THE STORY OF THE WEST SIDE ACCORDING TO THE PUERTO RICANS

Of course not, this is not a tragic, romantic Romeo and Juliet kind of story about a group of people, migrants from a colony in the Caribbean, who had to move to a different society and language, with the idea that the land of the brave, where they were migrating to, would offer them liberty, the pursuit of happiness and a job.This is a tale about Puerto Ricans in the West Side of Manhattan organizing themselves, not necessarily for criminal activities, but to defend their right to be in the neighborhood they chose to live in, to set-up their bodegas, social clubs, restaurants, and be able walk around, and feel protected by those organizations who were not going to allow a bunch of racist to push them out. This is a story about poor people, many of them with little or no formal education, taking control of their lives and communities, integrating racially and culturally the West Side.