[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 31 (Thursday, March 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E350]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO PEDRO PIETRI

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 11, 2004

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and work of 
Pedro Pietri, a fine Puerto Rican poet, who passed away on March 3, 
2004, just weeks short of his 60th birthday.
  Pedro was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico on March 21, 1944. He moved to 
Harlem in New York at the age of 3. Under the influence of his aunt, 
Irene Rodriguez, Pedro became very interested in poetry and as a 
teenager began to compose his own poems. After graduating from high 
school, Pedro worked a variety of jobs before being drafted. He served 
in a light infantry brigade in Vietnam. His experience in this war, he 
claimed, further radicalized his beliefs. Upon his return, he began to 
seriously pursue his interest in poetry in order to address the social 
ills that plagued not only his community but America as a whole.
  In 1969, a Puerto Rican activist organization named the Young Lords 
briefly took control of the church Pedro attended as a child. It was 
during this takeover that Pedro gave the first public reading of what 
has arguably become his most notable poem, ``Puerto Rican Obituary''.

     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 . . .

  This powerful poem, published in 1973, traces the lives of five 
Puerto Ricans who came to the mainland hoping to fulfill their dreams 
of a better life, but whose dreams soon become nightmares as they found 
themselves shut out of America's economic opportunities and lifestyle. 
All of Pedro's works, though at times humorous, contain a powerful 
political message.
  Mr. Speaker, Pedro was not special because he was a gifted writer, he 
was special because he used his gift to inspire his community to rise 
above the oppression they had endured. In his countless poems and plays 
Pedro defined the Nuyorican (Puerto Rican New Yorkers) experience, 
inspiring a new generation of Nuyorican poets to take up the cause he 
dedicated his life to. In addition, his works have inspired poets of 
oppressed peoples in the United States and abroad since the 1960's.
  Pedro's publications include Illusions of a Revolving Door: Plays 
(1992), The Masses are Asses (1984), Traffic Violations (1983), Lost in 
the Museum of Natural History (1980), Invisible Poetry (1979), and 
Puerto Rican Obituary (1973). His work has also been included in 
anthologies such as The Prentice Hall Anthology of Latino Literature 
(ed. Eduardo del Rio, 2002); The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (ed. 
Alan Kaufman, 2000), The Latino Reader (eds. Harold Augenbraum and 
Margarite Fernandez Olmos, 1997), Inventing a Word: An Anthology of 
Twentieth-Century Puerto Rican Poetry (ed. Julio Marzan, 1980), and The 
United States of Poetry. He was the recipient of several New York State 
Creative Arts in Public Service grants and a grant from the New York 
Foundation for the Arts.
  Mr. Speaker, for his invaluable contribution to American literature 
and his commitment to addressing issues of great importance to our 
nation; I ask that my colleagues join me in paying tribute to Pedro 
Pietri.

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