Bienvenido Hormigueros/Video Fiesta Boricua11/Flickr

No es al comienzo de la construcción cuando se valora lo que se va a construir. No es el ímpetu inicial, ni la energía que se pone al principio, ni la idea que se tiene de lo que será lo que da la justa medida, el valor total de lo que se busca lograr. Es el resultado final, al llegar a la meta lo que nos pone ante los ojos y en el corazón el valor de aquello que con tanto trabajo y sacrificio se ha  logrado.
Acaba de terminar la 18na jornada de la Fiesta Boricua de Bandera a Bandera. Los que estamos de afuera no vemos el proceso, solamente el final, el resultado. Podríamos acaso imaginarnos los sinsabores, los conflictos, el arduo trabajo, las dificultades, las prolongadas reuniones, las pocas horas de sueño, las diferencias y desavenencias en cuánto a cómo hacer las cosas y las dificultades para reunir los fondos para sufragar los gastos de unas fiestas que, por lo que se ve, deben costar “un dineral”.  Más allá de eso, de tal vez imaginarnos ese escenario, creo que no podremos llegar nunca a aquilatar el trabajo que conlleva la organización de una fiesta como ésta. Hemos manifestado anteriormente en este espacio la admiración y el respeto que sentimos por esta comunidad del Paseo Boricua y por todos y todas los que componen el Centro Cultural Puertorriqueño Juan Antonio Corretjer, en Chicago. Me reitero en esa afirmación y la pongo en grado superlativo.
Después de la fiesta, después de la 18na Fiesta Boricua de Bandera a Bandera nos sentimos muy agradecidos por un espectáculo maravilloso de afirmación cultural puertorriqueña, de hermandad y solidaridad latinoamericana y de talentos extraordinarios. A propósito de la Fiesta, el alcalde del municipio homenajeado, el pueblo de Hormigueros, el Hon. Pedro J. García Figueroa expresó lo siguiente: “La hospitalidad y el orgullo patrio desplegado por la diáspora puertorriqueña en Chicago, ponen de manifiesto que, salvo algunas diferencias en el idioma, somos todos hermanos boricuas. En Chicago pudimos palpar lo que somos y lo que juntos podemos hacer para la redención de nuestra nación puertorriqueña”. Por otro lado, el director de la Oficina de Arte y Cultura del municipio, el Sr. Félix A. Ponce Labiosa puntualizó: “Esta Fiesta Boricua ha puesto de manifiesto cuán profundas están las raíces de nuestros compatriotas, aunque no estén afincados en el lar nativo. Estas raíces están sembradas en el alma colectiva.” “La muestra de talento artístico que se presentó fue de una variedad y calidad extraordinaria”, fue otro entre muchos comentarios muy positivos de los que fuimos testigos.
Compañeros y compañeras del Centro Cultural Puertorriqueño Juan Antonio Corretjer, ¡Gracias, un millón de gracias! Nos imaginamos que es muy difícil, y por fuentes fidedignas nos enteramos que esta pasada Fiesta Boricua tuvo muchas y grandes dificultades de distinta naturaleza, pero el resultado, como exponemos al principio, es lo que les da la justa medida del valor de sus esfuerzos, aunque los deje extenuados.
Como en todo lo que se hace con el corazón, hay que continuar a pesar de los sacrificios, continuar a pesar del arduo trabajo, continuar a pesar de los infortunios y los sinsabores, continuar a pesar de las presiones económicas, continuar a pesar de los que nos dificultan el trabajo, continuar a pesar de los pesares, a pesar de todo.
Como dejara dicho nuestro Poeta Nacional Juan Antonio Corretjer Montes: “La vida nunca cesa, la vida es lucha toda”. Adelante, adelante siempre. Esperamos verlos y abrazarlos nuevamente el próximo año.

by Carlos Quiles

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.

On Wednesday, September 14th, the University of Illinois at Chicago’s (UIC) Rafael Cintrón Latino Cultural Center (LCC) celebrated its 35th Anniversary. Rosa Cabrera, (new) Director of the LCC, organized the daylong program to commemorate the struggle to preserve this cultural and political space within UIC, as well as celebrate the longevity of its legacy 35 years later. The center was filled with multiple generations of students, activist, university faculty and community members invested in the establishment and development of this historic space.
Part of the daylong program included seven panelists representing the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s, all of who worked to establish and advance the LCC. The panelists included two of the LCC founders, José López, Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, and Leonard Ramírez, former Director of the Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services (LARES) Program at UIC. Each spoke of how the LCC came through student activists who took-over University Hall in 1973 in protest to claim a space for Latin@s on campus. From their struggle, came the LCC, Latin American/Latin@s Studies Program, as well as the LARES Program. These initiatives opened the doors for more Latin@ students to have an opportunity for higher education at UIC. Hence, the 5 other panelists; Sara Agate, Claudio Gaete, Sofia Mohammad Castañeda, Jackie Rodríguez, and Willie Rodríguez, that represented each decade thereafter. Each panelist spoke of the different efforts used to promote, preserve, and continue the work of the LCC at UIC, as well as in the Latin@ communities throughout Chicago.
As the facilitator of the panel, as well as a former student leader of the Union for Puerto Rican Students at UIC, to me their stories represented a wide array of socio-historical-political junctures that Latin@s have not simply survived but thrived with historical and cultural pride.

