By Carlos “Carlito” Rovira

In the center of the East Harlem community, also known as El Barrio, is the site of historic significance that is described by many as The People’s Church. Located at 163 East 111^th Street, co-named “Young Lords Way”, on the corner of Lexington Avenue, this monumental structure is administered by the First Spanish United Methodist Church (FSUMC).

For many decades, dating back to the time of socialist Vito Marcantonio, during the 1940’s-50’s, the People’s Church stood in the midst of one of the most impoverished and repressed part of New York City. It was in that setting where this church became a symbol of the Puerto Rican diaspora’s struggles, especially after the rise of the revolutionary youth group the Young Lords.

For an atheist, non-religious believer like me, The People’s Church symbolizes something beyond religion. It represents the defiance of the Puerto Rican diaspora in struggle. Maintaining it open and accessible to the community makes a political statement and a direct challenge to the racist displacement inflicted against our people everywhere in this country.

Memories of events at the People’s Church in connection with the Young Lords also have sentimental/personal value to me.

It was at the People’s Church where I transcended from a boy to a man during the two takeovers; it was there where I learned the necessity of having a fighting disposition in the liberation struggle; it was from that experience where I learned from others the virtues of teamwork, responsibility and organization.

In addition, it was at the People’s Church on December 7, 1969, at 15 years old, where I was beaten by NYPD cops, along with thirteen other Young Lords, including five women. The violent frenzy of the police on that day was encouraged by parishioners when Young Lords came to a Sunday mass service asking permission to use the space for a free breakfast program for poor children of the neighborhood.

In recent years, various programs were established benefiting this poor, working class community, such as food pantry distributions, acupuncture treatment, exercise classes, educational film showings, and so much more. These programs are consistent with all that the Young Lords had hoped to create for the community at this small and intimate place of gathering.

The thing to remain on guard about, is the increasingly greed of real estate interest, especially as the capitalist economic crisis intensifies. There is always the threat that the people of this community may lose this oasis amid poverty and despair, due to lack of funds. That should never happen, and we must always be ready to wage a relentless struggle to prevent such a lost.

What will follow, impossible to predict! One does not need to be imaginative to figure out the lust of greedy developers who anxiously look for opportunities to build condominiums for the wealthy in targeted neighborhoods with rising real estate value.

Losing this bastion of history shall be a victory for gentrification while undoubtedly being a tragedy for the Black and Brown residents of this community. For that reason, under no circumstances should we allow further insult to injury on our people. The people’s Church is more than just a building, it is a monument of the people’s struggle.

Long live the rebellious traditions of THE PEOPLE’S CHURCH!