August 3rd at 6:00pm to 8:00pm

 

 

 

 

 

Over 70 Young Adults Attend Humboldt Park Youth Assembly

 

 

On July 27 over 70 young adults attended the Humboldt Park Youth Assembly organized by the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) and the youth of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center's Café Teatro Batey Urbano space. The institute is one of the three in development through the 'Community as a Campus' educational model being implemented in neighborhood schools. The purpose of the assembly was two fold: to gain insights on what youth in our community are experiencing and thinking and to infuse the Youth Leadership Institute with more people who are truly invested in the transformation of our community.

 

In this assembly, we discussed the status of youth in Humboldt Park - our issues, concerns, and vision for a better community - by splitting the attendees into three discussion groups with different topics: youth and community, youth and education, and youth and artistic expression. Subsequently, the organizers described the different initiatives that we called upon the event participants to be a part of, most notably the Clemente High School to University pipeline, our "Drop The Bottle" campaign, and our youth space. Lastly, we distributed and read collectively the vision and mission of the (YLI) and invited folks to the first official meeting of the institute - August 10 at 5pm at the Batey Urbano (2620 W. Division St.). 

 

For more pictures go to our Flickr and Facebook pages! Photos taken by Edwin Díaz Jr.

The presence of the "Drop The Bottle" campaign, which addresses the issue of underage drinking in Humboldt Park and stresses community-rooted alternatives, was very much felt at the 6th annual Hope Fest at Norwegian American Hospital on July 28. This yearly event, organized by New Life Covenant, is attended by over 5,000 residents and offers them free performances, school supplies, groceries; and state, city, and community resources. At Hope Fest, we distributed hundreds of our social marketing materials and engaged in conversations with attendees on the topic of underage drinking.

 

The "Drop The Bottle" campaign is an the initiative of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center's Youth Leadership Institute, which is one of the three institutes of the 'Community as a Campus' educational model being implemented in neighborhood schools. We also shared a table with Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School, which passed-out information on the high school and signed-up potential students for an interview to attend the school. Lastly, we distributed promotional material for the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture's (IPRAC) annual Barrio Arts Fest, to take place at the museum (3015 W. Division St.) on September 15-16 from 10am-6pm.

View video here.

The Orlando National Boricua Human Rights Network Chapter marched in the Kissimee, where it distributed leaflets, and its members spoke and educated on the campaign to free Oscar López. Over 10,000 people participated in the parade, the second of its kind.

The Orlando National Boricua Human Rights Network Chapter marched in the Kissime Puerto Rican Parade, where it distributed leaflets, and its members spoke and educated on the campaign to free Oscar López. Over 10,000 people participated in the second annual parade.

July 31st, 2012 - For a second day, Alberto De Jesus (Tito Kayak) remains on the small Caribbean island of St Martin, awaiting for a change in the weather and the arrival of an escort ship in order to continue rowing to Puerto Rico. The international quest in support of the effort to bring about the release of U.S.-Held Political Prisoner, Puerto Rican patriot Oscar Lopez-Rivera, began on June 21st from the Paria peninsula in Venezuela where Tito began rowing, following the path of the ancestral Arawak people who first populated the Caribbean archipelago centuries ago.

 

Lopez-Rivera has served 31 years in th U.S. prison system, convicted of "seditious conspiracy", for fighting for the liberation of his homeland. A native of the mountain town of San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, Oscar Lopez Rivera, a Vietnam veteran who was decorated by the U.S. military for his wartime service, became an activist on behalf of Puerto Rican rights in the U.S. and for the independence of Puerto Rico upon his return from South East Asia in the streets of Chicago. Arrested in 1981 following 5 years in clandestinity, Oscar is today the Puerto Rican who has served the longest prison sentence in the struggle for his country's independence since the US invasion 114 years ago. Two other Puerto Rican freedom fighters, the brothers Avelino and Norberto Gonzalez-Claudio, are also in U.S. prisons.

 

Tito Kayak, an internationally known grassroots environmentalist, human rights activist and daredevil, now awaits the passing of rough weather in order for the 38-foot sailboat Breeze, carrying the support, logistics and security support committee coordinator Elisa Sanchez, and sociologist and cultural researcher Pluma Barbara, to depart to the colonially divided (French in the north and Dutch in the south) island of St Martin.  The Breeze is presently on the coast of the island of Tortola, waiting to sail on to St martin when the weather permits. The vessel will begin escort duties for the remaining 1/3 of this international grassroots effort for the release of Lopez-Rivera from there, in a northern and then western direction through the Anegada passage, one of the most dangerous parts of this kayaking journey due to the strong cross currents where the Caribbean sea and the Atlantic ocean meet. Furthermore, local fishermen have warned the support team that they have noticed unusually aggressive shark activity on the way to Anegada.

 

Tito Kayak will then row first to the British and then U.S. Virgin islands and then on to the Puerto Rican island municipalities of Culebra and Vieques, where a welcoming committee awaits his arrival. He is expected to arrive in his kayak at the beach encampment of Amigos Del Mar in isla Verde, Carolina, at some point next week, weather permitting. --