Louisaida

Donde Los Puertorriquenos se Unen Where Puerto Ricans Unite

Roberto Morales

The Story of Puerto Rican

activism in NYC

Dedicated to the many Puerto Ricans who have survived the devistating

effects of Hurricane Maria in October 2017. For the

response of Trump is poor and minimal to the dam-

age done to the Island. May you recover ever so quickly

to not only improve the cur-rent state of being a com-monwelth but eventually a

free and Independent Puerto Rico

Special Thanks to my Nana, Iluminada Torres for sharing her life

experences for the purpose of this Zein and for

recapping her involvement with Puerto Rican activism

with every neighborhood she grew up in. Never forgrtting her people and the land she calls home in the city that is

her new home.

Liberation from Spain, worthless for the Puerto Ricans. Detrimental ef-fects that last for generations all upon the heads of the imperialist United States. Economic Problems

on the island have my people migrate towards the mainland for

an economic safe haven, only when upon arrival to be treated like crap

from the start

Libera ños De Espa ñiaLiberate us from Spain

“Beyond the aesthetic satisfaction, how-ever, lay a determination to fully exploit the island of Porto Rico, considering the fertility of its soil, the mildness of its cli-mate, the abundance of rain, its insular

position, and its teeming population can scarcely be viewed with anticipations too

optimistic”.

“Even Rexford Tugwell, the Roosevelt-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, had titled his account of the island The Stricken Land.” In the words of the governor himself, “Wages were miser-able...living costs high, housing as bad, surely as any prt of the world, people half starved on a diet inherited by tradi-tion from the days of slavery, and sick with all the diseases to which malnour-ished and ill-housed people

I Have Puerto Rico

in myHeart

The liberation of Puerto Rico from one colonial power to another left a massive amount of economic problems for the island. “It was the chronic lack of em-

ployment on the island on one hand and the demand for cheap unskilled or semi-

skilled labor in competitive industries (such as the garment industry) and in

the “service” sector (janitors, dishwash-ers, hotel maids, bus-boys, etc.) on the other accounted primairly for the beg-gining of a massive migration of Puerto Ricans to the continental United States

in the 1940’s”.

The migration of Puerto Rican’s into New York brought them to a number of different neighborhoods throughout the city. The Up-per East Side between 125th and 96 street

being known as “Spanish Harlem” to even the Lower East Side with it better known as “Loi-saida”. But even as many Puerto Ricans enter the city they were not welcomed with open

arms. “The Robert F. Wagner mayoral admin-istration spent considerable time and other

resources trying to convince Puerto Ricans on the island to relocate to cities other than New

York. In 1959, criminal court judge Samuel Liebowitz claimed that Puerto Ricans were

responsible for the rise in the city’s juvenile deliquency rates and posited that the city

should make every effort to discourage continued migration”.

Spanish Harlem (125th Street - 96 Street) Loisaida (14th Street - Houston Street)

The Voice from ExperienceIluminada Torres - Age 71 - Former LES Resident (1946 - 1953) Origin: Puerto Rico

“One side all Puerto Rican’s, poor, worked in factories, cheap rents. The other side Orthodox Jews, neither of

us mingled nor fought with each other. There were ehat they call Cold Water Flats, the stove had ducts to the ceil-

ing which is where the heat would come from, bath tub in the kitchen which

doubled as a table with a cover. The toi-let and wash sink was in the hallway and

was shared between two families. My mother worked a factory job for about

$60 a week salary”.

Of course the damn name of the island has to be Americanized because god forbid the

culture of the island can actually be respected, NOPE. The damn name is:

Puerto Rico NOT Porto Rico.

Assimilation to US Education...

“The people that migrated from Puerto Rico, even though American Citizens they would put all the children if you

were in the 5th grade, they would automatically put you in the 4th grade because you didn’t know the language (English). There was no such thing as

Bi-lingual classes, it was either you sink or swim. Either you learned English on your own, or you stayed in the same grade forever. Until 1953 when they

(DOE) started noticing the difference be-tween the home life and school life. This is where the Puerto Rican study comes in 1957 when they started the consent agree which is ASPIRA, that every child that came into the United States that wasn’t English speaking had to take a

lap test and they either in their language or English depending on which they did better and whatever language they were good at is the language that they were

taught.

