“Sustaining the same Ideals….112 years in the struggle for equality”
“Today, like yesterday, we continue sustaining the same ideal to be a State…equal in rights, and responsibilities.”
- Dr. Jose Celso Barbosa
As a tribute to the legacy of Dr. Jose Celso Barbosa - a physician, Puerto Rican advocate for equality, father of the Puerto Rico statehood movement, and an American patriot.
We also acknowledge the significant contributions of all those that have also shared and worked to advanced Barbosa’s ideal. Such individuals as Federico Degetau, Santiago Iglesias Pantín, Rafael Martínez Nadal, Miguel Angel Garcia Mendez, Pilar Barbosa, Luis A. Ferré (founder of the New Progressive Party), Carlos Romero Barceló, Baltasar Corrada del Río, Pedro Rosselló, Carlos Ignacio Pesquera, and Luis G. Fortuño among many others.
As forbearers and leaders of our ideal, these men and women have all worked to advance Puerto Rico's integration as a full partner within the American Union. For all who believe in equality, dignity, and advancement for Puerto Rico, the Center for Puerto Rico Equality & Advancement (CPREA) is dedicated to providing a voice and a vehicle for the continued advancement of their legacy and to promote those same ideals.
We will never forget the sacrifice and efforts of all those who have worked so tirelessly to see the day when Puerto Rico takes its rightful place among the rest of the States of the Union. Our message is not exclusive, but inclusive, since we believe “that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
