The world has learned an important lesson from the massive demonstrations in Puerto Rico

This past week the world watched as over 500,000 residents of Puerto Rico mobilized all over the island, demanding Governor Ricardo Rosselló resign. These demonstrations took place in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. So, we might ask: Why were the Puerto Rican people so enraged that they came together in these massive demonstrations?

Clearly, there were tapes of the governor making insulting remarks about the residents on the island, as well as gross statements about women. However, there are politicians in the states who make these kinds of remarks, and there haven’t been those kinds of protests. So, how is the reality of Puerto Rico different from the reality on the mainland of the United States?

The War Against All Puerto Ricans

We can begin to answer this question by reading Nelson A. Denis’ book: The War Against All Puerto Ricans – Revolution and terror in America’s colony. This book was a best seller in Puerto Rico and Denis spoke at the demonstration demanding the resignation of the governor. You can read my review of this wonderful book at the link to this blog. The following facts are just a short summary of the history that Denis reported in his book.

The independence movement in Puerto Rico started when the island was controlled by Spain. General Nelson A. Miles headed the United States armed forces that invaded the island. Before invading Puerto Rico, Miles commanded the armed forces in the wars against Native Americans.

The first U.S. Governor of Puerto Rico amassed his wealth from the sugar trust that today we know as Domino Sugar. The Puerto Rican macheteros who cut the sugar cane that produced his wealth, worked under unimaginably horrendous conditions.

Pedro Albizu Campos became the leader of the independence movement. Campos had been educated at Harvard University and had a law degree. Campos was also the leader of the 1934 sugar cane workers strike that managed to force employers to significantly increase wages on the island.

One of the power brokers in Puerto Rico offered Campos $150,000 to betray the sugar workers strike. Campos refused and the U.S. officials then worked to prosecute Campos for conspiring to overthrow the government. He served a ten-year sentence in a federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia.

At the same time as Campos was on trial, there was a pro-independence demonstration in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The police murdered 17 of the unarmed demonstrators and lied arguing that they did this in self-defense. This lie was exposed by a film that documented the murder of the unarmed demonstrators.

Also during these years, the United States government allowed doctors to sterilize about 20,000 Puerto Rican women. When these women gave birth to their first child, the doctors cut their fallopian tubes during the procedure. They routinely carried out this illegal procedure without the consent of these women.

Upon his return to Puerto Rico, Pedro Albizu Campos experienced uninterrupted surveillance by the police. During these years, the United States invested billions of dollars in the island in what they called Operation Bootstrap.

Along with Operation Bootstrap, the government adopted Law 54. This law made it a crime to display a Puerto Rican flag, or to sing the Puerto Rican national anthem. Many of those who violated this law went to the prison known as La Princesa. The conditions in this prison were unimaginably horrendous.

Because it became impossible to legally organize, the independence movement on the island organized an armed insurrection. The government murdered most of those who took part in this insurrection.

Pedro Albizu Campos was convicted again of conspiring against the government. This time, the prison authorities exposed Campos to massive levels of radiation. When he was about to pass away he was released from prison.

We might also keep in mind that the Puerto Rican people have been successful in forcing the government to release several political prisoners after they served decades in the dungeons of this country. The list of those released include: Rafael Cancel Miranda, Lolita Lebrón, and Oscar López Rivera.  

We might also consider that popular vocalist Ricky Martin was featured in the recent demonstrations on the island. The Governor had ridiculed Martin because he is gay. So, we have seen that the power of these demonstrations have broken through many of the attitudes people might have had that were critical of gays.

Hurricane Maria and its Aftermath

We might think about the fact that the word Hurricane originates from the native people of Puerto Rico known as the Tainos. So, the people on the island have been dealing with hurricanes for centuries. However, when Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, the United States government organized the reconstruction. That effort became a genuine human disaster.

In September of 2017 the U.S. government reported that there were 64 deaths caused by Hurricane Maria. By June 4, 2018 The New England Journal of Medicine reported that there were 4,645 deaths due to the aftermath of the hurricane.

These facts demonstrate that the United States effort to recover from the hurricane were grossly inadequate. It took about one full year for water and electric supply to be fully restored to the island.

Yet, when President Trump visited Puerto Rico after the hurricane, he actually had the audacity to throw rolls of paper towels at the people. The president failed to explain how those paper towels might have prevented the deaths of 4,645 people on the island.

