Let's Turn the Puerto Rican Day Parade Into a March for Justice!

We've often heard the phrase, drastic times call for drastic measures. It's a message that everyone on this page and beyond should deliver to the Board of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. While it's a good thing that they announced a special tribute to our national hero, Oscar Lopez Rivera, a day after tens of thousands of Boricuas shut down the Motherland to protest la Junta and its draconian austerity measures, we humbly submit that this years parade should be turned into a march for justice and freedom for Puerto Rico.

How pathetic it would be to have a parade led by politicos like Rep. Nydia Velazquez and Rep. Jose Serrano who VOTED FOR PROMESA? How insulting would it be to have floats and sponsors like Banco Popular who have bankrupted the island and forced thousands of families from their homes? How out-of-touch would it be to have over a million Boricuas on Fifth Ave shouting "QUE VIVA PUERTO RICO!" when in fact the Motherland is getting its very life and its people literally sucked out of it by hedge fund vultures, corrupt politicos and greedy corporations?

This march should be led by Oscar AND the students of the UPR who have been leading the movement for dignity and respect and liberation. We have a strong feeling that the ancestor Gilberto Gerena Valentin, who is also being honored this year and was a leading voice for social justice, would agree. A call has already been made to stage another massive national strike in Puerto Rico on the day that a wasteful plebiscite takes place. So far, that day falls on June 11th, the day of the Puerto Rican Parade. Are we gonna march or are we going to parade?