Roberto Clemente Community Academy, in partnership with the Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC), has established a program that will ensure Clemente students pursue post-secondary education. 

The High School to College pipeline affirms that post-secondary education is an option for our students. Currently our program is in a FAFSA phase (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Our goal is to assist our students in becoming financially sustainable in their post-secondary careers. We also emphasize scholarships, as it is important that our students explore all avenues.

As well, the National Boricua Human Rights Network is happy to announce the arrival of Out of Control: A Fifteen Year Battle Against Control Unit Prisons. This important book documents the decade and a half struggle of the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown in challenging the barbaric practices at Marion Federal Prison in Illinois, opposing the proliferation of control unit prisons across U.S. and illuminating the racist and inhumane nature of U.S. incarceration. Additionally, a special version of this book can also be found on the internet. While the internet version is shorter and more concise, it provides direct links to documents, pamphlets, audio and video segments as well as other materials created by and related to the Committee to End the Marion Lockdown. We are really excited about this book, the historical context it provides and the interactivity of the online version.

Vida/SIDA is hiring a part-time CRCS Counselor. Individuals with experience in HIV prevention and certification to conduct HIV testing and counseling are encouraged to apply. Please contact diannam@prcc-chgo.org for more information.

Vida/SIDA has two part time opportunities for HIV Counselors up to 30 hours per week, $12 per hour. Experience in HIV prevention and current HIV testing and counseling certification highly desired.

For more information contact ricardoj@prcc-chgo.org

On Wednesday, February 13th at 7:00pm the doors of Batey Urbano opened. The Batey Urbano partnered with Row Cypher to host an Open Mic night. There was Hip Hop, Poetry, R&B, and a live band. Batey Urbano became an open space for young people all around the city and from different universities. The event ended with artists feeling privileged and the audience feeling overwhelmed with new knowledge about our community and the lives of others. Batey Urbano continues to provide alternatives for young people in our community, and on the night of February 13th it was an alternative for young people all around the city! Visit the Batey website!

The very distinguished Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was in Chicago recently promoting her memoir "My Beloved World."  Humboldt Park's very own Mádeline Rodríguez was in attendance at the Justice's book reading. Her book describes her culturally rooted Puerto Rican heritage. Her story bears strikingly resemblances and similarities to that story which is being told today in our communities across the country.  It culminates in a book that holds your attention and serves as a beacon of inspiration.  At the very least, you will find truth in her statement, "People who live in difficult circumstances need to know that happy endings are possible." Her presence on the United States Supreme Court forecasts the possibility of celebrating our culture. Her life story, to me, did away with all excuses!  She did it! So can you!

You can read all about "My Beloved World" and Sonia Sotomayor's visit to Chicago by clicking here.

PACHS Student dedicates poem to 40th Anniversary of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School in Chicago