Lolita Lebrón
Lolita Lebrón | |
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Puerto Rican Nationalist Party | |
Movement | Puerto Rican Independence |
Spouse | Sergio Irizarry |
Part of a series on the |
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party |
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Lolita Lebrón (November 19, 1919 – August 1, 2010) was a Puerto Rican
In the early 1950s, the Nationalist Party began a series of revolutionary actions, including the 1950
She was convicted, found guilty and incarcerated as a result. Lebrón remained imprisoned for 25 years, until 1979 when Jimmy Carter issued commutations to the group involved in the attack.[1] After their release in 1979, the group returned to Puerto Rico, where supporters of Puerto Rican independence received them warmly. During the following years, Lebrón continued her involvement in pro-independence activities, including the protesting the existence of a United States Navy base at Vieques. Her life would be subsequently detailed in books and a documentary. On August 1, 2010, Lebrón died from complications of a cardiorespiratory infection.
Early life
Lebrón (birth name: Dolores Lebrón Sotomayor
In Pezuela, Lebrón began her education in a small community school.[4] Early in her life, Lebrón contracted pneumonia when she accidentally fell into a gutter that was full of water. As a consequence of this illness, she grew with a frail body and was unable to keep up with the constant activities of her brothers without feeling fatigue.[5] She developed an introverted and contemplative personality, often spending time admiring nature around the hacienda.[5]
From Pezuela the family moved to Mirasol, also in Lares, where Gonzalo Lebrón administered a hacienda owned by Emilio Vilellas. There Lolita received a better education and attended a local public school.[6] When Lebrón completed the sixth grade she attended the Segunda Unidad Rural, a middle school located in Bartolo, an adjacent barrio.[7] She concluded her formal public school education in the eighth grade.[8]
Lebrón had uncommonly good looks and when she was a teenager won first place in the annual "Queen of the Flowers of May" beauty contest held in Lares. Although her father was an atheist, Lebrón was baptized in the Catholic faith when she was fourteen years as were her other siblings.[9] During the baptism celebration she met Francisco Matos Paoli, who became her first boyfriend.[10] Paoli and Lebrón wrote letters to each other in which they exchanged the poetry which they wrote.[11] According to Jossianna Arroyo, Lolita wrote "more mystical poetry, centered on what she called 'visions' filled with religious symbolism."[12] Paoli's family opposed their relationship because they considered Lebrón a jíbara (peasant). Her father also opposed this relationship and ordered her to stop writing Paoli. However, they both continued to write each other until Paoli moved out of the city.[13]
Lebrón eventually moved to San Juan, where she studied sewing and continued her correspondence with Paoli.[14] She felt duty bound to return to Lares because her father was severely affected by tuberculosis.[15] The family was forced to abandon the house in the hacienda, but Ramón Santiago later provided them with a new house.[16]
Lebrón took upon herself the responsibility of taking care of her father. She would travel to a nearby town to buy medicines for her father, which she gave him every seventy minutes.[17] For seven days she didn't sleep or eat while taking care of him. Following his death, Lebrón began supporting herself by weaving clothes.[18]
Political activism
Although Lebrón was a member of the
On May 21, 1948, a bill was introduced before the
Under this new law it would be a crime to print, publish, sell, or exhibit any material intended to paralyze or destroy the insular government; or to organize any society, group or assembly of people with a similar destructive intent. It made it illegal to sing a patriotic song, and reinforced the 1898 law that had made it illegal to display the
On November 1, 1950, following a series of uprisings in Puerto Rico which included the
Assault on the House of Representatives
Attack preparations
Albizu Campos had been corresponding with 34-year-old Lebrón from prison and chose a group of nationalists who included Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores and Andres Figueroa Cordero to attack locations in Washington, D.C. Upon receiving the order she communicated it to the leadership of the Nationalist party in New York and, although two members unexpectedly disagreed, the plan continued.[34] Lebrón decided to lead the group, even though Albizu Campos did not order her to directly take part in the assault.[34] She studied the plan, determining the possible weaknesses, concluding that a single attack on the House of Representatives would be more effective. The date for the attack on the House of Representatives was to be March 1, 1954. This date was chosen because it coincided with the inauguration of the Conferencia Interamericana (Interamerican Conference) in Caracas.[34] Lebrón intended to call attention to Puerto Rico's independence cause, particularly among the Latin American countries participating in the conference.
