“We need health, but above all we need to create a grounding for healthy public policy that redresses and salvages the growing inequities. We cannot achieve a healthier us without achieving a healthier, more equitable health care system, and ultimately, a more equitable society.”

– Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias (July 7, 1929 – December 27, 2001) Pediatrician, Educator and Woman’s Rights Activist

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By Carlos “Carlito” Rovira

Below is my latest portrait of a true revolutionary in every sense of its meaning. Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias’ life was filled with greatness. A passion for science and empathy for humanity. She always demonstrated an attraction for the anti-racist cause and Puerto Rico’s struggle for independence. Dr Rodriquez -Trias was also a proud feminist, always promoting the cause for the equality of women.

As a child, Dr. Rodriquez-Trias showed great academic abilities. However, despite having good grades and being bi-lingual, she was placed in a class for children with learning disabilities. The NYC public school system in the 1930s has many stories of open and systemic racism. It wasn’t until Helen participated in a poem recital, that a teacher realized how intellectually gifted she was.

As Dr. Rodriquez-Trias grew older, her interest in medicine became a priority. She moved to Puerto Rico and received a scholarship in Medicine from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) . It was there where she became drawn to the Puerto Rican independence struggle and decided to join the student component of the Nationalist Party.

Despite family opposition to her political involvement, in 1960 having earned her doctorate in medicine with the highest honors, Dr. Rodriquez-Trias stayed in Puerto Rico for several years working to help eradicate the widespread community health issues due to the lack of basic health care.

The decision to stay in Puerto Rico combined with her passion for justice defined the special kind of medical professional she became. Dr. Rodriguez-Trias is credited for establishing the first center for the care of newborn babies in Puerto Rico. As a result of her efforts, the death rate for newborns decreased by 50 percent within three years.

In another well documented genocidal act against the Puerto Rican people, between the 1930s and 1980s, one-third of the child-baring female population was secretly sterilized. This strategic genocidal project was designed by the notorious Dr. Cornelius P. Roades.

Dr. Rodriguez-Trias was an adamant, tireless and outspoken activist against United States colonialism using Puerto Rico for birth control pill experimentations as well.

After Dr. Rodriguez Trias moved back to New York City in 1970, she became active in the fight for patient-worker’s rights, specifically at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx where she was employed as head of its Pediatrics department.

Upon her arrival at Lincoln Hospital, Dr. Rodriquez Trias was so appalled to witness first-hand the racist healthcare reserved for poor, Black and Latino people that it inspired her to attend meetings of the Health Revolutionary Unity Movement (HRUM), an entity of hospital workers and community activists.

On July 14, 1970, the Young Lords staged the dramatic seizure of Lincoln Hospital. The aim was to expose the deplorable conditions there. Dr. Rodriguez Trias was among many doctors throughout the country who supported this action.

Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias was recognized for her efforts by many in the medical profession, esteemed organizations and government entities. She was the first Latina director of the American Public Health Association. In January 8, 2001, Dr. Rodriquez Trias was awarded with the Presidential Citizen’s Medal.

This portrait is 20” X 24”, acrylic paint on canvas. It was inspired by my Queen, Lisa B. Jones who urged me to paint the image of Dr. Rodriguez -Trias for several years by educating me about this outstanding heroine.

I also wish to thank Sister Cleo Silvers who helped me with the facts of this article. Cleo Silvers was a member of HRUM and worked at Lincoln Hospital with Dr. Trias in the 1970s.

Long live the legacy of Dr. Helen Rodriguez Trias!

Tribute to Dr. Ramon Emeterio Betances-Father of the Puerto Rican Nation

April 8, 1827 – September 16, 1898

Tribute to Dr. Ramon Emeterio Betances – Father ofn the Puerto Rican Nation

Para la versión en español: https://carlitoboricua.blog/?p=9404&preview=true

By Carlos “Carlito” Rovira

Of all revolutionary leaders during the Nineteenth Century in Puerto Rico’s anti-colonial struggle Dr. Ramon Emeterio Betances is of profound significance. He is among the most recognized figures in Caribbean and Latin American history.

Ramon Emeterio Betances’ convictions provided a roadmap for future generations. Dr Pedro Albizu Campos and the Nationalist Party, Arturo Alfonso Schomberg, the Puerto Rican Socialist Party, Puerto Rican Independence Party, Los Macheteros, the Young Lords, and so many more, came about due to traditions in the national liberation struggle firmly established by him. Today, Betances’ legacy carries the title of honor, Father of the Puerto Rican Nation.

This legendary figure held several titles and professions, which he utilized as assets in the service of the liberation struggle. He was a poet, novelist, journalist, public health administrator, social hygienist, medical doctor, surgeon, ophthalmologist, scientist, diplomat, politician, in addition to being an abolitionist and revolutionary leader.

The son of a White-Dominican father and an Afro-Puerto Rican mother, Betances was reared in a relatively wealthy and privileged family. However, as he became of age, Betances questioned the causes for the social and economic inequalities that existed under a slave-owning colonial system.

