Rosario Morales facts for kids

Rosario Morales (born August 23, 1930 – died March 23, 2011) was a Puerto Rican author and poet. She is best known for her book Getting Home Alive. She wrote this book with her daughter, Aurora Levins Morales, in 1986. Rosario Morales was also important in the Latina feminist movement. This movement works for equal rights for women. She was also involved with the Communist Party, a political group. She described her unique identity in her poem "I am what I am," saying, "I am Puerto Rican I am U.S. American… I am Boricua as Boricuas come… I am naturalized Jewish American… I am what I am. Take it or leave me alone."

About Rosario Morales

Growing Up

Rosario Morales was born in August 1930 in New York City. Her parents were immigrants from Naranjito, Puerto Rico. Her mother worked in a hospital and a factory. Her father was a janitor and then an electrician. Rosario grew up in El Barrio, a neighborhood in New York. At that time, not many Puerto Ricans lived in the U.S. This helped her connect with other groups, like her Eastern European Jewish neighbors.

At home, the Morales family spoke Spanish. But when Rosario and her sister started public school, they began to speak mostly English. Rosario said they spoke "Inglañol," which was English with some Spanish words. It was in primary school that Rosario found her love for writing.

As a young person, Rosario had mixed feelings about her Puerto Rican background. She loved the island's nature, as seen in her poem "Happiness as a Coquí." But she also felt that the United States was her true home. She wrote in "Puerto Rican Journal," "This is not home eleven years couldn’t make it home. I’ll always be clumsy with the language always resentful of the efforts to remake me."

Adult Life and Family

While studying at Hunter College in New York, Rosario met Richard Levins. He was also known as Dick. They met through friends and political activities. They got married in 1950 when Rosario was 19.

In 1951, Rosario and Dick moved to Puerto Rico. Dick wanted to avoid being called for the draft during the Korean War. In Puerto Rico, they became active in the Puerto Rican Communist Party. They also worked on a small farm.

Their first child, Aurora Levins Morales, was born in 1954. Rosario and Aurora both became writers. They were part of the Second Wave of U.S. feminism. Rosario said her daughter was her closest partner in her work for Latina Feminism.

Their second child, Ricardo Manuel, was born in 1956. The family then moved back to New York City. Dick studied at Columbia University, and Rosario studied at City College. Rosario was also a talented visual artist. She shared this interest with her son Ricardo, who is a famous activist artist.

In 1961, the family returned to Puerto Rico. Dick became a professor at the University of Puerto Rico. Rosario continued her art and began studying anthropology. Their third child, Alejandro Rubén, was born in 1965.

In 1967, Dick lost his job at the University of Puerto Rico because of his political work. Rosario wanted to go to graduate school. So, the family moved to Chicago in June 1967. Rosario started graduate school at the University of Chicago. She became a leader in student protests there. Her writing "Concepts of Pollution" in Getting Home Alive talks about her experiences.

Rosario and Aurora became active in the women's movement in the late 1960s. In 1975, Rosario and Dick moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Rosario loved New England and felt very at home there. They also had a cabin in Vermont where they spent summers.

In 1981, Rosario and Aurora both wrote for This Bridge Called My Back. This book was edited by Cher'rie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa. In 1983, a feminist editor asked them to write a book together. Getting Home Alive was published in 1986.

Rosario Morales was a smart person with many interests. She studied plants, science, feminist history, and crafts.

Her Work and Writing

Involvement in the Communist Party

While in college, Rosario's religious beliefs changed. She found a new passion in the Communist Party. Two friends introduced her to a course run by the Communist Party. She loved the ideas she learned there.

She and Dick Levins joined the Communist Party on July 29, 1949. They even went on an early date to the Peekskill Riots. This was an event where people tried to stop a concert by Paul Robeson.

After moving to Puerto Rico, Rosario and Dick joined the Puerto Rican Communist Party. However, their involvement lessened. The party in Puerto Rico was small, and women were not often encouraged to be leaders. They left the party later due to disagreements.

Writing Career

Rosario Morales is most known for Getting Home Alive and her writings in This Bridge Called My Back. She was very proud of these works. They both focus on personal identity and different ways of thinking. They also look at gender relations and social issues. Rosario combined English, Spanish, and Yiddish in her poetry. This showed her identity as a U.S. Latina who grew up near and married into a Jewish family.

This Bridge Called My Back is a collection of writings. It was first published in 1981. It explores feminist ideas among women of color in the United States. Working with women from different backgrounds gave Rosario new ideas. Her writings in the book talk about identity as having many parts that fit together.

In 1986, Morales published Getting Home Alive. This book of writings and poems was written with her daughter Aurora Levins Morales. The book explores having many identities. The final piece, "Ending Poem," is very famous. It also looks at their connection to Puerto Rico in poems like "Happiness is a Coquí." These poems show the beauty of the island. They also discuss the roles of men and women in Puerto Rican society. The book also explores Rosario and Aurora's different feelings about the United States and their shared heritage.

Rosario Morales's writings are kept at Smith College. They include her letters, writings, and journals. These show her life as an author, poet, feminist, and activist. Her writings often focus on her identity as a Puerto Rican feminist. They also highlight the importance of understanding how different parts of identity connect. Other topics include communism, writing, and feminist ideas.

Later Years

Rosario stopped writing publicly before she passed away. She wanted to write only when she had something important to say. Instead, she read a lot and helped edit her husband's work. Rosario Morales passed away on March 23, 2011, at her home in Massachusetts.

Published Works

• This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, contributor (Persephone Press, 1981; Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983). ISBN: 9780913175033
• Getting Home Alive, coauthor with Aurora Levins Morales (Firebrand Books, 1986). ISBN: 0932379206

See also

• List of Puerto Rican writers
• List of Puerto Ricans
• Puerto Rican literature
• Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico