11th Jornada Albizu en Chicago with Lolita Lebrón:
A Celebration of Culture and Struggle

View selected pictures from the Jornada Albizu here.

The National Boricua Human Rights Network and the Juan Antonio Corretjer
Puerto Rican Cultural Center celebrated the 11th Jornada Albizu in Chicago
with the National Heroine, Lolita Lebrón, who had arrived in Chicago with
her husband, Dr. Sergio Irizarry, and her nephew. The Jornada began
Saturday, September 4, with a dinner reception at the Cultural Center, located at 2739 W. Division. Lolita was warmly welcomed with signs of affection and love by a full room of community residents, youth, and a delegation of youth from Philadelphia. The Batey Urbano youth shared their poetry with the National Heroine. The audience also included community activists, like independence leader Pablo Medina and the president of Chicago's Puerto Rican Parade Committee, Efrain Malave. After the delightful dinner, several bomba and plena groups from Chicago held a great show at La Casita de Don Pedro to give an energetic welcome to Lolita and her family. Almost 200 people participated and attended this great and memorable event.

The Jornada festivities continued for one week. On Sunday, September 5,
Lolita participated in two Jornada activities. First, was the unveiling of
"Sea of Flags"' a new mural on the corner of Division and Campbell. The
second activity, was the 11th annual Fiesta Boricua. At 11:00 a.m., dozens
of people congregated to participate in the unveiling of the new mural that now adorns Paseo Boricua. The painting of the mural was a joint effort by known community muralists, Gamaliel Ramirez and Star Padilla, along with the help from many youth from el Barrio. There, Lolita engaged the enthusiastic crowd with a brief, but inspiring speech. Later that same day, thousands of Boricuas received Lolita with acclaim during the famous singer-songwriter Jose Nogueras's concert, waving their flags and exclaiming, "Viva Lolita!"

Then on the morning of Tuesday, September 7, at 11:00 a.m., Lolita participated in a brief visit with the toddlers from the Centro Infantíl Consuelo Lee Corretjer. The toddlers delighted her with their songs, and Lolita responded with loving hugs and kisses. That afternoon, Lolita attended a dinner at the La Bruquena hosted by the Tañon family. The following day, Lolita had dinner with the leadership of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and National Boricua Human Rights Network, where she expressed her deep gratitude for the respect and compassion she experienced during her Chicago stay.

The next day, Wednesday, September 8, the Family Learning Center (FLC) was officially dedicated to Lolita. From that moment on, the center at 2636 W. Division will be known as the Lolita Lebrón Family Learning Center. Visibly moved, Lolita related with the young mothers and their children. Besides the renaming of the FLC, Philadelphia native Danny Torres‚ magnificent mural of Lolita herself was unveiled. Torres flew all the way from Philadelphia to create an amazing piece that now adorns the wall of the reception area of the FLC.

Two other events were also organized in her honor. The first was a dinner
with various Puerto Rican activists and their allies, like Mexican Emma
Lozano, Rev. Slim Coleman, Dr. Steve Whitman, Lic. Melinda Power, Professor Margaret Power, and Social Worker Nancy Kurshan among others. The other event organized in honor of Lolita was a poetry night at Café Teatro Batey Urbano where the youth shared their poetry and Lolita read from her collection "Grito Primoroso." It was an unforgettable event. The young poet, Michael Reyes read his new poem, "Lolita, You may Cry Now," which rightly moved the audience as well.