Puerto Rican Obituary and the Meaning of Sotomayor's Accomplishment

by Angelo Falcón

Whenever there is a momentous occasion in the Puerto Rican community, like the swearing-in (Saturday) of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, I always try to get some perspective by revisiting the late Pedro Pietri's epic verse, Puerto Rican Obituary. While some have commented on the historic vote confirming Judge Sotomayor this past week being on the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the also historic federal Voting Rights Act (VRA), I also like to acknowledge that this is the 40th anniversary of Pedro's first reading of Puerto Rican Obituary in El Barrio.

Puerto Rican Obituary reminds us how far we have come as a people, and how far we have yet to go. It is also a reminder of how the Puerto Rican experience, although not technically one of immigrants, parallels many of the realities that Latino and other immigrants face today.

We have acknowledged and celebrated our collective accomplishment with a Justice Sotomayor in the Supreme Court as Latinos. Now the work continues in the fight for social justice for our people and all humanity. As Puerto Rican Obituary shows us as a historical baseline, we have made some real progress, but much still needs to be done. Keep a copy with you and refer to it next time something amazing happens.

Un abrazo.

Angelo Falcón is president of the National Institute for Latino Policy. This article was originally published in the Institute's e-newsletter.

Note: See the related blog entry below and listen to Pietri recite the Puerto Rican Obituary.

"Puerto Rican Obituary," by Pedro Pietri (1973)

source: peaceonearthforu/YouTube

Judge Sonia Sotomayor Sworn In As Supreme Court Justice

Coverage of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as she is officially sworn is as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Roberts in Washington, D.C. Her mother and brother are with her. Felicidades to this boricua who hails from the Bronx.

source: PoliticsNewsPolitics, YouTube

Salsa in the Park at Crotona

Community calendar

Salsa in the Park

Crotona Park, Claremont Avenue and Crotona Park East

noon to 6 p.m., August 8

Free

This is an event of the Bronx Puerto Rican Parade.

For more information, www.bronxprparade.com.

(photo of a little girl participating in the Bronx Puerto Rican Parade earlier this year by Clarisel Gonzalez)

Manny Hernandez Jr. chats with PRSUN Radio

Manuel Hernandez Jr., writer and educator, is my guest Wednesday on PRSUN Radio at www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio. Hernandez has presented workshops, coordinated symposiums, conducted television interviews and moderated panels on the literature written by United States based Latino writers in Puerto Rico, the United States and Mexico. He also writes commentary essays on education for several websites and newspapers in Puerto Rico and The United States. He published a textbook titled, Latino/a Literature in The English Classroom (Editorial Plaza Mayor, 2003). The book was nominated for Latino Book of The Year 2004. He also published a semi-auto-bio titled, The Birth of a Rican. The self-published narrative is in the index catalogs at Latino Studies at  Michigan State University and El Centro at Hunter College, CUNY, NY. His vision is to promote Latino Literature to motivate teens to read and write. Having an encounter with Latino Literature will help teens (especially Latino teens) to improve their scores on city, national and statewide exams and will prepare them for further literary analysis. He is currently in professional staff development in the English department at the DE in Puerto Rico. 

Manny will speak on English teaching in Puerto Rico, his writings and more.

(photo courtesy of Manuel Hernandez Jr.)

UPDATE: To listen to my interview with Manny, go to the PRSUN Radio widget box right here in this blog or go directly to www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio.