Road Dog reading choices for this trip

Here are the 3 books I selected to bring with on this trip.

In researchingPuerto Rican history i came across Oscar Lopez Rivera, a Puerto Rican Nationalist. The 74-year-old had been in custody for seditious conspiracy since 1981.

https://www.stanforddaily.com/2020/02/22/former-puerto-rican-political-prisoner-oscar-lopez-rivera-talks-decolonization-solidarity/

"To his supporters, he is a freedom fighter for the cause of Puerto Rican independence. To others, he's a terrorist," NPR's Kelly McEvers noted at the time.

The history of Island politics has always been sordid and sticky. As you can clearly read in “Between Torture and Resistance” and “War Against All Puerto Rican’s”, two excellent reads that take the reader on an eye opening journey through the colonization and resistance of the island of Puerto Rico.

“In a colony, there is no such thing as human rights, and Puerto Ricans have never had the opportunity to enjoy the basic human rights that all humans should be able to enjoy,” Lopez Rivera said.

“Rivera’s vision for an independent Puerto Rico includes protecting its schools, setting its maritime boundary to include a 12-mile ocean radius and developing an ecotourism system.”

Accused of sedition and affiliation with terrorist organizations for simply opposing the negligent and abusive rule of the United States Government on the island although he never carried out an act of terror, Oscar Lopez Rivera spent his life imprisoned since 1981.

https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com

“When it won the Spanish-American War in 1898, the U.S. acquired Puerto Rico as a new “possession.” The American who led the invasion, Gen. Nelson A. Miles, promised “liberty” to Puerto Ricans. He also promised “prosperity” and “the advantages and blessings of enlightened civilization.”

This never occurred. Puerto Rico was stripped of her land and natural resources by U.S. banking syndicates. By 1934, the theft was so extreme that Puerto Ricans organized an island-wide agricultural strike. In response to this strike the Yale-educated Chief of Police, whose father owned the Riggs National Bank, promised that “there will be war to the death against all Puerto Ricans.”

This web site documents some of that war.

It documents the murder of innocent Puerto Ricans; the bombing of Puerto Rican towns; the blackmail of Puerto Rico’s governor; the beating, torture and execution of Puerto Rican prisoners; and the hiding of all this information from the American public.

This web site also presents a short biography of Pedro Albizu Campos, leader of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico, who devoted his entire life to the independence of his country.

These two books go hand in hand so if you order one go ahead and order the other for reference material. They will blow your mind!

Lastly,

http://www.annabrookehealing.com/stripped-down

“Stripping Down” by Anna Brooke, aka Legs Malone, a fellow burlesquer and buddy of mine who sent me this book on her personal striptease journey.

“Stripped Down is about one woman’s journey into deeper levels of acceptance and love of herself through the powerful art form of burlesque. When Anna discovers a vibrant form of self-expression in the most unlikely of places, the rest of her life begins. By saying yes to the messages that lie deep in her heart, the opinions, judgements and fears of others fall away as her unexpected path emerges.”