March 13, 2025 • 30 mins
On March 1, 1954, four Puerto Rican Nationalists opened fire on the house of Representatives chamber at the US Capitol. They were led by Lolita Lebron, a woman who some see as a hero and others as a terrorist.
Cristina tells Carmen about Lolita Lebron, picking up from the attack on March 1st, to her time in prison and her continued activism once she was back in Puerto Rico.
If you have topic suggestions, feel free to email Historiasunknownpodcast@gmail.com or use the contact us form on the website https://www.historiasunknown.com/contact/
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Music Credit: Hustlin (Instrumental) by Neffex
Sources
https://www.paseomedia.org/episodes/12
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita_Lebr%C3%B3n
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Ricans_in_New_York_City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Act
https://web.archive.org/web/20170506201050/https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ncm-1/ylp-reader.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_United_States_Capitol_shooting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayuya_Uprising
https://www.roosevelt.nl/en/from-the-vaults/lolita-lebron-there-is-no-need-now-to-kill-for-freedom/
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/us/03lebron.html
https://www.workers.org/2022/03/62656/
https://mediaburn.org/video/the-defense-of-lolita-lebron-an-interview-with-conrad-lynn/
https://mronline.org/2010/08/07/puerto-rico-remembers-independence-fighter-lolita-lebron/
https://www.npr.org/2010/08/03/128959759/remembering-puerto-rican-activist-lolita-lebron
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Matos_Paoli
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Albizu_Campos
https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/caracas-conference-1954
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/historias-unknown--6253658/support.
Cristina tells Carmen about Lolita Lebron, picking up from the attack on March 1st, to her time in prison and her continued activism once she was back in Puerto Rico.
If you have topic suggestions, feel free to email Historiasunknownpodcast@gmail.com or use the contact us form on the website https://www.historiasunknown.com/contact/
Want ad free episodes? And the ocassioal bonus episode? Support Historias Unknown on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/HistoriasUnknownPodcast
Follow on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historiasunknown/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@historiasunknown
Music Credit: Hustlin (Instrumental) by Neffex
Sources
https://www.paseomedia.org/episodes/12
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita_Lebr%C3%B3n
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Ricans_in_New_York_City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Act
https://web.archive.org/web/20170506201050/https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ncm-1/ylp-reader.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_United_States_Capitol_shooting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayuya_Uprising
https://www.roosevelt.nl/en/from-the-vaults/lolita-lebron-there-is-no-need-now-to-kill-for-freedom/
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/us/03lebron.html
https://www.workers.org/2022/03/62656/
https://mediaburn.org/video/the-defense-of-lolita-lebron-an-interview-with-conrad-lynn/
https://mronline.org/2010/08/07/puerto-rico-remembers-independence-fighter-lolita-lebron/
https://www.npr.org/2010/08/03/128959759/remembering-puerto-rican-activist-lolita-lebron
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Matos_Paoli
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Albizu_Campos
https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/caracas-conference-1954
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/historias-unknown--6253658/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hi, this is Christina and this is Historia's Unknown. This
is part two following last week's episode where we talked
about Alita Lebron leading up to the attack that happened
on March first, and here's the rest of that episode.
Now for the attack itself. On the morning of March first,
Lolita traveled to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan to meet
(00:31):
the rest of the group. They were Rafael Cansel, Miranda,
Irvin Flores, and Andres Vigueroa Corlero. They all took a
train to Washington, DC, and then they walked from Union
Station over to the Capitol. They sat on the steps
and Rafael suggested not attacking because they were already reading
a little late and it was raining. He said, I
don't know, man, it's raining, but Lolita would not happen.
(00:51):
It's like I immediately almost cancel all plants if it's raining.
I was going to say, if that's not the most
Latin American thing driving in the rain, no, thank you, No,
maybe we shouldn't do this. It's reading. It's a bad sign.
But she told them then I am alone, and she
continued up the steps, meaning she was still going to
go through with it even if they didn't. So she
(01:12):
was like, then, you know, I'm about myself then, and
so she kept walking up the steps, and they all
looked at each other and like all right, they followed her.
Then the group reached the visitors gallery, which is above
the House chamber. And you know, while they're standing on
this visitor's gallery, the representatives down there are discussing issues
of immigration. Then Lolita gave her group the order. They
(01:36):
recited the Lord's Prayer together. Then Lolida stood up and
she shouted, Viva Puerto Rico Libre long, Live a free
Puerto Rico. She unfurled the Puerto Rican flag and the
group fired with their semi automatic pistols toward the House chamber. Wow.
I'm sorry, but I got chills when.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I heard that.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I mean, like, you drive people into these crazy conditions
and they drives them to do these kind of things.
So yeah, it is what it is, you know, truly.
So about thirty shots were fired, mostly by Rafael, who
wounded five Congress members. Lolita fired all her shots at
the ceiling. Okay, and Andres Friguero's gun jammed so he
(02:20):
can fire in a damn on this that sucks the
plan though they were never because you know, people would
be like, oh, four crazy Puerto Ricans, four terrorists came
and tried to kill congress members, but that was never
the plan. Their plan was to go and shoot up
like a statement. Yes, yeah, they were never planning that
(02:43):
killing was never their intention, which is like what they
say now about it, they're more noble, yeah, honestly. Yeah again,
she's my hero. So congress members injured during this attack
were Republican Michigan Representative Alvin Morrile Bentley, Tennessee Democrat Clifford
Davis I wore, Republican Ben F. Jansen, Maryland Democrat George
(03:05):
Hyde Fallon, and Alabama Democrat Kenneth Roberts. The Puerto Rican
nationalists were immediately arrested, and while she was being cuughed,
Lolita yelled, I did not come to kill anyone. I
came to die for Puerto Rico. Oh my god. Now
just look up right now and go to images that
itself gave me chills. No right. One of the first
(03:26):
images that comes up is her being arrested, and you
can just see how beautiful and well dressed she is.
Truly gorgeous women. No wow, truly yes, Like I'm not
kidding she like look at her, Oh my gosh, and
I just imagine her this one too. You can just
see there are beautiful curls on all of them. I know,
(03:49):
that's the first thing I saw, Like amazing when we'll
share these images on Instagram as well. Anyway, So yeah,
just those words. I did not come to kill one.
