A hero forgotten

Friday February 4, 2011

Edwin R. Jusino | PRSSA UPR Mayaguez

José Celso Barbosa, the first man of black skin to ever graduate form an American University and become a doctor in the United States, the first puertorican to ever fight for equality in the island (Barbosa’s medical degree was not recognized by Spain at the time, after a while and because of pressure from the U.S. consulate the government recognized it).  Barbosa was a co-founder of the Puerto Rican Republican party in 1899, and since has been called the father of the “pro-statehood” movement.  Contrary to popular belief, Barbosa considered and valued above everything else, his puertorican descent, even after the American invasion of 1898.

Barbosa struggled all his life to achieve equality for his people, at first as a member of the autonomic movement during the last decades of Spanish rule, post “Grito de Lares”, and later as a pro-statehood leader and activist. As an autonomist Barbosa was involved in the Creole Boycott (1887), this during a time of the terrible “compontes”. Needless to say, Spanish authorities tortured many of the more renowned autonomist leaders. Barbosa was able to contribute by becoming Don Román Baldorioty de Castro doctor, while he was imprisoned and tortured by then Spanish governor, Romualdo Palacios.  He also wrote under the name “El Viejo de la Torre” in a publication pro-boycott, La Torre del Viejo. Barbosa was a radical of his time, both of thought and action. He wasn’t afraid to lay down his life for what he believed in.

According to Webster’s, the word radical means: very different from the usual or traditional: extreme b : favoring extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions. Barbosa was in fact a radical, because he wasn’t afraid to wish for a change of the status quo. His views of autonomy, and later of statehood were and continue to be a radical, in the sense that becoming either a state or an independent sovereign autonomic nation would be an extreme change, from the status quo of more than 400 years of colonialism.

Barbosa’s split from the autonomic party came in 1897 when Luis Muñoz Rivera decided to make a deal with the Liberal Party of Spain, headed by Práxedes Sagasta; Sagasta was the party’s leader and candidate to become Spain’s prime minister. Barbosa believed that the United States would eventually force Spain to concede more rights and liberties to both Cuba and Puerto Rico. In 1898 the Hispanic-American war ignited and Barbosa was proven right in the long run.

Barbosa believed that we could be Puertorican and Americans at the same time. Barbosa reported to be against the Jones Act of 1917, because he rejected the idea of becoming 2^nd class citizens, rather he wanted full fledge citizenship and integration into the Union. He was a stern believer in State rights over the Federal government, and was a stout believer in strengthening the local private sector. He was even one of the first businessmen to invest in cooperative businesses.

One of the most important aspects of José Celso Barbosa was the importance he gave to education. “Every child that is educated is a citizen conscious of his rights” he was quoted saying. Just as Barbosa, we as pro-statehood activists need to start focusing on educating our people, our state legislators, our neighbors, our children, our brothers and sisters, our enemies and our friends. The only path to our God given right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness is to educate our fellow citizens, both in the United States, and most importantly in Puerto Rico about our status as a colony and the rights we have as citizens of the United States of being on equal terms with our brothers and sisters in the continent. We must also do this by remembering another of his famous quotes: “We seek the wellbeing of our land by different means, but with equal patriotism”, we must always show respect and professionalism to those that do not think or believe that statehood is the way to go for our people.

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Edwin R. Jusino is the editor of PRSSA “the Reason” newspaper. He has served as the UPR Mayaguez chapter president from August 2009- February 2011. He is a history student in said campus, and is also the director of the José Celso Barbosa University campaign; a campaign focused on educating students about statehood and reactivating pro-statehood activism throughout the island’s universities.