulevard, Humboldt Park and Austin–have many under-utilized schools.

The fact that the plans don’t include any recommendations for such action underscores how painful and controversial such decisions are, even when schools are virtually empty and low-achieving.

CEO Jean-Claude Brizard has said he will close and consolidate some schools this year; he’s also told the groups he will let them know what he’s thinking.

“I am proud to say that Brizard promised not to make any decisions without talking to us first,” says Chris Harris, pastor of the Bright Star Church of God and the chairman of the Bronzeville council. But Harris notes that hearing what the community has to say is not the same as listening to it.

Puerto Rican Cultural Center Executive Director Jose Lopez says the Humboldt Park council understands that some schools have to be closed, but that, rather than letting those schools sit vacant, they would like them to be used constructively for programs like job training or parent institutes.

He emphasized that the Humboldt Park council was more interested in talking about stopping the brain drain from their communities than about closing schools.

While some CPS officials might have liked for the councils to make specific recommendations about closings and other actions, council members say they wanted to offer up something more visionary.

“We didn’t want something piecemeal,” Harris says.

Serving students in their community

Because it comes out of the community, Lopez says, it incorporates ideas that outsiders often miss. “How do we harness the social capital of our community and bring it to bear on our schools?” he says. “This is the most comprehensive rethinking of schools that has happened.”

Lopez says the Humboldt Park council wants the schools in the community to be able to serve students seamlessly, from preschool through college. Julio Urrutia, deputy director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, says that the council wants Clemente to be the anchor of the community and to offer dual-credit programs with colleges, such as Northeastern University.

Making the neighborhood schools, such as Clemente High, more attractive is the critical factor in stemming enrollment loss. Clemente is down more than 1,000 students since 2006.

“We talked about why are we losing kids at that level?” Urrutia said.”Where are we failing?”

The plans don’t ask for, or speak against, charter schools, though CPS leaders who are supportive of charters might have been hoping the groups would get behind the idea.

Harris says the Bronzeville council supports any school that educates children well, but wants resources poured into neighborhood schools. He notes that there’s little evidence that charter schools are, on the whole, better than neighborhood schools, yet he understands why some parents choose them.

He points to Woodson South, where he is on the local school council. On one side of the building is a University of Chicago charter school, with smart-boards and new books and parents who can bring their children to school in a Mercedes-Benz, he says.

Charter schools and selective enrollment schools, such as King High School, can frustrate parents because students are chosen for them, creating a situation where students are forced to walk past good schools to go to worse ones.

“At the end of the day, do not put a school in my community and tell me my kid can’t go,” Harris says.

Potential impact

It’s anyone’s guess what the district’s leadership will do with these plans. Since the groups began meeting, Huberman left, Interim CEO Terry Mazany came and went, and new CEO Brizard has taken over. Robert Runcie, the former chief administrative officer who spearheaded the process, has also left CPS.

Brizard’s administration is still digesting the plans and is not ready to comment on them, according to a spokesperson.

But there are signs that the process could have at least some impact.

While Brizard is not beholden to the councils, he and his senior staff did take time to meet with them and listen to their presentations. And amid hundreds of layoffs in central office, the former principal who has overseen the council process, Bill Gerstein, remains on board.

Other communities, such as Roseland, are starting to meet to come up with plans as well.

Public pressure, too, could put pressure on the district to listen. In Humboldt Park, the plan was unveiled and approved at a community summit meeting attended by 300 people.

Harris says the Bronzeville council also worked with the chief of schools, Sean Stalling, who oversees area high schools, and Shawn Smith, who oversees area elementary schools.

The Humboldt Park council also included ideas about how to lengthen the school day, which is at the top of Brizard’s agenda. Rather than add many more minutes to subjects such as math and reading, the Humboldt Park council would like to see community groups and neighborhood institutions such as the fire department work with teachers to integrate some real-life, hands on lessons.

“Why would we do the same things, and students are [already] bored to death?” Lopez said.

Note: Catalyst Chicago is still waiting on copies of all of the community action plans. After saying they would provide them on Wednesday, CPS officials have not done so. Once they do, we will post in full.

Fiesta Boricua Trailer 2011

Todos los años, durante el mes de septiembre, la comunidad puertorriqueña de Chicago celebra en el Paseo Boricua (Division Street entre la Avenida California y la Western) la Fiesta Boricua. Esta fiesta es una celebración de la puertorriqueñidad. Una de las últimas oportunidades o excusas para los boricuas y solidarios de juntarse y celebrarla antes de que empiece a bajar el termómetro en esta ciudad de inviernos crudos.
Desde el año pasado, la organización de la Fiesta Boricua rinde homenaje en la misma a un municipio isleño con el fin de crear alianzas entre la comunidad puertorriqueña de Chicago y el municipio homenajeado. Entre los criterios para escoger a un pueblo en específico están las iniciativas culturales y de turismo que hayan desarrollado recientemente.
Según ha explicado La Voz del Paseo Boricua anteriormente, bajo el lema Lo mejor de nuestro Pueblo, la Fiesta Boricua ha incorporado una serie de eventos para mostrar lo mejor de los elementos culturales de uno de los 78 municipios de Puerto Rico. El primer pueblo homenajeado fue Comerío, el año pasado, de donde llegaron más de 200 comerieños a Chicago para ser parte de la celebración.
Hormigueros ha sido el municipio escogido este año por la comunidad de Paseo Boricua para que rendirle homenaje en esta celebración. El alcalde, Honorable Pedro García Figueroa (PPD) expresó su emoción de recibir el mismo de esta comunidad en la diáspora.
“Siento un orgullo extraordinario de cómo la nacionalidad puertorriqueña se mantiene tan vibrante en la ciudad de Chicago. Nosotros vivimos la puertorriqueñidad todos los días pero no con la intensidad que la vive la diáspora, nuestros hermanos. Siempre he entendido que, los de aquí y los de allá, somos un solo pueblo,” abundó el alcalde estadolibrista, quien vino acompañado de una delegación de decenas de personas, además de un grupo musical de jóvenes de Hormigueros que presentaron su repertorio de música típica. Además, añadió que “la única unión permanente entre Puerto Rico y los Estados Unidos son los puertorriqueños que habitan en los Estados Unidos.”
Antonio Martorell, artista invitado del IPRAC (Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture), expresó en la apertura de la fiesta que la arquitectura de nuestra patria la tienen que hacer los puertorriqueños y las puertorriqueñas de aquí y de allá. “Todos juntos creamos nuestra casa nacional. Da la casualidad que fue en Hormigueros donde se asesinó vilmente a Filiberto Ojeda Ríos. Yo quiero honrar a ese patriota y a los patriotas de Hormigueros, y saber que la memoria de ese crimen va a transformarse, a formarse, a erigir la casa nacional en Hormigueros.”
La Fiesta Boricua 2011 tuvo lugar del viernes, 2 de septiembre en la tarde con una visita guiada por el maestro Martorell a su exposición en el IPRAC (Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture) y además, con una recepción de bienvenida a la delegación del municipio de Hormigueros al domingo, 4 de septiembre con música y actividades para la familia.
“Cuando me explicaron de esta fiesta hace unos meses, yo me comprometí que aquí íbamos a estar. Ayer hicimos una misa jíbara y cargamos a la Virgen de la Monserrate en hombros por la Division. Entre nuestra delegación hay artesanos e historiadores.” Entre los historiadores se encontraba el Profesor Mario Cancel que ofreció una conferencia en el IPRAC sobre Segundo Ruiz Belvis.
Los grupos musicales que participaron este año fueron: Orquesta de Guiro, Bompleneras, Africaribe, Pura Cepa, Orquesta Leal, Bakeré, Orquesta NDS, Angel Meléndez 911 con tributo a Héctor Lavoe, entre otros.

by Vanesa Baerga

Feature Photo by Geno Rodriguez

We are from “allá afuera.” As such, we inhabit a nebulous and intangible world in the imagination of those who have not trekked beyond their Caribbean waters (and in even those who have). It is as if, in the insular colonial imagery, we dwell upon the heavens, sitting on top fragile clouds or lurking behind the stars, out of touch with humanity. But celestial beings we are not. Our existence, on Earth, is obscured. We are deemed a throw-away people, cultural pollutants, who were never suppose to return, never to witness the island of our forebearers. “Tú no eres Boricua” can be the most spiteful slander an islander can bestow upon us, not so much because of an innate insecurity, but the acknowledgment of our difference.