I came to dine for Puerto Rico, like oh man,
like she I listened to an episode I have. I'm
(04:09):
gonna put it in the show notes as well. But
this podcast was called Passeo Podcasts, and it's episode twelve
of this podcast. It's called episode twelve, one hundred Years
of Lolita Leron and Pasel podcast is like Pasel podcast
Colin sharing Puerto Rican stories and the host just interviewed
people that knew her. Wow, and one of them there
(04:29):
is like even up to the day of her death,
like she was just such a beautiful, gorgeous woman, and
she just gave this aura when she were in her presence,
like you could tell she was just so full of life,
so loyal, so courageous. She's just like being in her
presence was like like my life is complete now. Like,
(04:50):
I don't know what else and I can only imagine
what that felt like. But that's such a beautiful episode
and I was going to actually mention it at some points.
One this will mention it now. But it is a
listen if you want to hear people that literally directly
knew her talking about her, it's crazy. Definitely you gonna
check that out. Yeah. So, right after the arrest, Pedro
(05:11):
Alviso Campos's home was readed in Puerto Rico. They fired
into his house before going in there to drag him out. Wow.
When they dragged him out, he was unconscious and half asphyxiated.
Oh wow. And this arrest never made any sense because
from the start, Lolita told officials this attack was orchestrated
(05:32):
by me alone, plus federal Albisto Campos had been under
twenty four hour surveillance already by the FBI, the CIA
and in Solar police. Wow. Like, so there was no
way he could have had a part in no. No,
And again that letter that she said, she he said,
I'm planning on doing this attack, which then she took over.
This dollar doesn't exist anywhere. There's no proofs in her memory,
(05:56):
in her heart, you know, So the amount of pages
that are in the FBI's reports of pedrol Libsto campus alone,
campus alone are over one million pages. That's how deep
their surveillance of him went. Wow. Yeah, it's just like
he's getting up, now, he's going to the bathroom. Oh oh,
he took twenty minutes in there, like that's wild. One
(06:17):
million pages and in the end there was no evidence
at all tying him to the attack on Congress at all. Still,
he was returned to La princessa prison where he had
just been released from six months before this. He was
accused of violating the gag law order and he did
remain in prison until his health deteriorated, and he ended
(06:39):
up dying in the San Juan Presbyterian Hospital under police
guard in nineteen fifty six. Wow, when I'm telling you
he was done dirty by this government, I'm not kidding.
And I'm not gonna want to distails here because he
is going to have his own episode eventually. But it
was horrible, like radiation exposure, horrible. Oh my god, i
(07:00):
I'm not ready. No, no, But back to Lolita. Contrary
to what is usually told, the aim was not to
kill anyone, but again to die for Puerto Rico and
the cause for independence. The four were charged with attempted
murder and conspiracy. She was imprisoned in the Federal Correctional
Institution for Women in Alder in West Virginia, though I
(07:21):
did read some other accounts that at some point she
was in a men's prison, so I don't know if
this was up to the trial and then after the
trial she was sent to this other prison, but at
some point she was in immense prison where she had
to endure horrible things like rape and sexual assault. The
trial began on June fourth, nineteen fifty four. The jury
(07:42):
composed of seven men and five women, whose identities still
to this day are kept secret. There were thirty three witnesses,
including Lolita's own brother, which she viewed as a betrayal.
And I don't blame that, that's rough. Yeah, I just
wonder what they offered him, Yeah, because that's the only
reason I could think. Yeah, that's well. Although some people
have just shitty siblins, so mmm. True. So, while the
(08:06):
persecution was allowed to bring all those witnesses, the defendants
were not allowed to have anyone testify on their behalf
except for themselves. That sounds like not a right full
just trial. I agree, and they had I forget the
name of the organization, but they did have an organization
providing free legal counsel in their defense, and it's like
a liberal organization, but I don't remember the name of it.
(08:29):
So they at least they had lawyers like the minimum right,
like good lawyers that were trying to defend them to
the best of their ability. During her testimony, Lolita maintained
that she did not intend to kill, only to die
for the freedom of her homeland. And I actually have
I have a link of her talking.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Puerto Rican, you know, vas Puerto Rico. I stayed with
gess Para National el Imperio North Americanos y Obstina and
Upacion nuestro Bayis in Os Provoca, the aria infensa denutradi
(09:15):
Nidad national. Some of victimas yes violencia nostros emostrato to
medios Pacificos en cuyo processo elen Emigo North Americano Seaford
tale SiO.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
On June sixteen, nineteen fifty four, the jury declared all
four of them guilty. Lolita was accredited her charge of
intent to kill, and she was instead convicted of the
offensive assault with the dealy weapon, which lowered her sentence.
So the men received seventy five years and she received
fifty years. So at their ages this meant life in prison. Yeah.
(09:53):
They were all sent to different prisons. Figuero A Cordero
was sent to the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Lolita Lebrun
sent to the women's prison in Alderson, West Virginia. Cancel
Miranda was sent to Alcatraz and San Francisco, Wow, and
Flores Rodriguez was sent to Levenworth, Kansas. And Livingworth, Kansas
is the same place that Oscar Coo Yasso, the person
(10:16):
who was involved in the attempted assassination of President Harry S. Truman,
was in as well incarcerated. Then they were there together.
So Lolita would later say that her first two years
in prison were the most difficult. Her son passed away
during these first two years. Oh that's terrible. Yeah, he drowned,
and of course she was not able to say goodbye
or even go let alone see him again. Didn't even
(10:39):
tell her it happened until nine days after Wow. Then
her mother died. In his first two years, Oh my gosh,
it's like one bad thing after another. Yeah, and again
she couldn't say goodbye or anything. She was also unable
to communicate with her siblings because only letters in English
were allowed inside the prison. How is that? Yeah, probably
(11:01):
to prevent more yeah, corresponding between and portwecans arrested and
the party. But still very very unfair. Yeah. This was
changed after a three and a half day hunger strike.
They were finally allowed to have letters received in Spanish.
But Lolita was placed in solitary confinement for participating in
(11:23):
this hunger strike, which is something that happened to her
often just because of her rebellious like spirit, like signing
up for rights, she was often in solitary confinement, which
again is a violation of human rights. It is Yeah,
reminds me of a Martin Sosa. Yes, that was such
a good episode, Like I had no idea about him.
I got to do a video with him two Okay.
(11:46):
And during her time in prison, they also tried to
make her seem crazy, often putting her in the insane
asylum section of the prison of course. Yeah, and she
was like they're doing all this to try and break me,
and I will not be broken. Yeah, she did it
eventually work in the prison infirmary. Fifteen years into her sentence,
her social worker told her she was eligible for parole.
