The Assassination of Filiberto Ojeda Rios by the FBI.

As we approach the 15th anniversary of the political assassination of El Comandante, Machetero Filiberto Ojeda Rios, we uphold his example as part of the history of resistance of the people of Puerto Rico. The FBI pursued Filiberto relentlessly for more than 40 years. Biding its time, the FBI waited until El Grito de Lares in 2005, an annual affirmation of our people's fights for independence, to assassinate him in his hometown of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico.

Filiberto Ojeda Rios organized and fought by all the means at his disposal, like generations Puerto Rican freedom fighters have done for over 500 years. Taino warriors fought against the imperial empire of Spain. The resistance of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898 and our former and current political prisoners are a testament to our resistance. Today, this struggle continues and will continue until a truly independent Puerto Rico is a reality.

In 1990, Filiberto testified before the United Nations Decolonization Committee hearings on Puerto Rico. He denounced Puerto Rico’s colonial status, affirmed the inalienable right of the Puerto Rican people to fight, by any means necessary, for our independence and national sovereignty. Filiberto also spoke of the historic bonds of international solidarity with the people of the world, especially with the peoples of Latin American and the Caribbean.

Despite the ongoing lies and deception of Puerto Rican Revolutionaries like Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Pedro Albizu Campos, and others, we must stay vigilant and always remember these fallen souls that fought for independence.

I find it disgusting that we (US Citizens) continue to praise our so-called founding fathers of the United States but not fully examining the historical context behind it. Let’s not forget that many of our found fathers were slave owners, property owners, and simply racist individuals that had no empathy for any other race except for the Anglo-Saxons.

The American notion of a Manifest Destiny rested on a belief in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race and its right to rule the Western Hemisphere, especially the Caribbean and Latin America. During the US Presidency of William Howard Taft he made the following statement:

“The whole hemisphere will be ours in fact as, by virtue of our superiority of race, it already is ours morally.”

I guess in their eyes, they view Puerto Ricans, Blacks, and People of Color as “incapable of self-government” or “hostile to Christianity”!

Fast forward to the current day, has anything changed under the US rule? Look what is happening in other Latin America because of US Hegemonic Ideology being brutality imposed in these countries.

Filiberto Ojeda Rios will never be forgotten, and I encourage those who are reading the post to do some research on these revolutionary figures I mentioned above. History is a Weapon and we must utilize it to combat ignorance and fascist ideologies that are creeping up today.

FILIBERTO VIVE! LA LUCHA SIGUE!

Reference:

Juan A. Ocasio Rivera, Elma Beatriz Rosado. Five Years Later: Remembering Filiberto Ojeda Ríos. NACLA.org Retrieved from: https://nacla.org/news/five-years-later-remembering-filiberto-ojeda-r%C3%ADos

Denis, A. Nelson. War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony. Bold Types Book, NYC. 2015. p.254



by César Omar Sánchez. Community organizer, New York/New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition, Advisory Board Member of ProLibertad: Free All Political Prisoners Campaign.

Nelson's book on Puerto Rico's Dark History exposes the work of US Imperialism!

 

“The youth must defend the country with the weapons of knowledge.”

- Pedro Albizu Campos

Every nation on this planet has the right to self-determination. Every foreign government has the right to implement any political and economic ideology with the support from the people. However, no country around the world should be under siege and dictated by any foreign nation, especially by an imperialistic nation like the United States of America.

As a child, I remembered seeing a black and white color poster of what I would describe as an angry man shouting at a crowd of people while standing on a podium. With dark pierce eyes and having a passionate characteristic look, the expressions on the people's faces standing there looked inspired with hope and determination. Throughout my childhood, up to my adolescent years, this same iconic figure still appears in many Puerto Rican bars and restaurants in the Tri-State area of New York City. At that time, I never fully understood why this particular man was so important within the Latin community. The man’s face on every posters, flyers, t-shirts, and mural I came across in many Latin communities was the Revolutionary Pedro Albizu Campos.

Like many Revolutionaries all around the world, they fought against colonialism and the systemic economic caste that oppresses their people. Pedro Albizu Campos who was one of the main leaders and organizers of the Puerto Rican National Party fought for the independence of Puerto Rico.

Revolutionaries from Latin America and the Caribbeans were and still are being mischaracterized and misunderstood in history books. It is also sad to say that many Revolutionaries like Pedro Albizu Campos are no longer being discussed in the community or just simply hidden from LatinX and Caribbean academic studies. Can it be because of the fear of red-baiting from the US propaganda machine? Can it be the fear of actual systemic change in Puerto Rico that keeps many of us in the dark?  One thing for sure, a  radical and critical way of thinking to study and analyze the situation of Puerto Rico, both past and present is urgently needed.  