by Judy Diaz

José Sanchez was named president and CEO of Norwegian American Hospital not more than a month ago, however he already has comprehensive plan on how to improve the hospital’s quality of care. To his new leadership position Sanchez brings over 30 years of experience in the health-care field, including a position as CEO of Lincoln Hospital located in the South Bronx, New York. As he begins a new chapter of his life and career in Chicago, Sanchez looks forward to facing challenges and embracing opportunities.

What attracted you to work at Norwegian Hospital?

I have spent my entire career working in safety net hospitals and communities with many health disparities. I am committed to the mission of the safety net institution, which is to provide care to poor communities, and hospitals like Norwegian that serves the Humboldt Park community are very attractive to me. I feel pretty much at home here and integrated into the community. I have received a very good welcoming here which makes things much better. Norwegian American Hospital faces the same challenges that safety net hospitals face across the nation like bringing in additional services to meet the needs of the underserved and the poor. I feel comfortable in this type of environment.

You have said you are “committed to pursuing collaborative and innovative solutions to combat the health care challenges of the communities the hospital serves.” What kind of collaborations to you have in mind? Do you plan on collaborating with any of the health initiatives of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center?

My first week here I visited the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and they had a presentation about treating the Latino community in a culturally competent way, focusing on mental health issues and that is something that I will continue to work with them on. There may also be other opportunities to collaborate with the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. There are also asthma and diabetes initiatives in the community I would like to work with. I’ve also began a discussion with Erie Family Health Center to collaborate to make sure patients can stay in the community to receive medical care rather than leave the community.

Some community members have mentioned frustration over extra long waiting times in the emergency of Norwegian Hospital. How do you plan to address this issue?

There isn’t any emergency room in any county or any city where people don’t wait for some time. Having worked in safety net institutions, one of the things we try to do is to move away from the the use of the physicians in the emergency room department as primary care physicians, which often happens because  patients don’t follow up with appointments.  We need to begin to address this issue through health promotion and education. At Norwegian Hospital we have just put in a new team of emergency room physicians who started at the beginning of October. This will hopefully make a difference. We are also tracking wait times. Our goal is that individuals should not wait more than an hour in the E.R before being sent to the triage and be treated.

What do you forward to in your new position as CEO of Norwegian?

There are a number of initiatives I have, what I consider my vision. There are five specific areas that are important to me for this hospital:

• Focusing on doing well in the Joint Commission, which is the body that accredits hospitals around the United States.They give something like a report card that shows if the quality of care of a hospital meets and exceeds high standards.
• Finance—Getting financial assistance from the government
• Physician engagement—Being able to attract physicians that have the drive and motivation to work with underserved populations and have an emphasis on public health

• Community engagement —Bringing together all the stakeholders in the community and identifying the diseases that are prevalent in the community and developing a strategyto address them
• Focusing on the area of information technology —Having a state of the art medical record system that’s online.

What are some challenges you see in your future at Norwegian?

There are a number of challenges, but I also refer to them as opportunities. We need to bring additional patients into the hospital and retain our current patient base. We need to focus on improving our quality and financially stabilizing this institution that forecasts deficits. We are hoping that stakeholders and elected officials will help to get necessary finances that will help us to continue to focus on developing programs that address the needs of the residents of this area.

What does it mean to you to be the first Puerto Rican/ Latino to run a hospital in Chicago?

I didn’t know I was the first Latino in Chicago; I certainly wasn’t the first in New York. It’s an honor to be here, but I think I will feel more of honored to be the first Latino that will have a successful career here. If we are able to maintain and grow here I think there will be pride about having the first Latino to run a hospital. My pride will be in making this a successful hospital and the hospital choice for the community we serve.

When you are not in charge of a hospital, how do you spend your time?

Since I moved to Chicago at the beginning of this month and officially started at Norwegian on the 18th what I have been doing in my spare time, which is limited, is spending a lot in time in the Humboldt Park community. I’ve gone to eat at Coco’s restaurant. I’m also trying to put together my new apartment. I’m getting to know people here, meeting with elected officials, and just getting to know the city of Chicago, which is so much different from New York.

Interview by Marisol Rodríguez

Hundreds of volunteers collect 12,500 signatures in under 20 days.

