Benjamin Melendez (August 3rd 1952 – May 28, 2017) was best known for brokering the

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 collective ...

truce in the

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 Y ...

and

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

(

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) in 1971. At that time, he was President of the

Ghetto Brothers The Ghetto Brothers were a gang and music group founded in New York City's South Bronx in the late 1960s with the motivation to uplift young Latino and Black men in their community. History Founded in New York City's South Bronx in the late 1960 ...

, 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 Nuyorican is a portmanteau of the terms "New York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, or of their descendants (especially those raised or currently living in the N ...

youth, having forged connections with the

Puerto Rican Socialist Party The Puerto Rican Socialist Party ( es, Partido Socialista Puertorriqueño, PSP) was a Marxist and pro-independence political party in Puerto Rico seeking the end of United States of America control on the Hispanic and Caribbean island of Puerto ...

. Melendez's family, including Melendez himself, were Marranos ( Sephardic

crypto-Jew 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 Sp ...

s), 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 female member of the Ghetto Brothers and close confidant to Melendez. She eventually left for personal reasons, including a large disagreement with Benjamin's Hispanic family calling them "you people". Melendez was a subject in the 2015 documentary, '' Rubble Kings'', which depicts events leading up to and following the Hoe Avenue peace meeting. Melendez died May 28, 2017 at the age of 65.Former Ghetto Brothers Gang Leader & Subject Of "Rubble Kings" Benjy Melendez Has Died
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References

Authored works

* 1952 births 2017 deaths Gang members American people of Puerto Rican descent Deaths from kidney disease {{NYC-stub