Nelson Antonio Denis

Nelson Antonio Denis
Member of the New York State Assembly from the 68th district
In office January 1, 1997 – January 1, 2001
Personal details
Alma mater	Harvard College Yale Law School

Nelson Antonio Denis is an attorney,^[1] writer,^[2] film director,^[3] and former New York State Assemblyman.^[4] From January 1, 1997 to January 1, 2001, he represented New York State’s 68th Assembly district which includes East Harlem and Spanish Harlem. He was also an editorial writer at El Diario La Prensa.^[5]

Early life

Denis was born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents.^[6] He graduated from Harvard College in 1977 with a B.S. in Government and from Yale Law School with a J.D. in 1980. He was an attorney with the New York firm of Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine.^[7][8]

Journalism and writing

External audio

You can hear Nelson Denis on WNYC Radio here.

For several years Denis was an editorial writer of El Diario La Prensa, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in New York City,^[5] where he published over 300 editorials and received the "Best Editorial Writing" award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.^[9]

Denis also held an editorial position at the Harvard Political Review^[10] and op-ed positions at Daily News,^[11] New York Newsday,^[12] and The New York Sun.^[13] He was also a cultural and political commentator on WNYC,^[14][15] WADO, and other radio outlets.^[16]

Advocacy and public life

Before and during his years as an assemblyman, Denis conducted a neighborhood legal clinic that provided advocacy, advice, and free legal services to the residents of East Harlem.^{[7][8][17][18]}

Denis majored in Government at Harvard,^[5] and was involved in New York State government for fourteen years.

In 1995, as deputy director of Yucahu Inc., an East Harlem community group, Denis opposed the merger of Chemical Bank and Chase Manhattan due to inadequate service to the community.^[19][20]

He was a member of the East Harlem Community Board (C.B. 11), the Area Policy Board, and the director of strategic planning for the Harlem Community Development Corporation.^[7][21][22]

In 1996 he won a seat in the New York State Assembly, where he served as a Democrat from 1997 to 2001, and developed a reputation as a reformer.^[23] He was also a New York State Democratic District Leader from 1995 to 2001.^[8]

The press noted that his mother, Sarah Denis, worked 12-hour days on the campaign trail and that Denis was himself an untiring campaigner who was "often seen throughout the neighborhood campaigning on the back of a blue bus." ^[7][24]

Latin Kings controversy

In 1994, Denis entered into a controversial relationship with the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation. While jogging along the FDR Drive, he ran into a group of 500 Latin Kings and recruited them into his campaign for the State Assembly.^[21]

Denis and the Latin Kings cleaned up several parks in East Harlem, and attended community board meetings together.^[21][24] Denis also pledged that, if he won, he would help the Latin Kings to create a community non-profit corporation, a leadership training course, and a construction apprenticeship program to rehabilitate roughly 800 abandoned buildings in East Harlem.^[24]

Denis maintained that "the Kings are the product of 20 years of neglect. These are the youth that Reagan forgot." ^[24] However, others did not agree. His opponent, the incumbent Assemblyman Angelo Del Toro, said "they're gangsters and a threat." ^[24]

Another early skeptic was Denis's mother. She laid down rules that included no beepers or babies in the office, but she gradually learned to work with them.^[24]

Despite this controversy, the New York Times endorsed Denis for the State Assembly that year.^[25]

Film "Vote For Me!"

Prior to serving in the New York State Assembly, Denis directed TV commercials and several short films, and wrote eight screenplays.^[26]

He also wrote and directed the feature film Vote For Me! which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. It also won the Best Picture Award at the 2009 Staten Island Film Festival, and a Feature Film Award at the 2009 Orlando Hispanic Film Festival.^[27][28]

Starring Malik Yoba (New York Undercover, Soul Food, Cool Runnings); Chi Chi Salazar (Scarface (1983 film), Carlito's Way); Ricardo Barber (The Feast of the Goat); Vote For Me! was a comedy about a 75-year old Puerto Rican super who runs for U.S. Congress.

The film was based on Denis's own experiences in East Harlem. Many East Harlem residents, musicians, and even local politicians appeared in the film, which "blurred the line between reality and fiction to capture the spectacle of New York City politics." ^[5][26] Vote For Me! screened in over a dozen film festivals in New York and Puerto Rico, and was well received by the press.

The New York Times declared it "reminiscent of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, but with a lighter touch." ^[5][26]

The Boston Globe found it "ebullient...politically charged...mixes quirkiness and cultural poignancy." ^[29]

Vote For Me! also received national coverage from Fox News Channel, National Public Radio, Univision, Telemundo, WSKQ FM, MEGA FM, WADO-AM, WNYC, VIVA Magazine, El Diario La Prensa, El Nuevo Dia, Siempre, Hoy, and other news outlets.^{[30][31][32][33][33][34][35][36][37]}

War Against All Puerto Ricans

Denis is the author of War Against All Puerto Ricans, which was published on April 7, 2015. The book is based on recently declassified FBI files, congressional testimony, oral histories, personal interviews and eyewitness accounts. It covers the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s, a series of coordinated armed protests for the independence of Puerto Rico led by the president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, Don Pedro Albizu Campos.^[38][39] The book also documents how the U.S. Army bombarded two towns and deployed thousands of troops in order to stop the uprising - the only time in history that the U.S. government intentionally bombed U.S. citizens.^[38][39]

Amongst the reviews for the book, the New York Daily News wrote: “The book gives a meticulous and riveting account of the decades-long clash between the Puerto Rican independence movement...prepare to be outraged...a timely, eye-opening must-read.” ^[40] Latino Rebels wrote “War Against All Puerto Ricans earns ‘instant classic’ status…anyone who wants to understand U.S. imperial history from the time of Manifest Destiny needs to read this book.” ^[41] In La Respuesta, the reviewer praised “the book’s historical value...a must-read for anyone interested in learning more about Puerto Rico.” ^[42] Gozamos reported that “Nelson Denis doesn’t just give us history. He gives us history on fire…a thoroughly researched indictment of over a century of U.S. policy toward one small island…a full-throated eulogy of brave heroes, men and women of conviction, who devoted every drop of their blood to a people and a principle.”^[43] Kirkus Reviews hailed the book as "a scathing examination of American colonial policy in Puerto Rico...a pointed, relentless chronicle of a despicable part of past American foreign policy." ^[44]

War Against All Puerto Ricans was also featured in radio broadcasts around the US, including the Brian Lehrer Show in New York,^[45] WBEZ Worldview in Chicago,^[46] WNPR Connecticut,^[47] WBAI/The Jordan Journal,^[48] and WGBH/The Takeaway.^[49]

See also

• Puerto Rican literature
• List of Puerto Rican writers
• List of Latin American writers
• Nuyorican Movement
• Harvard Political Review (Notable Alumni)

References

External links

• Twitter feed
• Vote For Me! (movie)
• Nelson Antonio Denis at the Internet Movie Database
• New York Times (Nelson Denis articles)
• WNYC Radio

Political offices
Preceded by Francisco Diaz (politician)	New York State Assembly, 68th District 1997–2000	Succeeded by Adam Clayton Powell IV