A book that I highly recommend reading which I believe gives a great overall summary history of the many movements in Puerto Rico against oppressive components and mechanisms like the Gag Law policy, FBI terror raids, and torture programs all supported by J. Edgar Hoover and US Government. That book is called the "War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America Colony"

From the Ponce Massacre to the US Bombing Campaign on the small island of Vieques(Puerto Rico's Land), and to the terror tactics unleashed on the poor working community throughout the island, the book sheds light on this dark history era in Puerto Rico.

Author Nelson A. Denis does not hold back on tells it how it is and how it relates to Puerto Rico's Political and Economic today. 

I believe this book needs to be studied in Latin America and Caribbean Academic studies in the US. I thank the author for his fantastic work and hope that many readers buy or borrow a copy of Nelson’s compelling book.

by César Omar Sánchez. Community organizer, New York/New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition, Advisory Board Member of ProLibertad: Free All Political Prisoners Campaign.

Radical Imagination, Radical Humanity - In a time of social decay is a must

Photograph of the July 25th El Barrio Freedom March!  The photos were provided by Radhames Morales, of the ProLibertad Advisory Board and Fuerza De la Revolucion Dominicana, and Benjamin Ramos, of ProLibertad.

“Revolutionary Moral”

Our involvement in housing and education is how we first developed a sense of humanity. Our children were part of the organization. In order for us to go to the meetings, somebody had to take care of them. And we would all do that. Without anybody teaching us about the “socialist man and woman,” we started doing it. We did not start out by studying the theory and consciously implementing it. On the contrary, our theory developed through the relationships, the human relationships that evolved day-to-day as we dealt with issues that affected the community. That was not contrary to Marxism; it reaffirmed Marxism. We learned that later on.

 - Federico Lora, former member and founder of El Comité-MINP

    As I sit home on this rainy summer day in August, I became compelled to type and express my admiration of one of many books I read this summer of 2020 during this Global Pandemic. Oh yes, face mask and social distancing has become daily routine and norm for us all, but that does not mean we should shut ourselves away from a good read. One book I found to be insightful, inspirational, and powerful in ways that helped expand my social consciousness even greater was “Radical Imagination, Radical Humanity” by author and activist Rose Muzio.

An almost forgotten history within the LatinX Community of the Puerto Rican’s Political Activism in New York which I believe needs to be told. After reading Muzio’s book it gave me a broader sense of urban LatinX history within the context of social justice activism.

Too many times scholars and historians’ praises high profile political figures and pro-establishment institutions but tend to forget about other powerful grassroots movements that have shaken the US politics apparatus. In the 70s one radical organization that demanded change for a better way living for their community was the Marxist-Leninist radical left organization called El Comité-MINP.

El Comité-MINP (Movimento de Izquierda Nacional Puertorriqueño) was a Puerto Rican National Left Movement that inspired a whole new generation of progressive and left movements in the LatinX community today. I was able to understand the motivations and their commitment to fighting for public housing, education, and of course a FREE Puerto Rico under the grips of the US Empire.

The book tells the huge significant gains El Comité-MINP was able to accomplish but also the difficulties within the organization that ultimately ended on closing the doors to the public. However, their Revolutionary spirit lives on within new organizations inspired by organizations like El Comité-MINP.

I highly recommend this book to those that want to know more about Puerto Rican movements such as El Comité-MINP that no doubt has shed a light on our corrupt political and economic system in the United States.

Where to purchase the book:

https://www.sunypress.edu/p-6333-radical-imagination-radical-hum.aspx

https://www.revolutionbooks.org/book/9781438463544

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/radical-imagination-radical-humanity-rose-muzio/1125050126

https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Imagination-Humanity-Political-Activism/dp/1438463553

by César Omar Sánchez. Community organizer, New York/New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition, Advisory Board Member of ProLibertad: Free All Political Prisoners Campaign.

USA Out of Puerto Rico! Protest Rally and March

122 Years of Exploitation!
122 Years of Repression and Oppression!
122 years of US White Supremacy and Racism!
122 Years of Resistance and Rebellion!

Denouncing 122 Years of US Colonialism!
Marching in the spirit of Don Rafael Cancel Miranda! 

Location: E. 125th street and Lexington Ave, New York City

Prolibertad Freedom Campaign - Protest on Saturday, July 25th in East Harlem

Prolibertad Freedom Campaign - Protest on Saturday, July 25th in East Harlem

Prolibertad Freedom Campaign - Protest on Saturday, July 25th in East Harlem

Prolibertad Freedom Campaign - Protest on Saturday, July 25th in East Harlem

Prolibertad Freedom Campaign - Protest on Saturday, July 25th in East Harlem

Prolibertad Freedom Campaign - Protest on Saturday, July 25th in East Harlem

Africa & The World Thanks Cuba

View Event Here!

