“Pa’ la isla, broder, pa’ la isla,” shouted David Castro above the din. In front of the offices of the Puerto Rican Parade Committee at California and Division cars were passing, huge stereo speakers across the street were blasting, and the two cops were directing pedestrian traffic through a bullhorn.
“Hey, it’s a little something–to say thank you,” Yuarez yelled. The stereo speakers were broadcasting pleas for funds, clothes, and canned goods being collected at the parade committee headquarters.
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Further down the street from them, a wiry young guy named Wilfredo was shaking a box at motorists too. “This hurricane, man, it’s kind of brought everybody together,” he said, staring down a motorist who quickly offered up a couple of dollars. “Like, ordinarily, I wouldn’t be here, you know, because I’m a Cobra and this whole part of the park–” he waved his hand at the green lawn where a woman and a pair of kids were playing on the swing set “–this is Disciples territory. But see, with this hurricane thing, everybody’s got to do their part. You know, I saw Disciples, Kings in there–” he pointed at the parade committee headquarters “–but this is different, man, this is big. We don’t even mind them.” This time he nodded at a crew of Guardian Angels.
Maria Garcia, a tiny woman who was in Nicaragua at the time, remembered. “I always knew something would happen and I’d get a chance to pay people back for helping us,” she said as she carried a package of Pampers up to the second floor of the parade headquarters. “Roberto Clemente died taking us food after that earthquake. I always knew I’d help Puerto Rico when I got my chance. So here I am.”
“Look at this table–there are about 500 years of age between us,” Miranda said. “This is terrible.” They were laughing so hard, Tony Paez–another, younger DJ–cut them off and, suppressing his own laughter, began telling the listeners how well the fund-raising was going.
“You know who’s helping? Latinos, that’s who’s helping,” said Maria Sanchez, a volunteer serving food. “You know what Americans have been here? The Guardian Angels. And you know what they do when they get here? They eat, that’s all, they stand and eat, then they leave like they need a presidential escort or something.”
“Isn’t that cheap?” asked the senator as he looked over a list of towns in Puerto Rico in need of help. These included Aguas Buenas, Barranquitas, Patillas, and more than 20 others. “It’s not the time or place to be interjecting local politics like that. We have a national emergency here. The Tribune got used and they know it.”