I was tracked from 1st grade all the way through high school. The teach-ers would call you up to the desk and

would ask you to say something in english and they would make a nota-tion on it but I don’t know what for because they never told us. It was

tracking and they did it to all the chil-dren that came into the public school

system who didn’t know English.”

Involvement with the Young Lords

“At the time of the Young Lords in

the 1960’s I was living in Brooklyn, but I knew, and I was still very active in

the Lower East Side since I had family down there. They were mainly to get

the school system going for the public schools for the Puerto Rican children

and fair housing. The housing was horrible, I mean it was all slum area and they were occupied buildings and they

would do sit ins or squatters and pay no rent until they started getting some

action.”

Rent Strike amogst Puerto Ricans for witholding

until action has come c.1960’s

According to the government, the Young Lords were a militant group, but they were not militant. They were all a community based organization trying to get all the rights that Puerto Ricans

deserved as citizens because they would treat us and STILL DO as second-class

citizens.

Second-Class Citizens: a citizen, especially a member of a

minority group, who is denied the social, political, and economic benefits of

citizenship.

(Left) - The Party of the Young Lords Serve and Protect its people(Upper) The famous 7 demands of the Young Lords

Treatment of Puerto Ricans 1950’s to 2017

“From the Lower East Side, we moved to W134 Street, and there was all Irish at

the time. We were bullied in the streets like nobody’s business. There were very

few Puerto Ricans on the west side there. The school was horrible, they used to call us Spics. My sister used to have to run home all the time until my father made her stay outside and fight some of the Irish kids and there was a lot, a lot,

a lot of discrimination, AND THERE STILL IS

as far as I’m concerned and I’m 71 years old. With 2 masters and a BA and I still

get... you know, “What are you doing in this country?

Why don’t you go back to your country?”

The unwelcoming neighborhood for

Puerto RicansW134 Street

My Mom had moved to Puerto Rico and I went with her to this small town Coamo. It’s on the southeast side of the island. With all my education I couldn’t get a job down there and the jobs were horrible.

Movements arising with Puerto Ricans

So I joined La Palma, which is the Puerto Rican Independence movement. But

only after a month, my mother said to get back to New York before they lynch

you. This was because they had no longer wanted independence, they wanted statehood or to leave it as a commonwealth. But as for right now

(2017) I rather it stay as a commonwealth but not as a state. As for independence, financialy they can’t do it

and the resources are bad.

P.N.P - La Palma Partido Nuevo ProgresitaStatehood, Security, progress (Note: Modern Day La Palma is pro statehood compared to the 1960’s)

Hurricane Maria

The response of President Trump is ab-solutely the worst. He is the worst pres-ident that I have seen ever since living in the United States and that’s been for about 70 years now. He couldn’t give 2 cents about Puerto Rico yet he has

property over there and lives off of the poor labor he has from the island, he abuses them and takes advantage of

them economically. I think his response to the island after the hurricane is dis-gusting and embarassing towards the

United States of America.

The Orange Man toss... The response of Puerto Rico a god damn joke upon the

POTUS...

Why would anyone throw paper towels like a game to

people in need???

The Modern Day Loisaida

Community Gardens Jardines Comunitarios The new age of activism in Loisaida is the cultivation of the earth. Bringing together gardeners and local residents to these small former vacant lots into new greenery. Returning to the agri-culture aspect of Puerto Rico Viva La Puerto Rico por a todo dias

Works Cited - The Puerto Ricans: their history, culture, and society Adalberto Lopez, Schenkman Books Inc, 1980

- Concrete and Clay: Reworking Nature in New York City - Matthew Gandy - The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

Live Interview: Iluminada Torres November 13, 2017