WAR AGAINST ALL PUERTO RICANS Revolution and Terror in America’s Colony BYNELSON A. DENIS
War Against All Puerto Ricans is a powerful, tragic, and untold history of U.S. intervention into the politics of Puerto Rico. From the U.S. invasion in 1898 to the modern day struggle for self-determination, Nelson Denis provides a panoramic history of an island once referred to by the New York Times as a significant “commercial value…it would be much better for [Puerto Rico] to come at once under the beneficent sway of these United States than to engage in doubtful experiments at self-government.”
Based on oral histories, personal interviews, eyewitness accounts, congressional testimony, and recently de-classified FBI files, War Against All Puerto Ricans tells the story of a revolution integral to Puerto Rican history, but virtually unknown to the American public: the Puerto Rican independence revolt of 1950. After over fifty years of military occupation and colonial rule, the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico staged an unsuccessful armed insurrection against the United States. Violence swept through Puerto Rico: assassins were sent to kill President Harry Truman, gunfights roared in eight towns, police stations and post offices were burned down. In order to suppress the uprising, the U.S. Army deployed thousands of troops and bombarded two towns, marking the first time in history that the U.S. bombed its own citizens.
In telling this story, Nelson Denis traces the lives of the key figures that shaped, directed and destroyed the revolution, including Pedro Albizu Campos, president of the Nationalist Party and leader of the Puerto Rican independence movement, who was eventually imprisoned and died under mysterious circumstances. It is an unflinching account of the gunfights, prison riots, political intrigue, FBI and CIA covert activity, and mass hysteria that accompanied this tumultuous period in Puerto Rican history.
All across America the Latino population, and Latino buying power, are showing explosive growth. This enormous market is largely untapped.
Immediately, and over the next 50 years, these numbers will affect the U.S. cultural landscape.
2010 Census
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, one in six Americans– nearly 52 million people – are Latino.
As of 2010, Latinos are recognized as the largest minority group in the U.S. Latinos accounted for 16 percent of the 309 million people in the U.S., African Americans 12 percent, and Asians made up 5 percent.
Senior citizens accounted for 13 percent of Americans (about 42 million senior citizens) so there are more Latinos in the U.S., than there are senior citizens.
Latino spending power is expected to grow to more than $1.5 trillion by 2015, or 15 percent of America’s total buying power.
By 2050 about 1 in 3 U.S. residents will be Latino.
Census: Latino Population Soars 43 Percent Across U.S.
U.S. Media Response
Media and entertainment companies are responding to this explosion in the Latino sector.
Television
In January 2012, market leader Univisión partnered with Disney-ABC to launch an English-language 24-hour news channel, that is geared to Latino viewers.
Also that month, News Corp. announced it would launch Spanish-language MundoFox, a new broadcast network, in the fall of 2012.
In February 2012, Cable operator Comcast agreed to carry two new Latino-run TV cable channels, El Rey and BabyFirst.
Latino spin-offs run throughout the cable TV spectrum – ranging from HBO Latino to MTV’s Tr3s to ESPN Deportes.
In 2012, Univisión primetime ratings are beating NBC on one out of every two nights.
This follows the 2011 performance, when Univisión TV network beat NBC on Thursdays with a 1.7 average rating, or 2.2 million viewers. NBC has an average rating of 1.6.
Film
In the realm of movies,in 2010, 43 million Latinos purchased 351 million movie tickets. This represents over $2.6 billion in ticket purchases. It is also an uptick from the 37 million Latinos who bought 300 million tickets the previous year.
Also in 2010, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) found that Latinos are extremely frequent moviegoers. In fact, they accounted for 26 percent of all tickets sold in 2010.
By comparison, African-Americans purchased 11 percentof movie tickets in 2010.
The Nueva York Knicks
Even in New York City, in select games, the New York Knicks now dress up as the Nueva York Knicks.
