Posted on February 17, 2020
The life of Julia Burgos - who later changed her name to Julia de Burgos - was filled with hardship. She was the oldest of 13 children, born in Puerto Rico on this date in 1914. Her father was a farmer, and the family was very poor - to the point of some of her siblings dying of malnutrition! She had African ancestry, which is common in the Caribbean but which was considered lower status.
She studied at university and became a teacher. She is most famous for her poetry and her activism in an attempt to make Puerto Rico independent and in an attempt to win civil rights for women and African/Afro-Caribbean people.
De Burgos left Puerto Rico at age 25 and never returned while alive. She lived a short time in Cuba but largely in New York City. She supported herself and her family by writing and also by serving as an editor of a socialist Spanish-language periodical.
When De Burgos died at age 39, she gained recognition in Puerto Rico, earning an honorary doctorate, having schools named after her, and appearing on a postage stamp! 
It's so important for citizens of the United States to understand that Puerto Rico is part of the U.S. It seems to me that it would only be fair for Puerto Ricans to be able to join the U.S. fully, as a state, or to gain independence; it's now a territory, with Puerto Ricans being U.S. citizens - but citizens who lack full representation in D.C.!
Also, because Puerto Rica has been recently devastated by a hurricane and then again by an earthquake, it needs all the help it can get to rebuild!
Also on this date:
Louis Riel Day in Manitoba
(Third Monday in February)
(Third Monday in February)
(Third Monday in February)
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