„Puerto Rican Obituary,“ by Pedro Pietri (1973)
„Puerto Rican Obituary“ – read by poet Pedro Pietri, 1973 _____ They worked They were always on time They were never late They never spoke back when they were insulted They worked They never took days off that were not on the calendar They never went on strike without permission They worked ten days a week and were only paid for five They worked They worked They worked and they died They died broke They died owing They died never knowing what the front entrance of the first national city bank looks like Juan Miguel Milagros Olga Manuel All died yesterday today and will die again tomorrow passing their bill collectors on to the next of kin All died waiting for the garden of eden to open up again under a new management All died dreaming about america waking them up in the middle of the night screaming: Mira Mira your name is on the winning lottery ticket for one hundred thousand dollars All died hating the grocery stores that sold them make-believe steak and bullet-proof rice and beans All died waiting dreaming and hating Dead Puerto Ricans Who never knew they were Puerto Ricans Who never took a coffee break from the ten commandments to KILL KILL KILL the landlords of their cracked skulls and communicate with their latino souls
Amazing. I’m so mad I’ve never heard this before.
ME NEITHER GINGERSweetauiz. Me Neither. RIP.
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I had Pedro read this in Nicaragua at the Dario Festival 1982, i had Ginsberg read Howl/
roberto Vargas
masterpiece poem
I wish the entire poem was here but am so grateful for this. The impact Pedro has had on The Welfare Poets is immeasurable. With his bold words, he gave us the permission to write. We miss him tremendously. I remember performing with him, hanging with him, but more, I remember his slanted look on a crooked world that gave us all peace of mind. He was not just one of our greatest Puerto Rican poet, but one of the greatest poets ever.
Pedro Pietri was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1944 and raised in Harlem. After high school, he was drafted into the U.S. army, served in Vietnam, and returned to the United States a fierce opponent of that war and the system that spawned it.
Puerto Rican Obituary was first read in 1969 at a rally in support of the Young Lords Party, an anti-imperialist Latino youth group in New York. Like the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords were community activists.