In a strong demonstration of support, more than 12,500 residents from across Chicago signed petitions nominating Reverend Wilfredo De Jesus for Mayor of the City of Chicago. The amount of signatures collected will allow De Jesus to appear on the ballot in the February municipal elections.

In a testament to his ground operation and how his message has resonated with Chicago voters, this milestone was reached only 19 days after he announced his candidacy for Mayor at a rally in Humboldt Park before hundreds of supporters.
De Jesus plans to continue to collect signatures until the November 22nd deadline to ensure he is able to withstand any petition challenges, a typical practice during the Chicago election process.

“I want to thank every one of the hundreds of volunteers that cared about the future of Chicago enough to spend their free time at train stations, bus stops and walking neighborhoods across the city collecting signatures for my candidacy. With your efforts you bring back not only signatures but the voice and hope of the people of Chicago that things can get better” stated De Jesus.

Ángel “Tito” Medina nació en Toa Baja, Puerto Rico en el 1951 y paso su niñez en Manatí. Lleva más de 40 años radicado en Chicago donde trabajó por mas de 32 años como mecánico industrial. Se define como un Boricua 100%, amante de la salsa y la cultura de la Isla . Recientemente fue electo presidente de la Casa Puertorriqueña  y conversó con La Voz sobre sus planes como líder de la “Casa”.

La Voz-Como surge su interés en la presidencia?
Tito- La  Casa necesitaba un cambio y como estoy retirado decidir postularme para trabajar por la comunidad.

La Voz-Por cuantos ganó la presidencia?
Tito- Gané por 144 votos, fue una campaña dura, pero entendía  que la Casa y la comunidad se merecía respeto, no fue fácil pero al final logramos unificar esfuerzos .

La Voz-Por que era el importante que la gente votara pot usted?
Tito-Porque tengo buenos planes pa’ la Casa. Yo quiero unificar esfuerzos, trabajar con otras organizaciones puertorriqueñas y integrar más a los jóvenes . Vamos a hacer un salón de computadoras y otro de ping pong, gracias a una donación que recibimos y  quiero envolver  a los jóvenes en más actividades de recreación y deportes.

La Voz-Cuales son algunos planes para la Casa Puertorriqueña?
Tito-Sabes que en Puerto Rico están las escuelas de música y bandas municipales, ya tenemos voluntarios para empezar a dar clases de música; hacer un desfile a la altura de la cultura de Puerto Rico y de Chicago con más grupos culturales, bomba  y plena y también integrar La Casa en colaboraciones con otras organizaciones de Chicago.

Marilyn Morales, a Boricua raised in Humboldt Park, is campaigning diligently for the position of City Clerk. Morales took time to share a little about herself and her interest in running for City Clerk with our readers.

La Voz –Tell us a little bit about yourself
MM: I am a native Chicagoan born and raised in Humboldt Park to Puerto Rican parents.I am a product of the Chicago Public School system graduating from Kelvyn Park High School in 1980. I obtained my B.S. from Aurora College and acquired a Masters in Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1994. I am the mother of three great kids and I currently live in the Northwest side of Chicago. I have over 20 years of public service employment experience. I started off with the Illinois Department of Human Rights and then, I worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago. For the past 16 years, I have worked for the Chicago Park District. I also worked at the Association House during the time that Miguel Del Valle was the director. I am on the Vida/Sida Advisory Board and served on the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (IPRAC)
Board of Directors. In addition, I am a Puerto Rican Agenda member, co-founder of
Boricua Pride and became a Metropolitan Leadership Institute Fellow in 2008. I love
Paseo Boricua, café, and I love to read!

La Voz – What does the City Clerk’s office do and why are you running for City Clerk?
MM: City Clerk’s Office is the second highest ranking office in the city. It is responsible for maintaining all the official records of city government. Additionally, it
is responsible for issuing business, liquor and other city licenses, and distributing city stickers, passports, and dog licenses. I am running for City Clerk because I believe I have the leadership, organizational, and management skills necessary to do the job. I am exceptionally qualified and possess the skills necessary to run that department effectively and efficiently. I would like to continue to expand the se vices provided and make the office more
accessible, transparent, and responsive
to the public.

La Voz – Tell us about your campaign
MM: Right now the big job is to collect 12,500 signatures, so we are pounding the streets getting signatures. This is a local grassroots effort to get me on the ballot and
we need every Chicago registered voter available to sign my petition. Our volunteers
are wonderful people from all over the city who want to give me an opportunity to run for this office, and I am excited about the overwhelming amount of support from different organizations. They all believe in my genuine interest and commitment to the people of this city, and they are doing all that they can to collect signatures. I am very grateful to all who have been encouraging and supportive of my effort to run for City Clerk. Anyone who is interested in volunteering can e-mail us at marilynmorales@marilynforcityclerk.org.