Jesús Colón (1901–1974) was a Puerto Rican writer known as the Father of the Nuyorican movement. An activist and community organizer, Colón wrote poetry and stories about his experiences as an Afro-Puerto Rican living in New York. Early years Colón was born on January 20, 1901, in Cayey, Puerto Rico, after the Spanish–American War when the American Tobacco Company gained control of most of the tobacco producing land in Puerto Rico. His parents were Mauricio Colón, his father, and Paula Lopez Cedeño, his mother.His father was a baker and his family owned the "Colon Hotel". His home was behind the town's cigar factory, which hired "readers" to read stories and current events to the employees whilst they worked. As a child, Colón visited the factory to listen to these stories. He was exposed to the writings of Karl Marx and Émile Zola, as well as literary classics like Miguel de Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote. From these ideas he formed a personal socialist ideology and also an interest in both the spoken and written word. The family moved to San Juan where he attended and continued his education at the José Julián Acosta School. When he was a teenager while in San Juan, Colón, alongside his brother Joaquin, attended the Central Grammar High School where he participated in different organizations, such as his school's journal "Adelante" for which he was the director. He was also the President of the literary society of the school, titled the Manuel Fernández Juncos literary society. He was also an active member of the Socialist Party while in high school. Acclimating to New York City In 1917, when he was 16, Colón boarded the SS Carolina as a stowaway, hiding in a linen closet to secure passage. During the trip, a member of the crew found him and he was required to work in the ship’s kitchen as an employee. Because of his hard work, the captain of the ship offered him a job to stay aboard the ship and earn 30 dollars a day. He did not accept the job and when the ship docked in Brooklyn, New York, in 1918, he never returned to the ship. Without much money, and not even a high school degree, Colón went to live with his older brother, Joaquin Colon, who was already residing in Brooklyn. He worked in various unskilled jobs, such as in different factories, as