(Chicago Park District Board of Commission) 

(Institute of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture)

- Wednesday, February 8th marks a new benchmark for Puerto Rican Chicago.  On that date the Chicago Park District Board voted unanimously to designate IPRAC as a Museum In The Park. This momentous event caps off nearly 10 years of struggle by community leaders to establish IPRAC as a Museum In The Park. IPRAC now becomes the only museum in the United States exclusively dedicated to the artistic and cultural expressions of the Puerto Rican community; and joins the exclusive domain of such museums as the Museum of Science and Industry, the DuSable Museum and the National Museum of Mexican Art.

Ray Vázquez, Chairman of the Board of IPRAC, in expressing his gratitude to the board of commissioners of the Chicago Park District, stated: “This is a historic day for Chicago’s Puerto Rican community, but more importantly, it speaks to Chicago’s commitment to diversity. Today, all of Chicago should celebrate this momentous occasion.” There are many people who need to be thanked, too many to name here, but a special thanks must go out to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Governor Pat Quinn, State Representative Cynthia Soto, Billy Ocasio and Carmen Lonstein. Without their efforts, this historic moment would not have been possible. A celebratory event will take place in the near future for community residents to partake in a celebration of IPRAC’s recent achievement and the major milestone it represents for the Humboldt Park residents and the Puerto Rican community.

3015 W. Division St. • www.IPRAC.ORG • www.Facebook.com/IPRAC

Since becoming President and CEO in October 2010, Mr. José R. Sánchez has made it his commitment to improve the quality of care provided to patients at Norwegian American Hospital. Recently, this commitment was confirmed with an overwhelming increase in its patient satisfaction scores.

The scores are compiled from the hospital’s NRC Picker Patient Satisfaction Survey data. The most recent results compared the 2010 data, to data from the first nine months of 2011 – January through September. Every area of the survey showed significant increases, and in some cases, a 20-percent increase was seen over the previous year.
Some of the highlights from the survey include: Percent of patients highly satisfied – In 2010, it was 42 percent, and in 2011, it went to 69.2 percent; patients who would definitely recommend Norwegian American Hospital to friends and family – In 2010, the score was 41 percent, then in 2011 it increased to 63.4 percent; and percent of doctors who always communicated well – In 2010, the hospital was at 64 percent, then in 2011, the percent went up to 71.6 percent.

“These results prove that all of the work that we have been doing since October 2010 has made a marked difference in the satisfaction of our patients and their general feelings about the quality of care that they receive, while they are at Norwegian American Hospital, said José R. Sánchez, President and CEO of Norwegian American Hospital. “It is because of our institution’s tireless effort and dedication to quality and patient safety that our scores have seen the highest increase in recent years.”

Since 1894, when Norwegian immigrants founded Norwegian American Hospital, the hospital has been known for its commitment to quality health care for the entire family. Norwegian American Hospital has consistently proven to be a stabilizing force in the community, all the while maintaining its strong reputation as a family-centered hospital.

With this increase in patient satisfaction scores, Norwegian American Hospital hopes to increase its abundant strengths in the communities it serves by continuing to serve in an urban, safety-net health care setting. Norwegian American Hospital will continue to expand and grow itself to serve the needs of its surrounding communities where many health disparities exists – Humboldt Park actually has one of the highest incidents of diabetes in the United States. Norwegian American Hospital is dedicated to maintaining Humboldt Park’s highest level health care provider.

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Norwegian American Hospital is an acute care hospital on Chicago’s near northwest side. Norwegian provides high quality and compassionate health care services by partnering with patients, their families, our employees, physicians and the communities we serve. For more information about Norwegian American Hospital, visit www.nahospital.org.

On January 14th, Batey Urbano and Existence Is Resistance hosted the Occupied Lands, Scattered Diasporas film series. With 120 individuals from both the Palestinian and Puerto Rican communities, the event was a symbol of solidarity. The Batey Urbano is a space where young people from our community can have meaningful discussions about the work around them.

What struck the Batey collective was how much Puerto Rico and Palestine have in common, and with the support and mentorship of one of Humboldt Park’s hip-hop artist, Lah Tere, Batey was able to understand this harsh reality. Colonialism has been the reality of Palestinians and Puerto Rican communities for decades. The occupation of both lands has resulted in the death of thousands; poverty has become a reality for most, and countless artifacts of culture have been destroyed.

In the struggle for freedom, these harsh conditions have created political movements, activists, and revolutionaries that fighting for a common cause. The documentaries “Hip Hop is Bigger than the Occupation,” directed by Nana Dankwa and  “For Those Who Struggle,” a documentary about the campaign to free Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, who this year will have served his 31st year in federal custody, were shown and invited panelists led a discussion around occupation and what it would take for our lands to be unoccupied.
Batey Urbano is a safe space for all young people, and we strive to be able to provide productive alternatives for them. For more information, visit bateyurbano.net or email bateyurbano@gmail.com.