“i want to go back to puerto rico,
but i wonder if my kink could live
in ponce, mayagüez and carolina”
(Tato Laviera)

According to the 2010 United States census, there are, for the first time in our history, more Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. than on the island; 4.6 million to 3.7 million to be exact. As time continues, less and less the children of Borinquen reside on our tragic Eden, despite the conviction that it remains our communal ‘home.’ The question why is important, but what characterizes our exiled existence as a hint to new collective directions is even more intriguing.
As stated by Boricua theorist Juan Flores, the root definition of Diaspora means a “scattering or of sowing seeds (-sperien) across space (dia-)”, a suitable metaphor for the construction of Puerto Rican enclaves; from a minute bud to a growing vine germinating nuances in identity and community-building. For Flores, a Diaspora is not just about people moving to a new place, but the unraveling of a consciousness about the place they are in and the place they left. In the aftermath of the first Great Migration of the late 1940s to early 1960s, we forged emblems of our “inherited cultural backgrounds” in institutions, cultural festivities, literature, music, and political organizations, but with a palette of distinct “ruptures and innovations” detailing, exalting, and even lamenting our cultural aberration from those on the island. Like that of nations, our community is imagined, because although we could never know all the members of such a disparate Diaspora, it is a communion in which our connection is internally recognized and a camaraderie eternally yearned for.
With controversial origins and often critiqued markers like ‘Chi-Rican’ or ‘Nuyorican’, we are united by a reference point and a new location, but of also disturbing social ills. As an au courant exodus out of our island unfolds before our tired eyes, we continue to face high levels of poverty and low levels of formal education, exacerbated by the destruction and displacement of our historic centers and a psyche of inferiority. Moreover, the cultural and political institutions we have created throughout the decades are decaying because there are those among us who submit to the pressure to homogenize our experiences and unique historical memories under a “latino umbrella” and thus render any affirmed puertorriqueñidad as taboo and separatist. And even worse, those of us who obtain any sort of money or education, leave our life-centers, detach and disassociate themselves from ‘those in the ghetto’ and produce offspring with a sort of Du Boisian triple-consciousness – never accepted by a racist world and never truly accepted by one’s own people on both sides of the Atlantic. We are here, but less cohesive and pronounced, persistently misrepresented and misunderstood by the islander, the greater U.S. society, and by some in our flock.
The leaking faucet of our tropical kin continues to flow and detrimental social forces endure in a masquerade around our unmarked tombstones. We are at the crossroads of possibilities stretching from a path of great historical and contemporary resilient feats, but jointly, across the cities and towns of our presence, something is lacking, the earth-shattering urgency remains nonexistent. With the effort of producing and amplifying safe spaces of in-depth dialogue on such socio-political conundrums and subsequently courses of direct action, can we approach the horizon with a profoundly inspiring, renewed, and reinvigorated vision for our people in the Diaspora. But the challenge has so few recruits while any semblance of our existence continues to erode. We are full of possibilities, but in a deep slumber we continue to lay.

Next Part: The New Boricua: A Renewed Vision

References:
1. Laviera, Tato. (1992). my graduation speech. la carreta made a u-turn (pp. 17). Houston: Arte Público Press.
2. United States Census Bureau. (May 26, 2011). 2010 Census Shows Nation’s Hispanic Population Grew Four Times Faster Than Total U.S. Population. Retrieved from http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn146.html
3. Flores, Juan. (2009). The Diaspora Strikes Back: Caribeño Tales of Learning and Turning (pp. 16-17). New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
5. Anderson, Benedict (2006). Imagined Communities. New York: Verso.
6. Du Bois. W.E.B. (1903). Of Our Spiritual Strivings. In The Souls of Black Folk. The Health Anthology of American Literature: Volume D Modern Period 1910-1945 (pp. 897-902). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

