Tonight, at Plaza Betances, Villa Victoria, 100 West Dedham Street in Boston’s South End, Mijente Boston and Mijente are holding Un Año Después María: Marching and Healing gathering.
Mijente and Mijente Boston’s Statement:
Join us as we mourn and celebrate those that have passed from the combination of Hurricane Maria and the crisis created by the United States in Puerto Rico.
A year after this disaster, Puerto Ricans still lack access to reliable utilities; hundreds of schools have been closed on the islands; the University of Puerto Rico’s budget has been slashed in half; pensions for public employees have been cut; houses on the islands are being foreclosed on and bought up by investors; electricity, the beach, and other resources are being privatized; and, so many other austerity measures are still being enacted. All this while hedge fund investors get timely payments for their predatory lending.
All of these decisions were made by the unelected board of officials (nominated by Congress) that controls economic policy in Puerto Rico (through legislation called PROMESA). The largest banks and hedge funds continue to squeeze the island with repayment plans that strip away democracy and saps any investment from Puerto Rican education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
We will start at Villa Victoria, a space many Puerto Ricans fought to keep in the Boston community. We will then march to Seth Klarman’s office, who has knowingly been extorting the island. Seth provides an example of a deep systemic issue – the revolving door between government, banks and hedge funds that continues the cycle of colonization and devastation.
At the end, we will come together and heal. We will offer space for those who would like to share their stories, laugh, and cry together.
Our demands include:
Repeal the Jones Act now!
Repeal PROMESA and dissolve the Fiscal Control Board now!
Cancel the debt and pay reparations now!
No privatization of education!
No privatization of public resources!
The Decolonization process must begin now!
Agenda coming soon!
Contact: mijente.boston@gmail.com for questions or to get involved in planning!
Co-sponsors:
AgitArte
Raíces Borikén Collective
Seeds of Our Ancestors
ANSWER Coalition
Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice
United American Indians of New England
Black Lives Matter Boston
SURJ Boston
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Remember Puerto Rico. Remember all people through all time who have been forgotten. Thank you if you donated toward recovery. Thank you if you prayed. Thank you if you cared. We Thank You. #BORINKEN
Liza Zayas is a lover of writing and dancing and celebrates both as a singer and songwriter performing as Luna del Flor. You can hear her collaborative sounds and experience life through her storytelling. She invites you to dance. Her poetry seeks to initiate dialogue by intentionally expressing consequences of love, lust, ego and self-respect.
