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COMITÉ NOVIEMBRE
( Page 5 )
MES DE LA HERENCIA
PUERTORRIQUEÑA
Editors:
Blánca Vazquez & Teresa Santiago
Typography & Design: Blánca
Vazquez
National Congress For Puerto Rican Rights
Parents Against Police Brutality at Racial
Justice Day march, South Bronx, NY, May 1999
The National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights
is a mass membership, activist, grassroots organization dedicated to securing
full equality and an end to discrimination against Puerto Ricans. It is a
volunteer organization which does not solicit government funds. Founded in the
South Bronx in 1981, the NCPRR is the largest organization of its kind in the
United States.
What does NCPRR do? ADVOCATES for the human and civil rights of Puerto Ricans.
EDUCATES its members and the community about the conditions affecting the Puerto
Rican and Latino community and ways to improve them. SUPPORTS affiliated
organizations and local groups by bringing citywide and national support to
their local efforts. DEVELOPS new leadership, with an emphasis on youth and
women. INFORMS elected representatives and public officials about our community’s
problems and needs and ways of addressing them. ORGANIZES local and national
campaigns. The NCPRR is best known for its organizing against environmental
racism, police abuse, racially-motivated violence, and other forms of
discrimination; work in support of local community issues; and campaigns to hold
elected and appointed officials accountable. SERVES as a voice for Boricuas who
cannot speak out because they work in agencies or community groups dependent on
government funding. OFFERS "apprenticeships in struggle" for new
activists. PUBLISHES a "Status Report on Puerto Ricans in the U.S."
every two years, as well as national and local newsletters. ENGAGES in
activities that preserve and develop our language and culture. BUILDS
progressive coalitions with other people of color and groups fighting
discrimination.
To join or for more information, contact:
National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights
NYC Chapter
105 East 22nd Street, Room 902
New York, NY 10010
Phone: (212) 614-5355
History Revealed:
FBI Releases Files On Independence Movement
Congressman José Serrano with some
of the boxes containing secret FBI files on Puerto Ricans
On March 16th, 2000, Congressman José E.
Serrano (Democrat-NY) faced Federal Bureau of Investigation director Louis J.
Freeh in a House Appropriations sub-committee hearing. Congressman Serrano
wanted to know: What role did the FBI and other federal agencies play in
discrediting and persecuting the independence movement? In the process, was the
FBI involved in violent acts? And particularly, did the FBI play any role in
torturing the leader of the independence movement, Pedro Albizu Campos, for his
beliefs while he was in federal prison?
The answers to many of these questions were contained in FBI documents that up
to then had not released to the public. For years independence forces on the
Island had known that they were the targets of FBI COINTELPRO operations.
COINTELPRO refers to Counterintelligence Programs instituted by the federal
government, between 1956 and 1971, to uncover organizations and individuals who
were considered a threat to national security. In the FBI’s own words, the
goal was to "disrupt" the work of certain organizations. Targeted by
COINTELPRO, from the very beginning, were leftist and labor organizations,
African American groups such as the Black Panthers, individuals such as Martin
Luther King—and the Puerto Rican independence movement.
The day after the hearing Freeh sent a letter to Serrano announcing a task force
to explore the agency’s role in the creation of political dossiers
("carpetas" in Spanish) on Puerto Ricans. On May 17, the Congressman
received 8,400 documents, the first installment of a total of 1.8 million
documents the FBI plans to release.
Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States since the
Spanish-American-Cuban War of 1898. In 1917, Puerto Ricans became United States
citizens by act of Congress, but have no representation in Congress, have been
drafted into U.S. wars since WWI, and cannot vote for president.
What do these documents, still being analyzed, reveal? The files released thus
far reveal surveiliance of Luis Munoz Marín, the first elected governor of
Puerto Rico born on the Island; Pedro Albizu Campos, leader of the Puerto Rican
Nationalist Party; the Federation of Pro-Independence University Students, FUPI;
and the Puerto Rican Independence Party. Files were kept on ordinary individuals
also—doctors, lawyers, journalists, housewives and factory workers who had at
any time supposedly made any comments in support of independence for Puerto
Rico.
"People also lost their lives," Serrano noted in a press release,
"and there is a serious belief that somehow the authorities, if you will,
were involved in the loss of these lives."
Congressman Serrano believes that uncovering this history is important.
"The carpetas issue has been studied and continues to be studied on an
individual level, but it is important that the public at large, especially
students, youth and people from all segments of society have an opportunity to
learn about these documents. A universal conduit for this history needs to be
established so that it can be shared with schools and organizations across the
country, and this history must be preserved. It is my intent that in the near
future these files will be released to an academic institution where they can be
viewed by the public. It is also my intent that these files will be utilized as
learning tools in classrooms across the country, as an opportunity to discuss
this chapter in our history and to teach young people about this aspect of
Puerto Rican history."
Another reason this history matters, according to Serrano, is that "in the
not-too-distant future the relationship between the United States and Puerto
Rico will be decided, To understand where we’re going we have to know what’s
happened during the 101 years of this relationship."
Congressman Serrano represents the 16th Congressional District in the South
Bronx. A native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, he is the longest-serving Puerto Rican
member of Congress.
A detailed analysis of the Carpetas case can
be found in Las Carpetas: persecución política y derechos civiles en Puerto
Rico, ensayos y documentos. The book, co-edited by Ramón Bosque-Pérez,
Researcher at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Hunter College, CUNY) and
José Javier Colón-Morera, Chair of the Political Science Department at the
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, contains a collection of essays and
documents on human rights and political persecution in Puerto Rico.
The essays offer background information on the Carpetas scandal and cover issues
such as: consensus, political repression and de-colonization; the role of
federal agencies in political persecution; the case of the Puerto Rican
political prisoners; and political intolerance in Puerto Rico. The book received
an Honorable Mention in the category of best essay book from the Puerto Rico
Chapter of PEN International Writers Association. An English version is
currently in the works.
Las Carpetas
is available from
www.amazon.com
www.cipdc.org
and bookstores throughout Puerto Rico
(ISBN 0-9650043-0-9/Library of Congress Catalog Card Number JC 599.P9C67 1997)
Table Of Contents
Message On Behalf Of Comité Noviembre 2000
Comité
Noviembre - Fifth Annual Gala
Gala
Foto Album (PuertoRicans.Com)
History And Mission
About The Poster
About The Artist
Sponsors
Comité Noviembre 2000 Spokesperson Dave Valentín
Celebrities
Come Out For Comité Noviembre
Celebrando Lo Mejor De Nuestra Comunidad
ASPIRA Of New York, Inc
Exceptional Puerto Rican
Youth
Comité Noviembre
Scholarship Program
Eugenio María De Hostos
Community College
Puerto
Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
Taíno: Ancient Voyagers Of The Caribbean
El Museo Del Barrio
New Boricua Books
National Congress For Puerto Rican Rights
History
Revealed: FBI Releases Files On Independence Movement
Las Carpetas: The Book
Institute For
The Puerto Rican / Hispanic Elderly
Day
Of Community Service And Social Responsibility
Vieques And The U.S. Military: The Struggle Continues
Intergenerational
Message From Vieques
In Memoriam Adelfa - Vera Puerto Rican
Nacionalista
In Memoriam - Paul Ramos Health Care
Advocate
Comité Noviembre
De New Jersey, Inc
New Jersey 2000 Honorees
Poster 2000
Poster 1992
Comité Noviembre - 1999
Copyright ©Comité Noviembre 2000 / Reprinted With
Permission
