Remembering Jack Agueros, a Puerto Rican Trailblazer

NEW YORK, NY --The children who bask in the annual Three Kings Parade in New York City's El Barrio and the tourists who visit El Museo del Barrio might not know Jack Agüeros' name, but many Puerto Ricans and New York City Latinos remember him as a key figure in both of those New York City institutions.

Jack Agüeros, a former director of El Museo del Barrio, as well as a poet, writer,translator and community activist, passed away Sunday, May 4th. He was part of a generation of Puerto Ricans in New York who pushed for increased representation in city government, and went on a five-day hunger strike in 1968 until city leaders met some of his demands, as New York Times' David Gonzalez reports.

Agüeros was also the driving force behind ensuring El Museo del Barrio's current Fifth Avenue location in Manhattan, at the end of Museum Mile, and insisted the Museum expand beyond Puerto Rican and Caribbean art into Latin American art. “We are too culturally rich to force ourselves into ghettos of narrow nationalism,” Agüeros said in 1978, according to Gonzalez.

"Jack should be a role model for people who call themselves activists and progressives," said Gerson Borrero, a New York-based political commentator for NY1 News and a City and State columnist. Borrero told NBC that Agüeros pursued education from a humble background, "but he never sold out. He showed you could be a poet, and for the arts, but still be a warrior for your community," he added.

In a statement on Agüeros' passing, a Museo del Barrio statement quoted one of Puerto Rico's most beloved poets, the late Julia de Burgos, in Spanish. "Que nadie me profane la muerte con sollozos," (May no one profane my death with sobs).

Instead, what many hope is that Agüeros is remembered for his accomplishments.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSIt’s rarely been harder for people to find new jobs

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSIt’s rarely been harder for people to find new jobs

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

"Jack was instrumental in the inception of our honored Three Kings Day Parade, the relocation of our museum to its current location, and the evolution of our institution to a pan-Latin American mission," stated Tony Bechara, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for El Museo del Barrio.

"He fought the good fight," said Borrero. "If people remember him when they walk into El Museo,I think that would be a tribute."

--Sandra Lilley