La Peña celebrates 21 years of resistance

Tag : resistance

More than 150 community members, old and young, Black, white, andLatin@, gathered at St. Mary’s Park in the South Bronx onSept. 21 to celebrate the 21st birthday of La Peña del Bronx.This community center has fought against racism, gentrification,environmental pollution and police brutality. They dedicated theactivity to amnesty for all immigrants.
La Peña was founded by two Chilean exiles. Víctor Toro isan original member of the MIR, the revolutionary organization thatadvocated arming the working people in Chile to defend the socialgains they won under the Allende government. Toro’scompanion, activist Nieves Ayress, was captured and tortured duringthe coup against Allende sponsored by the U.S. in 1973. VíctorToro, who was declared “dead’ in Chile under thePinochet regime, came here without papers.
Under the leadership of these two, La Peña became a communitycenter for the homeless, persons with HIV, the unemployed, youth,the elderly and the disabled. It has consistently promoted andprotected cultural expression. La Peña offers English classes,silkscreen workshops and lends its space to music, theater andfolkloric dance groups.
Maintaining solidarity with revolutionary struggles in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean, La Peña members face police andfederal repression. Toro was captured in an Immigration and CustomsEnforcement raid in the summer of 2007 and faces deportation.Members of Rebel Diaz, a political hip-hop group that got its startat La Peña, were arrested by the police last summer becausethe artists interceded against the police in defense of a streetvendor.
Until the day before the fiesta in the park, the police wererefusing a sound permit and said that every speaker and performerwould have to be identified in advance to the police. Thatdidn’t happen. Instead, the community celebrated with music,food, dance, solidarity and the resistance that began with itsrevolutionary founders 21 years ago. Their struggle continues.
—Report and photo by Heather Cottin Articles copyright 1995-2008 Workers World. Verbatim copying anddistribution of this entire article is permitted in any mediumwithout royalty provided this notice is preserved.

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