For Immediate Release
Following a Wednesday, November 5th reception and community recognition event from 1:30 PM TO 3:30 PM in the Town Room on the 2nd floor of the Amherst Town Hall, the Puerto Rican Association of Amherst will host its 18th annual raising of the flag of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico at the flagpole directly in front of the Amherst Town Hall.
This year’s events are dedicated to the memory of two giants of Puerto Rican culture and education – Julia de Burgos, Puerto Rican’s national poet, and former UMass Amherst School of Education Professor Luis Fuentes. This is the centennial of Julia De Burgos’ birth. Dr. Fuentes died this year in Puerto Rico. Also honoring the first Puerto Rican Former Worcester Juvenile Court Associate Justice Luis Peréz. Judge Peréz, appointed to the bench in 1990 by then Governor Michael Dukakis, is an internationally known and respected for the juvenile programs he developed in Worcester, Ma, he retired in 2010.
Featured speakers at the 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM gathering in the Amherst Town Hall prior to the raising of the Puerto Rican flag will be Anthony Soto of the Western Mass Office of Massachusetts’ Secretary of State Representative and a Holyoke City Councilor, also Manuel Frau of Amherst, Editor and Publisher of the regional monthly newspaper El Sol Latino. All residents of Amherst are welcome to celebrate with the area’s Puerto Rican community at the Amherst Town Hall.
On November 14, from 6 PM until 10 PM at the UMass Student Union Ballroom, the Puerto Rican Association of Amherst will also co-sponsor an evening honoring Julia De Burgos with the Center for Multi-Cultural Achievement and Student Success at UMass (CMASS), Sankofa Foundation of Pioneer Valley, and COSODIBO (Committee in Solidarity with the Diaspora Boricua).
Finally, in accordance with a 1989 proclamation signed by former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, November 19 will be “Puerto Rico Day’ in Massachusetts.
Contact Vladimir Morales for more information