No Reopening Schools

REALLY?? Amid a pandemic and the White House’s disastrous response to tackle COVID-19, this might seem like quid pro quo that uses the federal government’s education dollars as leverage to force states and school districts to reestablish normalcy, however unsafe the public health conditions. No Thank You.

May I suggest the following based on what a Georgia teacher posted 3 weeks ago-

No Reopening Schools until

1. A proven, effective vaccine for adults and children-maybe next year
2. A proven effective cure for adults/children-unlikely
3. No COVID19 infections or deaths x 1 month-not this year

This is the only science that we should consider as a bottom line

Everything else is based on doing the best we can under the conditions of 

1. No Public Health System nationally, and almost none left in any state or locally since we lost 100,000 public health workers since 1980, barely maybe have 100,000 left, probably less and need at least 250,000 based on a paper released in 2009
2. Can you imagine going to work anywhere, especially a school, if there were no flu vaccine-when a minimum of 30,000-60,000 children and adults in the US die every year from flu-most unvaccinated
3. at this point, covid19 is more infectious than flu has been for years (R0)>1.5-2
4. falling into the trap of trying to make schools safe places for covid19 will result in massive debates of whose plan is safer than whose when the majority of urban schools were not safe places before covid19: “How many angels can dance or stand on the head of a pin??"
5. how many schools have you been in where all sinks, faucets, soap dispensers (if they exist) etc are working, much-less having touch-less ones which are the only way to stop the transmission of any infectious disease that's why surgeons have them??
6. how many people think kids, teens, and adults will keep masks on-please raise your hand, etc. etc., instead we should be focusing all our organizing on #1-3 at the top of this email + vastly improving online teaching and learning + joining with social movements to stop rent, evictions, pay all families $1,000/week to stay home and take care of their kids, no shut-offs, food stamps for all families whose kids qualify for federal school lunch, etc., etc.

Finally if you are not familiar with the Precautionary Principle please read this and circulate

Be safe, be happy, be smart-

don’t play the capitalist racist games of either political party or their colonialist lackeys like the American Academy of Pediatrics

https://www.sehn.org/precautionary-principle-understanding-science-in-regulation

"When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.

In this context, the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof. The process of applying the precautionary principle must be open, informed, and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of alternatives, including no action." - Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle, Jan. 1998

Siempre Adelante y Venceremos!

by César Omar Sánchez. Community organizer, New York/New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition, Advisory Board Member of ProLibertad: Free All Political Prisoners Campaign.

Philosophical Reflection on Gender, Race, and Class in a Capitalistic Society.

By César Omar Sánchez

This report paper is a response analysis and reflection to a Social Justice class taken at NJCU (New Jersey City University). 

         

We are no doubt living in a world of spectacles during a Global Pandemic in the United States. We live in a world where profits are more valued than human lives. We see our beautiful planet being destroyed due to our human activities and the economic system that exacerbates it, Capitalism. This current economic paradigm that we are in will ultimately take us all to our doom if we do not rise and take affirmative actions. This not a mere hyperbole message I am conveying, but facts being presented to everyone to comprehend. In Capitalism, this system brings the following: gender inequality, racist cast system towards Afro-Americans, and the assault on the middle class which is almost wiped out.

Gender oppression under Capitalism

            If we look back into history, there a clear pattern on how gender subordination is intertwined within the functions of a capitalistic society. Unfortunately, when it comes to Gender Discrimination in the United States, women in the workforce are not treated well and ignored of their needs. From low salary wage to job positions where many of their white female counterparts do not have as much, gender discrimination continues to become a big problem not only in the United States but also worldwide.

In a 2012 report from the Center of American Progress, The State of Women of America, the inequalities remain. Yes, one will argue that women are increasing in numbers within the workforce, but women are paid only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. However, for African American women, they are paid only 66 cents for every dollar a man makes. Just to clarify a little:

The pay disparity is more dramatic for women of color: African American women make 64 cents for every dollar white men make, and Hispanic women earn only 53 cents. ⁽¹⁾

The ferocity attacks on women and transgender are on the rise, even more, when Global Capitalism brings instability in people's livelihood. Racist caste oppressive system is still intact in the United States

Unfortunately, the ideology of white supremacy towards African Americans, Jews, Muslims, and other people of color is still alive and well in the United States. Even though their numbers are not significantly higher as in previous decades, it is important to know the historical backdrop of this nation and how it was founded under white supremacy. During the British Empire, colonialism in many regions of the world was key to conquer and seize natural resources. Let's take a Tory member of the British House of Commons in 1807 who said the following:

Giving education to the labouring classes of the poor...would...be prejudicial to their morals and happiness; it would teach them to despise their lot in life, instead of making them good servants in agriculture, and other laborious employment to which their rank in society had destined them; instead of teaching them subordination, it would render them factious and refractory...; it would enable them to read seditious pamphlets, vicious books, and publications against Christianity; it would read render them insolent to their superiors. ⁽²⁾