Jessie Fuentes

The Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA), in partnership with University of Puerto Rico Professor Luis Orlando Casiano, has organized the exhibition:  “ Loíza in Chicago”. This exhibition presents ten costumes and masks, as well as photos by Miami-based photographer Tony Arruza that present an overview of the history and contemporary manifestations of the celebration of The Festival of Loíza, an annual celebration held in Puerto Rico.

The Festival of Loíza is one of the oldest festivals held in Puerto Rico. Its roots dates back to 12th century Spanish Christian traditions combined with African Yoruba symbolism, which evolved into a modern ritual.  Over time, the Vejigante festivals have become part of Puerto Rico’s native folklore culture celebrated not only in Loíza, but in towns and cities, such as, Hatillo and Ponce.

The Loiza Vejigante costumes and masks are brightly colored, bat-like forms that cover the entire body.  Used in processions and ceremonies throughout the island, Vejigantes, link its people to Spanish and African origins. For this exhibition, the PRAA has focused on Vejigantes of Loíza, in order to focus on one region where Christian and African traditions have merged.
The feast day of St. James the Greater Apostle observed every July 12, marks the beginning of the festival season in Puerto Rico. Historically, Vejigante is a demon-like character that dances in the festival parades.  The term Vejigante derives from the word vejiga (bladder) and gigante (giant) because cow bladders were blown up and painted for use in the processions.  In the 12th century, St. James, patron saint of Spain, was believed to have led a Spanish militia to win a battle over the Moors. The Vejigante represented the Moors. By the 17th century it was typical to see processions in Spain in which Vejigantes, or masked demons, walked the streets in an effort to scare people into going to church. The tradition came to Puerto Rico with the Spanish Conquest and evolved with African influence.

This exhibition is the PRAA’s first program in its new location in a formerly vacant firehouse, located at Milwaukee and Central Park Avenue. We invite everyone to visit us at one of Chicago’s newest leading Latino/Puerto Rican cultural facility.

The PRAA expresses its gratitude to Professor Luis Orlando Casiano Torres of the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, for his essay contribution for the exhibit catalog and expertise as a costume maker. We also thank famed mask-maker artisan Raul Ayala for his craftsmanship in the making of the vejigante masks for the exhibition.
The PRAA is grateful to the Chicago Community Trust, Illinois Arts Council and City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events for their support.  Special thanks to AfriCaribe, Aspira of Illinois, Southwest Airlines, Wintrust Community Banks, LISC: Logan Square New Communities Program, Harris Theater for Music and Dance at Millennium Park and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The exhibition will travel to the South Shore and Douglas Park Cultural Centers, as part of PRAA’s Chicago Park District’s Arts Partners in Residence Program.

My great-grandfather, Marcos Burgos Santiago, died at the age of ninety-nine. His funeral, as my cousin Denise recalled, was larger than life. It seemed as if the entire town came to pay their respects to the oldest man that they knew. He had never lived anywhere else but in Juncos, Puerto Rico, in the same barrio, just like his parents before him. His house, once made up of dirt floors and a tin roof, now serves a new generation of family residing comfortably behind concrete walls. I remember still how he would show me, with pride, a missing part of his finger, chopped off from a machete while he worked harvesting sugarcane. In a way, he was showcasing how much the land was bounded to him and to the extent in which it left its mark.

Though he lived what many would call a long and full life, one thing haunts me. Born at the turn of the 20th century, Don Marcos resided completely under the rule of the United States. Almost one hundred years of life and he never knew what it meant to live in freedom. He knew love, being married to my great-grandmother for nearly seventy years. He knew pain, having comforted his six-year-old daughter, as she lay in her death bed, waiting for his return from the fields so as to pass finally into oblivion. But not freedom. Even worse, nor did his parents, who lived under Spanish rule, or their parents before them. Five-hundred-years have passed and Puerto Rico remains a colony, property of another country with a government that does not nor is expected to have our interests or our feelings in mind. Even the most ardent pro-statehooder acknowledges this. The same for some populares, if you catch them in a bar on a warm Saturday evening. Five. Hundred. Years.

There was more for Don Marcos to care about, of course, than some nebulous and abstract concepts like freedom, self-determination, and a representative democracy that shares a stage among a league of nations. He had to feed his family (made increasingly difficult by the guzzling-up of arable land by corporate greed that transformed the island into a sugar monopoly).
He had to ensure a formal education for his children (who were taught that Spanish was a primitive language and that their forefather was George Washington). His severed finger was a life-long indicator of his endurance and hard-work. But such a scar dug deeper than it appeared to be. It cloaked the entire island. The ugly and disgusting scar of colonialism.
Like millions of others, Don Marcos’ son left the barrio for the fields of New Jersey and then to the decaying Chicago metropolis, to make a new life with his wife and children. None ever returned to live among the yellow flamboyan trees and probably never will. But we should shed no more tears. Although the island is of a far spatial and temporal distance, it is an undeniable spiritual center of our existence. Our beloved Zion.

