As of 2020:
Population in PR: 3.2 million
Population of PRs in the US: 5.8 million
In researching the parade and its history, I came across a lot more controversy, turmoil, and changes than I expected. I went down a rabbit hole and suddenly found myself reading a Marxist newspaper! As is usually the case, there’s conflicting or missing info depending on the source, so we always list our sources in the transcript.
Those controversies include: parade leaders lining their own pockets with donations; invited and uninvited political protestors, politicians and candidates running for office; questionable honorees that caused sponsors to pull their support (two of them were an actor who did time for beating up his girlfriend, and a member of FALN); criticism that through the years the parade strayed from their mission, which was about community and culture, not corporate sponsorship (apparently today’s parade looks like a commercial); and incidents with Coors beer in 2011 and 2013 – first the slogan “emboricuate” which some said sounded too much like “emborrachate” and then Coors producing cans with the PR flag – in both cases critics said it was bad for the Puerto Rican image. If you’ve been listening to us for a while, you probably have picked up that we try to be fair and see all points of view.
What we’re gonna do right now is go back…back to the 1950s. En aquel tiempo, the Hispanic population in New York City was steadily increasing and dealing with the usual challenges faced by immigrant groups. They were looking for solidarity and to have their voices heard. Get some political and social justice. They saw the success of immigrant groups before them, such as the Italians and the Irish, who also utilized parades as part of their social and political strategy. Let me point out that even though Puerto Ricans are American citizens and therefore not technically immigrants, we can relate to the immigration experience in America, especially the Latin experience.
Two prominent Puerto Rican activists led the fight for a parade that would show everyone the size and strength of the Latin community in New York City. They were Gilberto Gerena Valentín, originally from Lares (he lived from 1918-2016), and Doña Antonia Denis (couldn’t find her birth and death dates), but she was born in either Toa Baja or Vega Baja and arrived in Brooklyn during WWI. Her main mission in life was to get Puerto Ricans in New York City to vote. Those fighting for the parade pushed the city to give them permission. They also urged the Federation of Hispanic Societies (a community organization which included various Puerto Rican associations and activist groups) to organize the event.
Interestingly, there was opposition to the parade idea by various groups. One of these was the Catholic church. Here we go. I’m gonna pick on the church lol! Every June, they held a huge public feast in honor of St. John the Baptist (San Juan Bautista), which attracted large numbers of Boricuas (here’s an interesting fact: in 1964, the event was dedicated to President JFK, who’d been assassinated the previous November. About 60,000 people with mixed emotions attended.). The church already considered the feast of St. John the Baptist the “true” Puerto Rican parade and was afraid that a new parade would negatively impact this event. But this new parade wasn’t religious in tone! The goals were different.
And not to get too political, but among those that opposed the parade were certain Puerto Ricans themselves who wanted to integrate smoothly into American culture, and worried that the parade would be like saying “we’re different and we wanna be separate”, and therefore “hinder” the assimilation of Boricuas. Others felt that Puerto Ricans were different from other Spanish-speaking groups, so that aligning themselves with these other immigrants politically could mess up their agenda. Yet other Puerto Ricans thought of the Federation of Hispanic Societies as anti-American, even Communist.
But in 1955, the Federation of Hispanic Societies made the parade a reality. It was known as the Hispanic Day Parade and represented all Latinos. It went along 5th Avenue (from 62nd to 96th Street; not Spanish Harlem as some thought). It wasn’t just strictly New Yorkers either. The parade organizers also invited Puerto Rican organizations from New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania (and of course PR itself) to join them in marching.
On May 5, 1957, the New York Times wrote, quote “There was a fiesta on Fifth Avenue yesterday as 25,000 New Yorkers of Spanish cultural background paraded under the auspices of the Federation of Hispanic Societies.”
But this wouldn’t last long! It sounds like there was some infighting and power struggles among the different Latin groups. To put it bluntly, Puerto Ricans outnumbered the other Latin groups, and they were US citizens, so they felt they were in the best position to be in charge, negotiate and work with the American politicians, and really get things done politically. If they made themselves stand out, and shouted their accomplishments loud and proud, they could get the support and changes needed, and in turn help their Latin brothers and sisters better.
Only two years later, in 1958, the Puerto Ricans officially broke off and organized their own parade, the Puerto Rican Day Parade. It was held on Sunday, April 13, 1958, and this time it seems it did take place in East Harlem, aka Spanish Harlem, aka “El Barrio,” in Upper Manhattan. Some sources say the parade happened on Fifth Avenue. So I’m not 100 percent sure. As with a lot of things that happened before the internet, there’s conflicting info. …in any case, this parade was a huge success, with 5000 marching and 125,000 spectators. Everyone from the mayor to the media had nice things to say.
The Hispanic Parade continued on its own, and it seems members of both groups could march in both parades. If I understood correctly, it appears they all had some say in both parades.
In 1959, efforts were made to combine the Hispanic Day Parade and the Puerto Rican Parade into one big happy Latin parade, but that failed. That year, the number of marchers in the Puerto Rican parade doubled to 10,000 and attendance increased by 35,000 to 160,000 people!
Fast forward to 1962, the 10th anniversary of Puerto Rico officially adopting a new constitution and officially becoming the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (July 25, 1952!). That year the Boricuas said, you know what, this new parade needs to be ours only. And so that year, quote, “the first truly unified Puerto Rican parade took place.” For the first time, it was held on the 2nd Sunday in June, where it has remained ever since. By now it was definitely along Fifth Avenue, and they extended the route from 44th to 86th streets. It was the biggest parade they’d had so far, costing $100,000 (a million bucks today), with 50 floats, 40 bands, and 500,000 spectators! WEPA!
