Gallery Exhibit New York Public Library - Bronx Library Center

The grand opening of “The Fight for Equity in the Bronx” exhibit as a literary artist exhibit at the Bronx Library Center (BLC) on Kingsbridge Road, was yet another full circle moment for me. My parents Lucila and Alfonso lived a short walking distance to the Grand Concourse in the last 30 years of their lives. I still have family in the same building down the block where they lived at the corner of 196th Street. It was not lost on me that the BLC location is right behind the Ortiz Funeral Home where my mother was laid to rest, on June 25, 2001.

Hosting the exhibit in the midst of the festivities building up to the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, Inc. gave the event greater significance.

The exhibit features my personal selection of photographs from The Fight For Equity in the Bronx, as well as artifacts that depict significant aspects of my journey as a Puerto Rican child growing up in the South Bronx in the 60s, later becoming a teacher in the same community during the decade of fire when the Bronx was Burning, fighting against social injustice and racial inequity; and later building an educational institution in 2006 to educate young people of color in the Bronx. One of the 3 panel exhibits is titled “No me Olvides” that was a popular lament and message during the Puerto Rican migration of the 50s when Boricuas left the island to the US. It was customary for photos to be taken at a stand with the message “Do not Forget Me.” I pay tribute to my African ancestors and to a Bronx champion for justice Dr. Evelina Lopez Antonetty, founder United Bronx Parents and Dr. Antonia Pantoja, founder of Aspira who are both featured in my book.

I am grateful to all those who were in attendance to support the launch of the exhibit. To Anthony Lopez, Lashawn Butler-Francis, LCSW, Dr. John Paul Gonzalez,Rodney Eric Lopez, Denise Olivera Schira , Anil Edward, Ph.D. , Lourdes Flores, Linda Caycedo, Alejandro Caycedo and my nieces Jamie Pagan R.T. (R) (MR)(ARRT), Jailyn Alexis Ruiz, the student ambassadors and faculty from International Leadership Charter High School. This exhibit would not have been possible without the generous invitation from the New York Public Library - Bronx Library Center and the assistance of Evelyn Muriel-Cooper and Heaven Rosado.