However, we have not only extended the boundaries of an ethno-cultural nation located on the island, but in some ways, constructed a parallel national experience. It is too difficult for those, like Don Marcos, who never left, to fully and deeply connect with the poetry of Pedro Pietri, or the prose of Nicholasa Mohr, or some of the plays of Jose Rivera. We are diaspora people with our own distinctiveness. More importantly, we inhabit lands that we call our own.

A little over a month ago, I asked a close friend to explore with me the Puerto Rican communities of Williamsburg and Bushwick, Brooklyn, places, like El Barrio in Manhattan, where her own grandparents migrated to. As we traveled through locations with street-signs marking “Avenue of Puerto Rico” and “Borinquen Place” we soon realized that the eroding murals depicting urban jibaros and palm trees spoke to a Golden Age long dislodged from reality.
With the exception of a few cars blasting reggaeton and rows of housing projects that reflect our state-sponsored ghettoization, this side of Brooklyn was visibly absent of a once bustling Puerto Rican enclave. Although the street was teeming with young, white “hipsters” visiting store-front art galleries, it was as if we were metaphysically stranded in a desert. The life we were seeking did not exist but in our memories, so nothing around us stimulated our senses. We longed for a place we could call home.

Mari and I both have homes, though, and in historic Puerto Rican communities too; the South Bronx and Humboldt Park, respectively. Just as my family could travel outside of their small town and experience the landscape of their nation, the possibility also exists in the diaspora. Similar to the Black, Chicana/o, and Native American experiences, while we have settled in clusters in diverse and disparate areas throughout the U.S., we have an opportunity to witness our communities and to share our histories and struggles. This is how we develop(ed) a collective identity and potentially find a forum from which we seek solutions to our ills.

Moreover, such a dynamic expands the “va y ven” paradigm that conceptualizes a multi-linear route between U.S. cities and towns towards and from the island. I propose to you that there simultaneously exist, especially in settlement and occupation patterns, a movement between the diaspora enclaves. Unfortunately, not so much in terms of dialogue and community-building efforts.

Many times we speak of “our people” as some amorphous tangled body living in the air. Though we are not all inhabiting rigid geographic areas, there are numerous locations, such as in Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Chicago, where we have constructed community for generations; where our artistic and political expressions have blossomed. The areas, oftentimes left to us in disarray, have also been loci of a decolonization process, because in them we have exhibited what was denied to us on the island, denied from Don Marcos: self-determination.
But colonialism stalks us wherever we lay our feet, this time in the form of gentrification that rips away the freedom for self-dewfinition and self-reliance. We must begin then to imagine ourselves as conducting a distinct national experience rooted, like my great-grandfather’s hands, in land. Subsequently, we will realize our immense responsibility to each other in composing a country-wide challenge to the most alarming and destructive force facing us today.

In other words, displacement in Graham Avenue in Bushwhick should be just as important to Clark Avenue in Cleveland or Park Street in Hartford, because they all inhabit a vast Boricuascape. Without such a vision and action-plan, our descendants too may lament over a burden that should have been kept from them long ago.

Xavier “Xavi” Luis Burgos

While we all have our favorite musicians: past, present and futuristic; baby, I was made to El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico’s music. While many musical talents are worth mentioning, to me, none are more deserving than thee.  I hereby exercise my First Amendment Right to Freedom of Speech to wit: “El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico as a whole and each individual member, past and present, are phenomenon’s in their field.” Since 1962, this group of Salsa Gods has been touring the world enticing all ears and teaching the world that Salsa genre is timeless, distinguished, classy, well-formed as well as exceptionally lyricfied. Their songs are magically conformed to everyday Latin life-expressions. It’s internationally identifiable; just read some of their song titles below:

 - El Matrimonio
(Matrimony)
- La Receta de Amor
(Love’s recipe)
-  Sin Salsa no Hay Paraiso
(Aint’ no paradise without Salsa)
- Me Liberé
(I’m liberated!)
- Jala Jala
(Pull-Pull)

