El Barrio

About the Book

Take a walk through East Harlem, New York City, where the Puerto Ricans first got their taste of America through “El Barrio”, the short story that lends its name to the book title. From a young man who expresses his rights in the streets to a politician who hands out leaflets about a celebrated couple’s marriage to a young woman who works hard to make her apartment a better place to live in to an entrepreneur extraordinaire who buys and sells everything and anything to a diminutive nun whose political views lean toward Puerto Rican nationalism, the story portrays how they challenge their destinies in this foreign land. Slowly, they try to fulfill their dreams of prosperity, to ply their trades and test their mettle against fate, to build their empires, to find their futures, and to seek and conquer new worlds.

Wrapped with a sundry of emotions, El Barrio presents a collection of author Humberto Cintron’s selected poems – in English and in Puerto Rican Spanish – and short stories that capture the soul of a Puerto Rican living in America, one that has dreams of soaring high yet also seeks the comfort of his hometown.

About the Author

Humberto Cintron was born and raised in El Barrio, East Harlem, New York City, where he currently resides. He was educated in the public school system at PS 107, PS 83, Brooklyn Tech High School and Samuel Gompers High School. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force, where he taught electronics at the Guided Missiles School in Denver, Colorado. He took a BA in sociology at Hunter College, New York, in 1963 and an MA in urban studies at Occidental College, Los Angeles, in 1970 and earned his JD at New College of California School of Law in 1990 at age 54. He has been a pioneering advocate, executive, television producer, journalist, community organizer, fundraiser, trainer, and institution builder throughout his adult life. Mr. Cintron has served as a founding member of the National Board of Directors of Common Cause, The Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution and the National Latino Media Coalition. He has served as consultant for the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity, Department of Labor and Head Start programs. During this rich and unique career, spanning over six decades, he has launched and sustained a wide variety of programs and projects, including the Community Action Programs in Norwalk, Connecticut (NEON) and in East Harlem, New York (MEND), and the internationally renowned art gallery and cultural center, Galeria de La Raza/Studio 24, in San Francisco, California, as administrative director. After earning his JD, he served as associate with the unique law office of Bill Martinez, specializing in securing visas for international musicians and artists from Cuba visiting the US. His previous publications include a novel, Frankie Cristo, Vantage Press, 1970; a teleplay, No Orphans for Tia, awarded the silver medal at the New York International TV and Film Festival (WNBC, 1971); an essay, “Across 3rd Avenue: Freedom,” published in the book entitled Puerto Rican Perspectives by Edward Mapp (1972); and various scripts for the television series Realidades, WNET, channel 13, New York City (1971–1977). He is best known for his role as host, writer and executive producer of Realidades, the first national Latino public affairs television series in the history of public television in the United States, produced at WNET, channel 13, in New York City.