—¡Hola Señor Diaz! ¿Cómo está Usted?

—¡Hola Olena! ¿Habla español?

—Si, lo hablo un pokito porque estudió español en la universidad como mi tercera idioma.

—¿Qual universidad? 

—La Universidad Nacional Lingüística de Kiev.

—¿Y qual es tu segundo idioma?

—Mi segundo idioma es frances, y mi primera es ingles.

—¿Y dónde naciste?

— Nací en Kiev, Ucrania

—Ucrania...Yo ido a Rusia, a Moscú en mil novecientos ochenta y cuatro (1984), y me han arrestado por llevar las Biblias y regalos a los personas que estaban...

—Ok, I apologize! My Spanish is no that good yet, but I am working on it. I understood most of it, but my Spanish definitely needs improvement!

—Well, I visited Russia in 1984. I brought in some Bibles and some gifts. And I got arrested in Lithuania! Lithuania used to be a part of the Soviet Union. I was there for five days, and then they sent me home. I was a judge then too. I was there with another person, so there were two of us. Both of us were held for those 5 days. 

—A story to tell your children! First of all, let me thank you for agreeing to talk to me ! I know you are a very busy person. I would like to ask you about your autobiography...

—Did you read the whole book?

—I haven’t yet, but I definitely will! I have already traced in on Amazon...I know that it’s called “Not From Here, Not From There”.  How did you come up with an idea to write it, and who helped you along the way?

—Initially, after I lost the mayoral campaign, I was already 70 years old. I thought it was time to tell the truth about everything. So it was important for me to get into something new. And I wrote about twelve chapters all by myself. You know, I did some of the research. That took me about a year. After I wrote that, then I got an editor. And the editor made me rewrite some of the chapters, and that took me another year. Afterwards I gave it toTemple University to publish. It took them nine months to get it out. You know, you are waiting and waiting after you have finished the book for it to be published...But it was really a wonderful project, because it gave me an opportunity to talk about some things that most people in our community have experienced, but they don’t talk about them, and they don’t realize how sometimes we live in two lands. When I go to church, for example, I say: “Hey, I am not from here, I am not from there. But at least God accepts me, right?”. When we talk about these discriminatory practices that I had to live with throughout my entire life, and all of the issues with regards of the country not prepared for a community who are citizens by the birthright. People weren’t prepared to welcome us, instead of welcoming us, they wanted us to be their workforce during the Industrial Revolution that was going on in the Northeast particularly. 

—Which of your personal experiences as well as your family stories were reflected in the book “ No Soy de Aquí ni de Allá”?

—Well, in my book I talk about my mother. I start with a fact that my mother was, to some extent, a single parent. She came [to the United States] pregnant, on a ship. And I mention the ship. The ship is still in existence today. It was a ship that was used for transporting soldiers during World War II. It was supposed to be a cargo ship. It was used for transportation of Puerto Rican migrants right after the War. Around 120,000 [migrants] were transported on that ship. And now it’s back to being what it was supposed to be—the cargo ship. The fact that it still exists is incredible! And going from where she used to live [Puerto Rico] to a community where she didn’t know the language, she experienced the lack of acceptance... She came to the community where the Catholic Church was predominantly Irish, as well as the Police Department. And the Irish felt proud and happy to become “very American”. And so they wanted everybody else to be as American as they were, but they spoke English in Ireland. The Puerto Ricans didn’t know English, they spoke Spanish, it was difficult for them to accept the whole  cultural change. It was pretty much of a play “West Side Story” [ a musical story set in the mid 1950s in the Upper West Side of New York City; it explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The members of the Sharks, from Puerto Rico, are taunted by the Jets, a white gang]. “West Side Story” was the story I lived in. There were gangs, there was a conflict between a new group and the old group that was there, and so forth. Anyway, so I go over that, and then start with my own troubles, my own problems. All the way through. In the book I show the struggles that occurred in one’s life, and how you would hit a wall, and you would take the right turn, and there would be another opportunity. You made another right turn, and there was another opportunity, and how you continue to struggle. I was pretty illiterate at 15 years old. And once I believed that God had a purpose for me and my life, somehow, I went from a D-student to an A-student. Immediately. I had an ability to memorize. I could memorize an entire book and give it back on exam. So that got me going. But even though I graduated top of my class, I still wasn’t the best. I wasn’t excepted in many other colleges. So I had to go to the junior college, where I did very well, I was on the top of my class. And then I thought I was going to go work as an accountant. 

