#CelebratingPuertoRicanWomen
Channel: The Youth Channel
Date: 2015-03-18

Disclaimer: This video was created for educational purposes. The views and opinions expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect those of the hosts and/or onscreen talent. Disclaimer: This video was created for educational purposes. The views and opinions expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect those of the hosts and/or onscreen talent. March 7th, 2015, was International Working Women’s Day for the Casabe Senior Houses on 150 East 121st Street, where the Committee to Honor Puerto Rican Women honored women such as Genoveva Clemente, an activist from the Socialist Workers’ Party, and Gabriela Álvarez, a chef and wellness coach.  As seen in the night’s festivities, heritage means different things to several people. 

Some of the women featured at the event included Olga Ayala, a sculptor who specializes in clay and reflects her Puerto Rican heritage through her work, Nell Escalante, Lourdes (Lulu) Garcia, Eris Garriga, and Crystal Clarity.  Two especially important women highlighted that night were Genoveva Clemente, who, in all 84 years of her life, fought for Puerto Rican independence and ending war and constantly promoted her home country, and Doña Isabel Rosado, who also fought for workers’ rights and Puerto Rico’s independence, finding herself in the Jayuya Uprising of 1950 and lived by the phrase, “The less you have, the better”, never giving up in all 106 years of living. They are merely a small sample of important women in Puerto Rican communities.

Roughly a third of working class Puerto Rican women were forced to be sterilized in order to be employed since 1917, and in response to American imperialism and economic exploitation, several women like Luisa Capetillo campaigned for workers’ rights; Capetillo was responsible for Puerto Rico’s minimum wage laws in the late 1910s. Throughout the twentieth century, women like Lolita Lebrón, with nationalistic spirit, fought for Puerto Rico’s independence, as well as women’s right to be publicly active in government. Situations like these are why it’s important to recognize women from the past – to make a better future for the next generation of women.

Produced By:
Diana Kosianka
Christian Jones

Special Thanks To:
Committee to Honor Puerto Rican Women
Olga Ayala
Crystal Clarity
Nell Escalante
Lourdes (Lulu) Garcia
Eris Garriga
Jesus Mangual Cruz
Gabriela Alvarez
The ProLibertad Freedom Campaign

Audio & Video Credit:
Rumba Chicki 60 - Lounge Volume 1, composed by Ben Butler, Sasi Shalom, Scott P. Schreer, and T. Loeffler, (c) 2009, Published by Freeplaymusic, BMI and Freeplaynjj, ASCAP
Adagio 60 - Drama Volume 5, composed by Mark Cally and Time Davies, (c) 2013, Published by Altered 15th Music, ASCAP, Freeplaynjj, ASCAP, and M Cally Music, ASCAP
Dying Soul Amb 1 - Mambo Volume 1, composed by Phillip Bright and Brennan Johnston, (c) 2014, Published by Pfilbrytetunes, SESAC, Routine Flight Publishing, SESAC, and Music of Freeplay, SESAC

The Youth Channel 2015