Essay #2

<3 Puerto Rico yo nunca dejare de amarte <3

The fight for equality seems to be a never ending one. People from all corners of the world have fought for change. In the late 60s and early 70s in America and around the world the fight for equality was in full effect. Historical events happened in this time such as the assignation of Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the age of 39. American President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act which prohibited discrimination for public amenities. All while the U S of A was at war with Vietnam.
The effects of this time were felt world-wide, in the rural areas as well as the urban areas of many counties. In the heavy populated NYC there was a lot of action and protest going on around late 60s and early 70s. There was a movement going developing amongst the Latino community; Puerto Ricans to be exact. There was a group of nationalist called the Young Lords originally from Chicago, but who’s influence spread to New York City were there was a large group of Puerto Rican and Latino population.
The Young Lords fought against key issues affecting the members of their society. Key issues such as Street Cleaning – when the Young Lords asked the members of their community what was the one thing they’re having trouble with, most would answer that the their neighborhood streets weren’t being cleaned. The Young Lords took it upon themselves to clean the streets and started somewhat of a movement and ended up blocking out streets with city garbage until the city recognized there was a situation. They also were concerned with Health Care and Education. The Young Lords made a 13 point platform which included
“12. We believe armed self- defense and armed struggle are the only means to liberation.”
“We are opposed to violence—the violence of hungry children, illiterate adults, diseased old people, and the violence of poverty and profit We have asked, petitioned, gone to courts, demonstrated peacefully, and voted for politicians full of empty promises. But we still aint’ free. The time has come to defend the lives of our people against repression and for revolutionary war against the businessman, politician, and police. When a government oppresses out people, we have the right to abolish it and create a new one. “Young Lords Party 13- Point Program and Platform.
This is a strong point to make. They seem to be speaking very clearly about how they feel is the consequence of all the oppression. The backlash to the oppression these people have faced. They are doing two things here, they are making a declaration that they don’t like the way the government is doing its job so they are going to abolish it, and create a new one. And at the same time they are informing the people the oppressed people that there’s this group who isn’t afraid to speak its mind and right for everyone’s right. The Young Lords helped make way for this new cultural resistance and renaissance amongst Latinos and especially Puerto Ricans. Music and poetry were also a very important part of this movement.
Poet and member of the Young Lords political party read his poem “Puerto Rican Obituary” in a rally. In his poem he is telling the stereotypical story of Puerto Ricans in American. He uses common names such as “ Juan, Miguel, Milagros, Olga and Manuel” to drive the point home. His point seems to be that we are the oppressed, and we seem to be doing nothing about it just letting days go by. But Pietri goes with great details to explain what exactly is going on amongst the Puerto Rican and Latino community at the time;
“Juan died waiting for his number to hit- Miguel died waiting for the welfare check to come and go and come again- Milagros died waiting for her ten children to grow up and work so she could quit working.”- Puerto Rican Obituary by Pedro Pietri.
He is speaking to the common people who share the same situations whether they are economical, family, education. He states how he feels these ordinary people put their right hand over their heart to pledge their allegiance to a country who hates them. I believe that’s where he drives the point home where these ordinary people need to stop being so ordinary and realize what’s going on. They are becoming nothing more then what this country wants from them; which is to have little to no upward mobility as a whole. The people need to “turn off the television and tune into their own imaginations” accept they are beautiful and come from a beautiful place and stop believing otherwise.
These two forms of Manifestos although very different, are very much the same. They speak to the people who they written for. They have simple and clear language. The points are clear and it is known what they want. They also show where the people of the community have flawed and these manifestos are a wakeup call to get moving up on a revolution.