Celebrating the Puerto Rican Community
This year on April 10-14, 2017, the Union for Puerto Rican Students held their 23rd Annual Pa’Lante Conference, centered around the theme of “Celebrating Chicago’s Puerto Rican Community and Scholarship”. As one of the week’s events, the LCC hosted a discussion about Puerto Rican Nationalism, which was led by Professor Jose Lopez and Dr. Margaret Powers. Dr. Powers went into depth about Oscar Lopez’s activism, the importance of cultural centers as gathering spaces and women’s role in leading movements. During the presentations, she discussed Lolita Lebron’s role in the Puerto Rican nationalism, even after she was incarcerated. We strongly encourage anyone that is interested in the history of Puerto Rico’s nationalist movements to come by the Latino Cultural Center to see symbols in the mural, explore the LCC archives, or contact the Union for Puerto Rican Students for more information.