Rafael Ithier, who will turn 86 years of age this year, was first seduced by music at the tender age of 8. His first job at age 8, was as a guitarist for a group named “Conjunto Lucerito” in which he earned a quarter per gig. While his dream was to be a baseball player, the economic hardship at home and the death of his father, forced him to continue earning a living as a musician.
Today he stands a legend. As so, he remains a serene, pleasing and sympathetic humble man. So humble in fact, that when you hear my interview, the tone is that of one catching up with a family member.
Rafael was born in “La Perla” of Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1926, born to Nicolas and Merida Ithier. Rafa’s first influence was his father, a guitarist. Another great influence was his uncle Salvador, also a guitarist and a vocalist for a group named “Trio Borinquen” de Rafael Hernández Marín. It would seem as though, as many Puerto Ricans in similar times, he was forced to work rather than pursue an education. Lucky for us, he did not pursue an education in commercial business administration, as he once wished; instead, right after his military career, he took his hunger for business and talent for music and took his steps into what culminated in the empire we know today to be “El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.”
While speaking to him, I realized how the most monumental moments in each of our lives start with one instant. Rafa’s moment came right after he was discharged from the military; he sought out his buddies (Cortijo y su Combo) to reunite and celebrate his return. At the time they were at a radio station doing a show, they pulled him in to perform and that’s how, in a nutshell, his road to El Gran Combo began.
While Rafa attributes much of his success to his experience as a band member, among others, to “Cortijo y su Combo” it goes without saying that his longevity has proved successful. Similarly, to date he has upheld and continues to infect all members with a professional expectation and demeanor that entails responsibility on the part of all members as well as timeliness and seriousness for the art. He explained to me that he instilled in each member to look at the group for what it is, “a job,” and it’s to be taken serious. He mentioned that pleasures and business should never be mixed. Obviously, this explains El Gran Combo’s long-term success.

Interview:

Transcription:
(M/Madeline) (R/Rafael)

M: ¿Qué consejo le daría usted a los artistas salseros jóvenes para llegar a la grandeza de El Gran Combo?
R: Bueno, que sean responsables, que sean disciplinados, que huyan de los vicios y las drogas y que se respeten a ellos mismos para que puedan respetar a los demás, verdad?  Porque si uno no se respeta a uno mismo, no puedes respetar a los demás; esto está demás pa’ decirlo.  Lo ve? Y que se dediquen a eso, si se van a dedicar.
M: En su opinión profesional como director de El Gran Combo, ¿cómo es que han podido llegar ustedes a poder celebrar 50 años de aniversario, qué ha sido “la caña”, verdad, lo más esencial de un grupo salsero para poder llegar a esta larga trayectoria de 50 años?
R: Bueno, como te dije, nosotros hemos sido bastante responsables, yo pienso, que nosotros hemos tenido la dicha, verdad, de tener una serie de cooperación de los medios de comunicación que han sido muy cooperadores con nosotros. Y pienso que eso también ayuda, porque eso hace falta la promoción.  Y nosotros, pues yo pienso, hemos sido bastante responsables.  No somos ni estamos locos, ni se nos sube a la cabeza que, ¿cómo se dice?, que somos grandes estrellas. Sabemos que tenemos que trabajar con responsabilidad y yo creo que esos han sido los motivos, las razones por la cuales hemos sido tan disciplinados.  No permitimos vicios aquí que sean exagerados ni cosas de drogas; eso no se permite en El Gran Combo. Pienso que ése ha sido el motivo y razón por lo cual El Gran Combo ha durado tanto.M: ¿Qué ha sido lo más difícil de ser el director de El Gra
Combo?
R: Bueno, lo más difícil ha sido, sobre todo, naturalmente, tratar de bregar con doce o trece caracteres diferente, verdad?  Y crearles conciencia de que nosotros, todos, tenemos un propósito.  “YO NO SOY EL GRAN COMBO, EL GRAN COMBO SOMOS TODOS NOSOTROS.”
El mismo empeño que yo pongo, tienen que ponerlo todos.  Y la misma responsabilidad que yo tengo, tienen que tenerla todos.  Y, tú sabes, cuando vienen nuevos, pues vienen con problemas de resabios y costumbres que traen de otros sitios, y esas cosas.  Bueno, coordinar todo eso al extremo de que ellos entiendan y hayan creado conciencia, yo creo que lo han logrado. Saben que nosotros tenemos una responsabilidad, tú sabes, porque somos El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. Que nos miran como un símbolo, nos miran como unos representantes, una representación de Puerto Rico. Es una responsabilidad adicional para tocar más. O tocar bien o tocar mal, lo que sea.  Y yo creo que ya los muchachos, a la edad que tenemos nosotros, pues ya sabemos y hemos creado conciencia de que eso es muy importante, y que eso hay que hacerlo y hacerlo bien. Todo bien que hagamos, pues nos va a beneficiar, y todo mal que hagamos, pues nos va a hacer daño. Yo creo que ya los muchachos tienen conciencia de todo eso.  Y por eso yo creo que tú ves que no tenemos problemas en ese aspecto de decir que aquí no hay mucho resabio, ni muchas malas mañas, ni malas costumbres; porque somos responsables de que todo lo bueno que hagamos nos va a seguir beneficiando. El grupo está consciente de eso.
M: Que le puedes decir a su publico quien se preocupa que las futuras generaciones dentro de la  salsa pierdan la humildez y sus fundamientos?.
R: Pienso que hay buenos muchachos, verdad, que están haciendo buena música, que quizás no tengan la promoción que tuvimos nosotros, porque ahora el asunto de la radio y la televisión se hace mas difícil.  Y hay buenos artistas que si tuvieran quizás, la oportunidad de que los promovieran como nos promovieron a nosotros tantos años atrás, pues los ayudaría mucho, tú sabes.  Pero, pienso que también hay muchos muchachos de éstos, muchachos jóvenes, verdad, que quizás no estén preparados para, como digo yo, recibir un aplauso.  Se le da un aplauso y “pierden la tabla” como digo yo, verdad.  Y entonces quizás no están preparados para eso; los aplauden dos veces y se le llena la cabeza de humo, y una serie de cosas que a la larga les hace daño. ¿Tú entiendes?
M: Exacto.
R: Pero cosas buenas, y talentos buenos hay de sobra, ¿tú endientes?  Y yo pienso, verdad, que si se dedicaran de lleno a ésto y se olvidaran de los nombres de las posiciones que yo soy “number one,” y yo me como la gente viva y esas cosas y demás, pues van a llegar, porque talento tienen.  Y es cuestión de que entiendan que esto es un trabajo, que esto es un negocio, que esto, mientras más accesible y humilde uno sea, pues más la gente te va a querer y más te va a admirar, ¿lo ves? Y entonces, pues…  ¡Esto es mucha responsabilidad!  Cuando vean que hay que empezar a las diez, es empezar a las 10, no empiezas a las 11.  Y los vicios, tienen que eliminarlos, los vicios se acabaron.  Eso es lo que rompe los paradigmas de las situaciones.  Pero, yo creo que hay buen talento, si se empeñan pueden lograrlo, quizás no logren 50 años, pero yo pienso que vas a ver cosas dentro de 4 o 5 años, de mucha, mucha fuerza.

Mádeline Rodríguez

Este es un día glorioso  y agradezco al Ateneo de Puerto Rico y a su presidente, mi buen amigo, el Doctor José Milton Soltero por haberme hecho el honor de invitarme a compartirlo con todos ustedes. Es glorioso que nuestro pueblo se reúna, como hoy, a conmemorar y celebrar su historia, su cultura y a sus héroes.
Porque, como muy bien dice el Grupo “Puerto Rico Para Tod@s” (todos y todas), grupo que defiende los derechos humanos de los homosexuales, las lesbianas, las personas bisexuales y transgénicas, Puerto Rico nos pertenece a todos, y a todas,  los y las boricuas. Hoy conmemoramos otro aniversario de la bandera de Puerto Rico. Esa bandera que nos une.  Esa bandera que nos emociona y nos enorgullece cuando se levanta en cualquier parte del planeta.
Esa bandera que hoy, la mayoría abrumadora de todos los puertorriqueños, los que residen en la isla y los que residen fuera de la isla reconocen como su bandera, pero que en un tiempo no muy lejano le costó persecución y cárcel a quienes la levantaron. Esa bandera fue creada por los puertorriqueños organizados en la Sección Puerto Rico del Partido Revolucionario Cubano en la ciudad de Nueva York.  O, sea, esa bandera que hoy es la de todos los puertorriqueños la diseñaron boricuas que residían en Estados Unidos. Esos patriotas eran, como el gran Apóstol cubano y de toda América, el gran José Martí, discípulos del gran Ramón Emeterio Betances.
Betances, el Padre de la Patria, el primer ciudadano de Puerto Rico, El Antillano, a quien también honramos aquí hoy. Ese mismo Betances, quien junto a Eugenio María de Hostos y Segundo Ruiz Belvis le dieron continuidad histórica a la lucha de Simón Bolívar por obtener la libertad de toda América, luchando por la independencia y la unidad de todas las Antillas, y por  la libertad de todos los seres humanos, empezando por la de los esclavos.
Betances nos enseñó con su ejemplo que se lucha por la justicia desde cualquier lugar donde el destino nos ubica.  Y nos enseñó, que nadie se puede considerar verdaderamente libre mientras otros sufran opresión y persecución. Siguiendo su ejemplo, hoy damos la lucha por lograr justicia para los inmigrantes en Estados Unidos.
Más de doce millones de seres humanos, muchos de ellos procedentes de nuestros países hermanos de la América Latina que llegaron a Estados Unidos buscando lo mismo que millones de boricuas que emigraron allá, buscando empleo para ganarse el pan y para proveerle a sus hijos una vida decente y próspera.  Gente trabajadora y decente, muchos de los cuales tienen esposos ó esposas, ó hijos que son ciudadanos de Estados Unidos,  Son trabajadores que hacen los trabajos que nadie quiere hacer, con los sueldos más bajos y con las condiciones de trabajo y de vivienda peores.  Estos hermanos y hermanas viven aterrorizados con la posibilidad de ser deportados y de que sus familias sean divididas. Sin duda, este es el gran asunto de derechos humanos en los Estados Unidos hoy. Estoy seguro que si viviese, el Doctor Betances me estaría orientando cómo mejor adelantar esta lucha a la que dedico tanto estos esfuerzos. Y en esa lucha, como en muchas otras, la comunidad puertorriqueña residente en Estados Unidos hace grandes contribuciones.
La patria puertorriqueña nos pertenece a todos, los que residen en la isla y los que residimos fuera de ella. Y todos contribuimos  como mejor podemos a hacerla grande.  Como esos puertorriqueños residentes de Nueva York que diseñaron nuestra bandera. Ó, como Rafael Hernández, cuando escribió “Lamento Borincano” también en Nueva York. Ó como los jóvenes boricuas en Nueva York y otras partes que tanto contribuyeron a la creación de lo que hoy llamamos Salsa.  Lo que hoy se conoce como “estudios puertorriqueños” es una gran contribución académica de la diáspora boricua a Puerto Rico y al mundo.
También algo que no se comenta mucho pero que ha sido  y es  tan importante para la economía de Puerto Rico, los billones de dólares que los emigrantes puertorriqueños han enviado a través de los años a sus familiares en la isla.  Esto es lo que hoy llamamos “remesas”, y estos envíos que hacen los trabajadores migrantes a sus familias en México, El Salvador y muchos otros países es uno de los renglones principales de esas economías, como también lo es en Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico nos pertenece a todos y todos tenemos el derecho inalienable de participar en cualquier proceso serio de autodeterminación de Puerto Rico.  Así como Betances y Hostos nunca renunciaron a su derecho y a su deber de participar en los procesos descolonizadores de  Puerto Rico, hoy no se puede concebir de un proceso genuino para la solución de la condición colonial de Puerto Rico que no incluya a todos los puertorriqueños, residentes y no residentes en la isla, en igualdad de condiciones y derechos.
