Alberto Rodriguez was born in 1953 in Bronx, New
York and raised
in Chicago. While in high school he became part
of a new
generation of Puerto Ricans in the US who
demanded
recognition of their history and culture, and
became active
in the struggle for liberation. He formed part of
a group of
Latino students who, using the tactics of sit-ins
and boycotts,
forced the Chicago Board of Education to be more
responsive to
the needs of Latino students.
He entered the University of Illinois in 1972 and
immediately became
involved in student struggles for a Latin
American Studies
Program and for recruitment of Latino students.
Upon graduation
in 1976 he began to work for community programs
which provided
opportunities for working adults to pursue
educational goals.
He also worked in various community organizations
such as he Workers
Rights Center, El ComitÈ Pro-Orientacion Comunal,
El Desfile del
Pueblo, Latino Cultural Center, and various
anti-repression
committees.
When arrested in 1983 he was working as an
academic counselor
at Northeastern Illinois University and was
completing his
thesis requirements for a graduate degree from
Governor's State
University. He was convicted of seditious
conspiracy and
sentenced to 35 years. His release date is 2004.
In prison, at
the US Penitentiary at Lewisburg, PA, Alberto
enrolled in several
vocational programs, received certificates in
real estate and
heating and air conditioning, and went on to
become the
coordinator of the heating and air conditioning
program. Alberto's
daughter, Yazmin, was five years old when he was
arrested; his son,
Ricardo, only months old.
Edwin Cortes
Edwin was born in Chicago in 1955. In 1973, he
became involved
in the formation of Latinos Unidos, a high school
student
organization which advocated a Latin American
Studies
Curriculum as well as cultural programs. At high
school
graduation, he pulled a Puerto Rican flag from
his gown
and unfurled it. He then presented the principal
with Denis
Maldonado's Socio-Historic Interpretation to
disprove his