Nydia Margarita Velázquez (born March 28, 1953) is a Puerto Rican American politician who has represented New York's 12th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. She was the first Puerto Rican woman to be elected to Congress. She is currently serving as the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, until January 3, 2011.
Velázquez, whose father worked the sugar cane fields, was one of nine siblings born ...
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Nydia Margarita Velázquez (born March 28, 1953) is a Puerto Rican American politician who has represented New York's 12th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. She was the first Puerto Rican woman to be elected to Congress. She is currently serving as the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, until January 3, 2011.
Velázquez, whose father worked the sugar cane fields, was one of nine siblings born in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. She was raised with the influence of political dinner table conversations. Her father was a local political activist and, from a young age, she would accompany her father to political rallies. Her father would focus on the rights of sugar cane workers and denounce the abuse perpetrated by wealthy farmers.
After skipping a grade, she entered high school when she was 13. In high school she organized her classmates on a protest and the school was closed down. Their protest against the dangerous and unsanitary conditions...
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