Case Study: Sabado Gigante
The enormous potential of the Latino market, both in the U.S. and globally, is best seen in the numbers generated by Sabado Gigante. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012, it is the longest-running TV variety show in television history. 525 U.S. stations air the program, which reaches an estimated audience of 100 million people every week.
According to Univisión, the only audience comparable to Sabado Gigante is the Olympics or the Soccer World Cup – except that Sabado Gigante does not reach this audience once every four years. It reaches this audience, every single week.
By way of contrast, the Oprah Winfrey Show was the highest-rated talk show in American television history. At its peak, Oprah reached 15-20 million viewers per show.
Sabado Gigante reaches 100 million viewers every week, throughout the entire world.
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For further information about U.S. Latino population growth, see:
Spain grants Puerto Rico a Carta de Autonomía (Charter of Autonomy) which, after four hundred years, would give Puerto Rico its independence.
1898
EIGHT DAYS OF INDEPENDENCE
General elections are held in March 1898 and the first “autonomous”government of Puerto Rico begins to function on July 17, 1898.
Just eight days later, on July 25, Nelson A. Miles (the Commanding General of the U.S. Army) invades Puerto Rico with 16,000 soldiers as part of the Spanish-American War. This ends Puerto Rico’s independence.
Uncle Sam reaches out to Puerto Rico
1899
HURRICANE SAN CIRIACO
One of the worst Caribbean hurricanes in history, San Ciriaco kills over 3,400 Puerto Ricans and destroys the entire island coffee crop. U.S. hurricane relief is bizarre…
The U.S. sets up the American Colonial Bank, and the Spanish peso is replaced by the U.S. dollar as Puerto Rico’s currency. Though of equal international value, each peso isdeclared worth only 60 U.S. cents. This cripples the Puerto Rican economy, particularly for the small farmers.
1910
U.S. BANKS FORECLOSE ON PUERTO RICAN LAND
With crippled farms and 40% less wealth, Puerto Rican farmers have to borrow money from U.S. banks. With no usury law restrictions, the American Colonial Bank charges interest rates so high that, within a decade (by 1910), the farmers default on their loans, and the banks now own their land.
1917
U.S. CITIZENSHIP
In 1917 Woodrow Wilson signs the Jones Act, under which English is decreed the “official language” of Puerto Rico, and Puerto Ricans are granted U.S. citizenship.
This enables 18,000 Puerto Ricans to fight in World War I.
1st Puerto Rican Regiment
1921
MONCHO REYES, THE IDIOT GOVERNOR
U.S. President Warren Harding appoints Emmet Montgomery Reily as Governor of Puerto Rico. In turn, Reily places his own friends in prominent positions throughout the Puerto Rican government.
Reily decrees that the U. S. flag (“Old Glory”) will be the only flag used throughout the entire island. He also declares that Spanish will no longer be used in any schools, which will now teach exclusively in English.
Reily is extremely unpopular. Puerto Ricans nickname him Moncho Reyes (a “Moncho” is an uncivilized moron). He is forced to resign in 1923, under a growing cloud of corruption charges.
1920 – 1930
U. S. LAND GRAB
By 1930, all of Puerto Rico’s farms belong to 41 sugar syndicates. 80% of these are U.S. owned, and the largest four syndicates – Central Guanica, South Puerto Rico, Fajardo Sugar and East Puerto Rico Sugar – are entirely U.S. owned and cover over half the island’s arable land.
NO MINIMUM WAGE
With no money, no crops, and no land, Puerto Ricans seek work in the cities. When the Puerto Rican legislature enacts a minimum-wage law like the one in America, the U.S. Supreme Court declares it unconstitutional.
This decision is made despite AFL-CIO President Samuel Gompers’ testimony that “the salaries paid to Puerto Ricans are now less than half what they received under the Spanish.”
PRICES FIXED
U.S. finished products – from rubber bands to radios – are priced 15 to 20% higher on the island than on the mainland. Puerto Rico is powerless to enact any price-fixinglegislation.
1930
PEDRO ALBIZU CAMPOS
Pedro Albizu Campos, the first Puerto Rican graduate of Harvard Law School, is elected as President of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. Immediately, he starts to organize the island’s agricultural workers and small farmers.
Don Pedro Albizu Campos
For a video about the life (and death) of Albizu Campos, see:
1931
PUERTO RICAN GUINEA PIGS
Pedro Albizu Campos investigates some disturbing rumors at San Juan Presbyterian Hospital, and confirms that a Dr. Cornelius P. Rhoads is injecting Puerto Rican patients with live cancer cells, and that he killed at least 13 of them.
A scandal erupts when the following letter, written by Dr. Rhoads himself, is discovered and released by Albizu Campos:
“The Porto Ricans (sic) are the dirtiest, laziest, most degenerate and thievish race of men ever to inhabit this sphere…I have done my best to further the process of extermination by killing off eight and transplanting cancer into several more…All physicians take delight in the abuse and torture of the unfortunate subjects.”
The U.S. press hail Dr. Rhoads, and place him on the cover of Time Magazine.
1930 – 1970
MASS STERILIZATION
Puerto Rican women are massively used for the testing of I.U.D.’s and birth control pills. In addition, between 1930 and 1970, approximately one-third of Puerto Rico’s female population of childbearing age undergo “the operation,” the highest rate in the world.
Many of these women were “operated” upon without their knowledge or consent. Most frequently, these “procedures” occurred immediately after childbirth.
The Human Betterment Association of America promotes Eugenics (a thinly-veiled version of Nazi racial cleansing) as a basis for sterilizing blacks in the U.S. mainland, and Puerto Ricans on the island.
The available research and documentation of this colonial genocide is extensive.
Pedro Albizu Campos directs an island-wide agricultural strike. The sugarcane workers, or Macheteros, get a few wage concessions from the sugar syndicates.
This is the first time that anyone organizes Puerto Ricans against the United States…and wins.
24-HOUR FBI SURVEILLANCE OF ALBIZU CAMPOS
The U.S. economy is in a Great Depression. It needs every economic advantage it can find. Because of the Machetero sugarcane strike, the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party is targeted as a “threat to national security” and Albizu Campos’s life is in danger.
Albizu Campos speaking
J. Edgar Hoover orders 24-hour FBI surveillance of Campos’s movements and meetings. He receives constant death threats, is attacked in his own home, jailed for 24 years, beaten and tortured in prison.
1935
RIO PIEDRAS MASSACRE
In the town of Rio Piedras, at a student assembly of the University of Puerto Rico, police shoot and kill four members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party: José Barea, Ramón Pagán, Pedro Quiñones, and Eduardo Vega.
Killed for attending a student assembly
1936
ASSASSINATION OF POLICE CHIEF RIGGS
In retaliation for the Río Piedras massacre, the insular police chief E. Francis Riggs is murdered in San Juan. Two Nationalist Party members, Hiram Rosado and Elías Beauchamp, are immediately arrested and shot dead in the San Juan police headquarters.
1937
PONCE MASSACRE
On Palm Sunday, March 21, a peaceful march is held in the town of Ponce, in support of Pedro Albizu Campos and other Nationalists who were recently imprisoned.
The march turns into a bloody police slaughter, killing 18 unarmed Puerto Ricans and wounding over 200 others. Women and children are killed – including a 7-year old girl, who is shot in the back.
The massacre occurs under the direct military command of General Blanton Winship, the U.S.-appointed governor of Puerto Rico.
The Ponce Massacre
The police continue firing, even as dead bodies pile up in the street:
On April 14, U.S. Congressman Vito Marcantonio denounces Winship on the floor of U.S. Congress:
“In his five years as Governor of Puerto Rico, Mr. Blanton Winship destroyed the last vestige of civil rights in Puerto Rico. Patriots were framed in the very executive mansion and railroaded to prison. Men, women, and children were massacred in the streets of the island simply because they dared to express their opinion or attempted to meet in free assemblage.”