(12:07):
She could ask for it, but part of the requirement
for the parole was for her to issue a public
apology for March First. What she refused to do. She's
like coome that apologizing for that, Like I wasn't the
right and I wasn't trying to kill anyone. I was
trying to make a statement for a free Porto Ygo,
and I was ready to die for my cause. Like
I'm not apologizing for that. Damn, I shouldn't even entertain
(12:28):
the idea of parole. Because she showed no interest in parole,
they made her attend a meeting before the Penitentiary Committee,
and instead of talking about her parole during this meeting,
she used this time to discuss how wrong the use
of the atomic bomb was and about politics and terrorism
of the US. Oh my gosh, I love her. I'm
(12:48):
telling you, my hero. She's my hero. And I went too.
And she had already been religious, for her interest in
religion only grew in prison, which tends to happen for
most people, especially because tragedy after tragedy happened. Her daughter
also died in nineteen seventy seven, so now she's lost
her son, mother and daughter. Wow. In prison and even
(13:12):
in prison, she made sure to get ready every day
put makeup on to her hair. When she was asked
like why did you do this, she was like, because
I needed to be well presented. I needed to show
them that no one was going to break me. I
still love myself enough to look good no matter where
I was, and I love her for that. Wow. Yeah,
she is my hair. She even said that even like
(13:35):
horrible thing after horrible thing that happened to her in prison,
she refused to cry, and after being released back home
she could still not cry, Like and that is like
a traumatic response. Yeah. And actually in that episode that
I mentioned of that Basseo podcast, they have someone who
wrote a song called Lolita you can Cry Now. Oh
my god, why did that almost make me want to cry?
(13:57):
Right now? Just a title alone made me cry? But
then hearing the words, should they play part of it
in the episode? Okay, yeah, hold on, let's just hear
part of it right now. Lolita you may cry now,
Lolita you may cry now.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Tears for the oppressed, hungry for food, knowledge, and hope. Thelita,
you may cry now teas for the millions of upon
maions of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Tears for those names, languages, customs,
and cultures we will never know, lost like the leaves
that fall.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Into the streams and rivers.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Lilitha, you may cry now tears for the African slaves
that were shackle chain raped, with their backs dripping with
red teardrops of their own belith that you may cry
now tears for those who worked and toiled, Tears the
sweat dripping in the soil that they bled to cultivate
so others could prosper.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
From their suffering.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Liliit that you may cry now tears for the massacres,
broken treaties, diseases, death, stolen land and nature. The liift
that you may cry now tears for the murdered Mexicans, lynched, hung,
drag cut, and shot in what is known as the
southwest of the United States. That you may cry now
for those who worked the large sugar and coffee plantation
and never had a chance to taste either.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Wow, like they just they mentioned everything. Yeah, and I
guess it's more like a poem with music in the background.
It's not like a song songs still, I mean, it's
still a song though it's beautiful. It's beautiful. I recommendly
listen to it. I found it a band camp and
it's like three and a half minutes long. But yeah,
beautiful song and yeah, he wrote that for her and
she actually listened to it. She was still alive when
(15:29):
they wrote the song. Wow, she listened to it. And
the guys in the episode talking about it, how like
he was like, I can't even like explain how that
felt that she was like crying because of the poem
that I wrote. Like, also, she was a poem poet herself. Yes,
she was a poem. She was actually a poem. She
was a poet too, and so I think poet's a
(15:50):
poet that probably meant like an insane oh yeah, and
for it to be her, like I can't even fathom.
So back to now where we were in this episode.
It wasn't until nineteen seventy nine that President Jimmy Carter
commuted the sentenceus of Lolita lebron Iven Flores, Rafael can
Sel Miranda, the fourth person, had already gotten out because
(16:12):
he was very sick and they let him out of prison.
In total, they spent twenty five years in prison. The
governor of Puerto Rico at the time opposed this, him
Jimmy Carter prison, Jimmy Carr doing this letting them go,
that's bullshit. Question, is that like sorry that you were
Puerto Rican their pummans. Yeah, of course, that's just goes
(16:33):
to show how much Yeah, that's true. So he stated
that it was going to encourage terrorism if they were
released early. When she arrived home, she received a hero's welcome,
like hundreds upon hundreds who went to see her arrive.
There's people to this day that can say, my parents
still tell me about the day they went to see
(16:54):
her return amazing, And that episode again has someone saying that.
But one of the first things she did when she
landed in Puerto Rico, right after she landed from the airport,
she went to the old San Juan Cemetery to go
see Pedro Albiso Campos for the first time because they
never met. It was just all through letters. Oh that's right.
(17:18):
And at his tombstone she knelt, she kneeled down and
she said these words to him, Maestro Obra kumplida all
teacher mission accomplished. That gave me chills. I almost cried
when I read that. Wow, because man, oh, so now
(17:40):
that she was back in Puerto Rico, she married Serchio
Itsari Rivera, who was actually sent by the Nationalist Party
to monitor her health because they were worried about her
eight years before she was released. They sent her to
check on her and he did this every day for
eight years.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And so they just like cultivated their relationship during those
eight years and got married. After that, they moved to
Luisa together and Lolita here like anyone that wanted to
meet with her to talk about anything, like she would
like welcome them. It reminds me of Rufina Maya, who
also anyone that they're like, can you tell us about this,
she would tell anyone. Yeah. So it gave me vibes
(18:19):
like that. In nineteen seventy nine, Lolita lebron I Flories,
Rafel Cansel Miranda and Oscar Cooyaso were recognized as the
embodiment of the directive of their teacher, Alviso Campos to
exercise valor and sacrifice before the representatives of fifty one
countries at the International Conference in Support of Independence for
Puerto Rico, which was held in Mexico City at the time. Wow.
(18:43):
What an honor, honest truly. She continued to be active
in the cause for independence for decades. In fact, she
participated in the protests against the United States Navy's presence
in vs She was there. Wow, she was among the arrested.
Oh my god, she just doesn't quite you know, which
(19:03):
is amazing. She appeared as a witness at the International
Tribunal on Violations of Human Rights in Puerto Rico and
Vieques that was held on November seventeenth through the twenty
first of two thousand on the island of Viks. They
held this event and she was met with a roar
of applause when she said, I had the honor of
(19:26):
leading the act against the US Congress on March first,
nineteen fifty four, when we demanded freedom for Puerto Rico
and we told the world what we are, an invaded
nation occupied in abuse by the United States of America.
