This was done by compañera Maria Ortiz' granddaughter Aiyanna Aixa by herself in her 3rd grade classroom at Columbus Elementary School. During Christmas break Aiyanna visited her in Bayamon, Puerto Rico with her parents and saw  the two banners Maria displayed in front of her house. One with Oscars face and one that said Libertad para Oscar. She asked who he was. Maria explained as best as she could the reasons he was in jail for so long

In January her mother Sonia found that  particular classroom work as she was cleaning 

Aiyanna's school bag during the weekend. She called Maria and said, "you are not going to believe what your granddaughter wrote in a school paper." She then read it to me. Of course I cried. It made me so proud of her. The sentence she wrote told me she really paid attention and understood what I told her.

April 11th, 2013 the College Pipeline at Roberto Clemente Community Academy will be hosting a Shadow Day at three different schools: Northeastern Illinois University, Columbia College Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. 52 high school students will be shadowing college students in their daily experience. Through this process our students will receive an organic experience that will shape their their perception of post-secondary education. The pipeline is meant to prepare our students both academically and mentally for post-secondary education.

HUMBOLDT PARK - A city-owned plot next to Chicago's oldest Puerto Rican mural will be sold to the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Humboldt Park for $1 in a deal approved by the city council last month.

"La Crucifixion de Don Pedro Albizu Campos," at 2425 W. North Ave., was painted in 1971 to commemorate the life of Pedro Albizu Campos, a revolutionary and leading figure in the Puerto Rican fight for independence from the United States.

On Monday, March 4, 2013 Norwegian American Hospital officially opened its new Behavioral Health Center for Recovery and Wellness with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The state-of-the-art center was designed with an individualized approach in mind and, most importantly, provides mentally ill patients with an additional inpatient resource setting to get well.  The center includes 15 beds with five private rooms available.

Professional staff will tend to all patients' needs. The new Behavioral Health Center for Recovery and Wellness will have a variety of highly-qualified staff including: registered nurses; counselors; social workers; certified addictions counselors; dance/movement therapists; and art therapists. Treatment by hospital clinicians is supervised by attending psychiatrists.

Here is a short reflection by Carlos Vega, one of the youth that is part of BACCA's anti-underage drinking campaign, which aims to prevent substance abuse among young people in the Humboldt Park community.

Alcohol is a substance that gets abused by many people.  Few can handle it and it can destroy the users life.  Some people drown their sorrows; others use it to hide their deepest reality.  It doesn't matter why they do it; the bottom line is that it doesn't need to be the only source of relief.  There are different, and more effective ways to deal with your issues, and contrary to popular belief you don't need it to have fun.  Life is simplified when you don't have an addiction, so why have one in the first place.  I myself am part of a youth space that focuses on proving a community-based campaign against under age drinking.  We do this through interviews, workshops, passing flyers in our community, poetry, and dancing.  Lately, we have been conducting interviews with people from the community to get their feedback on underage drinking in the community.  I have learned that other people do think that underage drinking is a problem in the community that needs to be resolved. Through social media our goal, as far as change, is to reach out to the young people of today.  We are called LIFT and my name is Carlos Vega.

Throughout my years living in Humboldt Park, I've noticed that as the years go on more and more young people are subject to alcohol.  Yet no one ever discovers, or perhaps no one wants to discover the catalyst for this problem.  In order to solve a problem one must first realize that there is a problem.  Everyone seems to turn a blind eye to under age drinking, this its costing us dearly; from poverty, family separation, and even death.  When you're a minority, and poor there are very few options to improve your situation.  Alcohol only makes things worse in terms of daily issues.  So better your life by leaving the bottle. Remember: Drop The Bottle and Lift Yourself away from problems. Carlos Vega

PACHS was selected to present a symposium at the American Education Research Association conference this April. This is a tremendous honor as it will be moderated by none other than Puerto Rican education scholar Ms. Sonia Nieto.

Two students will be presenting, as well as four staff members. Student leadership is future leadership. Recall a time when an educator believed in your potential, this is such a moment for our students. Support our GoFund

March 29th, 2013 at 6:30pm Batey Urbano will be celebrating it 11th Anniversary. This year the youth leadership is hosting this celebration as a fundraiser to send a youth collective from Humboldt park to an Ecological Tour in Puerto Rico. We ask our community to support this fundraiser by purchasing a ticket that is $15 to $25 on a sliding scale. The event will be held at Casa Puertorriquena, 1237 N. California, Chicago IL 60622. To purchase tickets please contact Jessie Fuentes at jessicaf@prcc-chgo.org.

