Benjamin Melendez
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Benjamin Melendez
Benjamin Melendez (August 3rd 1952 – May 28, 2017) was best known for brokering the gang truce in the Bronx and Harlem (New York City) in 1971. At that time, he was President of the Ghetto Brothers, a mainly ethnically Puerto Rican South Bronx gang, and lead vocalist of a musical group also known as the Ghetto Brothers. Melendez was heavily involved in the rise of Puerto Rican nationalist consciousness among Nuyorican youth, having forged connections with the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. Melendez's family, including Melendez himself, were Marranos ( Sephardic crypto-Jews), practicing their religion in secret even in the 1970s while being part of a Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ... community. It is also well known that Bridget Bouvier was the only femal ...
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Gang
A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectively, in illegal, and possibly violent, behavior. Definition The word "gang" derives from the past participle of Old English ''gan'', meaning "to go". It is cognate with Old Norse ''gangr'', meaning "journey." It typically means a group of people, and may have neutral, positive or negative connotations depending on usage. History In discussing the banditry in American history, Barrington Moore, Jr. suggests that gangsterism as a "form of self-help which victimizes others" may appear in societies which lack strong "forces of law and order"; he characterizes European feudalism as "mainly gangsterism that had become society itself and acquired respectability through the notions of chivalry". The 17th century saw London "terrorized by a ...
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Crypto-Judaism
Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden'). The term is especially applied historically to Spanish Jews who outwardly professed Catholicism, also known as Conversos, Marranos, or the Anusim. The phenomenon is especially associated with Renaissance Spain, following the Massacre of 1391 and the expulsion of the Jews in 1492.Levine Melammed, Renee. "Women in Medieval Jewish Societies," in ''Women and Judaism: New Insights and Scholarship''. Ed. Frederick E. Greenspahn. New York: New York University Press, 2009. 105–106. Europe Officially, Jews who converted in Spain during the 14th and 15th centuries were known as ''Cristianos Nuevos'' (New Christians), but were commonly called ''conversos'' (converts o Christianity. Spain and Portugal passed legislation restricting their rights in the mother countries of Spain and Portugal ...
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Gang Members
A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectively, in illegal, and possibly violent, behavior. Definition The word "gang" derives from the past participle of Old English ''gan'', meaning "to go". It is cognate with Old Norse ''gangr'', meaning "journey." It typically means a group of people, and may have neutral, positive or negative connotations depending on usage. History In discussing the banditry in American history, Barrington Moore, Jr. suggests that gangsterism as a "form of self-help which victimizes others" may appear in societies which lack strong "forces of law and order"; he characterizes European feudalism as "mainly gangsterism that had become society itself and acquired respectability through the notions of chivalry". The 17th century saw London "terrorized by a se ...
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2017 Deaths
This is a list of deaths of notable people, organised by year. New deaths articles are added to their respective month (e.g., Deaths in ) and then linked here. 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 See also * Lists of deaths by day The following pages, corresponding to the Gregorian calendar, list the historical events, births, deaths, and holidays and observances of the specified day of the year: Footnotes See also * Leap year * List of calendars * List of non-standard ... * Deaths by year {{DEFAULTSORT:deaths by year ...
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1952 Births
Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 195 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus has the Roman Senate deify the previous emperor Commodus, in an attempt to gain favor with the family of Marcus Aurelius. * King Vologases V and other eastern princes support the claims of Pescennius Niger. The Roman province of Mesopotamia rises in revolt with Parthian support. Severus marches to Mesopotamia to battle the Parthians. * The Roman province of Syria is divided and the role of Antioch is diminished. The Romans annexed the Syrian cities of Edessa and Nisibis. Severus re-establish his h ...
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Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 Duke University Press was formally established. Ernest Seeman became the first director of DUP, followed by Henry Dwyer (1929-1944), W.T. LaPrade (1944-1951), Ashbel Brice (1951-1981), Richard Rowson (1981-1990), Larry Malley (1990-1993), Stanley Fish and Steve Cohn (1994-1998), Steve Cohn (1998-2019). Writer Dean Smith is the current director of the press. It publishes approximately 150 books annually and more than 55 academic journals, as well as five electronic collections. The company publishes primarily in the humanities and social sciences but is also particularly well known for its mathematics journals. The book publishing program includes lists in African studies, African American studies, American studies, anthropology, art and a ...
