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Alberto O. Cappas & His
Work
Clear, Natural and Poignant.
These words accurately describe Alberto O. Cappas’ work. Cappas understands the suffering and struggles of Puerto Ricans
living in Mainland America as well as in Puerto Rico. His poetry
traces their hopes, problems, and misconceptions from the island to
the mainland where they discover dreams do die hard. In the poem
“Suicide of a Puerto Rican Jibaro,” one need not be Puerto Rican to
identify with the alienation faced when entering a cold, foreign,
and jungle-like world. Cappas successfully explores what such a
drastic change can mean for a Puerto Rican away from his island,
where he is the majority. In “Jibaro,” for the Puerto Rican man who
comes to the United States, “A million times his body was raped by
the unfriendly cold... to pursue the American Dream...” Cappas is a
relentless observer and commentator of what happens when a people
leave their homeland, or forget where they come from, to pursue the
uncertainties of the American Dream. His poetry, ironic at times,
questions whether this dream does exist. In “A Spoken Secret,”
“Light skin Puerto Ricans forget to speak Spanish... and dark skin
Puerto Ricans adopt hot combs to straighten their hair.” In “Doña
Julia,” a woman is trapped like a mouse in America and so commits
suicide as a last attempt to return to her homeland. And in “Maria,”
a young girl sits patiently thinking about her experiences in New
York since leaving Puerto Rico and now waits “for the overdose (of a
drug) to take effect.” Of course this is not to say that all Puerto
Ricans moving to the United States end up killing themselves but it
does show that Cappas is keenly aware of a sort of cultural and
spiritual death that happens to Puerto Ricans when they leave the
tropical scenes and adopt certain American values. In the ironic
humorous poem, “Her Boricua,” a woman buys the Moon, tax-free, and
invites her relatives and friends on weekend nights to “admire the
beauty of her new possession.” She tells them that in America, “you
have the freedom to buy anything you want.” “Haiti in Puerto Rico”
explores the death theme even further. “I recited useless words of a
poem to an audience of Puerto Ricans, turned into zombies, refusing
to break the spell of all the misfortunes.” Doña Julia is a
poetry book filled with poetic stories, forceful and powerful
imagery and messages that will stimulate all minds that come into
contact with it. Cappas’ language is original and refreshing, which
makes his writing very natural and uncluttered with abstractions.
Cappas is correct, knows what he needs to say and clearly makes his
point. This review by Jaira Placide -- New York University
AOC Background and
Community Contributions
Born in Yauco, Puerto Rico
in 1946 and arrived in New York City in 1953. Alberto
Oscar Cappas is a poet and entrepreneur in several diverse
areas. He is the author of Never too late to make a U-Turn: An
Educational Pledge & 15 Questions to Self-Development, a
motivational book for parents and youth-at-risk; and author of
The Pledge: A Guide for Everyday Living, published in
2001. He is also the author of the following poetry collections: Doña Julia & Other Selected Poems, Author House Publishers,
2002; Disintegration of the Puerto Ricans, Don Pedro
Enterprises, 1997; and Echolalia, Carlton Press, 1989.
His poetry has been included in many publications and anthologies in
the United States and Canada. Cappas is the recipient
of the “Keepers of Our Culture” Award for Literature,
presented to him by the New York State Hispanic Heritage Month
Committee -- on September 15, 1994. His talents and skills as a
writer, interest in the human condition and concern for those
socio-economic issues which impact the Puerto Rican/Latino
community, have served to foster in him an active interest and
involvement as a journalist. This has led to his role as
co-publisher and co-editor of The New Tomorrow (TNT) and the
Latino Village Press (LVP), two monthly publications
designed to educate and inform the Puerto Rican/Latino community
about the importance of going into business and developing Latino
economic institutions and infrastructures. His accomplishments and
achievements list him as the founder and Chairperson of the AOC Speakers Bureau, the only Latino and African American
speakers’ bureau in the country (now known as A&L Speakers &
Consultants). He is founder and Chairperson of Don Pedro
Cookies, the makers of Don Pedro Cookies; and he is
co-founder of A Place for Poets, a national
publication which featured aspiring Latino and other emerging
writers and poets. Further, his works have achieved wide interests,
growing appeal and numerous accolades. It should be noted that his
work has been featured and preserved in the City of Buffalo’s new
Metro subway system, with a commissioned work by the Niagara
Frontier’s Transportation Authority of an artistic “vignette”
with two other Latino artists. The work is a thirty-foot steel tile
mural that reflects the search for a sense of belonging in this
city. Also, his early works have been included in the renowned
Schomburg Library’s archives.