When you look at politicians in the United States, you can see many echoes similar calls. William Harper, a pro-slavery lawyer from South Carolina said the following:

The Creator did not intend that every individual human being should be highly cultivated...It is better that a part should be fully and highly cultivated and the rest utterly ignorant. ⁽³⁾

            If we analyze the entire prison industrial complex system in the United States, it has all the indications of modern-day slavery. This caste system in both our prison and outside world is built to keep us Latinos, Blacks, and people of color in check. These relics we see down south of this nation and mechanism in place are to remind us who are the real ones running the show. As the author, Michelle Alexander talks about in her book "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness", there is a systemic problem on how Blacks are continuing to be criminalized and discriminated which leads them to be sent off to prison. Our Criminal Court Justice in the United State is a joke, and if many of the Black individuals had an actual fair trial, the system will immediately collapse.

Jim Crow laws were wiped off the books decades ago, but today an extraordinary percentage of the African American community is warehoused in prisons or trapped in a parallel social universe, denied basic civil and human rights—including the right to vote; the right to serve on juries; and the right to be free of legal discrimination in employment, housing, access to education and public benefits." ⁽⁴⁾

Defining Certain Structural Classism within a Capitalistic System

            There are different levels of classes within our society, however, the most obvious ones are the working classes and the ruling elites. When it comes to economic class, we must understand the working-class or the common people related to labor and means of production.

As Karl Marx one of the authors of the Communist Manifesto puts it:

"These social relations between the producers, and the conditions under which they exchange their activities and share in the total act of production, will naturally vary according to the character of the means of production. "⁽⁵⁾

            Philosophers like Robert Nozick argues more of an Entitlement Theory where any distribution of “holdings,” as he calls them. Nozick's Theory resembles close to libertarianism on the grounds where there are potentially vast material inequalities where systems like the "Free Market" exacerbates this situation of the idea of “ownership”. What is a fair distribution when Nozick's libertarianism in many ways advocates the protection of strong ownership rights over unequal amounts of the external world? How do you own a piece of a planet?

Philosophies, Theories, and Practices today’s society in the United States

We all want to live in a world where we can all share and live in a harmonic society without having a few percentages of individuals or groups controlling more than half of the world's natural resources. John Rawls's philosophical theory suggests that all laws and institutions, no matter how well arranged and efficient they are must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Rawls's theory mentions the feature of justice as fairness is to think of the parties (let’s say Democrats and Republicans) as rational and mutually unbiased. However, Rawl instantly says that this does not mean the parties are as he puts it:

“…egoists, that is, individuals with only certain kinds of interests, say in wealth, prestige, and domination.” ⁽⁶⁾

            There are many great theories out there that if we dare to implement them, we still might have a chance to save from global catastrophe. However, before we can take one step forward, we must acknowledge that the political and economic system we have today is no longer sustainable. My reflection on these philosophers and theories in this class lacks some sort of credibility as it more of cons than pros within our current financial and political system. I felt that this course is carefully and intelligibly crafted to push a more of a “Free Market” libertarianism ideology. When we talk about class and social justice, I find it a bit strange that political and economic philosophers are not part of our reading in this course. That is not to say, that all these philosophers did not have good intentions to bring some sort of justice distribution of wealth to society. However, I believe we are just seeing it from one perspective and not the entire picture.

Conclusion

We have to understand that the purpose of real education is to create minds to build a more humane society and not only just about the profit mode. I am reminded of a quote from former Chief editor war correspondence reporter who said the following regarding education:

"We’ve bought into the idea that education is about training and “success”, defined monetarily, rather than learning to think critically and to challenge. We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers. A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, which fails to understand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speed or ability to consume, condemns itself to death." ⁽⁷⁾

            I agree with his assessment and no doubt we must reevaluate our way of perceiving education in the United States and perhaps it is time shift to a whole new paradigm. Time is up, time to act.

by César Omar Sánchez. Community organizer, New York/New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition, Advisory Board Member of ProLibertad: Free All Political Prisoners Campaign.

References-Citations

1. Chu, Anna, and Charles Posner. “The State of Women in America.” Center for American Progress, www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2013/09/25/74836/the-state-of-women-in-america/
2. Lindert, Peter H. 2004, Growing Public: Social Spending and Economic Growth since the Eighteenth Century, New York: Cambridge University Press
3. Kaestle, Carl F. 1983. Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860. Edited by Eric Foner. New York: Hill and Wang.
4. Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press Publication. 2020
5. Karl Marx. Wage Labour and Capital. Chpt. 5: The Nature and Growth of Capital.  https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/ch05.htm
6. Sandel, Michael J. Justice: A Reader, Chapter VII: Rawls: Justice as Fairness“A Theory of Justice” by John Rawls. p. 205
7. Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle