Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán, born on this day in 1827, was a Puerto Rican abolitionist, revolutionary, and medical doctor who was the primary instigator of the "Grito de Lares". Betances is considered to be the father of the Puerto Rican independence movement.

Because of his abolitionist beliefs, Betances began organizing a series of secret anti-slavery organizations in 1856. Some of these societies sought the freedom and free passage of maroons from Puerto Rico to countries without slavery, while other societies sought to liberate as many slaves as possible by buying out their freedom (this included freeing thousands of slaves as infants and baptizing them at the Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria).

While exiled from Puerto Rico, Betances and others formed the "Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico" and began agitating for armed insurrection to establish Puerto Rican independence. The most famous attempt of these was the "Grito de Lares", however it was forcibly put down by the local militia.

Betances was known for stating "Nadie puede dar lo que no tiene" (English: "No one can give others what they don't have for themselves") in reference to Spain's unwillingness to grant Puerto Rico or Cuba any reforms.

Days before his death, the U.S. annexed Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War. Frustrated by the ostensible unwillingness of Puerto Ricans to demand their independence from the United States, he wrote "And what's wrong with Puerto Ricans that they haven't yet rebelled?"

Grito de Lares

Several hundred women and men revolted against Spain for Puerto Rican independence on September 23, 1868. The most important figures in the uprising were Manuel Rojas, Mathias Bruckman, Joaquín Parilla, and Francisco Ramírez. The main leader was Ramón Betances but he was not given permission to enter the island. The insurrection failed because the population was apathetic, the rebels lacked adequate training and equipment, and the fact that the Spanish authorities knew of the rebels' plans in advance. Lola Rodríguez de Tió, a Puerto Rican writer, wrote a poem that became the lyrics to La Borinqueña, a revolutionary song and the rebel anthem.

• La Borinqueña current national anthem of Puerto Rico :fidel-salute:

• El Grito de Lares - The Cry of Lares (Puerto Rican Independence Song) :che-smile:

• LATINOPIA BIOGRAPHY RAMÓN EMETERIO BETANCES :chavez-salute:

Hopefully we see an independent Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 in our lifetime and not another state of amerikkka

Hola Camaradas :fidel-salute-big: , Our Comrades In Texas are currently passing Through some Hard times :amerikkka: so if you had some Leftover Change or are a bourgeoisie Class Traitor here are some Mutual Aid programs that you could donate to :left-unity-3:

Here is a list of Trans rights organizations you can support :cat-trans:

Here are some resourses on Prison Abolition :brick-police:

Alexander, M - ‘The New Jim Crow’ (2010)

Davis, A - ‘Are Prisons Obsolete’ (2003)

Jackson, G. - ‘Blood in My Eye’ (1972)

Vitale A.S - ‘The End of Policing’ (2017)

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/angela-y-davis-are-prisons-obsolete :angela:

The State and Revolution :flag-su:

:lenin-shining: :unity: :kropotkin-shining:

The Conquest of Bread :ancom:

Remember, sort by new you :LIB:

Yesterday’s megathread :sad-boi:

Follow the Hexbear twitter account :comrade-birdie:

THEORY; it’s good for what ails you (all kinds of tendencies inside!) :RIchard-D-Wolff:

COMMUNITY CALENDAR - AN EXPERIMENT IN PROMOTING USER ORGANIZING EFFORTS :af:

Join the fresh and beautiful batch of new comms:

!genzedong@hexbear.net :deng-salute:

!strugglesession@hexbear.net :why-post-this:

!libre@hexbear.net :anarxi:

!neurodiverse@hexbear.net :Care-Comrade: