Wednesday, March 23, 7:00pm
I am a Revolutionary:
3 Generations of Women's Resistance
with Alicia Rodriguez
Wooden Shoe Books, 704 South St
...
“We want everyone to know that in Puerto Rico, we women are fighting for our rights as workers, we are fighting for a healthy environment, for poor and marginalized communities, for the freedom of the political prisoners, the well being of children, for peace, for the defense of our culture and all the rights they intend to take from us. We want everyone to know that women in Puerto Rico support, demand and are fighting for the independence of Puerto Rico.” -Lolita Lebron, 2008

Join us Wednesday, March 26th, for a discussion and slideshow about Puerto Rican women's struggles against imperialism, colonialism and neoliberalism. Women have played leading roles in the independence movement since Puerto Rico became a colony of the United States in 1898. Women helped lead the nationalist revolts of the 1950s, the anti-imperialist militancy of the 1970s, and they continue to be on the frontlines of the militant student strikes that have rocked the University of Puerto Rico since last spring. These strikes have protested cutbacks and tuition hikes at the public universities. They have drawn the support of thousands of students and the labor movement, even as the government has responded with violence and brutality. Join us to learn about and celebrate these three generations of women's resistance, from the 1950s to the present. The event will be dedicated to the memory of Lolita Lebron, a Puerto Rican Nationalist and lifelong revolutionary who was imprisoned in March 1954 for attacking the U.S. Congress. She was pardoned by President Carter in 1979 and died in August 2010. The discussion will be led by special guest Alicia Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican revolutionary born and raised in Chicago who served 19 years in prison (1980-1999) for her role in the independence movement of the 1960s and 1970s. She lives in Cayey, Puerto Rico, and remains an organizer--including her work for the freedom of remaining Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera.

We hope you can make it!

Speaker bio:
Alicia Rodriguez was born on October 21, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois. She grew up during the turbulent decades of the 1960s and 1970s, witnessing first hand the atrocities committed against the civil rights and the anti-Vietnam war movements. These and other life changing experiences deepened her awareness and affinity with national liberation movements. They moved her to resist and participate in Puerto Rico's anti-colonial struggle, which has been waged for more than 500 years. On April 4, 1980 Alicia (along with her sister Lucy and other comrades) was captured and charged with seditious conspiracy. Throughout her capture, trial and incarceration, she maintained her position as an anti-colonial prisoner of war (POW) resisting the illegal U.S. occupation of her homeland. During her state trial, Alicia was physically and verbally abused when she affirmed her stance of non-recognition of the colonial courts of the United States. During the first sixteen and a half years in prison, she was housed in maximum security and never allowed outside of her living unit without being escorted by a prison guard. Her mail was censored and she was never allowed to phone anyone on the island of Puerto Rico. Still, she remained an organizer in prison; she assisted in teaching a commercial arts and photography class, participated in an Adult Literacy program, and was recruited by the medical staff to be part of an AIDS educational mentor. She is one of eleven former Puerto Rican political prisoners granted clemency by President Clinton in September 1999, a move made possible by a victorious campaign which united the Puerto Rican people and mobilized international solidarity. The campaign to release the Puerto Rican political prisoners was so powerful that it served as a model and as a source of inspiration for the successful struggle to force the US Navy out of Vieques in 2003. It served as undeniable proof that when human beings exercise the right to struggle for the freedom of mind and spirit victory is achieved. Since her release Alicia has focused on establishing herself as a community potter. She designed and mobilized community support which helped build her pottery workshop. This process goes hand in hand with her participation in the campaign to release the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners, Oscar López Rivera and Avelino Claudio González.