Puerto Rico nos pertenece a todos.  Le pertenece a las generaciones pasadas, como la de Betances, le pertenece a nuestra generación y le pertenece a las generaciones futuras. Esas generaciones futuras están representadas aquí hoy por René Pérez,  Residente,  Calle 13.
René Pérez es el Roberto Clemente de la música nueva.  Así como Clemente barría con los títulos de bateo, René Pérez ha barrido con los “Grammies”.  Diecinueve Grammies, incluyendo el “Disco del Año”.  Increíble. Y todos los boricuas orgullosos gritamos “Pa’ lante René”
En su canción “Latinoamérica” que se ganó el premio Grammy por “”Canción del Año”, René escribió: “Soy lo que me enseñó mi padre, El que no quiere a su patria no quiere a su madre,  Soy América Latina, un pueblo sin piernas pero que camina”. Estas palabras las pudo haber escrito Betances, Albizu Campos Julia de Burgos, ó Juan Antonio Corretjer.
Calle 13 es la voz de muchos jóvenes puertorriqueños y latinoamericanos.  Representa un punto de vista nuevo, sin tapujos ni frenos.  Expresa frustración y rabia con una realidad colonial, con la opresión, con la desigualdad social, los prejuicios y está en abierta solidaridad con los pobres, los trabajadores, los inmigrantes.  Es una voz de compromiso con la patria y con toda América Latina, comprometida con la justicia y en rebeldía abierta contra los opresores y sus representantes. René Pérez es merecedor de la Medalla Ramón Emeterio Betances que hoy le otorga el Ateneo, y  me honro en unir mi voz a ese homenaje. Sí, la patria nos pertenece a todos.
Por eso, nada más apropiado que dedicarle este evento de hoy a Oscar López. A  él también le pertenece esta patria y él pertenece en ella. Oscar López Rivera es mucho más que un prisionero político. Oscar López es un ser humano que siente y padece, como todos nosotros. Ya es tiempo de traerlo a casa. Siempre he pensado que para caminar hacia adelante como pueblo, debe existir la reconciliación entre los puertorriqueños. Debemos unirnos en todo aquello que podamos unirnos.  Y pienso que no se puede avanzar en la ruta de la descolonización de Puerto Rico mientras tengamos personas en la cárcel por haber luchado contra el colonialismo.
Todos los 19 años que llevo sirviendo como miembro del Congreso representando al cuarto distrito de Illinois he dedicado tiempo y esfuerzos a lograr la excarcelación de los prisioneros políticos puertorriqueños.  De los 15 prisioneros políticos puertorriqueños de Chicago que comenzaron a servir sentencias a finales de los años ‘70’s y principios de los ‘80’s y luego de más de treinta años en la cárcel, Oscar López es hoy el único del que permanece encarcelado.
Esta es una situación que debe tocarnos en lo más profundo de nuestros corazones y nuestra alma. A los puertorriqueños nos disgusta el abuso y la injusticia, y no existen otras palabras para  describir la situación de Oscar. Como ustedes saben, mi padre falleció el 11 de diciembre.  De inmediato hice lo que haría cualquier puertorriqueño, me monté en un avión y vine a San Sebastián a  acompañar  a mi mamá y a compartir con mi familia.  Tengo muy fresco en mi mente lo importante que fue para toda nuestra familia y para mi estar juntos frente a esta situación. A Oscar se le negó ese derecho humano básico, cuando murió su madre, Doña Mita, y cuando falleció, más recientemente su hermana Clara.
Caminando por el barrio de Chicago ó por las calles de las ciudades, pueblos y campos de Puerto Rico he visto cómo gente común y corriente se acerca a los prisioneros políticos liberados y les abrazan, les estrechan sus manos, le expresan su aprecio y cariño. Y he visto con gran alegría como estos compatriotas se han integrado a la vida,  tanto a la vida de sus familias y sus amigos y de su pueblo, pero también a sus propias vidas, donde se envuelven en sus trabajos ó sus talleres de arte ó artesanías y a sus actividades libremente escogidas.
El pueblo puertorriqueño les ha recibido a todos con los brazos abiertos. A todos, menos a uno.  Al que todavía mantienen injustamente en prisión.

