by David Thibault-Munoz, National Boricua Human Rights Network New England
In an effort to raise consciousness surrounding the struggle to free Puerto Rican patriot Oscar Lopez-Rivera from the shackles of U.S. colonialism, National Boricua New England invited Puerto Rican patriot and former political prisoner Ricardo Jimenez to tour Massachusetts, along with renowned poet and activist Michael Reyes-Benavides. Reyes performed hip hop-style poetry written about and dedicated to Oscar Lopez-Rivera and about our beloved revolutionary Lolita Lebron, along with performing scenes from the play Crimes Against Humanity, which he co-wrote in conjunction with more than a dozen former and current Puerto Rican political prisoners. Three days in a row, in Worcester, Holyoke and Fitchburg, Ricardo followed Michaels’s performance with his own story in relation to Oscar Lopez-Rivera and with a call to action: that we demand President Barak Obama grant executive clemency to Oscar Lopez-Rivera before leaving office in two years. National Boricua Human Rights Network New England mobilized more than one hundred participants to its events on Friday, May 16th, Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th.