We also see how there are banks demanding that Puerto Rico pay $70 billion in outstanding loans. In order to pay these loans, they have instituted austerity plans.

Thinking about those loans, we might also think about the dozens of corporations that have extracted huge amounts of wealth from the labor of the Puerto Rican people. These corporations include: the sugar trusts, the drug companies, the tourist hotels, the airlines, the auto dealerships, and the airlines. Those corporations also include: banks, insurance companies, advertising agencies, and corporate law firms.

An observer might think that it is wrong to demand payment of loans from Puerto Rico, while all these corporations have reaped super-profits from the island. Massive profits have also been derived from Puerto Ricans who work on the mainland. However, this is an example of the natural functioning of the capitalist system.

Rebellions all over the world

When we look at this history, we can begin to understand why there were massive demonstrations in Puerto Rico demanding the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. There was mass discontent on the island before the people learned of Rosselló’s insulting remarks about the people who have endured this history. We can cite other moments in history where there was mass discontent, where a single event provoked a mass response.

In October of 1917, garment workers who happened to be women in St, Petersburg, Russia went on strike. This information is included in Leon Trotsky’s history of the Russian Revolution. He reported that the atmosphere was so charged at that time, a loud noise was all that was necessary to cause thousands of workers to go on strike.

In the year 1955, racists murdered fourteen-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi. People in Chicago, Illinois viewed Till’s mutilated body in an open casket. A few months after Till’s murder, Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Those events sparked the 385-day Montgomery Bus Boycott. 

In the year 2010, a police officer confiscated Mohamed Bouazizi’s vegetable cart in Tunisia. Bouazizi attempted to use legal means to rectify this problem, but the government responded with cold indifference. Bouazizi then committed suicide by setting himself on fire. Bouazizi’s horrendous death sparked a movement known as the Arab Spring where millions of people in the Arabic world mobilized in an effort to oust the government in their countries.

However, we can also say that rebellions only become revolutions when a political party sees the massive discontent, and makes a decision to organize to take power. This happened in both the Russian and Cuban Revolutions.  

The Cuban Reality

In May of this year I was a member of the Cuba May Day Brigade. We were 328 members of 21 nations who came to Cuba to learn and give solidarity to the Cuban revolutionary government.

On May 1, we witnessed over one-million people demonstrating their enthusiastic support of their government in Havana. We might consider that the Cuban people don’t have many of the conveniences of this country. However, the government is open about how resources are used.

The primary difference lies in the fact that in the United States massive corporate profits are the priority. In Cuba human needs are more important than corporate profits. So, in the United States hundreds of hospitals have closed down, and infant mortality rates have increased. Today Cuba has three times more doctors as the United States and infant mortality is lower than this country.

So, while Puerto Ricans mobilized hundreds of thousands to oust the government on the island, the Cuban people mobilized even more people to enthusiastically support their government.

My opinion is that the Puerto Rican people have demonstrated that there is a simmering discontent of workers and farmers all over the world. This means that events will unfold that will spark massive responses. Working people are not apathetic. The ruling powers have been driving down our standard of living for decades. Sooner or later the rage that has been building up with working people will explode as it did in Puerto Rico.

Women and the liberation of humanity

They played a crucial part in every

human advance in the history of the world.

Yet, the media routinely portrays them

as sexual objects, who need the protection of men.

They have given birth to every

human being in the history of the world,

Yet politicians argue that they should not

have the right to decide if and when to become a mother.

Their inner beauty has inspired

humanity all over the world.

Yet, advertisers invest billions of dollars

in an attempt to make women feel insecure about their appearance.

Yes, corporations are driven to take

trillions of dollars from women

who purchase jewelry, cosmetics, mascara,

and extravagantly expensive clothing.

For all their many contributions,

the emotional and physical abuse of women

is a continuing fact of life

in the world today.

So, while women only receive

70% of the wages of men,

the most affluent people living in the world,

have more money than they could use in 100 lifetimes.

Then, there are governments that argue

that we need to go to war

and destroy entire nations,

so they can pretend to defend democracy in the world.

Some of those who make these arguments

happen to be women.

Yes, there are affluent women in the government,

and on the boards of corporations.

So, now you might have an idea why there are many women

who don’t like this situation.

Now you might understand why   

there are women dedicated to changing this relationship.

There was Mother Jones

who organized the movement

to end child labor

for all time.