- A Oscar López Rivera
A través de todos estos años, he tenido la oportunidad de visitar a Oscar en la prisión en muchas ocasiones.
He visto, cómo su cuerpo comienza a mostrar el paso del tiempo. Pero, también he visto cómo ante las peores adversidades su espíritu se crece y se fortalece.  A través de todos estos años he visto como su compromiso con su patria y con su pueblo nunca ha dado la menor señal de debilitamiento.
De hecho, a Oscar lo convencieron amigos, familiares y compañeros de que saliendo Carlos Alberto Torres de la prisión aceptara participar de la audiencia para considerar su libertad condicional, ó “Parole”. Sencillamente, luego de más de 30 años de prisión, no tiene sentido que Oscar siga encarcelado.
Desafortunadamente, esta petición de libertad bajo palabra fue recientemente denegada de  manera cruel e injusta. Oscar nunca fue acusado, y mucho menos encontrado culpable de de hacerle daño a persona alguna.  ¿Cómo es posible que veamos a asesinos, violadores, y traficantes de drogas salir de la cárcel luego de 5, 10 ó 20 años, mientras mantienen a Oscar preso luego de servir 30 años?
Basta pensar por un momento acerca de nuestras propias vidas por los últimos 30 años para darnos cuenta que es sencillamente inhumano e inaceptable todo lo que le siguen negando a Oscar al mantenerlo encerrado. Sencillamente, la situación de Oscar es cruel e inhumana y no podemos seguir tolerando este abuso contra él. Si Oscar hubiese aceptado la oferta del presidente Clinton para salir con condiciones de la cárcel ya estaría entre sus familiares y entre su pueblo.  Pero, en ese momento Oscar entendió que no podía aceptar la oferta mientras quedaran otros de sus compañeros en prisión. Pero, hoy ya no cabe duda de que sea tiempo de traer a Oscar de regreso a su casa.
Por eso, quiero hacer un llamado a todo el pueblo generoso y noble de Puerto Rico a que nos unamos, como lo hicimos para lograr la paz para Vieques, como lo hacemos en momentos de tragedia, para hablar con una sola voz y exigir la excarcelación de Oscar López. Es momento de trabajar para lograr que toda la sociedad civil de Puerto Rico, todas las organizaciones cívicas y religiosas, todos los cuerpos de gobierno se expresen claramente a favor de la excarcelación de Oscar.
Sugiero que todos nos comprometamos a comenzar a hablarle acerca de este caso a nuestros amigos, vecinos, familiares y compañeros de trabajo y de organización, en nuestras iglesias, centros de trabajos y donde quiera que compartimos con otros boricuas acerca de la necesidad de actuar para corregir esta injusticia que tanto hiere nuestra sensibilidad de pueblo. Sigo y seguiré comprometido con hacer todo lo que esté a mi alcance para colaborar con los esfuerzos para lograr su libertad. Espero que todos los buenos puertorriqueños lo hagan también.

