Puertorico Quotes

“Both Chicano and Puerto Rican activists continually stressed the importance of community control of local institutions, arguing that oppression and inequality would never end until Chicanos and Puerto Ricans controlled the institutions that directly affected community life.”
― Cristina Beltrán, The Trouble with Unity: Latino Politics and the Creation of Identity

“Seeing the society that the Cuban people were attempting to build inspired me to believe it was possible to arrange a nation’s priorities to meet the needs of the majority of its people instead of just those of its corporations and super rich.”
― Iris Morales, Through the Eyes of Rebel Women: The Young Lords, 1969-1976

“At its best, the Young Lords offered revolutionary ideals and examples of movement-building strategies and tactics, and tough, hard-hitting, and painful lessons from its setbacks and failures.”
― Iris Morales, Through the Eyes of Rebel Women: The Young Lords, 1969-1976

“We believed that the women’s struggle for equality was the ‘revolution within the revolution.”
― Iris Morales, Through the Eyes of Rebel Women: The Young Lords, 1969-1976

“Where is the voice of freedom, / freedom to laugh, / to move / without the heavy phantom of despair?

(From "Farewell from Welfare Island")”
― Julia de Burgos

“Poetry such as "Puerto Rican Obituary" highlights another significant aspect of movement thought: the shift from cultural shame to ethnic pride. Unlike earlier critiques of prejudice and discrimination, movement rhetoric and writings often focused on the emotional and psychic damage of racism, exploring the need to overcome internalized shame and self-hate.”
― Cristina Beltrán, The Trouble with Unity: Latino Politics and the Creation of Identity