9/23: El Grito de Lares: March for Puerto Rican Independence

Commemorate

El Grito De Lares!

Rally and march

Thursday, September 23, 2010

El Grito de Lares is today the most celebrated and respected holiday in Puerto Rico.
It was an even that affirmed the existence of the Puerto Rican people as a nation
and its historical quest for liberation from foreign tyranny. This rebellion
demanded the independence of Puerto Rico from Spanish colonialism and the abolition
of African chattel slavery.

Even the U.S.-installed colonial government recognizes El Grito de Lares as an
official holiday, closing schools and government offices, while trying to trivialize
the revolutionary significance of this holiday.

On the morning of Sept. 23, 1868, hundreds of insurgents stormed the city of Lares.
They were an army that comprised of all the classes of Puerto Rican society of that
period; day laborers, peasants, escaped African slaves and merchants jointly fought
the Spanish colonizers. After a brief gun battle the freedom fighters seized the
municipality of Lares, gathered in the town plaza where the solemn words of the
liberation struggle were heard for the first time "QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO LIBRE!"

Since September 23, 2005, the anniversary of El Grito De Lares has added meaning. An
F.B.I. assault team launched a vicious attack on the home of Machetero leader
Filiberto Ojeda Rios. The revered leader of the struggle for Puerto Rico¡¯s
independence was assassinated by the agents of colonialism.

Come to commemorate this important event in the people's history. In light of
intensifying racist attacks ranging from the gentrification of our communities,
unemployment, tuition hikes, closing of hospitals, increased police brutality and
incarceration of our youth, the fighting spirit of El Grito De Lares must be upheld
for the struggle we are compelled to wage today.


Gather on
Thursday, September 23

4:00 PM - Assemble at Marcus Garvey Park
(124th Street and Madison Avenue)
New York City

For more information on this event:
Sept23march@gmail.com