I feel very proud of having performed that day, of
having answered the call of the motherland. I saw that
quote while I was looking at her pictures, and I
(19:47):
was like, yes, oh yes. On June twenty six and one,
Lolita was among a group of protesters arrested for trespassing
in the Resurgen area of viks And she was sentenced
to sixty days in prison on the charge of trespassing
on Navy property. And yeah, she served her her full time. Wow,
(20:13):
And we talked about it in the Viecas episode. But
two years after that, in two thousand and three, the
US Navy did leave vs. Yes, and yeah, she continued
her participation in other independence activities. By the time of
the Vicus protest, she turned to civil disobedience as a
form of rebellion, and she did say that no one
(20:33):
else needed to die for the cause, leaving her former
believe that violence was the only way forward, which I
think happens to a lot of people who were activists
during that time period nineteen Yeah, you know when did
this is fifty four, nineteen fifties up to like the
nineteen eighties even And some people never say that, like
(20:53):
Malcolm X, which is fine, or some people change their
ways of thinking into thinking, you know what, maybe we
do need a little more violence, you know. And again
in the fight for against oppression and for freedom of
a colonial a place under colonization, like for me everything
in spare game. Yeah, yeah, but I'm not when to
(21:15):
say no they should be doing this. That's not my
place either, right right, just what I think. So between
two thousand and eight and twenty ten, Lolita was hospitalized
multiple times. The first she fell and fractured her hip
and her arm, which requires surgery. On September eighteen, two
thousand and nine, she suffered a relapse due to a
(21:36):
viral infection, like a cardio respiratory viral infection, like I
don't know, some virus. Lolita recovered, but then from complications
of this episode led to like first bronchitis and then
other things which did ultimately lead to her death in
twenty ten August first two wow, and I mean her
(21:58):
her death was very sad for Puerto Rico, for people
outside of Puerto Rico because now to this day, I
want to say, there's like more non Puertorican or more
Puertricans outside of Puerto Rico than in Puerto Rico, which
is the case for a lot of places like yeah,
Pales signe. Don't even like get me started on that
(22:21):
because I will, but again, just you know, Hawaii, same thing.
But her death was mourned by so many hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds, so many public figures said words you
know about her death, even in European papers. It was
announced like wow, Europe. And she does leave behind a
(22:47):
complicated legacy. There is a book. Let me share the name,
because I didn't write it down. It wasn't one of
my sources because I didn't have time to read yet
another book I already read. So this was supposed to
be shorter episode, and I read so much for this,
and I was like, oh, whoops. So there's a book
called The Ladies Gallery, a memoir of family secrets by
(23:09):
Villar that is her granddaughter, and it has like beautiful moments,
but she remembers her her grandmother as like this very
like difficult to love kind of person who was very
strong willed and strong like in her ways, and like
if you weren't for the cause, she kind of didn't
(23:29):
have time for you. Oh my gosh, that reminds me
of such a No. I was going to say, do
lotus were that? It reminds yous were the same thing. Yeah,
And I get it if you've been under so much
trauma because she was in prisoned. Yeah, it creates such
a inability to prepare the relationships and build those, build
(23:56):
them back up, build your relationships, trust people, and opening
yourself up like that again, because she lost so much. Yeah,
and so that's what her had the book. You can
tell her granddaughter is like resentful and angry about this.
That's so interesting and it is her right, you know,
(24:16):
yeah to feel that, because she is the one who
lives with her right. Right. But then later, when Hurricane
Maria happened, it looks like she has changed her views
on her grandmother a little bit more and is also
a little more toward finally accepting like, yeah, she was right,
Puerto Rico needs to be free. And she did give
(24:37):
a speech when Hurricane Maria happened kind of saying this
and then also asking for donations from people and saying like, yeah,
Puertoio needs to be free, like my grandmother was right,
and it her speech prompted a ton of donations. Oh
wow for mentioning. But it looks like she's come around
to accepting it. And I couldn't understand how all this
(24:58):
would take so much time for her to see and
for because yeah, yeah, it's like we were saying, there's
reason for all this, you know. Yeah, and it wasn't
a complicated legacy only with her own family. But like
I was saying at the top of that episode, some
view her as a terrorist. They rote headlines like when
terror wore lipstick honestly kind of iconic. Oops. No really,
(25:23):
and others like myself remember her as a hero and
as a Puerto Rican freedom fighter. Yeah. And even if
people don't agree with what she did, because that's another
polarizing thing, or they're like, you know, she was a
really good person, but we don't agree with the violence
of that day, people still see her as like this heroic,
(25:47):
symbolic person to PERTHIRTI goo, even if they don't agree,
because even today you can find people that don't. And
again we're not Puerto Rican. But I do believe that
it should be free. But my opinion, it doesn't matter.
I don't think so. I think it's like Puerto Rico itself, right,
and among Puerto Rico you'll find some people who call
for a free port, free Puerto Rico and others who
call for it to become a saintan. Yeah, it's it's divided.
(26:11):
There's no like consensus. Yeah. Yeah, but I for one.
I think they should be freed along with Hawaii. You
know pastine all the races. And there is a plaque
at the monument to the Hayuya Uprising, and you can
find her name on that plaque. But yeah, that is
(26:31):
Lolita Lebrun who had been on my list for so long.
And it was just like dunting to get started. But
we're here now. I did it. I'm glad you did
have a new thank you she wro hero. Yes, of
course I don't like that term. I was just like, no,
I know, I know, all right, do you have anything
(26:55):
else had before we know? Because I'm hungry and tired.
Oh okay, that makes sense. Yeah, and I guess before
we go again. Somehow we're still like blowing up on reels.
I thought it was over. Yeah, and this reel about
the nineteen seventeen bathriots has now surpassed the amount of
likes on instagrams versus TikTok. Yeah, then that's wild because
(27:20):
that never happens. Yeah, so that's crazy. But also then
I made another post on threads talking about one of
the comment oh right comments we got on that reel
where people were like, I don't care about this this
is in the past. Where are we stuck in the past?
Blah blah blah, And I wrote on threads like it's
very odd getting these comments because to me, I just
think about and we've talked about this, and as a listener,
(27:42):
you would know of all our coverage of Chile. Yeah,
but there's that national stadium in Chile where they leave
the sections empty and it says peblo memoria like people
without my memory, they don't have a future. And I
just like when I see people come te things like that,
I'm like, this is why we are where we are
today because you don't know your past. Yeah, yeah, I
(28:06):
mean we've I feel like we've touched on that so
many times, especially also when we've talked about and I
often hear a term and I don't know if I've
mentioned here before, collective memory. Oh i've heard that before.
I have heard it. I don't think you've said those
words here. Okay, I want to do like more reading
about it, but I've seen it like here and there
(28:26):
when articles about trying to erase the civil war essentially
and his whole messaging, part of his messaging painted Yes,
I ever see that, but yeah, his whole messaging is like, oh,
that was so long ago that that doesn't matter anymore.
(28:49):
It's time for new ideas. We don't have to keep
talking about that or touch and then and look where
things are now, like he is repeating, you know, like
mm hmm. And in the scheme of humanity, it's not
long ago at all. Like literally, your father lived through
the Civil War. And then even going back to the
(29:12):
bathriots that brought on all these comments on Instagram or
great I was nineteen sev father like was, yeah, you
know of Rasetto, which was part of the group that
was subjected to those yeah, chemical baths. It's like that's
what two generations ago, three generations ago. Yeah, and like
(29:33):
even bringing us back to Puerto Rico, these uprisings where
a bunch of people were killed. We're in this in
the nineteenth century, Like, yeah, you know, it's not that
long ago, not at all. So I mean, Leron, she
died in twenty ten exactly, That's what I was gonna say,
So not that long ago. Yeah. Anyway, I know you're hungry,
(29:55):
so well, let us go. If we have any new
listeners from either Instagram or threads that found us, Yeah, welcome,
and we hope that this was one less estonia unknown
for you. Bye bye ye
Hi, this is Christina and this is Historia's Unknown. This
is part two following last week's episode where we talked
about Alita Lebron leading up to the attack that happened
on March first, and here's the rest of that episode.
Now for the attack itself. On the morning of March first,
Lolita traveled to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan to meet
(00:31):
the rest of the group. They were Rafael Cansel, Miranda,
Irvin Flores, and Andres Vigueroa Corlero. They all took a
train to Washington, DC, and then they walked from Union
Station over to the Capitol. They sat on the steps
and Rafael suggested not attacking because they were already reading
a little late and it was raining. He said, I
don't know, man, it's raining, but Lolita would not happen.
(00:51):
It's like I immediately almost cancel all plants if it's raining.
I was going to say, if that's not the most
Latin American thing driving in the rain, no, thank you, No,
maybe we shouldn't do this. It's reading. It's a bad sign.
But she told them then I am alone, and she
continued up the steps, meaning she was still going to
go through with it even if they didn't. So she
(01:12):
was like, then, you know, I'm about myself then, and
so she kept walking up the steps, and they all
looked at each other and like all right, they followed her.
Then the group reached the visitors gallery, which is above
the House chamber. And you know, while they're standing on
this visitor's gallery, the representatives down there are discussing issues
of immigration. Then Lolita gave her group the order. They
(01:36):
recited the Lord's Prayer together. Then Lolida stood up and
she shouted, Viva Puerto Rico Libre long, Live a free
Puerto Rico. She unfurled the Puerto Rican flag and the
group fired with their semi automatic pistols toward the House chamber. Wow.
I'm sorry, but I got chills when.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I heard that.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I mean, like, you drive people into these crazy conditions
and they drives them to do these kind of things.
So yeah, it is what it is, you know, truly.
So about thirty shots were fired, mostly by Rafael, who
wounded five Congress members. Lolita fired all her shots at
the ceiling. Okay, and Andres Friguero's gun jammed so he
(02:20):
can fire in a damn on this that sucks the
plan though they were never because you know, people would
be like, oh, four crazy Puerto Ricans, four terrorists came
and tried to kill congress members, but that was never
the plan. Their plan was to go and shoot up
like a statement. Yes, yeah, they were never planning that
(02:43):
killing was never their intention, which is like what they
say now about it, they're more noble, yeah, honestly. Yeah again,
she's my hero. So congress members injured during this attack
were Republican Michigan Representative Alvin Morrile Bentley, Tennessee Democrat Clifford
Davis I wore, Republican Ben F. Jansen, Maryland Democrat George
(03:05):
Hyde Fallon, and Alabama Democrat Kenneth Roberts. The Puerto Rican
nationalists were immediately arrested, and while she was being cuughed,
Lolita yelled, I did not come to kill anyone. I
came to die for Puerto Rico. Oh my god. Now
just look up right now and go to images that
itself gave me chills. No right. One of the first
(03:26):
images that comes up is her being arrested, and you
can just see how beautiful and well dressed she is.
Truly gorgeous women. No wow, truly yes, Like I'm not
kidding she like look at her, Oh my gosh, and
I just imagine her this one too. You can just
see there are beautiful curls on all of them. I know,
(03:49):
that's the first thing I saw, Like amazing when we'll
share these images on Instagram as well. Anyway, So yeah,
just those words. I did not come to kill one.
I came to dine for Puerto Rico, like oh man,
like she I listened to an episode I have. I'm
(04:09):
gonna put it in the show notes as well. But
this podcast was called Passeo Podcasts, and it's episode twelve
of this podcast. It's called episode twelve, one hundred Years
of Lolita Leron and Pasel podcast is like Pasel podcast
Colin sharing Puerto Rican stories and the host just interviewed
people that knew her. Wow, and one of them there
(04:29):
is like even up to the day of her death,
like she was just such a beautiful, gorgeous woman, and
she just gave this aura when she were in her presence,
like you could tell she was just so full of life,
so loyal, so courageous. She's just like being in her
presence was like like my life is complete now. Like,
(04:50):
I don't know what else and I can only imagine
what that felt like. But that's such a beautiful episode
and I was going to actually mention it at some points.
One this will mention it now. But it is a
listen if you want to hear people that literally directly
knew her talking about her, it's crazy. Definitely you gonna
check that out. Yeah. So, right after the arrest, Pedro
(05:11):
Alviso Campos's home was readed in Puerto Rico. They fired
into his house before going in there to drag him out. Wow.
When they dragged him out, he was unconscious and half asphyxiated.
Oh wow. And this arrest never made any sense because
from the start, Lolita told officials this attack was orchestrated
(05:32):
by me alone, plus federal Albisto Campos had been under
twenty four hour surveillance already by the FBI, the CIA
and in Solar police. Wow. Like, so there was no
way he could have had a part in no. No,
And again that letter that she said, she he said,
I'm planning on doing this attack, which then she took over.