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Durham, NC
Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County and Wake County. With a population of 283,506 in the 2020 Census, Durham is the 4th-most populous city in North Carolina, and the 74th-most populous city in the United States. The city is located in the east-central part of the Piedmont region along the Eno River. Durham is the core of the four-county Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Area, which has a population of 649,903 as of 2020 U.S. Census. The Office of Management and Budget also includes Durham as a part of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary Combined Statistical Area, commonly known as the Research Triangle, which has a population of 2,043,867 as of 2020 U.S. census. A railway depot was established in 1849 on land donated by Bartlett S. Durham, the namesake of the city. Following the American Civil War, the community of Durham Station expanded rapidly, in part due to the tob ...
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Hoe Avenue Peace Meeting
The Hoe Avenue peace meeting was an important gathering of New York City gangs on December 8, 1971, in the Bronx. It was called to propose a general truce and an unprecedented inter-gang alliance. The impetus for the meeting was the murder of "Black Benjie", a peace keeper of the Ghetto Brothers. While no lasting peace was ever established, a subsequent negotiation established a procedure for dealing with conflicts to avoid street warfare. The meeting is notable as one of the first attempts by street organizations to broker a truce between groups of different ethnic backgrounds. Peace treaty After the death of "Black Benjie," a member of the Ghetto Brothers who turned community activist, a peace treaty meeting was organized among the South Bronx gangs. The gangs in attendance that are most frequently mentioned include the Black Spades, Ghetto Brothers, Savage Skulls, Turbans, and Seven Immortals. This historic treaty among South Bronx gangs lasted until the crack cocaine wars erupte ...
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Rubble Kings
''Rubble Kings'' is a 2015 documentary film directed by Shan Nicholson that depicts gang violence in The Bronx in the 1970s, specifically the events leading up to and following the Hoe Avenue peace meeting. The film premiered at the DOC NYC film festival in New York City on November 16, 2014. One of the film's producers, actor Jim Carrey, stated the following during a Q&A session after the film's premiere: The first time I saw the footage, I was completely blown away by this incredible thing that had happened, that no one knows about. A great movement towards peace, about really courageous people overcoming seemingly impossible odds and rising to love. Although I didn't grow up in that situation, I can understand that idea, and I think it's important that we all reach outside our own realms of experience and try to understand what people are going through and the things they have to overcome. It was really something I wanted to get involved with and support in any way I can. ...
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Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Viceroyalty, viceroyalties formerly part of the Spanish Empire following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, parts of the Spanish East Indies, Asia-Pacific region and Hispanic Africa , Africa. Outside of Spain, the Spanish language is a predominant or official language in the countries of Hispanic America and Equatorial Guinea. Further, the cultures of these countries were influenced by Spain to different degrees, combined with the local pre-Hispanic culture or other foreign influences. Former Spanish colonies elsewhere, namely the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines, Marianas, etc.) and Spanish Sahara (Western Sahara), were also influenced by Spanish culture, however Spanish is not a predominant language in these regions. Hispanic cul ...
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Sephardic
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefarditas or Hispanic Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the Iberian Peninsula. The term, which is derived from the Hebrew ''Sepharad'' (), can also refer to the Mizrahi Jews of Western Asia and North Africa, who were also influenced by Sephardic law and customs. Many Iberian Jewish exiles also later sought refuge in Mizrahi Jewish communities, resulting in integration with those communities. The Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula prospered for centuries under the Muslim reign of Al-Andalus following the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, but their fortunes began to decline with the Christians, Christian ''Reconquista'' campaign to retake Spain. In 1492, the Alhambra Decree by the Catholic Monarchs of ...
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Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York City borough of Queens, across the East River. The Bronx has a land area of and a population of 1,472,654 in the 2020 census. If each borough were ranked as a city, the Bronx would rank as the ninth-most-populous in the U.S. Of the five boroughs, it has the fourth-largest area, fourth-highest population, and third-highest population density.New York State Department of Health''Population, Land Area, and Population Density by County, New York State – 2010'' retrieved on August 8, 2015. It is the only borough of New York City not primarily on an island. With a population that is 54.8% Hispanic as of 2020, it is the only majority-Hispanic county in the Northeastern United States and the fourth-most-populous nationwide. The Bronx ...
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