The attack
On the morning of March 1, Lebrón travelled to Grand Central Terminal, where she rendezvoused with the rest of the group. Once they arrived at the United States Capitol, Rafael Cancel Miranda suggested that the attack should be postponed because it was late and rainy.[35] Lebrón responded, "I am alone" and continued towards the building's interior. The group followed, considering the attack a coup d'état, the most important revolutionary act in the history of the Puerto Rican independence movement, the fourth uprising after the Grito de Lares, the Intentona de Yauco and the Jayuya Uprising.[35] The other members of the group seemed serene and optimistic while rushing towards the legislative chamber.[35]
When Lebrón's group reached the visitor's gallery above the chamber in the House, they sat while the representatives discussed Mexico's economy. Shortly thereafter, Lebrón gave the order to the other members, the group quickly recited the Lord's Prayer; then Lebrón stood up and shouted "¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" ("Long live a Free Puerto Rico!") and unfurled the flag of Puerto Rico.[36] The group opened fire with semi-automatic pistols.[37] Lebrón claimed that she fired her shots at the ceiling, while Figueroa's pistol jammed. Some 30 shots were fired (mostly by Cancel, according to his account), wounding five lawmakers; one representative, Alvin Morell Bentley from Michigan, was seriously wounded in the chest.[38] Upon being arrested, Lebrón yelled, "I did not come to kill anyone, I came to die for Puerto Rico!".
Trial and imprisonment
Lebrón and her group were charged with attempted murder and other crimes. She was imprisoned in the
The prosecution was led by Leo A. Rover, as part of this process 33 witnesses testified.[39] Ruth Mary Reynolds, the "American/Puerto Rican Nationalist" and the organization which she founded "American League for Puerto Rico's Independence" came to the defense of Lebrón and the three other Nationalists.[40] Lebrón and the other members of the group were the only defense witnesses, as part of her testimony she reaffirmed that they "came to die for the liberty of her homeland".[41] As part of her 20-minute speech to the jury at her trial, Lebrón stated that she was "being crucified for the freedom of my country."[42]
During the early part of their trial she remained calm, complaining through her lawyers alleged disrespect for the flag while it was being produced as evidence. She loudly protested when the defense suggested that the group might have suffered from mental instability while committing the deed.[43] On June 16, 1954, the jury found all four defendants guilty. On the morning of July 8, 1954, Lebrón learned of her son's death minutes before the sentence was to be announced. She was quiet at the beginning of the hearing, but at one point, unable to contain herself, she became hysterical. Holtzoff chose to sentence them to the longest terms of imprisonment possible.[44] In Lebrón's case this was between sixteen and fifty years, depending on her behavior.
Back at the prison, she went into shock upon receiving official notice of her son's death and did not speak for three days.[44] On July 13, 1954, the four nationalists were taken to New York, where they pleaded not guilty to the charges of "trying to overthrow the government of the United States".[45] One of the witnesses for the prosecution was Gonzalo Lebrón Jr., who testified against his sister. On October 26, 1954, judge Lawrence E. Walsh found all the defendants guilty of conspiracy and sentenced them to six additional years in prison.[46]
Lebrón was sentenced to a fifty-year prison term.[47] Lebrón stated the first two years in prison were the most difficult, having to deal with the deaths of her son and mother.[48] Communication with her siblings was non-existent. Lebrón refused to accept letters from her sister because only letters written in English were permitted in the prison. Communication with the outside world was not allowed then. Later it was granted after several inmates went on a hunger strike that lasted three and a half days.[49] Due to her participation, Lebrón was not allowed to perform work outside of her cell for some time, although she was eventually allowed to work at the infirmary. While in prison, a group of judges offered her parole in exchange for a public apology, which she indignantly rejected.
After completing the first 15 years of the sentence, Lebrón's social worker told her that she could ask for parole, but she did not display interest in the proposal, never signing the required documentation.[50] Due to this lack of interest, she was mandated to attend a meeting before a penitentiary committee, where she presented a written deposition expressing her position about the parole proposal, as well as other subjects including terrorism, politics, and the United States' use of the atomic bomb.[51] Following this, the other inmates reacted with skepticism over her intentions to refuse the offer, which made her distance herself from them, and focus her attention in studying, as well as writing poetry. During this timeframe, Lebrón's interest in religion grew.[52] Lebrón's daughter Gladys died in 1977, while her mother was in prison.
Later years, death and legacy
External audio | |
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An elder Lolita Lebron before the "Young Project" hearings of 1997 on YouTube |
In 1979 President
In 1979, Lolita Lebrón, Irvin Flores, Rafael Cancel Miranda and Oscar Collazo were recognized as the embodiment of the directive of their teacher Albizu Campos to exercise valor and sacrifice before representatives of fifty-one countries at the International Conference in Support of Independence for Puerto Rico, held in Mexico City.[55]
That same year Lebrón and her group were awarded the Order of Playa Girón in Cuba.[56] The Order of Playa Girón is a national order conferred by the Council of State of Cuba on Cubans or foreigners.[citation needed]
On May 22, 2000, she erroneously filed charges of verbal assault against Nívea Hernández, the mother of then-Puerto Rico Senator
She continued to be active in the independence cause and participated in the
On September 5, 2005, the couple was transported to a hospital, after a fire affected part of their house, causing $14,000 in material losses.[60]
Lebrón was among the political leaders that opposed the
Between 2008 and 2010, Lebrón was hospitalized multiple times, the first being due to a fall that fractured her hip and an arm, requiring surgery.[65] On September 18, 2009, she suffered a notable relapse due to a cardio respiratory infection. Lebrón recovered in a satisfactory manner and issued a press release in appreciation for the public's support. Complications from this episode of bronchitis, however, persisted throughout 2010, leading to her death on August 1, 2010.[66] Multiple public figures, who support independence or free association for Puerto Rico, immediately lamented Lebrón's death, praising her activism.[67] Her life was eulogized in some European papers.[68]
Legacy
Among the homages received by Lebrón are paintings, books and a documentary.
Another silkscreen representation of Lebrón, also in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, is Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican Freedom Fighterby Marcos Dimas. In contrast to Lucero’s suffering Lebrón, or the media’s description of her as a terrorist, with headlines such as “When terror wore lipstick,”[73] Dimas represents a portrayal of Lolita Lebrón that scholars regard as “heroic,” showing her in three-quarter profile with her eyes defiantly raised and staring ahead in determination, repeated four times in the same color palette on the poster, and declaring her as a “Puerto Rican Freedom Fighter”.[71] Beyond art, writer, director and film producer Judith Escalona is planning to make a film about Lebrón's life.[74]Federico Ribes Tovar published a book titled Lolita la Prisionera.
There is a plaque, located at the monument to the Jayuya Uprising participants in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, honoring the women of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. Lebron's name is on the first line of the third plate.
Among the books that include the story of Lebrón are The Ladies' Gallery: A Memoir of Family Secrets[75] by Irene Vilar (Lebrón's granddaughter), translated by Gregory Rabassa (formerly published as A Message from God in the Atomic Age). The author criticizes her grandmother as a distant, gun-toting, larger-than-life figure who cast a veil of pain and secrecy over her family so vast that Ms. Vilar is still untangling herself from it. It also documents the death of Lebrón's only daughter (Vilar's mother) as suicide.[76] Irene Vilar began to write the novel in a psychiatric hospital in Syracuse, New York.[citation needed]
Lebrón's granddaughter, Vilar, may have had a slight change of heart after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. She recalled her grandmother's wisdom in that she often said that if Puerto Ricans could feed themselves they could have their country. Vilar appealed for donations of seeds (farmers had lost everything), and received "so many we didn't know what to do with them" so she started the "Resilience Fund" with Tara Rodriguez Besosa. She felt they had to work quickly to save farms and farmer's livelihoods.[77]
Further reading
- Federico Ribes Tovar (1974). Lolita Lebrón La Prisionera. New York City: Plus Ultra Educational Publishers, Inc.
- Full text of The Young Lords: A Reader (2010) edited by Darrel Enck-Wanzer, including "Lolita Lebron: Puerto Rican Liberation Fighter" (1970), by Carlos Aponte, Ministry of Education, East Coast Region, Young Lords.
- "War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony"; Author: ISBN 978-1568585017.
See also
- List of Puerto Ricans
- History of women in Puerto Rico
- List of people pardoned or granted clemency by the president of the United States
19th Century female leaders of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement
Female members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
- Blanca Canales
- Rosa Collazo
- Julia de Burgos
- Ruth Mary Reynolds
- Isabel Rosado
- Isabel Freire de Matos
- Isolina Rondón
- Olga Viscal Garriga
Articles related to the Puerto Rican Independence Movement
- Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s
- Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
- Ponce massacre
- Río Piedras massacre
- Puerto Rican Independence Party
- Grito de Lares
- Intentona de Yauco
- Boricua Popular Army
- Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (Puerto Rico)
Notes
- Spanish name, the first or paternal surnameis Lebrón and the second or maternal family name is Sotomayor.
References
- ^ a b "Commutations Granted by President Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)". December 8, 2017. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.17
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.19
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.20
- ^ a b Ribes Tovar et al., p.21
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.23
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.25
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.33
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.37
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.38
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.42
- ^ JOSSIANNA ARROYO (2014). "Living the Political: Julia de Burgos and Lolita Lebrón". Centro Journal. XXVI (II): 128. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015.