In 1967, the parade was televised for the first time, on Telemundo (Channel 47).
In 1968, the parade opened itself up to corporate sponsorship. It’s costing a lot of money, and this helps! The companies marching included Goya and Café Caribe.
The 1970s see the parade growing, succeeding, winning the hearts of people everywhere. A- Listers such as Bobby Capo and Rita Moreno are honored. It also opened up to allow political organizations to march peacefully with them. Some people are against politics in the parade, some are all for it because of the exposure.
In 1980, the Puerto Rican Parade was officially renamed the New York Puerto Rican Parade. The 80s saw continued growth and success of the parade, with 200,000 marching now and almost a million attendees! They also have non-Puerto Rican sponsors like Budweiser and Heineken. They know what’s up!
1995: A turning point for the annual event! The New York Puerto Rican Parade became incorporated as a non-profit and renamed the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, Inc. This expansion meant more participants, more revenue, and more programs and services for the community. Among the individuals involved in this effort were Madelyn Lugo (from Yauco), who is still on the Board of Directors; Maria Román Dumén (who was born in Arecibo and raised in New York), who is currently an honorary board member; and one Dr. Ramón S. Vélez (1933-2008), known as the Padrino (Godfather) of the South Bronx.
The 90s is when we started going to the parades! That’s when all the stars we were more familiar with started attending…Jerry Rivera, Marc Anthony, Frankie Negron, etc.
Ok so the next note I have is about the first time the parade was broadcast on an English-language channel. One source said 2007, which seems really late. Another source wrote that it was 1996. I tend to believe that one. Fortunately, with livestream today you can catch it on YouTube on ABC, although shout out to Live Walking NYC for live streaming on time and even showing behind-the-scenes before the parade! I believe Telemundo also streams it but honestly I didn’t look for a Spanish broadcast.
1996 was another standout year because 1. They dedicated the parade to the Borinqueneers – the 65th Infantry Regiment that served honorably during the Korean War. and 2. They honored Dr. Ricardo Alegria, who was a prominent anthropologist, archaeologist, historian, geologist, and recipient of the National Endowment for Humanities Award. Attendance keeps exploding, it’s now almost 2 million people watching 70 floats and over 150,000 marchers!
Ugh we need to mention the year 2000. It’s bad enough that the legendary Tito Puente had just died. But then a bunch of thugs sexually assaulted over 50 women in Central Park during the parade. And the cops were on video doing little to nothing. Unfortunately, this horrible incident got attached to the parade, even though most of the criminals weren’t even Puerto Rican. Local government officials urged people not to punish the parade for what happened. Also, we were there and we remember it was hot as hell, and we were walking through Central Park and noticed some kind of commotion, so we decided to get out of there.
During the decade and a half that followed, the parade marched on and continued to grow despite the fears people and businesses had. Huge names continued to participate.
In 2014, after investigations into fraud, misappropriation of funds, and because of some of their past questionable decisions, the parade got new leaders. They rebranded, if you will, making it their mission to focus on education, culture, music, joy, community, and honoring those who have made a difference in many different areas (entertainment, business, education, etc.).
I watched most of the 2023 parade, and what I saw was peace, pride, Puerto Rican flags up, festivity, lots of music and dancing, a float with a huge lechon asado, celebrities, politicians, up-and-coming musicians, and a Corona beer float among other businesses. Estimated attendance was roughly a million people. It makes sense that numbers are down because of the pandemic. If anything bad or controversial happened, I didn’t see it and I haven’t heard about it yet.
By the way, the Hispanic Day Parade is still held. In the beginning it was in the summer, close to the Puerto Rican Parade. But at some point, it was moved to October.
Today we have:
Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15 – October 15
Hispanic Day Parade: 2nd Sunday in October
National Puerto Rican Day Parade: 2nd Sunday in June (its route is from 44th Street to 79th Street along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan)
SOURCES:
https://www.voanews.com/a/many-puerto-ricans-leaving-us-mainland/7032522.html#:~:text=Data%20from%20the%202020%20Census,population%20in%20the%20continental%20U.S.
https://www.nationalpuertoricandayparade.org/history.html#:~:text=The%20first%20parade%20was%20held,Avenue%20in%20New%20York%20City.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_Day_Parade
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/nyregion/03velez.html
https://www.nprdpinc.org/
https://centropr-archive.hunter.cuny.edu/centrovoices/current-affairs/true-hero-puerto-rican-diaspora-celebrating-gilberto-gerena-valent%C3%ADn
https://centropr-archive.hunter.cuny.edu/centrovoices/chronicles/puerto-rican-parade-now-and-then
http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/bhs/arms_1992_021_denis/bioghist.html
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/08/320025545/the-puerto-rican-day-parade-that-almost-didnt-happen#:~:text=In%20May%202013%2C%20Lucky%20Rivera,the%20blessing%20of%20parade%20organizers.
https://centropr-archive.hunter.cuny.edu/centrovoices/barrios/antonia-denis-pioneering-voter-rights-activist-puerto-ricans-brooklyn
https://www.nytimes.com/1964/06/29/archives/fiesta-of-st-john-attracts-60000-annual-puerto-rican-event.html
http://llero.net/2015-national-puerto-rican-day-parade-telemundo-seinfeld-puerto-rico-boricua-new-york-city/
https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140213/east-harlem/puerto-rican-day-parade-marketing-rep-pocketed-1m-board-funds-ag-finds/
https://nypost.com/2007/06/06/50-greatest-moments/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF_5WmtlRtDUW8BG6tkbDMA
Cent Migr Stud Spec Iss - January 1989 - KASINITZ - THE PUERTO RICAN PARADE AND WEST INDIAN CARNIVAL Public Celebrations.pdf