by Xavier Burgos

La portavoz del Cuerpo de Ingenieros del Ejército de Estados Unidos en Jacksonville, Florida, Nancy Sticht, reveló al periódico regional La Perla del Sur que el permiso final para la construcción del Gasoducto del Norte podría retrasarse, lo que podría extenderse al año 2012.
De acuerdo con la información, al Cuerpo de Ingenieros le tomará un mes más completar la “Evaluación Ambiental Preliminar” del proyecto llamado la “Vía Verde”. Según la funcionaria, el análisis podría estar listo para el mes de noviembre. Y si es completada la evaluación preliminar para ese mes, tendrían luego que discutir los hallazgos entre las partes interesadas como la ciudadanía. Por lo tanto, los procesos durarían otros 30 días y no se conoce si será por consulta directa con las personas.
“Sabemos que las comunidades pueden tener información que quizás nosotros no tengamos, así que es importante conseguir los comentarios de ellos”, según Sticht declaró a La Perla del Sur. Luego de esos 30 días, el Cuerpo de Ingenieros decidirá si emite una Evaluación Ambiental Final o pone en marcha otro estudio aún más riguroso, la Declaración de Impacto Ambiental Federal (DIAF). Este proceso, entre evaluaciones de datos y recomendaciones, se alargaría hasta el mes de diciembre.
Sticht le reconoció al semanario La Perla del Sur que el espacio de tiempo está “apretado” para emitir una decisión final antes de que concluya el año. “El equipo que está evaluando esto está enfocado en hacer un buen trabajo, mirando toda la información y consultando con las agencias pertinentes. Y cuando se trata de un proyecto complejo como éste, eso toma tiempo”, recalcó la funcionaria federal. “Ellos no están enfocados en cumplir con un ‘deadline’”, agregó según La Perla.
Para el portavoz de Casa Pueblo, Arturo Massol Deyá, el atraso en el informe que se había rumorado saldría a la luz el 30 de septiembre, es un cambio de postura por parte del Cuerpo de Ingenieros producto de la desobediencia civil realizada por él y otros activistas frente a la Casa Blanca, así como de la gestión del congresista de origen puertorriqueño Luis Gutiérrez. Para Massol Deyá, es la victoria de otra batalla.
“Hemos ganado otra batalla, pero el país debe estar alerta, porque el aviso de huracán aún está vigente”, continuó el líder comunitario. “Exhortamos al Gobierno a retirar la propuesta del Gasoducto y a concentrar sus recursos limitados en opciones reales que beneficien a los 1.5 millones de abonados de la Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica”.
Diferentes entidades se han expresado en contra del proyecto como Casa Pueblo, Sierra Club, la National Congress of Puerto Rican Rights, The Labor Council for Latin-American Advancement, Lafayette Presbyterian Church, Union Theological Seminary, Greenpeace, Earth Justice, Green Party, East Harlem Preservation, El Puente, LatinoSports, la VirtualBoricua.com, la Trinity Lutheran Church de Brooklyn y grupos sociales a través de la red social Facebook y Twitter.

Trying to keep up with the responsibilities of school and family is a formidable task, especially when you are a teenager. This sort of balancing act is an all too familiar routine for young mothers and parents attending the Lolita Lebrón Family Learning Center (FLC), an educational program addressing the needs of adolescent parents in Humboldt Park. The program has been in existence since 1993, when it served women aged 14-45 with children seven years of age or younger. In its current form, the program offers high school coursework, parenting workshops, on-site childcare, and parent-child activities to young parents, mostly mothers.
Over the past 18 years, many mothers have crossed the FLC’s threshold, with hopes of achieving their high school diploma and improving their life circumstances, not just for themselves, but for the future of their children. Hundreds of women have graduated from the FLC and have gone on to be successful in a variety of professions, including education, social work, and healthcare; many have also transformed their personal lives and made significant changes, such as leaving abusive relationships and becoming more independent.
One such graduate is Maria Lopez, who graduated from the FLC in 1995. More than 15 years later, she was invited to return to the FLC and share her experiences with current students. Now 50 years old, she gave birth to her first child when she was 19. She enrolled in the FLC when she was 35 and had her fourth child.  She stated that her favorite aspect of being involved in the FLC was  “learning [about my] culture” and what “lots of Puerto Ricans go through, especially Pedro Albizu Campos “(who is also the namesake of the high school affiliated with the FLC). She described herself as “not hav[ing] that knowledge” before she attended the FLC.  In the years since completing the program, she has enrolled in college and served as a drug/addiction counselor for 10 years.
On Friday September 23rd, Maria shared with young women at the FLC how she changed her life by enrolling in the program. She exuded warmth and energy as she encouraged young women to reach their goals. This presentation was the inaugural session in a mentorship series, the brainchild of Danette Sokacich, the current director of the FLC and Laura Ruth Johnson, the first director of the program. Afterward, when asked what she hoped the young mothers would take away from her session, Maria responded: “just finish what we’ve started … even though there were obstacles in our way.”
If you are a graduate of the FLC and are interested in sharing your experiences with current students, please contact Danette Sokacich at 312.532.4684 or email danettes@pedroalbizucamposhs.org.