Allende, Petra.

Petra Allende was an important community activist and an East Harlem resident for over 35 years. Often referred to as "La Alcaldesa del Barrio," (the Mayor of El Barrio) she was a well known advocate for senior citizens rights. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on June 29, 1920, Allende's own life experiences confronting the day to day hardships of the working poor as a single mother transformed her into an advocate for change. She became an ardent community activist, organizing English classes, opposing literacy tests which were required in order to vote and fighting for the rights of the elderly. Allende got her start as an activist through the Puerto Rican Leadership Alliance and the Puerto Rican Community Development Project. In the 1970s she learned to lobby Albany and Washington legislators with the Manhattan Political Caucus, a group of African-American women. Lobbying for senior citizens rights became one of her main activities beginning in the 1980s and until her death in 2002.