This dollar doesn't exist anywhere. There's no proofs in her memory,
(05:56):
in her heart, you know, So the amount of pages
that are in the FBI's reports of pedrol Libsto campus alone,
campus alone are over one million pages. That's how deep
their surveillance of him went. Wow. Yeah, it's just like
he's getting up, now, he's going to the bathroom. Oh oh,
he took twenty minutes in there, like that's wild. One
(06:17):
million pages and in the end there was no evidence
at all tying him to the attack on Congress at all. Still,
he was returned to La princessa prison where he had
just been released from six months before this. He was
accused of violating the gag law order and he did
remain in prison until his health deteriorated, and he ended
(06:39):
up dying in the San Juan Presbyterian Hospital under police
guard in nineteen fifty six. Wow, when I'm telling you
he was done dirty by this government, I'm not kidding.
And I'm not gonna want to distails here because he
is going to have his own episode eventually. But it
was horrible, like radiation exposure, horrible. Oh my god, i
(07:00):
I'm not ready. No, no, But back to Lolita. Contrary
to what is usually told, the aim was not to
kill anyone, but again to die for Puerto Rico and
the cause for independence. The four were charged with attempted
murder and conspiracy. She was imprisoned in the Federal Correctional
Institution for Women in Alder in West Virginia, though I
(07:21):
did read some other accounts that at some point she
was in a men's prison, so I don't know if
this was up to the trial and then after the
trial she was sent to this other prison, but at
some point she was in immense prison where she had
to endure horrible things like rape and sexual assault. The
trial began on June fourth, nineteen fifty four. The jury
(07:42):
composed of seven men and five women, whose identities still
to this day are kept secret. There were thirty three witnesses,
including Lolita's own brother, which she viewed as a betrayal.
And I don't blame that, that's rough. Yeah, I just
wonder what they offered him, Yeah, because that's the only
reason I could think. Yeah, that's well. Although some people
have just shitty siblins, so mmm. True. So, while the
(08:06):
persecution was allowed to bring all those witnesses, the defendants
were not allowed to have anyone testify on their behalf
except for themselves. That sounds like not a right full
just trial. I agree, and they had I forget the
name of the organization, but they did have an organization
providing free legal counsel in their defense, and it's like
a liberal organization, but I don't remember the name of it.
(08:29):
So they at least they had lawyers like the minimum right,
like good lawyers that were trying to defend them to
the best of their ability. During her testimony, Lolita maintained
that she did not intend to kill, only to die
for the freedom of her homeland. And I actually have
I have a link of her talking.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Puerto Rican, you know, vas Puerto Rico. I stayed with
gess Para National el Imperio North Americanos y Obstina and
Upacion nuestro Bayis in Os Provoca, the aria infensa denutradi
(09:15):
Nidad national. Some of victimas yes violencia nostros emostrato to
medios Pacificos en cuyo processo elen Emigo North Americano Seaford
tale SiO.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
On June sixteen, nineteen fifty four, the jury declared all
four of them guilty. Lolita was accredited her charge of
intent to kill, and she was instead convicted of the
offensive assault with the dealy weapon, which lowered her sentence.
So the men received seventy five years and she received
fifty years. So at their ages this meant life in prison. Yeah.
(09:53):
They were all sent to different prisons. Figuero A Cordero
was sent to the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Lolita Lebrun
sent to the women's prison in Alderson, West Virginia. Cancel
Miranda was sent to Alcatraz and San Francisco, Wow, and
Flores Rodriguez was sent to Levenworth, Kansas. And Livingworth, Kansas
is the same place that Oscar Coo Yasso, the person
(10:16):
who was involved in the attempted assassination of President Harry S. Truman,
was in as well incarcerated. Then they were there together.
So Lolita would later say that her first two years
in prison were the most difficult. Her son passed away
during these first two years. Oh that's terrible. Yeah, he drowned,
and of course she was not able to say goodbye
or even go let alone see him again. Didn't even
(10:39):
tell her it happened until nine days after Wow. Then
her mother died. In his first two years, Oh my gosh,
it's like one bad thing after another. Yeah, and again
she couldn't say goodbye or anything. She was also unable
to communicate with her siblings because only letters in English
were allowed inside the prison. How is that? Yeah, probably
(11:01):
to prevent more yeah, corresponding between and portwecans arrested and
the party. But still very very unfair. Yeah. This was
changed after a three and a half day hunger strike.
They were finally allowed to have letters received in Spanish.
But Lolita was placed in solitary confinement for participating in
(11:23):
this hunger strike, which is something that happened to her
often just because of her rebellious like spirit, like signing
up for rights, she was often in solitary confinement, which
again is a violation of human rights. It is Yeah,
reminds me of a Martin Sosa. Yes, that was such
a good episode, Like I had no idea about him.
I got to do a video with him two Okay.
(11:46):
And during her time in prison, they also tried to
make her seem crazy, often putting her in the insane
asylum section of the prison of course. Yeah, and she
was like they're doing all this to try and break me,
and I will not be broken. Yeah, she did it
eventually work in the prison infirmary. Fifteen years into her sentence,
her social worker told her she was eligible for parole.
(12:07):
She could ask for it, but part of the requirement
for the parole was for her to issue a public
apology for March First. What she refused to do. She's
like coome that apologizing for that, Like I wasn't the
right and I wasn't trying to kill anyone. I was
trying to make a statement for a free Porto Ygo,
and I was ready to die for my cause. Like
I'm not apologizing for that. Damn, I shouldn't even entertain
(12:28):
the idea of parole. Because she showed no interest in parole,
they made her attend a meeting before the Penitentiary Committee,
and instead of talking about her parole during this meeting,
she used this time to discuss how wrong the use
of the atomic bomb was and about politics and terrorism
of the US. Oh my gosh, I love her. I'm
(12:48):
telling you, my hero. She's my hero. And I went too.
And she had already been religious, for her interest in
religion only grew in prison, which tends to happen for
most people, especially because tragedy after tragedy happened. Her daughter
also died in nineteen seventy seven, so now she's lost
her son, mother and daughter. Wow. In prison and even
(13:12):
in prison, she made sure to get ready every day
put makeup on to her hair. When she was asked
like why did you do this, she was like, because
I needed to be well presented. I needed to show
them that no one was going to break me. I
still love myself enough to look good no matter where
I was, and I love her for that. Wow. Yeah,
she is my hair. She even said that even like
(13:35):
horrible thing after horrible thing that happened to her in prison,
she refused to cry, and after being released back home
she could still not cry, Like and that is like
a traumatic response. Yeah. And actually in that episode that
I mentioned of that Basseo podcast, they have someone who
wrote a song called Lolita you can Cry Now. Oh
my god, why did that almost make me want to cry?