—Why did you change your mind, and chose a different occupation after all? 

There was a guy in Philadelphia who talked me into going to Law School. It was probably the worst thing he ever did. Because then I realized how discriminatory the law was! How law was established as a protector of property rights and it wasn’t just like everybody assumed it was. When you learn that, and when you learn that people on the Supreme Court are the best what the law is, not necessarily what we think it may or may not be. So a lot of that gave me a sense of feeling like: “Hey, maybe I made a mistake!”. Nobody with my background has ever passed the Bar in Pennsylvania. I said that I really wanted to go back to New York. Certain people have passed the Bar in New York. And I got talked into staying here [ in Philadelphia] for a few years and finishing what I started. And “a few years here” has become 50 years. I got into the Bar, and I practiced law here. 

—You were the first in many endeavors, including becoming the first Puerto Rican earning a Juris Doctor from Temple University in 1972. What is the reason of your inspiring success? 

— I had some great opportunities. Mainly because of my advocacy— more so than my abilities. When I realized that it’s more about getting opportunities, getting mentors and “the push”, I decided that it was important for me to open doors for others. And so I spent pretty much my whole career advocating for people. A person in the advocacy can’t be a beneficiary. Example: Moses could not go to the Promised Land, but he got people out of Egypt. Similarly, I attempted to open doors and resources. I was an advocate on many occasions. Advocacy opened up a considerable amount of doors: whether I was among the White House fellows, being the first Puerto Rican to be in the White House; whether I was in the legal community; whether I was in the judiciary; whether I was starting the businesses around here, helping develop the Northern Philadelphia; whether I was even in the religious activities where I was sort of helped Billy Graham [an American evangelist, and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well-known internationally in the late 1940s. One of his biographers has placed him "among the most influential Christian leaders" of the 20th century].

—Tell us please about the impact you made in the religious communities, serving as an intermediator! 

—Traditionally Billy Graham had not been very accepting of the Civil Rights movement of the black community, so when Martin Luther King was advocating he didn’t support him, so many African-Americans felt neglected as a result of the his ministry. So when he came here, the African-American community refused to participate. So I developed a group of about 9 African-American leaders within the mastery and there were some white leaders. Then we wondered who was going to be the Chairman. Well, because I wasn’t white, and I wasn’t black, I was in the middle— that’s why they made me the Chairman. As a result, we had an excellent African-American participation. And Billy really appreciated that because it hadn’t happened to him in any other city in the country. 

—You are the leader of the housing industry. What new ideas did you bring up to the table?

 —I started engaging in the housing sector when I served in the Bill Clinton Administration. I was the first Latino General Council to be confirmed by the Senate. Usually, there are other General Councils but none have been confirmed by the Senate. So I took upon myself to go and prioritize what the Secretary wanted, which was a fair housing issue. I settled 23 Civil Rights cases around the country —about 9 billion dollars in settlements, and I really enforced the Fair Housing Act, and changed the course of public housing issue. What I did was, I created a system in which private developers could parter with public housing, they could put market rate housing next to public housing, and they could use the money that we were giving to the public housing for the down payments on developments and they would join a partnership, and thereby the public housing was market valuable. It was located in great places like Center City and so forth. The biggest example would be: there is some housing off the 12th and the Bainbridge Streets, I think, and that area increased in value because of the public housing and the private housing were there together. So I had a possibility to revolutionize some of the public housing opportunities. 

—But I know for a fact that the scope of your activities is larger than housing and jurisdiction. What other areas of engagement you have pioneered? 

—I have been trying to do couple other things which is Latinos and Corporate Directors Association. There are less than 2% of Latinos on Corporate Boards. I have been trying to work on that, creating organizations like Latinos in Energy. I believe that the next economic opportunity lies in energy. There are very few Latinos in that area, as well as utility area. For example, traditionally jobs in the energy business were passed down through families. The first people who got those jobs were bringing their family members. So it was sort of a mono-class of individuals within it, and there was very little diversity. Diversity and inclusion factors were helpful in terms of the energy areas that I was involved with, and the understanding of the controlling factors which are utility commissions taking up the prices of electricity, telephone, etc. I was thinking on how they can be included in these activities. So I have been a promoter and educator of opportunities. A lot of times many of the people whom I helped, do hack of a lot better than I do! Do you know the story about 10 lepers that Christ heals in the Testament? Christ healed 10 lepers. Nine out of them were Jewish and one was the Samaritan. The only one who came to thank Christ was the Samaritan. So that gives me a satisfaction, that if I ever get a thank you, maybe one out of  ten “thank you”—it will be enough. The thing is that a lot folks think they deserve, what they got there. I always thank to a lot of my mentors, a lot of people who have helped me to get to where I am. But a lot of folks, once they get out of the door, they never look back. It’s so important that they look back and bring others along or try to continue to open the doors for others. Why do I think like that? I think like that, because I wasn’t so smart, you know. There were people who were a lot smarter than me, a lot more capable than me, but they didn’t get the opportunities, why? Because they became quite satisfied with their status in life. And in America you have to be an advocate for yourself or for others in order to create an opening of new opportunities.And you have seen the Black Lives Matter, it has been a major push opening doors. And opening doors and push have enabled many African-Americans  to get some jobs, to get on Corporate Boards, to now have the historical black universities, get financial support for scholarships. Why? Because ifBLM didn’t happen, peoples’ voices wouldn’t be heard. And in the country, where advocacy and free speech are very important, it’s essential to be able to get yourself heard and open to the new opportunities. Another important thing is motivation.  Motivation is like a light bulb that goes on, and you feel: “Hey, what did they do to you? You came from a really bad situation. You are in the better situation. So, hey, if they put you back there. What is it? You would not do any worse than you were, you might go forward”. Thinking that way, in the light bulb going on, and applying, and pushing for activities, and filling law suits, that, I think, enabled me to understand what contributions I can make to this country. 

— Out of all your numerous activities, engagements and occupations, what has been your favorite job?

—The best job I had ever have was being a judge. And I feel terrible because that is a job which I would have liked to have continued and retired from. But after I did the reforms, I was pretty much disliked by most of my colleagues. I had an opportunity to go to Washington and to do the housing stuff. I went there, I came back to the private sector. I could never get back on the bench. Maybe because many folks that helped me along the way, got offered it, when my term really was an opportunity, and so I continued to do what I was doing. I had mentors who have done great things in the community, who have followed the opportunities that have opened to whether it’s housing for the elderly, doing social work among the alcoholics, drug addicts, the homeless. That gives you at least why we came around, and why others should follow the dream that they are caught on following. And I think many immigrants also relate to the stories written in my book. When you go back to their own country, you don’t always feel welcomed. It happened to me. I went back to Puerto Rico to help them with their energy issue before the hurricane Maria, and they said: “You are American, you are from over there, we don’t need your help!”. So a lot of immigrants go through the same. Although I was involved in a company that was the top energy utility company here, but they didn’t want me.

—Señor Nelson, I wanted to ask you a question related to Puerto Rico. It’s obvious that you feel an emotional attachment to your mother’s homeland. I see you posting a lot of information on “ femicide”, about domestic violence. And I would like to discuss this issue with you. But first of all, do you support Puerto Rico officially becoming the 51st State or is it a bad idea?

— I believe in decolonization. Whether Puerto Rico becomes one of the States, or gains independence, either way—I would be happy. I support decolonization, and the reason why I don’t take one side or another is because I have never lived there. I am going to be here, although I am going to help them, because they are my people. But I think they should choose for themselves, what they think is best for them. So that’s my belief in turns of what I feel the Island is. I sometimes equate it, and I talk about it in the book, I think it’s a colonialist country. The reason that I think it’s going to be hard for them to decide, is similar to slavery. We have had slaves in the United States for 400-500 years, right? They have never revolted against their “masters”, even though formally more than here than anything else. And they sort of attempted a way of life. And it’s taking them a long time for them to be accepted into. For 400 years Puerto Rico was a colony of Spain, and now for 125 years it has been a colony of the United States, so there is a colonial mentality. That is very hard to be able to impact and change. The reason that I don’t have the colonial mentality is because I grew up in Harlem, and I grew up in the Black community that was a part of Civil Rights movement. Puerto Ricans have a colonial mentality which shows in their dependence on a larger power: they are afraid to become free, and they are afraid to become a State, because they think they have the best of both worlds which is having an American citizenship and still preserving their language and culture, which is really not true, because it is totally controlled. For example, foreign ships are required to come to the US before they can go to the Island. There are a lot of issues that have depressed and held on the development of Puerto Rico. Also, it used to be a military base during the World War II. Puerto Rico was made a military base in 1917. What happened in 1917?

—The First World War started...

—That’s right! 20,000 soldiers were immediately drafted into the war in 1917, and they kept soldiers there ever since: during the World War II, the Vietnam War, the Korean War and so forth. In fact, there is a a famous troop called “66 infantry”. They were all Puerto Ricans in Korea. And the stories about how successful they were. They were so good that the Head of the military assigned a terrible leader to them, and many were thrown into horrible deaths and injuries as a result of that decision. In. Puerto Rico is a s smaller island than, for example, Cuba. It is only a 100  by 35. There were lots of intermarriages between the black, the whites, the Europeans and the Indians. If you take a DNA of a Puerto Rican, like me, you will see how diverse it is!  My DNA is composed of 16% African, 18% Indian and 62% European. We are all mixtures. So I can go in the sun and don’t get burned, but you get burned! [ laughs].

—You know, we celebrate the International Women’s Day on March 8, so I wanted to discuss with you the video you posted on your LinkedIn profile about the epidemic of domestic violence in Puerto Rico...

—Yeah, did you see that? Originally  violence directed at women was related to machismo. It was brought from Spain. A woman was delegated to a second position, where you would not send women to colleges or to schools, because all they did was go get married. So there was no education for them, a woman had, basically, a role of just being a cook and a helper for a man. And a man was supposed to be the guardian of a woman, like a cop. So there were cultural process among women in Puerto Rico which really came from the Spanish culture. It has been taking a long of time to get undeveloped, as it has not undeveloped greatly. This generation is starting to change the harmful tendencies. After the hurricane Maria and the COVID pandemic, people are stuck in their houses all the time. And men get extremely abusive. In Puerto Rico we have an epidemic of men abusing women, because of that cultural dynamic. There is a very little law enforcement that is involved in protecting the women. It’s a big problem in Puerto Rico. And the new generation that is getting educated now, as you have seen it in the video, are trying to educate women about the fact that they have rights and that they are not alone, and that they have an opportunity to get a divorce or certain protections. The abuse is not only physical, it is also psychological: the deprivation of resources, leaving women at home, not being very “husbandly-like”. So there are different types of abuse occurring on the Island. It’s a major epidemic. It requires a considerable amount of social work, of intervention within the community, and education. There is also an issue with men not supporting their children. Men feel reluctant paying the allowance. At that also leads to poverty. As you know, the poorest people in the world are women with children. It’s a very difficult situation. There are 3,5 million people on the small Island. There are about 6 million Puerto Ricans on the main land, and 3,5 million on the Island. And the reason is that there is over a million of people that left after the hurricane. They left because of lack of electricity, housing, and because they could go back and forth. But things are getting better on the Island. Right now the it is being bought up by the private sector. Puerto Rico has got beautiful beaches, but it has never been developed as a vacation destination. So there is a guy named John Paulson from New York who has a big fund [John Alfred Paulson is an American billionaire hedge fund manager. He leads Paulson &Co., a New York-based investment management firm he founded in 1994]. He has bought up a lot of property in Dorado,  he is developing hotels in San Juan. They sold the airport to Mexico, some highways have been sold to Spaniards—it’s all about the colonial mentality. 

