aI. The Emigrant Life – From my hometown Cayey to San Juan, and how I arrive in New York without a watch – The trials and tribulations of an emigrant in the iron Tower of Babel on the eve of World War I – Proletarians extend a hand, but hunger pinches and there is no remedy but to work in a factory – The customs and traditions of the tabaqueros and what it was like to work in a cigar factory in New York City – An amorous experience and other incidents that lend substance to this truthful tale – II. Historical Background – The Vega ancestry in America, a wealth of history with a touch of myth – New York: focal point of the Antillean revolution and the role of the Cuban and Puerto Rican communities – The vicissitudes of the revolution: the war ends in Cuba, but the bright light of Jose Marti shines forth in New York – With the help of Puerto Ricans like Sotero Figueroa and Pachin Marin, the Partido Revoluciaonario Cubano is founded – The struggle to carry the war over to Puerto Rico and finally the imposition of United States military force – III. After 1898 – How the century began for the Puerto Rican community and related incidents – On diatribes and insults against Puerto Ricans – Day-to-day life in New York and other details – IV. The 1920s – Political campaigns, the decline of tobacco, and the Great Depression – New organizations, an old rag business, and back to cigarmaking – Dissension, internal conflict, and Puerto Rico comes out the loser – The “third party,” an underwater job, and the sweltering summer of 1926 – A year of personal disaster with a happy ending – The consolidation of El Barrio, and new pages in its history – V. The Depression Years – Two reprehensible but timely events in my life – Luck smiles and I make money, without for a moment abandoning my struggle – Of how even the best intentions can sometimes do more harm than good, and other events – Vito Marcantonio, “champion of the poor” and advocate for the Puerto Rican people – The end of the 1930s: Spain and other events that preceded World War II – VI. Mid-Century – I am on the move, determined once again to strike out against injustice – Where an account is given of how I joined the censorship office and other wartime experiences – Some anonymous achievements with no hope of compensation, and the crucial year 1945 – Confronting hate campaigns; further struggles in defense of Puerto Rico – An unfinished chapter with an unwritten moral: it is always more interesting to live than to write.