The poet is
presently working with the July 4th, 1899
Foundation, a “Think Tank” involved in the research and
studies of the Puerto Rico Statehood movement.
Alberto O. Cappas
is an alumnus of the State University of New York at Buffalo and a
recipient of the NYC Urban League’s Charles Evans Hughes Award
for Creative Writing -- presented to him by Harlem
Preparatory School in 1967.
Alberto O.
Cappas has been featured in the following publications
- Youth Today
(National youth publication)
- Quisqueya Life
(Dominican American)
- City Limits
Magazine
- Latin Beat
Magazine
- Buffalo News
- Buffalo Courier
Express
- Buffalo West Side Times
- Buffalo Hispano
News
- Advista
- Syracuse Impartial
Citizen
- Vista Carib News
- Canales
- New York Press
- Noticias del Mundo
- Buffalo Challenger
- Buffalo Good News
- People's Weekly
World
- Brownstone
Magazine (NYU)
- Downtown Press
- Vision: El
Periodico del Barrio
- La Voz Hispana
- Conciencia (NYU)
- Crane's NY
Business Magazine
- The New York Times
- La Ultima Hora
- Guild Press
- New York Newsday (Manhattan
Profile)
- Vista Monthly Magazine
- Saludos Hispano
Magazine
- El Boricua
Magazine
- National Hispanic
Voice
- National Council
of Latina Women Newsletter
- Puerto Rican
Connection Magazine
Poetry Recitals/Cultural Presentations by
Alberto O. Cappas
·
Stritch
University (Leadership Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
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New York
State School Attendance Officers Association (Monticello, NY)
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The Julia De Burgos Cultural Center (NYC)
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Pratt Institute
·
NYS Department of Health/Office of Minority Health’s
Diversity Forums (Albany, NY)
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Baruch College
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Schenectady
Community College (Schenectady, NY)
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Buffalo State College
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PODER, State University of NY at Buffalo
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Undergraduate Conference/New York University (NYU)
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Buffalo Community Partnership
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Ithaca College
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Manhattan Community College
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Black Arts Forum/Brooklyn
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Hispanic Heritage Month/Albany
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Attica
Correctional Facility
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North Collins Correctional Facility
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Buffalo Masten Park Secure Center
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Bronx Youth Development Center
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Nuyorican's Poets' Café (New York City)
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NYS Liquor Authority (Hispanic Heritage Month Activity)
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New York Public Libraries
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Harlem Hospital Center (Puerto Rican Heritage Month Activity)
Publications
·
Never too late
to make a U-Turn: An Educational Pledge & 15 Questions Leading to
Self-Development,
October 2005, Nubian Voices
·
Doña Julia and
other selected poems,
November 2002, Author House
·
Roots to
Reality, from a
poetry recital and cultural presentation, Cultural Diversity Series,
sponsored by the New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY,
1997
·
The
Disintegration of the Puerto Ricans, a collection of poems, published in 1997, by Don Pedro Enterprises,
USA, Ltd., New York, NY. The book was reprinted again in 2007.
·
Echolalia,
Verse & Vibrations, a collection of poems, published in 1989, by
Calton Press, New York, NY
·
Echoes,
six poems, published in 1987, by A Place for Poets, New York, NY
·
Guild Press
Anthologies, featured in over eight (8) anthologies published
by Guild Press, publisher of Black, Asian and Latino poets and
writers, 1987-1996
For
Information:
NubianVoicesMT@aol.com --- or ---
NubianSpeakers@aol.com
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