— I would like to ask you about becoming a Mayor of Philadelphia. In my opinion, you would make a remarkable Mayor. Are you, by any chance, planning to run for Office in 2023?

— Olena, I have learned that I am not a great politician, because I am too honest. When I was running, only one person remembered that I have done a lot for him. Secondly, the political system in the City is ruled by the unions and the old political machines that are available. The only way I could have won was if I had some support from the North-West part of the City, which was represented by the middle class African-Americans. They have been very well organized and controlled by their local  leadership. The leadership that I supposed back in the day for their community to have an impact. When they got a promise of some financial support, they got a promise of other positions, which I wasn’t able to provide, that made it a lot harder for me to win the campaign. Even though they may like me, they may think I am a nice guy who supports them, but I am not black. Anyway, I learned a lesson in the process. I had a chance to win. It would have happened if I got the North-West. I lost a chance, and I was unwilling to compromise myself with some people who were less than worthy of...people who were there for money, who could not deliver anything.

Nevertheless, I opened up opportunities for other Latinos to run for Office. And because I ran well, despite some issues, I think my campaign has opened a door to somebody else to believe  that there is a possibility. There was a number of Latinos who ran for Office afterwards, whether it was for City Council, for District Attorney and so forth. I think that I allowed them to feel: “Hey, you can run and lose, but not lose your dignity!”. And I am here to be able to provide support and help. I think my time has come and passed. And I am praying that I could be available for whomever it is that I could help. The real reason that I was running and wanted to become the Mayor, was because I thought I could fix the education system. The education system in the City is incredibly poor. And I had a woman in mind, with whom I worked as a lawyer. She had one of the best educational systems that I have seen in my life. In Camden, NJ you have the same kinds of kids as in Philadelphia. She graduates a 100% of kids, and all of them go to college. It’s a program developed from Kindergarten to High School. They provide all of the amenities, gyms and libraries are always opened for students. There are counselors and tutors who can help them with schoolwork. And if a teacher doesn’t produce good results, she fires a teacher. We have a problem with firing teachers, because we are afraid of the Union. I thought her system was worth implementing. If I won elections, I would bring her in, so that she could strengthen the educational system. I wished to give the kids a hope and a dream that they could go to colleges. That was my motivation. I didn’t care about other stuff like streets cleaning, rebuilding, and other benefits that you get. That wasn’t my intention! My intention was to change the educational system. I think, I talk about that in the book as well. That was my motivation for wanting to run. I realized that: “Hey, it wasn’t in the cards!”.

—It happens. Something not getting something you really wanted is a blessing in disguise. But you helped so many people, you inspire everyone you meet, including me. Could you please give new immigrants coming to the USA a piece of advice?

—I would ask them: “What do you want to do?” Listen to your heart and follow your dreams! Don’t let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do! Believe that God has a purpose for your life...

P.S. You can buy the Autobiography of Nelson A. Diaz “ Not from Here, Not from There/No Soy de Aquí ni de Allá” on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1439913609/ref=cm_sw_r_oth_api_glt_fabc_T3PHZKM0NS6TPQCJYQY8_nodl