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2:05 p.m., March 6, 2003--Reporter, poet and activist Felipe Luciano encouraged young Latinos to empower themselves through commitment to ethnic pride at a speech Wednesday, March 5. in the Trabant University Center, sponsored by UD’s Center for Black Culture.
 Luciano has received acclaim in both media and community activism as the first Puerto Rican news anchor for WNBC, as the founder and chairman of the Young Lords Party, a civil rights group, and as one of the Original Last Poets, the rappers of the civil rights era.
Luciano’s presentation, which was delivered to more than 50 Latino schoolchildren visiting the University from Paul Independent Public Charter Junior High School in Washington, D.C., centered his speech on “Making the Decision About Life and Death.”
He said young Latinos should aspire to live and succeed, but they must make this choice on their own and take action to make it a reality.
“I want to talk to the ones who are already damaged. I want to talk to the ones who aren’t sure if they can make it,” Luciano stressed. “When I was younger, I made a decision to live when some of my compañeros decided to die. They made conscious decisions to die. The decisions they made had to do with how they manifested their life force.
“Some of them joined gangs. Some of them got shot at close range. To see someone’s head get blown up is enough to make you abhor violence for life. Your life is in your hands, and it starts at junior high school.”
Luciano said Latinos are the largest ethnic group in the nation, but conflicts within the ethnicities of the cultural group prevent empowerment. He emphasized the multicultural backgrounds of Latinos, including African American, Native American, Arab and Jewish heritage, and said the students should embrace this fact rather than reject it. Luciano considers himself to be a black Latino.
“We need to stop categorizing people by race because we all are composed of many through ancestry,” he said. “If you don’t know who you are, if you don’t know the history of the Latino nation, you’ll be in deep water.”
Luciano said three criteria must be actively pursued for Latino empowerment – scholarship, travel and self-appreciation.
He assured the young students that they did not have to be “A” students to participant in the realm of scholarship. Rather, they only need to show curiosity and a willingness to learn, he said.
“Stupidity is when you have the information and you ignore it. Read everything you can get your hands on. Read, read, read!” he shouted. “I don’t care if it’s a corn flakes box. Just read!”
Luciano also spoke of the importance for women to stay in school instead of dropping their goals and aspirations for a man.
“So many Latino women are brilliant, but they act dumb. Why? To impress a man?” he asked. “Men – stop being dream killers. And women – if the guy tells you to come to a party and drop the studies, drop him.”
Luciano said travel is vital to Latino empowerment because it broadens cultural horizons. He encouraged the students to work in a cooperative manner to show each other different parts of the United States, as well as the world.
“If you have a summer house in Mexico, take your friend with you. Beg your mommy. Tell her, I’ll do the dishes for the next five years,” he joked.
Finally, Luciano stressed the importance of self-esteem. He said the only way Latinos can unite is if they embrace themselves and each other.
“Sometimes we get educated, but we still think we’re ugly – physically, mentally, spiritually,” he said. “Beauty does not come from what your nose looks like. Beauty comes from inside.”
Luciano concluded his speech with words of encouragement that he said he hoped the children would take with them when they returned to Washington, D.C.
“We are here for a mission. I don’t know what dreams you have. Maybe God will impart to you through the energy I’m giving you a sense of purpose and mission tonight,” he said. “We have a Latino saying, ‘A united people can never be defeated.’”
Article by Amie Voith, AS 2003
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