During his formative years, the young Ramon was educated by a private tutor. When Betances was 17 years old, his father sent him to study at the School of Medicine of Montpellier in Paris, France. It was there where he finished his degree in Medicine and Surgery.

While in France, Betances was influenced by the 1848 revolutionary upheaval in Europe. This period of historical unrest is when both the Monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church were losing political control as the masses rose to rebel against them.   

Upon his return to Puerto Rico, Betances opened his medical practice. Being a physician and humanist, he was empathetic of the human suffering he witnessed.

During the cholera epidemic of 1856, Betances defiantly clashed with colonial officials in the city of Mayaguez. He risked arrest and imprisonment because he prioritized medical care for enslaved Africans over the colonizing white-Spanish born soldiers and officers, who were also infected by the widespread deadly disease.

Influence of the 1804 Haitian Revolution

Betances gradually evolved a contempt against foreign tyranny. He was influenced by the revolutionary storm of ideas in France but was profoundly impacted by the boldness of the Haitian Revolution.

The militant example of the Haitian people was a beacon of hope and inspiration for enslaved and colonized people throughout the Caribbean, Africa and United States – similar to the Soviet Union in the early part of its history. As a result, Betances was motivated to become active in the clandestine movement for independence and the abolition of slavery.

Haitian leaders understood quite well the necessity and benefits for oppressed people of different lands to forge unity, if they are to survive the onslaught of colonizing powers. This was a feature of the Haitian perspective that became most attractive to Betances.

In collaboration with fellow revolutionist Segundo Ruiz Belvis and others, Betances led an organizing effort to create the Revolutionary Committee, an organization devoted to the struggle for independence and the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico by preparing for revolution there. Organizing these committees was most important in areas where enslaved Africans and other downtrodden sectors of the population were concentrated.

Betances became the central figure in the movement which brought about the 1868 Grito De Lares, an uprising that attempted the overthrow of Spanish colonialism. El Grito De Lares is also an event that affirmed the existence of the Puerto Rican Nation.

It was with enthusiasm of the moment as Puerto Rican revolutionaries prepared to wage armed battle with Spanish colonialism when Betances and a woman leader of the movement named Mariana Bracetti, a professional Stitcher, collaborated to create the first Puerto Rican flag.

A few weeks before the scheduled date for the Lares uprising, Betances returned to Puerto Rico from the island of Española (Haiti and Dominican Republic) on a schooner filled weapons and ammunition for the battle. These were weapons confiscated from the French during the Haitian Revolution.

Unfortunately, the revolutionaries were betrayed by an informant in the group. As the schooner approached the Port of Arecibo with the much-needed cargo Betances and his crew found themselves surrounded by Spanish warships. After their apprehension Betances was exiled to France.

But Betances was unstoppable. Between 1869-1870, he visited Haiti with Jose A. Basora, a fellow leader of Puerto Rico’s Revolutionary Committee.  The two prominent Puerto Rican figures met with Haitian revolutionary leaders in an effort to collaborate for their mutual quest.

In the truest internationalist spirit and despite the failure of the 1868 Grito De Lares uprising, Betances traveled throughout the Caribbean forging relations with Cuban, Haitian, Dominican and Jamaican revolutionaries. He was not deterred from striving to build a united federation of the Greater Antilles, a force capable of challenging the colonizing powers as the Haitian Revolution had envisioned.

Dr. Ramon Emeterio Betances paid close attention to socio-economic and political developments in the U.S., especially after it freed itself from the greatest hinderance to its growth, the system of chattel slavery. Based on his perceptions of U.S. expansionism Betances believed the U.S. was destined to become a tyrannical power posing a threat to Puerto Rico, all of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Weeks before his death and shortly after the U.S. military invasion on November 16, 1898, Dr. Ramon Emeterio Betances stated “I do not want to see Puerto Rico colonized by Spain nor the United States.”

QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!

Homenaje al Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances-Padre de la Nación Puertorriqueña
8 de abril de 1827 – 16 de septiembre de 1898

For English version: https://carlitoboricua.blog/?p=9340&preview=true

Por Carlos “Carlito” Rovira

De todas las figuras revolucionarias en la historia de la lucha anticolonial de Puerto Rico en el siglo XIX, la del Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances es la de mayor significado. Es una de las figuras revolucionarias más reconocidas de la historia del Caribe y América Latina.

Las convicciones de Ramón Emeterio Betances proporcionaron una hoja de ruta para la futura generación de revolucionarios. El Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos y el Partido Nacionalista, Arturo Alfonso Schomberg, el Partido Socialista Puertorriqueño, el Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño, Los Macheteros, los Young Lords y otros más, cumplieron con las debidas tradiciones en la lucha de liberación nacional firmemente establecidas por él. Hoy Betances es considerado Padre de la Nación Puertorriqueña.

Esta figura legendaria ostentó varios títulos y profesiones, que utilizó como activos al servicio de la lucha por la liberación. Fue poeta, novelista, periodista, administrador de salud pública, higienista social, médico, cirujano, oftalmólogo, científico, diplomático, político, además de un líder abolicionista y revolucionario.

