2024 SOMOS Inc. conference underscores resilience

Every year, elected officials, union leaders, community organizations and advocates from New York and Puerto Rico come together at the SOMOS Inc. conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to consider how best to serve and celebrate working families, especially in Puerto Rican communities on the island and in New York City. The conference involves serious work on the issues of the day, spanning workshops on education, labor and the economy, and also includes the SOMOS Day of Service, when hundreds of participants across the spectrum come together to give back to the community.

This year, the conference followed immediately on the heels of an election that might have subdued some of that energy. But SOMOS rose to meet the occasion and, from Nov. 6-10, lit up San Juan with a lively collection of activities and community support with a common theme: "Navigating Change Together: Fostering Collaboration for a Sustainable Future."

The conference was an opportunity for many AFT leaders and members to connect with and strengthen partnerships in policy throughout various workshop collaborations. A session on artificial intelligence examined its impact on education with a discussion facilitated by AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus and featuring New York state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos and representatives from the AFT's Puerto Rico affiliate, the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico, and from the Professional Staff Congress, which represents faculty and staff at the City University of New York. The panel explored how AI can revolutionize teaching and learning and create innovative pathways for students and families-but also considered important guardrails to ensure it is used ethically and equitably.

Public Employees Federation President Wayne Spence contributed to a panel on community healthcare, where he talked about the urgency of keeping Downstate Health Sciences University Hospital in Brooklyn, known as SUNY Downstate, open and fully functional. The hospital, staffed by AFT members, has been threatened for years, and the union has been instrumental in the successful fight to keep it open.

One of the most joyful events was an AFT-hosted Day of Service event at the Escuela Montessori Manuel Elzaburu y Vizcarrondo, where members rolled up their sleeves to assemble five new basketball hoops, plant trees and do some gardening. A parade of musicians and costumed characters-including a walking tree from the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico-captivated a crowd of children. There were also free backpacks full of school supplies and a book giveaway that included bilingual books featuring Puerto Rican and other Latino stories for the children to take home.

"This beautiful island is a place we have returned to year after year," said New York State United Teachers President Melinda Person, taking a break from sprucing up the basketball courts. "This day of service, in this challenging time, is particularly meaningful. We do what we can do every single day, every single minute, for our students and those we serve."

PEF's Spence said he started coming to SOMOS after PEF nurses came to volunteer in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017-and he realized there were opportunities for service. Seeing the happy faces of the children when they see the transformation around their schools "gives me joy," he said. "We're giving back." Spence was not the only participant who went to Puerto Rico to help out and wound up taking away a sense of uplift that was sorely needed in the aftermath of a disappointing presidential election.

At the labor breakfast on Nov. 9, DeJesus, who is Puerto Rican, urged participants to forge partnerships to safeguard the worker rights and protections labor has fought for. And in a heartfelt tribute to resilience, she talked about Puerto Rico itself.

"This island has experienced more storms than we can count-natural and political alike," said DeJesus. "Yet time and again, Puerto Ricans have stood firm, rooted in who they are and where they come from. The resilience of our people and Puerto Rico's legacy teaches us to stand strong, to remember that our voices cannot be silenced, and to know that our identity is our power."

Among the AFT participants at SOMOS were the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico, New York State United Teachers, the Public Employees Federation, the United Federation of Teachers, the Professional Staff Congress and the Yonkers Federation of Teachers. The conference also included partner organizations such as Edge Legal and the parent organization Alliance for Quality Education.

[Virginia Myers]