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Julia de Burgos Santo Domingo-by Ir2409-

Top 10 Facts About Julia Constanza Burgos Garca

It is frequently difficult to distinguish between the myth of “de Burgos” and the reality of Julia Constanza Burgos Garca. Puerto Rican poet Burgos lived from February 17, 1914, until July 6, 1953. She served as Secretary General of the Daughters of Freedom, the female wing of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, and also advocated for Puerto Rican independence. She advocated for women’s and African/Afro-Caribbean writers’ civic rights. Legend has it that Burgos did an oeuvre of nearly 200 poems. Here are 10 of the best facts to know about Julia Constanza Burgos Garca.

Read also; 10 Most Famous People In Puerto Rico

1. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico

The flag of Puerto Rico painted o the wall by Jo Kassis-

Julia de Burgos (born Julia Constanza Burgos Garca) was the daughter of farmer Francisco Burgos Hans and Paula Garca de Burgos. Her father served in the Puerto Rico National Guard and owned a farm in Carolina, Puerto Rico, where she was born. The family eventually relocated to the same city’s barrio of Santa Cruz. She was the eldest child of thirteen. Malnutrition claimed the lives of six of her younger siblings. 

2. She was a teacher by profession

Burgos received a scholarship to University High School after graduating from Muoz Rivera Primary School in 1928. In 1931, she enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, to become a teacher where she graduated with a teaching degree in 1933, at the age of 19. She became a teacher and taught at Feijoo Elementary School in Naranjito’s Barrio Cedro Arriba. She also worked as a writer for a public radio children’s program but was apparently sacked because of her political opinions.

3. She began composing poetry at a young age

A book of poetry by MorningbirdPhoto-

Burgos was already a published writer in magazines and newspapers by the early 1930s. She wrote three books, each of which contained a collection of her poems. She toured the island conducting book readings to promote her first two books. In 1954, her third novel which addressed the social struggles of those oppressed on the island of Puerto Rico was released posthumously.

Read also; 15 Most Influential Female Poets

4. Burgos’ poems focused on feminist and social justice issues

Burgos’ lyrical poetry combines the intimate, the land, and the oppressed’s social struggle. Many experts believe her poetry foreshadowed the work of feminist writers and poets, as well as other Hispanic authors. “I am life, strength, woman,” she writes in one of her poems. Burgos gained prizes and acclaim for her writing, and she was lauded by poets like Pablo Neruda, whom she met in Cuba, and claimed that her calling was to be one of the Americas’ finest poets. Vanessa Perez Rosario wrote in a 2011 feature on Burgos for Ms. Magazine’s blog, “De Burgos was an ambitious and brilliant woman who worked diligently on two fronts鈥攖o establish herself as a writer of international acclaim and to eradicate injustice.” Her feminist politics and Afro-Caribbean concepts allow us to interpret her as a forerunner to modern Latina/o writers in the United States.”

5. She was a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party

Flag of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party-by Dariusofthedark-

When Burgos met her first husband, Ruben Rodriguez Beauchamp, in 1934, her teaching career was cut short. She began undertaking civil rights work in 1936 and joined the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico)in response to widespread poverty which increased during the Great Depression and discontent with the American rule of Puerto Rico, later becoming Secretary-General of the Daughters of Freedom, the Nationalist Party’s women’s branch.

6. She endured racial, ethnic, and linguistic discrimination as a writer

In 1938, De Burgos released her first poetry collection, Poema en veinte surcos (Imprenta Venezuela). She found it difficult to integrate into Puerto Rican intellectual circles since she was both a divorced lady in a traditional Roman Catholic community and of African origin. At the time, most reform-minded intellectuals were uninterested in feminism or Afro-Puerto Rican civil rights. Furthermore, De Burgos’ poetry dealt openly with the cruelty experienced by both the island’s indigenous peoples and enslaved Africans throughout the colonial period.

Read also; 15 Best Black Poets of All Times

7. She worked as a journalist for Pueblos Hispanos, a progressive New York City newspaper

Magazines by Digital Buggu-

Burgos and Jimenes Grull贸n went to Cuba in 1939, where she briefly attended the University of Havana, and then to New York City, where she worked as a journalist for Pueblos Hispanos, a progressive publication. She did have her work published in local Spanish-language newspapers, and she served as the art and culture editor of Pueblos Hispanos, which championed progressive social and political causes such as Puerto Rican independence. El Instituto de Literatura Puertorrique帽a honored her in 1946 for her article 鈥淪er o no ser es la divisa鈥� (To Be or Not To Be Is the Motto), in which she fought for Puerto Rican independence.

8. Her romantic relationships drove her to depression and alcoholism

At the age of 25, Burgos divorced her first husband, Ruben Rodriguez Beauchamp, and began a romantic involvement with Juan Isidro Jim茅nez Grull贸n, a Dominican political exile. She stayed in New York City following their divorce and married Armando Marn, a Puerto Rican musician with whom she divorced after a short period, and she slipped into melancholy and alcoholism.

9. She died of pneumonia at the age of 39

ElParqueJuliaDeBurgos-by DanielPenfield-

Burgos collapsed on a Harlem sidewalk in 1953 and died of pneumonia at a hospital in Harlem at the age of 39. She had no identity and no one claimed her body, thus she was buried in a New York cemetery with unknowns. Her friends and family eventually allocated her, coordinated the removal of her remains to Puerto Rico, and buried her as a hero in Carolina’s Municipal Cemetery.

10. She is known as a legendary Puerto Rican poetess

Many people’s imaginations have been grabbed by Julia De Burgos’ life, which has been recounted in countless works of visual art, short stories, ballets, articles, books, dramas, and music. Her feminist politics and Afro-Caribbean concepts allow us to see her as a forerunner to contemporary Latina/o writers in the United States. While it is uncommon for a poet to become a cultural icon, she has long aroused feelings of connection and identification among Puerto Ricans and Latina/os. Many Latina artists and authors in the United States, including Mariposa, Andrea Arroyo, Luzma Umpierre, Rosario Ferr茅, and Yasmin Hernandez, have embraced her legacy.

Julia Constanza Burgos Garca was an ambitious and smart lady who worked tirelessly on two fronts: establishing herself as an internationally acclaimed writer and eradicating injustice. Furthermore, we might remember her as part of the Puerto Rican resistance culture, as well as an advocate for civil rights in the United States.