Dra. Evelina Lopez Antonetty was one of the most formidable New York Puerto Rican civil rights activists of the 20th century. Evelina Antonetty was a tireless truth-teller and a fearless fighter. She defended the civil and human rights of workers, youth and elders. She believed in Puerto Rican Independence and community control. She actively built coalitions, planned and carried out boycotts, and voter registration drives — she used every strategy imaginable to build power for her people.
Evelina Lopez Antonetty was born September 19, 1922 in Salinas, Puerto Rico. She was the eldest daughter of Evangelina Cruz, a single mother. Evelina, her mother Eva and her sister Lillian moved from el barrio Jueyes in Salinas to the barrio of San Anton, one of several settlements which later became the city of Ponce. The massive displacement of many poor Puerto Rican families was caused a mounting economic crisis which was exacerbated by a series of traumatic events: Hurricane San Felipe Segundo, directly hitting the island in September of 1928, the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and the onset of The Great Depression — a world-wide economic crisis that would last a decade. All of this — and the collapse of the sugar industry in Puerto Rico, forced many Puerto Ricans to flee the island. Eva, Evelina’s mother, sent her eldest daughter on a 5 day journey by steam ship to live with her aunt Vicenta and uncle Enrique. Evelina arrived in New York City’s El Barrio in 1933 at the age of 11, by herself, but she was not alone.
Evelina Lives: A Short Documentary produced by BronxNet in collaboration with the Evelina 100 Committee celebrates the life and legacy of Bronx-based activist/advocate/educator EVELINA ANTONETTY-- one of the most impactful activists of the Puerto Rican diaspora of the 20th century. Visit Evelina100.org to learn more.
As a teenager, Evelina was inspired and influenced by her aunt Vicenta, who was socially and politically conscious and active in her community of Spanish Harlem, El Barrio. As a teenager, Evelina was also mentored by the Afro/Black Puerto Rican socialist writer and columnist, Jesús Colón (1901 — 1974). Colón was the first to write about the Black Puerto Rican experience, in English. His book, A Puerto Rican in New York and Other Sketches also focuses on themes that include labor, labor exploitation, poverty, hunger, racial violence and job discrimination, family, community, friendship, home, belonging and love. Don Colón was posthumously honored by the National Association of Hispanic Journalism in 2021.
In 1966, Evelina Lopez Antonetty founded United Bronx Parents (UBP), a South Bronx organization that served Puerto Ricans and African Americans. Credited with winning the fight for the first bilingual school in the South Bronx, UBP fought for many issues, including tenant rights, fair housing and community control. They fought for the removal of garbage and toxic waste. They fought against against police brutality and the criminalization of the Puerto Rican and Black community. Whether she was organizing a voter registration drive to build political and people power drive or a boycott of a racist film like Fort Apache, The Bronx, the UBP office was “a nerve center for political and community advocacy” for the community to discuss important matters, face to face and take action.
Antonetty worked with community organizers and mentored many young people. Many of her youth became activists and some became elected officials, including Congressman Jose E. Serrano, who served as a member of the New York State Assembly from 1975 to 1990, when he was elected to Congress.
In January 2022, the Soy Evelina Committee released an announcement of Evelina Antonetty’s centennial celebration. The following #roundup is a sample of some of the community events that took place to celebrate Evelina Antonetty this past week in New York City.
The Puerto Rican community in New York City has never forgotten Evelina Antonetty. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Antonetty family. They have never stopped being a family that is politically and socially conscious, and active in the community. We also owe a debt of gratitude to the the community organizers for sharing and passing down stories, and to the teachers fighting to create curriculum that centers heroines like Evelina.
We will continue to honor Evelina Lopez Antonetty with art, poems, stories and music. But the best way is through political action! VOTE!!! Evelina Antonetty believed in using every strategy, including the ballot box. She worked actively with Civil Rights Leaders. Today, The Bronx is the most over populated and under represented boro. We stand on the shoulders of giants, including, the shoulders of our Beloved Evelina Antonetty. And there is still crisis. It seems that for Puerto Ricans, crisis does not go on vacation. This is colonialism. We have a lot of work to do and in the words of Evelina, “We will never stop struggling here in The Bronx.”