—Vito Marcantonio, U.S. Congressman
Congressional Record of April 14, 1937, page 4499
1939
BOMBING OF CULEBRA
The U.S. begins to use the Culebra Archipelago as a gunnery and bombing practice site.
1941
OCCUPATION OF VIEQUES
The U.S. establishes military bases in the islands of Vieques and Culebra. The Roosevelt Roads Naval Station is one of the largest naval facilities in the world covering 32,000 acres, three harbors, and two-thirds of the island of Vieques.
The Vieques bombing range
For over 60 years, the U.S. Navy uses Vieques for target practice in Navy bombing exercises. They use napalm, Agent Orange, and between 300 and 800 tons of depleted uranium-tipped ammunition. In total, the Navy drops nearly 3 million pounds of bombs on Vieques annually, until 2003.
Target practice at Vieques
Toward the end, as international pressure mounts against this bombing, the Governor of Puerto Rico appears before the U.S. Congress to say this:
“Never again shall we tolerate abuse of a magnitude and scope the likes of which no community in any of the fifty states would ever be asked to tolerate. Never again shall we tolerate such abuse: not for sixty years, and not for sixty months, or sixty hours, or sixty minutes.”
Puerto Rico Governor, Pedro Roselló, October 19, 1999
Statement before the U.S. Senate Armed Forces Committee
1948
LAW 53(THE GAG LAW)
Puerto Rico’s Gag Law (Law 53) is enacted to suppress the independence movement in Puerto Rico. The Gag Law makes it a crime to sing a patriotic tune; to speak or write of independence; or to meet with anyone, or hold any assembly, with regard to the political status of Puerto Rico. Anyone found guilty of disobeying this law is sentenced to ten years imprisonment, a fine of $10,000 dollars (US), or both.
Rally in defiance of the Gag Law
The Gag Law also makes it a crime to display or own a Puerto Rican flag – even in one’s own home. This “flag” provision allows police and National Guardsmen to: 1) enter anyone’s home without a warrant, and 2) search and seize all property, regardless of probable cause.
Since all Puerto Ricans were declared U.S. citizens in 1917 (in order to send 18,000 of them to fight in World War I), the Gag Law is in direct violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech to all U.S. citizens.
Mass arrests for violations of the Gag Law
Despite its constitutional flaws, the Gag Law is politically effective. 15 members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party are immediately arrested and accused of violating it, and mass arrests are threatened throughout the island.
The Gag Law is repealed in 1957.
1950
UPRISINGS THROUGHOUT PUERTO RICO
Organized and led by Pedro Albizu Campos, Puerto Ricans revolt in five towns (Jayuya, Utuado, Mayagüez, Naranjito, Arecibo) during a four-day period (Oct. 29 – Nov. 1), and attempt to assassinate both the President of the United States and the Governor of Puerto Rico.
JAYUYA UPRISING
On October 29, in the town of Jayuya, Puerto Rican Nationalists burn a post office, attack a police station, cut the telephone lines, raise a Puerto Rican flag (in defiance of the Gag Law), and declare Puerto Rico a free Republic.
The U.S. begs to differ.
They declare martial law and attack the town with U.S. bomber planes, land-based artillery, mortar fire, grenades, U.S. infantry troops, and the National Guard. The planes machine-gun nearly every rooftop in the town. The Nationalists manage to hold the town for three days, then mass arrests follow.
U.S. troops arrive in Jayuya (Oct. 30, 1950)
Even though an extensive part of Jayuya is destroyed, news of this military action is prevented from spreading outside of Puerto Rico. It is reported as an “incident between Puerto Ricans” by the American media.
UTUADO UPRISING
On October 30, in the town of Utuado, a group of 32 Nationalists attack the local police.
The fight goes badly. Twelve surviving men retreat to the house of Damián Torres – which is promptly strafed by 50-caliber machine guns, from four American P-47 Thunderbolt planes. Three men die from this aerial gunfire.
The National Guard arrives later that day, and orders the nine surviving Nationalists to surrender. When they do so, the nine men are taken to the Utuado police station and shot. Five of them (Heriberto Castro, Julio Feliciano, Agustín Quiñones Mercado, Antonio Ramos and Antonio González) die immediately, the other four are seriously wounded.
In the same manner as Jayuya, the massacre is reported as an “incident between Puerto Ricans” by the American media.
ATTACK ON THE GOVERNOR OF PUERTO RICO
On October 30, in San Juan, five Nationalists attack La Fortaleza (the Governor’s Mansion) in an attempt to assassinate Governor Luis Muñoz Marín. The battle lasts 15 minutes, leaving four Nationalists dead and three police officers wounded.
GUNFIGHT AT THE SALÓN BORICUA
On October 30, in the town of Santurce, forty armed police officers and National Guardsmen attack one man (Vidal Santiago Díaz) at his barbershop.
The attack is fierce and sustained – because the man is a Nationalist, and because he is Pedro Albizu Campos’s personal barber. Though Díaz is all alone, police use machine guns, rifles, carbines, revolvers, and even grenades.
The Gunfight at Salón Boricua becomes legendary. It lasts three hours, is transmitted live by radio, and heard all over the island. To the dismay of Governor Luis Muñoz Marín, the “little barber” becomes an overnight hero in Puerto Rico.
They got the barber
ATTACK ON PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN
On November 1, Nationalists Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola attempt to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman. They attack the Blair House, where Truman is staying in Washington, D.C. The gunfight is short, less than one minute. Torresola and police officer Leslie Coffelt are killed, Oscar Collazo is sentenced to life imprisonment.
1954
ATTACK ON THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Four Nationalists enter the Ladies’ Gallery (a balcony for visitors) of the U.S. Capital, unfurl a Puerto Rican flag, shout “Que viva Puerto Rico libre!” and shoot at the 240 Representatives of the 83rd Congress. Five congresspersons are wounded, though none fatally.
Lolita Lebron under arrest
The Nationalists – Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Miranda, Andres Cordero, and Irving Rodríguez – are arrested and sentenced to 70 years imprisonment. Upon her arrest, Lebrón declares “I did not come to kill anyone, I came to die for Puerto Rico.”
This was a major story in 1954:
Decades later, Lolita Lebrón remains a political and fashion icon.
1959
CUBAN REVOLUTION CREATES MORE TOURISM
Immediately after the Cuban Revolution, which culminates in the overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959, the U.S tourism industry makes a massive shift to Puerto Rico. Hotels and casinos spring up, Pan Am flights multiply.
Even novelists Saul Bellow (teaching at the University of Puerto Rico), William Kennedy (editing the San Juan Star), and Hunter Thompson (writing for El Sportivo and the Herald Tribune) fly down and live cheap, during the late 50’s and early 60’s.
While stationed in Puerto Rico (1961-1963) John Kennedy Toole teaches English to Puerto Rican soldiers, drinks copiously, and writes the first draft of A Confederacy of Dunces.
1965
PEDRO ALBIZU CAMPOS DIES
Albizu Campos, the leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist movement, dies in San Juan. He suffered his entire lifetime for his beliefs. He spent 23 years in prison. Most other years, he was under 24-hour surveillance by the FBI.
He was tear-gassed.
He was beaten in prison.
He was tortured and subjected to radiation in prison, until his limbs swelled grotesquely. (yes, you read this correctly)
The press inquires about radiation
He was finally released, after suffering a stroke in prison…on the brink of death.
He was semi-paralytic and mute, and died a few months later.
Che Guevara appeared before the United Nations, and said this about him:
“Albizu Campos is a symbol of America unredeemed, but indomitable. Years and years of prisons, mental torture, solitude, complete isolation from his family and his people, the insolence of the conqueror and its lackeys on the land that gave him birth…nothing broke his will. The Cuban delegation renders homage, admiration and gratitude to a patriot who has given dignity to our America.”