There was Ida Wells,

who organized to stop the murder

or lynching of people

who happened to have a dark skin color.

There was Celia Sanchez

who helped organize the Cuban Revolution,

so all the Cuban people will have their own government,

with the right to education and health care.

Yes, women represent a potentially

explosive force in the world today.

Sooner or later women will unleash that power,

and the world will learn the true value of half of the human race.  

Celia Sánchez—an Organizer of the Cuban Revolution

She was raised in Pilón,

a small town in the province

of Oriente, Cuba.

Her mother died when she was a child.

Her father, Manuel Sánchez,

came from an affluent family

and became a medical doctor.

He also raised Celia, her brothers and sisters.

Unlike most doctors in Cuba at that time,

Dr. Manuel Sánchez treated

those who could not pay.

Many of these were the ones who cut sugar cane.

His patients suffered from having bad teeth,

to tuberculosis, to malnutrition,

to gunshot or knife wounds, or the effects of alcoholism.

He also delivered the babies.

Celia became her father’s assistant.

She learned the names, illnesses, and problems of all the patients.

She joined her father making house calls

on horseback riding into the mountains.

She made sure that on the day of the Kings holiday,

that every child had a present.

This became her mission,

and the people loved her.

She liked to read the fashion magazines,

and wore bright red lipstick.

Even after the Revolution triumphed

she wore high heels with her fatigues.

Her father taught Celia about Cuban history

He taught her to appreciate the beauty of the mountains.

He taught her how to do deep-sea fishing.

At night, on the beech, with her friends, she ate her catch of the day under the stars. 

Where she lived, the rural guards had absolute power.

They could take whatever they wanted.

They raped women,

and resistance was met with torture or death.

Celia had supported political campaigns

aimed at making meaningful change.

These efforts failed,

Then, Celia discovered the July 26 Movement.

She learned that she needed to change

from being an independent woman,

into a disciplined revolutionary,

who strictly followed orders.

Initially her leader was Frank País.

But life in the city became increasingly dangerous

and government forces murdered País.

Sixty-thousand attended his funeral in Santiago.

These forces arrested Celia.

Her fate would have been almost certain torture and death.

But she saw an opportunity and escaped,

hiding in the cover of the marabu

Celia then joined Fidel and the revolutionaries in the Sierra Maestra.

She was a small woman,

but managed to march

for many miles each day in the mountains.

Then, she looked for the children who needed medical attention.

She spoke with the patents asking for their permission,

so revolutionary doctors could treat the young ones.

She also asked the revolutionary priests to preside over weddings.

The forces of repression had tremendous resources.

They used aircraft in a relentless effort

to find the revolutionaries.

But they failed.

Celia organized the construction of a small town in the mountains,

that served the needs of the revolution.

The town was hidden by a canopy of trees.

From this base, the revolution advanced.

Although the army of the people was outnumbered

and had fewer resources,

their spirit became more powerful

than those who were motivated by money.

One of her first acts as a leader of

the revolutionary Cuban government

was to airlift toys to the children of the Sierra.

She had not forgotten them.

When Cuba was attacked by mercenaries

supported by the United States at Playa Girón,

Celia played a prominent role

in defending the island.

She brought many of the campesinos

from the Sierra to Havana

where they learned skills

and improved their lives.

The women received new clothes,

makeup, and hairdos

at the beauty parlors.

Yes, this was a new day.

From the beginning Celia and the revolutionaries

understood the importance of health care and education.

Today, Cuba probably has more doctors and teachers

per capita than any other nation in the world.

We might consider that the United Nations

estimates that about 29,000 children die every day

due to preventable diseases.

Cuba has one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world.

Celia Sánchez, along with Vilma Espin, and Haydee Santamaria

are examples of how women

have the potential to organize

to transform the world.

Today, more and more working people

see instability of the world.

Celia Sánchez taught us that we can work to build

a world where human needs are more important than profits.

Ida Wells, An Uncompromising Struggle for Human Dignity

She was born

in Holly Springs, Mississippi

into the world

of chattel slavery.

350,000 Union soldiers died in the Civil War.

President Lincoln said they did not “die in vain”,

and the Thirteenth Amendment said,

slavery was abolished.

Black people learned to read,

they voted, and held public office.

But the federal government abandoned reconstruction,

and the Ku Klux Klan took political power.

Her mother was a cook.

Her father was a carpenter,

and they managed to support

Ida and her seven siblings.