Muchas gracias.
By Luis Gutierrez

“And in spite of the fact that here the silence from outside is more painful than the solitude inside the cave, the song of a bird or the sound of a cicada always reaches me to awaken my faith and keep me going.”  (Oscar López Rivera)

Oscar López Rivera is turning 69 years old. He was born on Three Kings Day in San Sebastián. On May 29, 2012 he will mark the 31st anniversary of being a political prisoner in United States prison. With the enormous sensibility that characterizes his life, Oscar López Rivera presents us with a unique experience of the meaning and martyrdom of prison for the spirit of a political prisoner: “The dehumanization and pernicious existence that I’ve suffered since I’ve been in prison … is the death and annihilation of the spirit… this gulag was a maze of steel and cement constructed to isolate and incapacitate… We know that sensory deprivation and the denial of creative activity causes the spirit to wither and die. That’s exactly what the jailers are trying to do keeping me here. … In the case of those of us who are prisoners for loving and defending our Homeland, the U.S. government hasn’t the slightest excuse to hold us under such pernicious conditions … I am confident that I’ve chosen to serve a just and noble cause where that security resides. A free, democratic and just Homeland represents a sublime ideal which is worth struggling for. … I’m in this dungeon and the possibilities that I will be released are remote if not impossible, under an existence the same or worse than animals caged in the zoo under physical and spiritual attack but with complete dignity and with my conscience clean and clear. … The memory of our pain is worthy of being appreciated, remembered, and never buried … Even though from afar, all those times when you celebrate together, I enjoy them vicariously.”
(“Between Torture and Resistance,” Luis Nieves Falcón, 2011).
In effect, the prolonged imprisonment of Oscar López Rivera violates the principles and prevailing norms that prohibit inhumane, cruel and degrading treatment. The imposition of disproportionate sentences that result in being locked away for decades violates the most elemental norms of coexistence and civilization.
We must recall that the International Court of Justice has ruled, in the matter of United States diplomatic and consular personnel in Tehran, that “the fact of abusively depriving human beings of their freedom and subjecting them to physically cruel punishment is manifestly incompatible with the principles of the United Nations Charter and with the fundamental rights articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” (Passed on May 24, 1980, ICJ, Reports, 1980, par. 91).
The fundamental human rights which are absolute and cannot be abolished under any circumstance, including some of those expressed in the Universal Declaration, comprise the essential nucleus of human rights, “… expression … of a universal juridical conviction: rejection of barbarism.”
Time passes very slowly but inexorably witnesses Oscar’s presence as an indictment of colonialism and the brute force of the empire. And it is that those who struggle from the very depths of the spirit cannot go unnoticed.
Oscar’s life is summarized in his unconditional love for this homeland that has led him to sacrifice his life and that of his family in defense of the dignity and sovereignty of his people. He has taken every possible risk, the penalty and pain of prolonged imprisonment, torture, psychological assault, events that have not been able to break his free will.
Thus, today we venerate the patriot and recognize his bravery, temperament, valor, tenacity, clarity of purpose and unconditional love for this historic community. Oscar: spaces of light will open so that you will see and speak to us. We will sow the land of liberty. We will listen together to the sound of the birds and the water. We will paint with you to free the soul.
We will embrace in solidarity the oppressed and the needy. We will share life from the perspective of justice. We will be fierce defenders of the truth. We will never give up the cause our ancestors were committed to. Because we are convinced that your voice, your actions, your silence, your sacrifice and your vital energy maintain the pole from which the flag of the homeland will fly.

By Juan Santiago Nieves (Attorney)

Translated by Jan Susler People’s Law Office

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

 A Don Rafael Cancel Miranda, en su cumpleaños 81

La palabra es una onda
del corazón al oído,
es poderoso sonido
cuando el corazón ahonda.
No permite que se esconda
ni el mal ni el buen sentimiento;
la palabra es aposento
de todo lo que se siente,
dice la verdad o miente,
a veces sin fundamento.

Hay palabras que condenan,
palabras que discriminan,
hay palabras que asesinan
cuando la muerte ordenan.
Hay palabras que resuenan
en cada rincón del ser,
palabras que dejan ver
la maldad y la injusticia,
la avaricia y la codicia
y el abuso del poder.

Pero, hay palabras que al bien
abonan constantemente,
nacen de una voz ferviente
y nos sirven de sostén.
Una palabra, también,
define el más digno oficio,
palabra que es el indicio
de honor y de dignidad,
la palabra libertad,
que requiere el sacrificio.

Esa palabra tan digna
es base en nuestra Nación
de lucha y revolución
y es la más alta consigna.
Si la palabra se indigna
y con frente en alto anda,
si la libertad demanda
y en sí misma se hace hombre,
ese hombre tiene un nombre:
Rafael Cancel Miranda.

Carlos Quiles
18/julio/2011
6:26 p.m., en Río Piedras