(13:57):
Right now? Just a title alone made me cry? But
then hearing the words, should they play part of it
in the episode? Okay, yeah, hold on, let's just hear
part of it right now. Lolita you may cry now,
Lolita you may cry now.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Tears for the oppressed, hungry for food, knowledge, and hope. Thelita,
you may cry now teas for the millions of upon
maions of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Tears for those names, languages, customs,
and cultures we will never know, lost like the leaves
that fall.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Into the streams and rivers.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Lilitha, you may cry now tears for the African slaves
that were shackle chain raped, with their backs dripping with
red teardrops of their own belith that you may cry
now tears for those who worked and toiled, Tears the
sweat dripping in the soil that they bled to cultivate
so others could prosper.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
From their suffering.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Liliit that you may cry now tears for the massacres,
broken treaties, diseases, death, stolen land and nature. The liift
that you may cry now tears for the murdered Mexicans, lynched, hung,
drag cut, and shot in what is known as the
southwest of the United States. That you may cry now
for those who worked the large sugar and coffee plantation
and never had a chance to taste either.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Wow, like they just they mentioned everything. Yeah, and I
guess it's more like a poem with music in the background.
It's not like a song songs still, I mean, it's
still a song though it's beautiful. It's beautiful. I recommendly
listen to it. I found it a band camp and
it's like three and a half minutes long. But yeah,
beautiful song and yeah, he wrote that for her and
she actually listened to it. She was still alive when
(15:29):
they wrote the song. Wow, she listened to it. And
the guys in the episode talking about it, how like
he was like, I can't even like explain how that
felt that she was like crying because of the poem
that I wrote. Like, also, she was a poem poet herself. Yes,
she was a poem. She was actually a poem. She
was a poet too, and so I think poet's a
(15:50):
poet that probably meant like an insane oh yeah, and
for it to be her, like I can't even fathom.
So back to now where we were in this episode.
It wasn't until nineteen seventy nine that President Jimmy Carter
commuted the sentenceus of Lolita lebron Iven Flores, Rafael can
Sel Miranda, the fourth person, had already gotten out because
(16:12):
he was very sick and they let him out of prison.
In total, they spent twenty five years in prison. The
governor of Puerto Rico at the time opposed this, him
Jimmy Carter prison, Jimmy Carr doing this letting them go,
that's bullshit. Question, is that like sorry that you were
Puerto Rican their pummans. Yeah, of course, that's just goes
(16:33):
to show how much Yeah, that's true. So he stated
that it was going to encourage terrorism if they were
released early. When she arrived home, she received a hero's welcome,
like hundreds upon hundreds who went to see her arrive.
There's people to this day that can say, my parents
still tell me about the day they went to see
(16:54):
her return amazing, And that episode again has someone saying that.
But one of the first things she did when she
landed in Puerto Rico, right after she landed from the airport,
she went to the old San Juan Cemetery to go
see Pedro Albiso Campos for the first time because they
never met. It was just all through letters. Oh that's right.
(17:18):
And at his tombstone she knelt, she kneeled down and
she said these words to him, Maestro Obra kumplida all
teacher mission accomplished. That gave me chills. I almost cried
when I read that. Wow, because man, oh, so now
(17:40):
that she was back in Puerto Rico, she married Serchio
Itsari Rivera, who was actually sent by the Nationalist Party
to monitor her health because they were worried about her
eight years before she was released. They sent her to
check on her and he did this every day for
eight years.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And so they just like cultivated their relationship during those
eight years and got married. After that, they moved to
Luisa together and Lolita here like anyone that wanted to
meet with her to talk about anything, like she would
like welcome them. It reminds me of Rufina Maya, who
also anyone that they're like, can you tell us about this,
she would tell anyone. Yeah. So it gave me vibes
(18:19):
like that. In nineteen seventy nine, Lolita lebron I Flories,
Rafel Cansel Miranda and Oscar Cooyaso were recognized as the
embodiment of the directive of their teacher, Alviso Campos to
exercise valor and sacrifice before the representatives of fifty one
countries at the International Conference in Support of Independence for
Puerto Rico, which was held in Mexico City at the time. Wow.
(18:43):
What an honor, honest truly. She continued to be active
in the cause for independence for decades. In fact, she
participated in the protests against the United States Navy's presence
in vs She was there. Wow, she was among the arrested.
Oh my god, she just doesn't quite you know, which
(19:03):
is amazing. She appeared as a witness at the International
Tribunal on Violations of Human Rights in Puerto Rico and
Vieques that was held on November seventeenth through the twenty
first of two thousand on the island of Viks. They
held this event and she was met with a roar
of applause when she said, I had the honor of
(19:26):
leading the act against the US Congress on March first,
nineteen fifty four, when we demanded freedom for Puerto Rico
and we told the world what we are, an invaded
nation occupied in abuse by the United States of America.
I feel very proud of having performed that day, of
having answered the call of the motherland. I saw that
quote while I was looking at her pictures, and I
(19:47):
was like, yes, oh yes. On June twenty six and one,
Lolita was among a group of protesters arrested for trespassing
in the Resurgen area of viks And she was sentenced
to sixty days in prison on the charge of trespassing
on Navy property. And yeah, she served her her full time. Wow,
(20:13):
And we talked about it in the Viecas episode. But
two years after that, in two thousand and three, the
US Navy did leave vs. Yes, and yeah, she continued
her participation in other independence activities. By the time of
the Vicus protest, she turned to civil disobedience as a
form of rebellion, and she did say that no one
(20:33):
else needed to die for the cause, leaving her former
believe that violence was the only way forward, which I
think happens to a lot of people who were activists
during that time period nineteen Yeah, you know when did
this is fifty four, nineteen fifties up to like the
nineteen eighties even And some people never say that, like
(20:53):
Malcolm X, which is fine, or some people change their
ways of thinking into thinking, you know what, maybe we
do need a little more violence, you know. And again
in the fight for against oppression and for freedom of
a colonial a place under colonization, like for me everything
in spare game. Yeah, yeah, but I'm not when to
(21:15):
say no they should be doing this. That's not my
place either, right right, just what I think. So between
two thousand and eight and twenty ten, Lolita was hospitalized
multiple times. The first she fell and fractured her hip
and her arm, which requires surgery. On September eighteen, two
thousand and nine, she suffered a relapse due to a
(21:36):
viral infection, like a cardio respiratory viral infection, like I
don't know, some virus. Lolita recovered, but then from complications
of this episode led to like first bronchitis and then
other things which did ultimately lead to her death in
twenty ten August first two wow, and I mean her
(21:58):
her death was very sad for Puerto Rico, for people
outside of Puerto Rico because now to this day, I
want to say, there's like more non Puertorican or more
Puertricans outside of Puerto Rico than in Puerto Rico, which
is the case for a lot of places like yeah,
Pales signe. Don't even like get me started on that
(22:21):
because I will, but again, just you know, Hawaii, same thing.