En los años de formación, el joven Ramón fue educado por un tutor privado. Cuando Betances tenía 17 años, su padre lo envió a estudiar a la Facultad de Medicina de Montpellier en París, Francia. Fue allí donde terminó la carrera de Medicina y Cirugía.

Durante su estancia en Francia, Ramon Emeterio Betances estuvo influenciado por el levantamiento revolucionario de 1948 que existía en Europa. Este período de agitación histórica donde tanto la Monarquía como la Iglesia Católica Romana estaban perdiendo control político a medida que las masas se rebelaban contra ellas.

A su regreso a Puerto Rico, Betances abrió su práctica médica. Como médico y humanista, sentía empatía por el sufrimiento humano del que fue testigo.

Durante la epidemia de cólera de 1856, Betances se enfrentó desafiantemente con funcionarios coloniales en la ciudad de Mayagüez, arriesgándose a ser arrestado, porque priorizaba la atención médica para los esclavos africanos y los pobres sobre los soldados y oficiales colonizadores españoles, quienes también estaban infectados por la enfermedad mortal generalizada.

Influencia de la revolución haitiana de 1804

Betances desarrolló gradualmente un desprecio hacia la tiranía extranjera. Fue influenciado por la tormenta revolucionaria de ideas en Francia, pero profundamente impactado por la audacia de la Revolución Haitiana.

El ejemplo militante del pueblo haitiano fue un faro de esperanza e inspiración para los pueblos esclavizados y colonizados en todo el Caribe, África y Estados Unidos, similar a lo que ocurrió con la Unión Soviética en la primera parte de su historia. Como resultado, Betances se vio motivado a participar activamente en el movimiento clandestino por la independencia y la abolición de la esclavitud.

Los líderes haitianos entendieron bastante bien la necesidad y los beneficios para los pueblos oprimidos de diferentes tierras de forjar la unidad si quieren sobrevivir al ataque de las potencias colonizadoras. Éste fue un rasgo de la perspectiva revolucionaria haitiana que resultó más atractivo para Betances.

En colaboración con su compañero revolucionario Segundo Ruiz Belvis y otros, Betances dirigió un esfuerzo organizativo para crear el Comité Revolucionario, una organización dedicada a la lucha por la independencia y la abolición de la esclavitud mediante la preparación para la revolución. La organización de estos comités fue más importante en las áreas de Puerto Rico donde se concentraban los esclavos africanos y otros sectores oprimidos de la población.

Betances se convirtió en la figura central del movimiento que provocó el Grito de Lares de 1868, un levantamiento que intentó derrocar el colonialismo español. El Grito De Lares también afirmó la existencia de la Nación Puertorriqueña.

Fue con el entusiasmo del momento mientras los revolucionarios puertorriqueños se preparaban para librar una batalla armada contra el colonialismo español cuando Betances y Mariana Bracetti, líder del movimiento y costurera profesional, colaboraron para crear la primera bandera puertorriqueña.

Unas semanas antes de la fecha prevista para el levantamiento de Lares, Betances zarpó hacia Puerto Rico desde la isla Española (Haití y República Dominicana) en un barco cargado de armas y municiones para la batalla. Estas eran armas confiscadas a los franceses durante la Revolución Haitiana.

Desafortunadamente, los revolucionarios fueron traicionados por un informante del grupo. Cuando la goleta se acercaba al puerto de Arecibo con la carga necesaria, Betances y su tripulación se encontraron rodeados por buques de guerra españoles. Tras su aprehensión, Betances fue exiliado a Francia.

Pero Betances era imparable. Entre 1869 y 1870, Betances visitó Haití con José A. Basora, otro líder del Comité Revolucionario de Puerto Rico. Las dos prominentes figuras puertorriqueñas se reunieron con líderes revolucionarios haitianos en un esfuerzo por colaborar en su búsqueda mutua.

Con el más auténtico espíritu internacionalista, a pesar del fracaso del levantamiento del Grito de Lares de 1868, Betances viajó por todo el Caribe forjando relaciones con revolucionarios cubanos, haitianos, dominicanos y jamaiquinos. Se vio disuadido de desempeñar un papel en la creación de una federación unida de las Antillas Mayores, una fuerza capaz de desafiar a las potencias colonizadoras como lo había previsto la Revolución haitiana.

El Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances prestó gran atención a los acontecimientos socioeconómicos y políticos en Estados Unidos, especialmente después de que se liberara del mayor obstáculo para su crecimiento: la esclavitud. Basándose en sus percepciones del expansionismo estadounidense, Betances creía que Estados Unidos estaba destinado a convertirse en una potencia tiránica que representaba una amenaza para Puerto Rico, todo Latinoamérica y el Caribe.

Semanas antes de su muerte y poco después de la invasión militar estadounidense el 16 de noviembre de 1898, el Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances afirmó “No quiero ver a Puerto Rico colonizado por España ni por Estados Unidos”.

¡QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!

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!