Executive Director
Puerto Rican Cultural Center

José E. López was born in 1949 in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, into a family of six brothers and sisters. In 1959, his family moved to Chicago as part of the massive Puerto Rican migration to the United States. José received his B.A. Cum Laude in the Honors Program in History from Loyola University. He continued his studies at the University of Chicago, receiving his M.A. in History and the prestigious Danforth and Ford Fellowships to continue his postgraduate studies. He has lectured and written extensively on the political and social reality of Puerto Ricans in the United States. He has long served as Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center Juan Antonio Corretjer in Chicago, which he co-founded in 1973. He is an adjunct professor at  the University of Illinois at Chicago. He co-founded several major community-based institutions, including Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School, an alternative school serving at-risk youth; El Rincon Community Mental Health Center; and the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture.

In his role as educator/activist, he has spoken at more than 50 colleges and universities in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Puerto Rico, as well as at international forums such as the United Nations Decolonization Committee. For over 40 years, he has been a leading member of the Puerto Rican independence movement and campaigns to free Puerto Rican political prisoners.

Presently, he is developing a new/praxis/theory in community and social empowerment, particularly in educational reform through the Community as a Campus Initiative, and addressing health inequities by building a holistic wellness community in Chicago’s Greater Humboldt Park communities. He has served on various boards, including Bethany/Advocate Fund Board, Chicago Public Schools Latino Advisory Committee, Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (CHEC) Community Steering Committee, Northwestern University, and Community Scientist, for that institution.

He has received many recognitions, including the Cook County Board of Commissioners 2009 Hispanic Heritage Award, the 2010 Health Award from Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, and the Chicago Cultural Alliance: 2014 Outstanding Community Leader Award.

 He edited Puerto Rican Nationalism: A Reader and is the author of several published articles, including the following

books:

• Matt Meyers (ed), We Have Not Been Moved. (2012)

• Joy James (ed), States of Confinement (1999)

• Elihu Rosenblatt (ed), Criminal Injustice: Confronting the Prison Crisis (1998)

• Meredith Minkler, Community Organizing and Community Building for Health and Welfare (2012)

• Steve Whitman et al., Urban Health (2012)

José E. López