Aurea participated in changing the educational landscape for Puerto Rican youth particularly with her emphasis on the importance of Puerto Rican culture as the cornerstone of any educational praxis impacting Puerto Ricans. She also dedicated her life to empowering Puerto Rican women particularly in New York City where she founded an organization called 100 Puerto Rican Women, which sought to empower young Puerto Rican women in the city's body politics. She supported such prominent political figures as Nydia Velazquez who became the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in the United States Congress. Aurea was also active in many community and civic entities and activities addressing the socio-economic issues facing Puerto Ricans particularly those living in New York City's historic El Barrio where she founded and served as President of the Puerto Rican Institute for Development of Education (PRIDE).

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.

Coingratulations to Father Roberto Morales on his recent article on Oscar in the Orlando weekly newspaper La Prensa last week.

The Puerto Rican Cultural Center will continue its 40th Anniversary Jornada with a presentation of two important books next Thursday, April 11th at 6:30pm at Casa Puertorriqueña located at 1247 N. California. Tickets are $20 and includes dinner and a copy of "Oscar López Rivera: Between Torture and Resistance."

The books are Matt Meyers' "We Have Not Been Moved" and Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón's "Oscar López Rivera: Between Torture and Resistance". The first book is a compendium of the past 3 decades of social change in the United States including anti-militarist, anti-racist, and anti-colonial struggles. The book is narrated by some of the most important protagonists of the social movements including Angela Davis, Fred Ho, Mumia Abu Jamal, Audre Lorde, Dave Dellinger, among others. It also includes an interview with Jose E. López, Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. The second book is a collection of letters by Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera edited by well-known Puerto Rican sociologist Dr. Luis Nieves Falcon as well as a prologue by South African Archbishop Desmund Tutu. Both editors will speak about the work and sign books. The program will also include a special presentation by the Puerto Rican musician Fernando "Fernandito" Ferrer, whose song about Oscar López Rivera is included in a new CD from Puerto Rico that includes some of the island's most important musicians such as Andy Montañez, Lucecita Benítez, Danny Rivera, Roy Brown and many more. The CD will also be on sale at the dinner.

Do you qualify for rental assistance?

• Homeless?
• About to be homeless?
• Falling behind in rent?
• Need a security deposit and first month's rent?

Eligibility for Assistance:

• Resident of Humboldt Park or Logan Square
• Seeking housing in the Humboldt Park and Logan Square community
• Behind on rent

For more information, please contact Melissa Rodríguez at 773.227.7794.

  'FRAME-UP! -Unjust Incarcerations' featuring Felix Masud-Piloto  (Cuban-American and DePaul professor), Mark Clements (Campaign to End Torture -himself tortured, framed-up,  and unjustly imprisoned for 28 years), and Nancy Kurshan (author, 'Out of Control: The 15 Year Battle against Prison Control Units') and José E. López, Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and brother of Oscar López Rivera. 

April 24, Wednesday 6pm, Casa de Cultura Calles y Suenos, 1900 S. Carpenter

Intro to Be the Generation Bridge

The BTG Bridge is an initiative of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health, to establish relationships with communities most impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to promote awareness, understanding, dialogue, and support for biomedical HIV prevention research. This Initiative initially arose from the urgent need for an effective, preventive HIV vaccine and has recently expanded to include other biomedical prevention strategies. The Puerto Rican Cultural Center- Vida/SIDA is one of several organizations nationwide to receive funding from the Be the Generation Bridge to help increase awareness and knowledge of biomedical HIV prevention research specifically among Latino communities in the U.S. 

What is biomedical HIV prevention research?

Biomedical HIV prevention research is scientific research conducted to develop new technologies or new ways to prevent HIV.  The journey to find a cure for HIV is long and each new research study can answer a question that will get us closer to finding a way to prevent HIV for everyone. This research may be done in laboratories to develop new approaches or done in clinical trials to test approaches that have shown success in the laboratory. People may participate in clinical trials to help determine if new approaches are effective and are viable to implement in a real world setting. There are clinical trials currently being conducted for HIV Vaccines, Microbicides, and Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreEP). The safety of study participants in biomedical HIV prevention research is always the top priority. While some risks are unknown, scientists and the FDA work to make sure clinical trial research is done ethically, is not coercive, and reduces risk of side effects. 

Friday, March 29th at Casa Puertoriqquena, Batey Urbano celebrated their 11th Anniversary. The youth collective used this celebration as a fundraiser for an Ecological Tour in Puerto Rico that they will like to be a part of. Doors opened at 6:00 p.m while DJ Bohique mixed underground hip hop for our audience. At 7:30 p.m we started with our open mic, where some return poets blessed our stage, but also where new artists performed with the Batey for the first time. At 8:30 p.m we started with our featured artists: Righteous, IaseL, Church ILL, Melissa Duprey, Michael Reyes, Ivan Vega with UTC, Janeida Rodriguez, and Bomba Con Buya. We also had the privilege of having Myra Rodriguez and Jose Pellot with physical art pieces. 

Batey Urbano would like to thank all of the artists, organizers, contributors  and most importantly the audience for making this night possible, and for allowing us to be closer to our goal. Puerto Rico is now closer in our reach.