They carried Albizu Campos’s coffin through the streets of his hometown in Ponce.
His coffin was then transported to San Juan, where over 75,000 Puerto Ricans accompanied him to the Old San Juan Cemetery.
Today, Pedro Albizu Campos is honored throughout Latin America, with a moral standing and historical significance comparable to Simón Bolivar.
1971
CULEBRA ISLAND TAKEOVER
The U.S. Army takes possession of almost all of Culebra Island.
1976
IRS SECTION 936
Section 936 section of the United States Internal Revenue Tax Code allows U.S. companies to operate in the island without paying corporate taxes.
For the next 30 years, until 2006, American pharmaceutical companies take advantage of this tax loophole, to generate unprecedented profits.
1978
CERRO MARAVILLA
Pro-independence activists Carlos Arriví and Arnaldo Rosado are executed in a police ambush, in a mountain known as Cerro Maravilla. The subsequent cover-up involves the FBI and high-ranking members of the Puerto Rican government.
1980 – 2000
PHARMACEUTICAL BOOM
U.S. pharmaceutical corporations build enormous drug production facilities in Puerto Rico. The island becomes a pill factory.
As of 2008, Puerto Rico is the world’s largest shipper of pharmaceuticals, accounting for nearly 25% of total shipments. 16 of the 20 biggest-selling drugs in the U.S., are produced in Puerto Rico.
In the town of Barceloneta, one Pfizer factory produces all the Viagra consumed in North America (the U.S., Canada and Mexico).
In 2002, the combined profits for the ten drug companies in the Fortune 500 ($35.9 billion) were more than the profits for all the other 490 businesses combined ($33.7 billion).
2003
VIEQUES BOMBING STOPS
Bowing to international pressure, which intensifies after civilians are killed by stray bombs, the U.S. Navy ceases its 60-year bombing exercises on the island of Vieques.
2006
NO MORE IRS 936
IRS Section 936 is phased out and replaced by Section 30A, which essentially retains the 936 wage credit component. Pharmaceutical companies continue their enormous manufacture of drugs, and drug profits.
PRESENT
Today Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate is over 25 percent and per capita income is less than half that of Mississippi (the lowest of the fifty states). U.S. federal agencies control Puerto Rico’s foreign relations, customs, immigration, postal system, radio, TV, transportation, Social Security, military, maritime laws, banks, commerce, currency and defense.
The extent of military control over the island is particularly striking. One can’t drive five miles in any direction without running into an Army base, nuclear site or tracking station. The Pentagon controls 12 percent of Puerto Rico’s land and operates five atomic missile bases.
More than a century after its invasion by the U.S., Puerto Rico is one of the few classic colonies still in existence. Its “commonwealth” status is a thin veneer for a one-sided, abusive relationship.
The island is currently a pill factory – the world’s largest shipper of pharmaceuticals, accounting for nearly 25% of total shipments. 16 of the 20 largest-selling drugs in the U.S., are produced in Puerto Rico.
The profits made by these drug companies, roughly $35 billion annually, are greater than the combined budgets of every government in Puerto Rico – including all three branches of the central government; every public corporation, utility, and highway authority; and every municipality.
In 2009, Puerto Ricans had a median household income of $18,314. By comparison Mississippi, the poorest state in the U.S., had median household income of $36,646.
Clearly, the abusive relationship continues.
After 60 years of bombing in Vieques, a century of economic exploitation, a Gag Law, a land grab, the Ponce Massacre, the Rio Piedras Massacre, the execution of its leaders, and the sterilization of its women, Puerto Rico is not just a “commonwealth.”
He also wrote and directed the feature Vote For Me! which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Vote For Me!also won the Best Picture Award at the 2009 Staten Island Film Festival, and a Best Feature Film Award at the 2009 Orlando Hispanic Film Festival.
Starring Malik Yoba (New York Undercover, Soul Food, Kingpin; Cool Runnings); Chi Chi Salazar (Scarface, Carlito’s Way); Ricardo Barber (The Feast of the Goat); Vote For Me! is a comedy about a 75-year old Puerto Rican building super who runs for U.S. Congress.