There will be Hip hop, Poetry, Theater, Comedy, and R&B. Come have Fun!

• March 22nd-Opening of Trailer Park Projects 6pm @ IPRAC
• March 23rd- Trailer Park Projects Workshop 1: Mask Making
• Date: Saturday, March 23, 2013 * Time: 12-3pm * Location: La Casita de Don Pedro, 2625 W. Division St. * Artist: Jorge Rito Figueroa
• March 24th- Trailer Park Projects Site Visit 1: Batey Urbano * Location: 2620 W. Division St. Time: 12-3:00pm * Event: Pledge for Oscar López Rivera
• March 30th Trailer Park Projects Workshop 2: Object Making Using Coconut Shells *  Location: Teressa Roldan Senior Apart. 1154 North Campbell * Time: 12-3:00pm * Artist: Leo and Elizabeth Negron
• April 6th-Muévete! Move for Life! Season Kick Off from 12-4pm at Humboldt Park (corner of Division and California)
• April 12th- Caricatura Urbana Exhibit Opening, Friday, April 12th at 6pm, IPRAC, 3015 W. Division
• April 13th-Luis Gutierrez Undocumented Youth Summit at Clemente (I don't know much about this. Jose said to talk to Slim Coleman. That you knew him)
• April 19th- Chicago Premiere of "Who is Pedro Albizu Campos at 6:30pm, Roberto Clemente Community Academy, 1147 N. Western Ave.

In February, he sent a letter to president Obama asking for his release, since he has served more than 32 years in prison

By Ricardo Cortés Chico / rcortes@elnuevodia.com

March 13, 2013

Governor Alejandro García Padilla sent a letter to U.S. president Barack Obama, seeking the release of Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera.

In the letter, García Padilla points out that López Rivera is 70 years old and has spent 32 years in the federal prison system, having been convicted of seditious conspiracy for his connection to the clandestine group Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN).

"I ask - Mr. President - that you exercise your constitutional power of pardon to commute his sentence and grant his release. The Puerto Rican people stand ready to assist in Mr. López Rivera's transition to civil society," García Padilla states in the letter.

In the letter, the governor clearly establishes that he does not share the pro-independence ideals that López Rivera defends. "My party - the Popular Democratic Party - has always been proud of the fact that Puerto Rico has decided to live in close relationship with the United States. We treasure our American citizenship," the letter maintains.

However, the governor states that López Rivera's imprisonment transcends partisan divisions, because it's a matter that touches the basic principles of "justice, humanity and compassion."

"Thirty two years in prison for Mr. López Rivera is just enough," states the letter dated February 20, 2013.

In the past few years, broad support for López Rivera's release has been building among citizens and politicians of diverse ideologies.

Recently, the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, in an event at the Puerto Rican Ateneo in Puerta de Tierra, publicly called for López Rivera's release. 

López Rivera's release has been supported by U.S. members of Congress Luis Gutiérrez, Nydia Velázquez and José Serrano. In 2010, resident commissioner Pedro Pierluisi also sought his release. 

The case is widely seen as a human rights issue. The main argument is that the sentence he is serving is extremely disproportionate to the crime for which he was accused and convicted.

López Rivera was sentenced in 1980 to serve a sentence of 78 years, even though the crime did not involve any injury or death. He was charged with seditious conspiracy due to his connection with the FALN, a group that took responsibility for attacks, particularly against U.S. government installations.

However, the independentista has served most of his sentence in maximum security prisons in the United States, and was in solitary confinement for more than 12 years, during which he had no physical contact with his family. 

At the trial, López Rivera did not recognize the jurisdiction of the federal court, so the case against him was tried without a legal defense.

Attorney Eduardo Villanueva Muñoz, who has for years led the efforts for the release of the Puerto Rican political prisoners, explained that López invoked international law, which provides that colonized peoples have the right to use any means at their disposal to combat colonialism.

López Rivera is the Puerto Rican political prisoner who served the most time in prison in the United States, after the 2010 release of Carlos Alberto Torres, who served 30 years in prison, also for seditious conspiracy. Read the original article in Spanish here.