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<b><br>
The Puerto Rican Cultural Center </b></div>
<div
style="color: rgb(54, 52, 32); font-family: Trebuchet MS,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"
align="center"><b style="font-size: 12pt;">Joins in the Mourning of
Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón<br>
<br>
</b></div>
<span
style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"
color="#333333" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On
Monday, March 10, one of Puerto Rico's most prominent
public intellectuals, the renown lawyer, psychologist and sociologist,
Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón passed away after a long battle with leukemia in
San Juan Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican Cultural Center is joining the
Puerto Rican nation in mourning the loss of this intellectual giant
with the following: A message from our Executive Director José E.
López, sent to Puerto Rico and which will be published in La Voz del
Paseo Boricua, (see below); the dedication of the Puerto Rican Cultural
Center monthly general assembly to his memory, featuring the prominent
Puerto Rican lawyer and activist, Eduardo Villanueva, who will provide
a short reflethe March issue of La Voz del Paseo Boricua, with images
of Nieves Falcón.<br>
<br>
PRCC General Assembly<br>
Friday March 14, 4pm<br>
Diabetes Emnpowerment Center, 2753 W. Division St</span><br>
<br>
<div
style="color: rgb(54, 52, 32); font-family: Trebuchet MS,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Message
by <span>José E. López, Executive Director, Puerto Rican Cultural
Center Juan Antonio Corretjer </span>on the Transition of Dr. Luis
Nieves Falcón </b><br>
</div>
<span>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> <br>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>It is with a sad
heart, and the most profound emotions that I share my personal
condolences, and that of my entire family, as well as that of the
National Boricua Human Rights Network and the Puerto Rican Cultural
Center Juan Antonio Corretjer, on the physical loss of one of Puerto
Rico's towering intellectual figures- Dr. Luis Nieves Falcón.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Nieves Falcón was
not only a teacher of teachers, a psychologist to psychologists, a
lawyer to lawyers, and a sociologist to sociologists; he was, indeed,
an organic intellectual.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Nieves Falcon's
life was totally committed to the struggle for the independence of
Puerto Rico, and, particularly, in defense of those who suffered
persecution in their quest to make Puerto Rico a free homeland.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>He dedicated the
past 35 years to freeing Puerto Rican political
prisoners- he masterminded the campaign that excarcerated more than a
dozen of them in 1999, and continued this quest, until his final hours,
to see my beloved brother: Oscar López Rivera, free in "nuestra Patria."</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Everywhere Nieves
Falcón lived, he left an indelible mark. He was a world traveler,
visiting almost every continent. In each, Nieves Falcón left a part of
himself. </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>He invested a
great deal of his time and efforts in the empowerment of the Puerto
Rican Diaspora. </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>In Philadelphia,
in 1999, he helped to articulate the vision that would ultimately free
the Puerto Rican political prisoners through Ofensiva '92.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>In New York, he
pioneered many of the struggles that would improve the quality of life
of Puerto Ricans whether in the Bronx or El Barrio or in organizing
tribunals around human rights violations and political prisoners.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>In Chicago, he
lived among us in the community, shaping and creating some of the most
innovative ideas about curriculum and overall educational praxis that
would make Clemente High School a model to be emulated in the 1990s.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>We fondly
remember his last visit to Chicago in April 2013 where he made three
major speeches, and even sang, with his melodic voice, a song for
Oscar's freedom. </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Nieves Falcón,
you will always be our Quixote confronting the windmills of oppression
and our Cimarron building a community of resistance, hope and change.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> <br>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p
style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Mensaje
de José E. López, director del Centro Cultural Puertorriqueño Juan
Antonio Corretjer</strong></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Es con mucho
pesar que doy mis más sentidas condolencias, y las de mi familia, como
también, es de la Red Nacional Boricua Pro-Derechos Humanos y el Centro
Cultural Puertorriqueño Juan Antonio Corretjer, por la pérdida física
de una de las figuras intelectuales más valiosas de Puerto Rico, el Dr.
Nieves Falcón.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Nieves Falcón no
fue solo maestro de maestros, psicólogo de psicólogos, abogados de
abogados, sociólogo de sociólogos; fue, sin duda, un intelectual
orgánico.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Nieves Falcón
comprometió su vida a la lucha por la independencia de Puerto Rico;
especialmente, a la defensa de las víctimas de persecución en la
jornada por hacer de Puerto Rico una patria libre.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Dedicó las
pasados 35 años a liberar a los prisioneros políticos puertorriqueños.
Planificó la campaña que excarceló a más de una docena de ellos en el
1999 y continuó esta jornada, hasta con su último suspiro, para ver a
mi querido hermano, Oscar López Rivera, libre en nuestra Patria.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>En todo lugar que
Nieves Falcón vivió, dejó una marca indeleble. Era
una trotamundos, visitó casi todos los continentes. En cada uno, dejó
parte de sí mismo.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Invirtió gran
parte de su tiempo y esfuerzos al fortalecimiento de la diáspora
puertorriqueña. </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>En Filadelfia, en
1999, ayudó a articular la visión que fue lo que, a la larga, liberó a
los prisioneros políticos puertorriqueños a través de Ofensiva '92.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>En Nueva York,
fue pionero en las tantas luchas que mejoraron la calidad de vida de
los puertorriqueños, fuese en el Bronx o El Barrio u organizando
tribunales sobre la violación de los derechos humanos y los presos
políticos.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>En Chicago, vivió
con nosotros en la comunidad, moldeando y creando algunas de las ideas
más innovadoras sobre currículos y prácticas educativas que hicieron a
la Escuela Superior Clemente un modelo a imitar en la década de los
noventa.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Con mucho cariño,
recordamos su última visita a Chicago en abril de 2013, donde dio tres
grandes discursos e incluso cantó, con su melódica voz, una canción por
la libertad de Oscar.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Nieves Falcón,
siempre serás nuestro Quijote, batallando contra los molinos de viento
de la opresión, y nuestro cimarrón, construyendo una comunidad de
resistencia, esperanza y cambio.</span></p>
</span>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
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