Umpierre Luzma Human Rights Author Biography

Dr. Luz Maria "Luzma" Umpierre
211 Randall Rd., No. 116, Lewiston, ME 04240
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Short Professional Biography

Luz María "Luzma" Umpierre was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. She grew up in a home with sixteen other family members. Due to her tenacity and her parents' support, she graduated with honors from both Sacred Heart Academy and the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. In 1974, Dr. Umpierre came to reside in the United States. She completed her doctoral studies at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She has also done Post Doctoral work at the Woodrow Wilson International Center (sponsored the by State of New Jersey), the University of Kansas (sponsored by the Ford Foundation) and the Milano School of the New School of Social Work and Social Research. She has received awards for Human Rights Advocacy as well as her pioneering work in the inclusion of issues of sexual orientation, gender, race, class, and ethnicity in the curriculum.

Dr. Umpierre has seven books published and hundreds of articles in prestigious journals. Her first book of poems: Una puertorriqueña en Penna. exposed issues of culture shock and discrimination. The expanded version of this book appeared later under the title En el país de las maravillas and has been widely anthologized. Her critical essays collection: Nuevas aproximaciones críticas... was highly praised in Puerto Rico and abroad for its innovations in approaching the literary criticism of the works of Puerto Rican writers. ...Y otras desgracias and The Margarita Poems cover the "coming out" period of Umpierre's work. Her latest collection, for Christine, deals with the issue of survival in a hostile and abusive environment in academia. Click here to purchase any of the above mentioned works.

Dr. Umpierre has had to fight acts of discrimination against her through the legal system in the United States. One of the most famous of these was the one she carried against SUNY Brockport. The SUNY system has been under sanctions from the American Association of University Professors for years because of abuses against academic freedom and tenure. SUNY Brockport created fabricated charges against Dr. Umpierre in 1992. They wanted to dismiss her for being an open lesbian, the first Puerto Rican person to be hired with tenure, and because of her unrelenting advocacy for the disadvantaged and her teaching of "alternate texts". At one point, thousands of people from the United States and abroad pleaded with then Governor Mario Cuomo and the SUNY system to stop the persecutions against Dr. Umpierre. Cuomo did not intervene. All Latino churches in the Rochester area held a day of prayer and also signed petitions in her favor. Her case became a cry in the political campaign against Cuomo when he was defeated for re-election. SUNY-Brockport has continued to have no Puerto Rican with tenure or on a tenure track line in their Spanish faculty in spite of the thousands of Puerto Rican students in that community. An article in the journal MELUS (2002) gives insights into those difficult years in her life. Dr. Umpierre's interview by Carmen Rivera in the journal Centro (2007) speaks of her life long beliefs and battles also.

Dr. Umpierre lived in Syracuse from 1992-1998 in order to fight the legal battle against the state of New York. In the fall of 1998, she moved to Lewiston, Maine. There, she has been an advocate for victims of persecutions because of discriminatory practices in the state and at private colleges. She continues her humanitarian work there also. Dr. Umpierre has been nominated and has received dozens of awards for her advocacy. The United States Congress passed a proclamation in 2002 naming Dr. Umpierre a Distinguished Woman in Maine. The proclamation was signed by Rep. John Baldacci, now Governor of the State. In 2004, the Modern Languages Association held an homage session at their yearly convention for Dr. Luzma Umpierre to honor her poetry and humanitarian work. Dr. Umpierre may be contacted for speaking engagements (poetry readings, professional papers, and panels) at 211 Randall Rd., No. 116, Lewiston, ME 04240 or by e-mail.