Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Pedro Albizu Campos was the most important figure in the Puerto Rican independence movement during the twentieth century. As leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party for more than four decades, he was responsible for a dramatic overhaul in the character of the movement, challenging its respectability and politeness and encouraging the restoration of militant and even armed struggle to a prominent place in its arsenal. He was a gifted theoretician, a skillful organizer, and a renowned orator. In his most famous effort, Albizu Campos coordinated the abortive 1950 insurrection known as the Grito de Jayuya (Cry of Jayuya).Albizu Campos was born into a poor, African-descended (mulatto) family, but his early showing of intellectual promise resulted in a scholarship to attend school in the United States. Between 1913 and 1920 he spent several years at Harvard University, although his time there was broken up by service in an African American battalion of the US army during World War I. While at Harvard he worked closely with Irish republicans, including Eamon de Valera. The multi-faceted struggle for Irish independence, involving armed struggle and legal negotiations, provided inspiration to Albizu Campos in his later efforts in Puerto Rico. Having obtained his law degree from Harvard, he returned to the island, where he initially pursued independence through proposals for a constitutional ... log in or subscribe to read full text