The film was based on Denis’s own experiences in East Harlem.
Many East Harlem residents, musicians, and even local politicians appeared in the film, which “blurred the line between reality and fiction to capture the spectacle of New York politics.” (New York Times)
Vote For Me! screened in over a dozen film festivals in New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Puerto Rico, and was well-received by the press.
The New York Timesdeclared it “reminiscent of Spike Lee’sDo the Right Thing, but with a lighter touch.”
The Boston Globe found it “ebullient... politically charged…mixes quirkiness and cultural poignancy.”
The Daily News called it “a media sensation.”
WNYC Radioannounced it as “Hilarious! Very funny, very real…a sobering lesson in American politics.”
Fox TV News appreciated the racial nuances, declaring “Al Sharpton disguised as a female…what a story!”
Vote For Me! also received national coverage from Fox News Channel, National Public Radio, Univision, Telemundo, Hoy, WSKQ-FM, MEGA-FM, WADO-AM, WNYC, VIVA Magazine, El Diario/La Prensa, El Nuevo Dia, Siempre, and other news outlets.
Vote For Me!was also invited to Harvard University, Brown University, the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, the JFK School of Government, Hunter College, the NYU Graduate School of Journalism, Hampton University, City University of New York (CUNY) Center for Puerto Rican Studies, and the Newark Film Commission.
He is also an award-winning screenwriter and film director.
He was raised by his grandmother and mother, Sarah Denis.
Sarah arrived from Puerto Rico at age 16, and immediately went to work in the garment center of New York for twenty cents an hour, eight dollars a week.
After 23 years of working and saving, she was able to send her son to Harvard.
PAPER CHASE
Denis graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School, and was an attorney with the New York firm of Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine.
Denis wrote War Against All Puerto Ricans, a non-fiction book about the Puerto Rican revolution of October 1950. The book documents the gunfights, mass arrests, and secret actions of the CIA and FBI on the island.
It also documents the bombing of two towns in broad daylight – the only time in history that the US ever bombed its own unarmed citizens.
JOURNALISM
For several years, Denis was the editorial director of El Diario La Prensa, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in New York City.
Denis majored in government at Harvard, and campaigned for Jimmy Carter while at Yale.
In 1996 he won a seat in the New York State Assembly, where he served as a Democrat from 1997 to 2001. He was also a New York State Democratic District Leader from 1995 to 2001.
His campaigns were labor-intensive. There were no high-priced consultants. The press noted that his mother, Sarah, worked 12-hour days on the campaign trail and that Denis was “an indefatigable campaigner, often seen throughout the neighborhood campaigning on the back of a blue bus.”
FIGHTING FOR EAST HARLEM
In the 1990’s, East Harlem contained over 800 vacant and abandoned buildings. For this reason, when he took office, Denis fought for economic development projects and construction financing, to rebuild the decaying infrastructure of his neighborhood.
Through his Community Reinvestment Act legislation, public hearings, CRA testimony throughout New York State, and advocacy on the Assembly Banking Committee, Denis persuaded banks to double their lending to home owners and small business persons in East Harlem, the Bronx, and other distressed areas in New York State.
For further information about Denis’s work in East Harlem, see:
In 1994, Denis entered into a controversial relationship with the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation.
While jogging along the FDR Drive, he ran into a group of 500 Latin Kings, and recruited them into his campaign for the State Assembly. Denis and the Latin Kings cleaned up several parks in East Harlem, and attended community board meetings together.
Denis also pledged that, if he won, he would help the Latin Kings to create a community based non-profit corporation, a leadership training course, and a construction apprenticeship program to rehabilitate roughly 800 abandoned buildings in East Harlem. Denis maintained that “the Kings are the product of 20 years of neglect…these are the youth that Reagan forgot,” but others did not agree. His opponent, the incumbent Assemblyman Angel Del Toro, said “they’re gangsters and a threat.”