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.43–44
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.46
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.66
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.67
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.68
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.73
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.75
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.79
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.86
- ^ a b c Ribes Tovar et al., p.93
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.94
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.95
- ^ "Lolita Lebrón | Puerto Rican nationalist | Britannica". Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.98–100
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.101
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.111
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.115
- ^ "La obra jurídica del Profesor David M. Helfeld (1948–2008)'; by: Dr. Carmelo Delgado Cintrón Archived March 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Puerto Rican History". Topuertorico.org. January 13, 1941. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
- ^ "La Gobernación de Jesús T. Piñero y la Guerra Fría". Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.122
- ^ a b c d Ribes Tovar et al., p.132
- ^ a b c Ribes Tovar et al., p.136
- Holland Sentinel. Associated Press. February 29, 2004. Archived from the originalon March 22, 2005. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
- ^ Edward F. Ryan, The Washington Post, March 2, 1954, pp.1, 12–13.
- ^ Clayton Knowless (March 2, 1954). Five Congressmen Shot in House by 3 Puerto Rican Nationalists; Bullets Spray from Gallery. p. 1.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) - ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.178
- ^ Guide to the Ruth M. Reynolds Papers 1915–1989 Archived June 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.186
- from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.188
- ^ a b Ribes Tovar et al., p.193–194
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.197
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.209
- ^ "Remembering Puerto Rican Activist Lolita Lebron". NPR.org. August 3, 2010. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.213
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.218
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.221
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.222
- ^ Ribes Tovar et al., p.230–234
- ^ a b "We Have Nothing to Repent". Time. September 24, 1979. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
- ^ a b Manuel Roig-Franzia (February 22, 2004). "A Terrorist in the House". The Washington Post. p. 12.
- ^ "Voices". Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-4269-4427-7.
- ^ a b Querella de Lebrón (in Spanish). Puerto Rico. May 23, 2000.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Maricelis Rivera Santos (November 22, 2000). "Tribunal Internacional declara culpable a EU". El Vocero (in Spanish). Puerto Rico. p. 8.
- ^ Margarita Santori (November 27, 2000). "Satisfecho Mari Bras". El Vocero (in Spanish). Puerto Rico. p. 13.
- ^ Miguel Rivera Puig (September 5, 2005). "Se quema casa de Lolita Lebrón". El Vocero. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
- ^ "Puerto Rican nationalists predict low turnout". Yahoo!. Associated Press. May 26, 2008. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
- ^ "Operan a Lolita Lebrón". Primera Hora (in Spanish). June 10, 2008. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
- ^ "Operan con éxito a nacionalista boricua Lolita Lebrón" (in Spanish). Yahoo!. Associated Press. June 11, 2008. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
- ^ "Current Projects: "1954"". Alquimia Films. Archived from the original on August 22, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
- ^ Sandra Caquías Cruz (August 1, 2010). "Noticias". Fallece Lolita Lebrón (in Spanish). El Nuevo Día.
- Primera Hora. August 1, 2010.
- ^ "Noticias". Lamentan la muerte de Lolita Lebrón (in Spanish). El Nuevo Día. August 1, 2010.
- ^ "Lolita Lebrón". www.thetimes.co.uk. August 23, 2010. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
- ^ Reinoza, Tatiana (2017). "'No Es un Crimen': Posters, Political Prisoners, and the Mission Counterpublics". Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies. 42: 250 – via Ingenta Connect.
- ^ a b Reinoza, Tatiana (2017). "'No Es un Crimen': Posters, Political Prisoners, and the Mission Counterpublics". Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies. 42: 251 – via Ingenta Connect.
- ^ a b c Reinoza, Tatiana (2017). "'No Es un Crimen': Posters, Political Prisoners, and the Mission Counterpublics". Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies. 42: 252 – via Ingenta Connect.
- ^ "Lolita Lebrón | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-4798-2568-4.
- ^ ""Our Women, Our Struggle" by Melissa Montero". National Association of Latino Independent Producers. Archived from the original on July 14, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
- ISBN 9781590513736.
- ^ Mirta Ojito (May 26, 1998). "Shots That Haunted 3 Generations; A Family's Struggles in the Aftermath of an Attack on Congress". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
- ^ Cuevas, Mayra (September 20, 2018). "Meet the Puerto Rican sisterhood reinventing the island's future after Maria". CNN. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
External links
- Mireya Navarro (October 21, 1990). "40 Years After Attacks, Time Has Softened Zeal". The New York Times.
- Douglas Martin (August 3, 2010). "Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican Nationalist, Dies at 90". The New York Times.