Then the yellow fever took

the lives of her parents.

Her first struggle, at the age of sixteen,

was to keep the family together.

She taught school,

and cared for the entire family.

Eventually she earned money

as a journalist.

People who had power said that Black people weren’t supposed

to sit where white people sat on rail cars.

Ida was asked to vacate her “first class” seat.

She refused and several white men forced her to move.

She sued and won her case.

But there was an appeal,

and the judges ruled that Ida’s case

was not “reasonable.”

Ida was an independent minded woman

who found it difficult to make many friends.

Thomas Moss, a letter carrier, was her friend.

He owned a grocery, had a wife and a child, with another on the way.

There were white people who resented Moss because he had money.

He was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.

Seventy five racists took Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart

out of a jail and lynched them.

Ida was so incensed by the horror of this reality,

that she made the campaign

against lynching her life’s work.

Unlike many others, she would never back down.

While many understood that lynching was wrong,

many also argued that Black men

raped white women.

Therefore they argued that white women needed to be protected.

Ida Wells wrote, “The Truth About Lynching.”

She argued that, at times, some white women had

consensual relationships with Black men,

but segregationists didn’t feel this was possible.

She said that Black women were oftentimes

raped by white men who went unpunished.

Lynchings took place in order to intimidate

Black people so they would continue to work the worst jobs.

Ida learned from these lynchings that

“a Winchester rifle should

have a place of honor in every black home.”

“for protection the law refuses to give.”

She also advised Black people to take Thomas Moss’ advice,

and move out of their homes in the south,

to new homes in the west.

Thousands took this advice.

This was too much for the racists,

and Ida’s life was threatened in Memphis.

She needed to abandon her business,

and did not return for thirty years.

Some people said that Ida preached hatred

against white people who lived in the South.

They attempted to isolated her,

so powerful forces in this country might be accommodated.

But thousands of Black men,

women and children were lynched.

They were beaten, tortured, hanged,

shot, and burned to death.

Their body parts were cut off,

collected, and even sold as souvenirs.

But the government chose

not to prosecute the known murderers.

How was she to fight against a government

that refused to prosecute murderers?

She did this by introducing her readers

to the individuals who had been lynched.

She wrote about Frazier Baker,

who was the Post Master of Lake City, South Carolina.

After his enemies burned the Post Office to the ground,

Baker used his home as a Post Office.

Hundreds of racists surrounded his home and set it on fire.

When Baker and his family came out of the home,

He and his infant daughter were murdered,

His wife and children suffered life-changing injuries.

The government made an investigation.

When no one was prosecuted,

The government that claims to represent, “liberty and justice for all”

became an accomplice in the murder of Frazier Baker.

No reason was given for this murder.

Ida Wells understood that Frazier Baker was murdered

because he was a Black man,

who attempted to get a descent job in the United States of America.

Ida gave the facts showing how people

were victimized oftentimes for merely defending themselves

against hysterical mobs whose only concern

was to keep Black people in their place.

Anyone could read about these

lynchings in the newspapers.

Ida Wells collected these stories

and even made her own investigations.

The Twenty-fourth U.S. infantry of Black soldiers

had risked their lives in wars abroad.

In Houston, Texas those soldiers

attempted to defend their comrades from a racist mob.

Sergeant Vida Henry gave the order engage a racist mob.

After the battle, Henry committed suicide,

rather than face execution from the government

he valiantly served for thirteen years. 

Ida distributed buttons that supported

the Black soldiers

who had been sentenced to death

by a court which pretended to represent justice.

“Intelligence officers” threatened to

arrest her on charges of treason.

Ida countered that it would be an

“honor” to go to prison under such circumstances.

Ida would go on to mobilize

women to support the

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters,

who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to gain union recognition.

She wrote the pamphlets:

The Requirements of Southern Journalism,

United States Atrocities: Lynch Law,

Mob Rule in New Orleans: Robert Charles and His fight to the Death,

The Arkansas Race Riot,

The East St. Louis Massacre: The Greatest Outrage of the Century

Lynch Law in Georgia,

and Colored Women of Chicago.

Some of the bravest leaders for human dignity

respected her work, That list includes:

Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony,

Marcus Garvey, and W.E.B. Du Bois.

However, those who pretended to be leaders of the movement

attempted to marginalize her accomplishments,

but she will be remembered as someone who

never compromised her struggle for human dignity.