Monday, October 23, 2006

Pepsi Co. Boots The Last Puerto Rican Indian

Cemi Press PRESS ADVISORY

Monday, October 23, 2006
Contact Luis Cordero at
cemipress@galeriacemi.com

Pepsi Gives the Boot to The Last Puerto Rican Indian

Bobby González was supposed to be reading from his latest work, The Last Puerto Rican Indian, a 96-page book of poetry at Pepsi world headquarters in Purchase, NY on Thursday, September 27, 2006. However, after reading a copy of the poem "Thank You Mr. Columbus," Pepsi management reconsidered and in fact rescinded the invitation made by Pepsi's Hispanic Heritage Committee to participate in their Hipanic Heritage Month Celebration.

Christopher Columbus is celebrated throughout the Western hemisphere for taking the risk of sailing the uncharted Atlantic Ocean and discovering a new world. This celebration however is not shared among the Native American communities that he supposedly "discovered." The poem "Thank You Mr. Columbus" brings to your attention the many crimes committed by Christopher Columbus and his followers.

According to the Hispanic Heritage Month Committee members, Pepsi management felt the poem was "offensive to some people." Pepsi, however says that Mr. Gonzalez was disinvited because the invitation was not open to publishers and athors but only to crafts vendors.

We at Cemi Press are disappointed that Pepsi management has taken that stance which covers up an attempt at censoring the story of the Native American holocaust. We are aware that this shameful chapter in history is not known to the general public and corporate America is not in the business of uncovering the truth. "The Last Puerto Rican Indian" is a book that serves as an introduction to the history of the European encounter with Native American cultures.

You can read the full story at:
http://www.tiempony.com/29Pages/5.pdf

You can read the entire poem at:
http://images.r8g.us/rwcode/content.asp?SiteID=7867&Section=103524

The “Last Puerto Rican Indian” is published by Cemi Press and is available at http://www.cemipress.com/, at New York's El Museo del Barrio's gift shop, at Straight Out of Harlem at 704 St. Nicholas Avenue at 145th St., NYC and in Taller Puertorriqueño’s Julia de Burgos Book and Crafts Store, 2721 North 5th Street, Philadelphia, PA.

For more information on Mr. González, visit: http://www.bobbygonzalez

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