But her death was mourned by so many hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds, so many public figures said words you
know about her death, even in European papers. It was
announced like wow, Europe. And she does leave behind a
(22:47):
complicated legacy. There is a book. Let me share the name,
because I didn't write it down. It wasn't one of
my sources because I didn't have time to read yet
another book I already read. So this was supposed to
be shorter episode, and I read so much for this,
and I was like, oh, whoops. So there's a book
called The Ladies Gallery, a memoir of family secrets by
(23:09):
Villar that is her granddaughter, and it has like beautiful moments,
but she remembers her her grandmother as like this very
like difficult to love kind of person who was very
strong willed and strong like in her ways, and like
if you weren't for the cause, she kind of didn't
(23:29):
have time for you. Oh my gosh, that reminds me
of such a No. I was going to say, do
lotus were that? It reminds yous were the same thing. Yeah,
And I get it if you've been under so much
trauma because she was in prisoned. Yeah, it creates such
a inability to prepare the relationships and build those, build
(23:56):
them back up, build your relationships, trust people, and opening
yourself up like that again, because she lost so much. Yeah,
and so that's what her had the book. You can
tell her granddaughter is like resentful and angry about this.
That's so interesting and it is her right, you know,
(24:16):
yeah to feel that, because she is the one who
lives with her right. Right. But then later, when Hurricane
Maria happened, it looks like she has changed her views
on her grandmother a little bit more and is also
a little more toward finally accepting like, yeah, she was right,
Puerto Rico needs to be free. And she did give
(24:37):
a speech when Hurricane Maria happened kind of saying this
and then also asking for donations from people and saying like, yeah,
Puertoio needs to be free, like my grandmother was right,
and it her speech prompted a ton of donations. Oh
wow for mentioning. But it looks like she's come around
to accepting it. And I couldn't understand how all this
(24:58):
would take so much time for her to see and
for because yeah, yeah, it's like we were saying, there's
reason for all this, you know. Yeah, and it wasn't
a complicated legacy only with her own family. But like
I was saying at the top of that episode, some
view her as a terrorist. They rote headlines like when
terror wore lipstick honestly kind of iconic. Oops. No really,
(25:23):
and others like myself remember her as a hero and
as a Puerto Rican freedom fighter. Yeah. And even if
people don't agree with what she did, because that's another
polarizing thing, or they're like, you know, she was a
really good person, but we don't agree with the violence
of that day, people still see her as like this heroic,
(25:47):
symbolic person to PERTHIRTI goo, even if they don't agree,
because even today you can find people that don't. And
again we're not Puerto Rican. But I do believe that
it should be free. But my opinion, it doesn't matter.
I don't think so. I think it's like Puerto Rico itself, right,
and among Puerto Rico you'll find some people who call
for a free port, free Puerto Rico and others who
call for it to become a saintan. Yeah, it's it's divided.
(26:11):
There's no like consensus. Yeah. Yeah, but I for one.
I think they should be freed along with Hawaii. You
know pastine all the races. And there is a plaque
at the monument to the Hayuya Uprising, and you can
find her name on that plaque. But yeah, that is
(26:31):
Lolita Lebrun who had been on my list for so long.
And it was just like dunting to get started. But
we're here now. I did it. I'm glad you did
have a new thank you she wro hero. Yes, of
course I don't like that term. I was just like, no,
I know, I know, all right, do you have anything
(26:55):
else had before we know? Because I'm hungry and tired.
Oh okay, that makes sense. Yeah, and I guess before
we go again. Somehow we're still like blowing up on reels.
I thought it was over. Yeah, and this reel about
the nineteen seventeen bathriots has now surpassed the amount of
likes on instagrams versus TikTok. Yeah, then that's wild because
(27:20):
that never happens. Yeah, so that's crazy. But also then
I made another post on threads talking about one of
the comment oh right comments we got on that reel
where people were like, I don't care about this this
is in the past. Where are we stuck in the past?
Blah blah blah, And I wrote on threads like it's
very odd getting these comments because to me, I just
think about and we've talked about this, and as a listener,
(27:42):
you would know of all our coverage of Chile. Yeah,
but there's that national stadium in Chile where they leave
the sections empty and it says peblo memoria like people
without my memory, they don't have a future. And I
just like when I see people come te things like that,
I'm like, this is why we are where we are
today because you don't know your past. Yeah, yeah, I
(28:06):
mean we've I feel like we've touched on that so
many times, especially also when we've talked about and I
often hear a term and I don't know if I've
mentioned here before, collective memory. Oh i've heard that before.
I have heard it. I don't think you've said those
words here. Okay, I want to do like more reading
about it, but I've seen it like here and there
(28:26):
when articles about trying to erase the civil war essentially
and his whole messaging, part of his messaging painted Yes,
I ever see that, but yeah, his whole messaging is like, oh,
that was so long ago that that doesn't matter anymore.
(28:49):
It's time for new ideas. We don't have to keep
talking about that or touch and then and look where
things are now, like he is repeating, you know, like
mm hmm. And in the scheme of humanity, it's not
long ago at all. Like literally, your father lived through
the Civil War. And then even going back to the
(29:12):
bathriots that brought on all these comments on Instagram or
great I was nineteen sev father like was, yeah, you
know of Rasetto, which was part of the group that
was subjected to those yeah, chemical baths. It's like that's
what two generations ago, three generations ago. Yeah, and like
(29:33):
even bringing us back to Puerto Rico, these uprisings where
a bunch of people were killed. We're in this in
the nineteenth century, Like, yeah, you know, it's not that
long ago, not at all. So I mean, Leron, she
died in twenty ten exactly, That's what I was gonna say,
So not that long ago. Yeah. Anyway, I know you're hungry,
(29:55):
so well, let us go. If we have any new
listeners from either Instagram or threads that found us, Yeah, welcome,
and we hope that this was one less estonia unknown
for you. Bye bye ye
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