Another early skeptic was Denis’s own mother, Sarah Denis. She laid down rules that included no beepers or babies in the office, but she gradually learned to work with them.
Despite this controversy, the New York Times endorsed Denis for the State Assembly that year.
VOTE FOR ME!
Prior to serving in the New York State Assembly, Denis directed TV commercials and several short films. Later, he wrote and directed the feature film Vote For Me! based on his own political experiences in East Harlem.
Many East Harlem residents, musicians, and even local politicians appeared in the film, which “blurred the line between reality and fiction to capture the spectacle of New York politics.” (New York Times)
Vote For Me! screened in over a dozen film festivals in New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Puerto Rico. It won several awards, sold out in every venue, and received nationwide news coverage.
Over the past 30 years Denis completed three novels, eight feature-length screenplays, and several plays and one-acts.
He continues to write newspaper editorials, both in English and Spanish.
He also teaches writing through various college, theatre, and literary arts programs in New York City.
As Hemingway sharpened twenty pencils, and Wilde applied glue to his chair, Denis has his own writing routine. He runs several miles every day, yelling out ideas as they come to him. Then he sits down to write.
Denis is especially interested in the history and culture of Puerto Rico.
In April 2015, Nation Books will publish Denis’s War Against All Puerto Ricans, a study of the Nationalist revolution of 1950 in Puerto Rico. The book uses previously classified FBI documents, archival and university research, and over thirty years of personal interviews to document this little-known chapter in American history.
The book also details the greatest gunfight in Secret Service history, the attempted assassination of President Harry Truman, the arrest of 3,000 Puerto Ricans, and the bombing of two towns (Jayuya and Utuado) by the US government — the only time in history that the US ever bombed its own citizens.
As its editorial director, Denis published over 300 editorials covering local, national and international news, as well as politics, business and technology, health, entertainment, and human intereststories.
Denis’s work was recognized by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists with multiple awards for “Best Editorial Writing,” political and cultural reporting, and feature writing.
He also wrote and directed the feature film comedyVote For Me!which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and screened at over a dozen others throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
The film was well received:
TheNew York Times declared it “reminiscent of Spike Lee’sDo the Right Thing, but with a lighter touch.”
The Boston Globe found it “ebullient…politically charged…mixes quirkiness and cultural poignancy.”
The New York DailyNewscalledit“amediasensation.”
PLAYWRIGHT
Denis’sRadio Box premiered at the Theatre For a New City, and had an extended run atthe Chelsea Theatre Center in New York (now known as the Westside Theatre).
Denis’s courtroom drama Every Man For Himselfwas produced by the Theatre Off Park in New York City, and moved to the Little Theatre Off Broadway.
His one-act playsDoorkeeperandEl Alcalde Machuchalwere produced at the Trumbull Theatre at Yale University.
Denis was a member of the playwright’s unit at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, the INTAR Theatre, and a playwright-in-residence at the Shaman Repertory Theatre.
TEACHER
Denis has passed on his writing experience to students at the Writers Guild of America East (WGAE), the NYU Graduate Film School, Touro College, the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, Shaman Repertory Theatre, Grosvenor Neighborhood House, Teachers and Writers Collaborative, and Poets in the Public Service.
SELECTED EDITORIALS
Lift the Cap on Charters; New York Daily News (4/5/2010)
Nelson Antonio Denis is a writer,film director, and formerNew York StateAssemblyman. His award-winning films premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and screened throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
His editorials for the New York Daily Newsand El Diario (over 300 of them) won awards from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
He is the writer of eight feature-length screenplays, writer/director of the feature film Vote For Me!, and author of the book War Against All Puerto Ricans.
He represented El Barrio/East Harlem in the New York State Assembly (1996-2000) and developed a leadership initiative with the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation.
Denis recently completed the novel JUAN BOBO, and has a lifelong interest in the history, culture and folklore of Puerto Rico.
