Clemente Soto Velez

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Clemente Soto Vélez (* 1905 in Puerto Rico ; † 1993 ) was a poet, journalist and political activist.

Life

Soto Vélez founded literary and community organizations. These included the Puerto Rican Merchants Association , which helped shopkeepers protect their rights as entrepreneurial pioneers. His life has been shaped by a concern for the well-being of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos and his belief in self-sufficiency and community empowerment.

As a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party , he fought alongside Pedro Albizu Campos and Juan Antonio Corretjer , with whom he was also imprisoned in federal prison. After his release, he settled in New York in the early 1940s, where he stayed until his death in 1993.

His anthology La tierra prometida (The Promised Land) is a denunciation of the imperialist exploitation of Puerto Rico by the USA. As a poet, he pursued a passionate social vision in the tradition of Pablo Neruda .

Soto Vélez served as a mentor to many generations of artists in Puerto Rico and New York City . He enriched the cultural, social, and economic lives of New York City Puerto Ricans and Latinos .

In 1995, writer Edgardo Vega Yunqé and director Nelson Landrieu founded the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to continue his legacy.

literature

  • Clemente Soto Vélez 1979. La Tierra Prometida . San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña .
  • Clemente Soto Vélez 1989. Obra poética San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña
  • 1990. Simposio Clemente Soto Velez . San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña
  • Marithelma Costa and Alvin Joaquin Figueroa 1990. Kaligrafiando: Conversaciones con Clemente Soto Velez . Rio Piedras: La Editorial Universidad de Puerto Rico
  • Clemente Soto Velez 2001. The Blood that Keeps Singing . Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press - bilingual edition with Spanish translation by Martín Espada and Camilo Pérez-Bustillo

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Soto Velez, Clemente
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Puerto Rican poet, journalist and political activist
DATE OF BIRTH 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Puerto Rico
DATE OF DEATH 1993