On Thursday June 1, 2023, former Assembly member and New York City Council member, and activist, José Rivera was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Lehman College President Fernando Delgado. Provost Dr. Peter Nwosu introduced the resolution, granting the degree with the following words: “For 40 years, José Rivera has represented the people of the Bronx. His decades-long service in the New York State Assembly began in 1982. In 1987 he left Albany to work on issues closer to home as a member of the New York City Council—and returned to the state legislature in 2000 to head the Bronx Democratic Party and represent the 78th district, this very community.
Throughout his career he fought to elevate the quality of life for borough residents, as well as the people of Puerto Rico, where he was born. Among many causes, he pushed for a higher minimum wage, new and improved green space, and a modernized infrastructure. Before civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was recognized with a federal holiday, he was key in establishing that holiday in the state of New York. Remembering his own struggles as a Puerto Rican migrant, he advocated for immigrant New Yorkers and the welfare of working people who make the city run. He also worked to increase Latino political representation and advance racial and gender diversity in the Bronx Court system.
As a staunch believer in the power of higher education, he found tangible ways to support the expansion and excellence of Lehman College, as a center of opportunity and community resource for its neighbors. His vision for the Bronx is ours as well: a borough where educational and cultural institutions are deeply engaged with the communities, they call home, and world-class facilities are accessible to all.
Mr. Rivera’s significant contributions to the Bronx, the city, and the State of New York make him an ideal candidate for an honorary CUNY degree from Lehman College.
BE IT RESOLVED, that Herbert H. Lehman College awards the José Rivera the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, at the College’s annual commencement ceremony on June 1, 2023.” President Fernando Delgado then conferred the degree.
José then stepped to the podium and read his speech: “President Delgado, trustees, faculty, staff, graduates, and my wife, family, and my community:
I stand before you today, honored, and grateful to receive this honorary degree.
I arrived in this country in the 1940s with my mother, Georgina Padilla, and my sisters directly from La Perla, Puerto Rico. It was the middle of a brutally cold winter, and we had no winter clothing. I was given a coat with half of the buttons missing. Although my esteemed mother could not speak English, she did everything she could do to care for us, raising us right here in the Bronx as a single mother.
I was able to attend Morris High School in the Bronx, and like my sisters, go on to do great things because of her strength, tenacity, and love. I am dedicating this honorary degree to the work and love of a caring mother who struggled to provide my sisters and me with a better life. Georgina Padilla, my mother, is why I stand before you today.
It is also because of your caring parent that you are here today, receiving your degree from one of the most distinguished colleges in the nation.
My mother taught us to become better people. Her concern for the well-being of others is what led me to public service. I joined the struggle for social justice and equity, fighting for fairness for historically oppressed people, learning from people like Gerena Valentin, Herman Badillo, and James Haughton. That meant fighting for jobs, better housing, and better health care and minority participation in rebuilding Lincoln Hospital.
As a longtime member of the Carpenters’ Union, I championed the cause of the working class; I also founded the United Tremont Trades helping to secure jobs for many. In 1980, during the presidential campaign, with the attention of the entire world focused on the Democratic convention at Madison Square Garden, I helped organized the legendary “People’s Convention” on Charlotte Street, here in the Bronx. This way, attention was brought directly to the poor and hard-working families that struggled to put food on their table daily, and I have the videos to prove it.
I went to jail for fighting against the decades-old abuse of the people of Vieques, Puerto Rico by the US Navy, demanding that it stop its military exercises and leave. In 1991, with the help of the NY City Council, I passed the first-ever, historic resolution asking President George W. Bush to free the Puerto Rican political prisoners and celebrated their release, especially that of my good friend Oscar López Rivera, who served 36 years in prison and was freed in 2017.
What I learned in the streets, I brought to Government when in 1983, I was elected to serve in the State Assembly, the New York City Council and again to the Assembly.
I leave you graduates with the same advice my mother gave me: seek and fight for the well-being of others, even as you seek your own success. For in the end, the measure of your success will be determined by how well you served the community and how many videos you filmed. Thank you.”
José then stepped down from the podium to the clapping and cheering of the students, faculty and his family and supporters. On behalf of Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Executive Director José E. López stated, “When the true history of the Puerto Rican people is written it must include a golden chapter on José Rivera, our iconic Puerto Rican who, against all odds, became a political powerhouse in the heart of the South Bronx— the bedrock of the Puerto Rican diaspora cultural awakening. More importantly, José Rivera, championed many of the great causes of the Puerto Rican nation during the past half century, ranging from the struggle to release all the Puerto Rican political prisoners – from the Nationalists in the 70s to the release of my brother Oscar López Rivera in 2017 and of equal importance, the struggle of the people of Vieques to rid itself of the US Navy. This is a well-deserved recognition for our patriarch.”
