As NY1 continues its look at Hispanic Heritage, the station meets a man who was among a group of writers who first expressed the experience of second-generation Puerto Ricans in the city. NY1's Roger Clark filed the following report.

A poem from one of East Harlem's most well-known residents, from Jesus "Papoleto" Melendez:

"'Believe thyself in thee, and let yourself be free to dream,'" he said. "You've got to tell a kid that."

It was written for a 9-year-old neighbor for her birthday.

"Because I said what would she like for her birthday? She'd like a poem," he said.

She picked the right guy. The 65-year old Melendez is one of the founders of the Nuyorican Movement, a group of poets and writers of Puerto Rican descent who emerged here in the late '60s and early '70s.

"We were like intellectuals without an academy," Melendez said.

Except for the streets of East Harlem, where he has spent a big chunk of his life. He is currently settling into a new apartment here in El Barrio's Artspace P.S. 109, an affordable housing complex for artists. Outside his door, a 27-foot-by-3-foot scroll hangs from the ceiling with one of his poems. There's also a display chronicling more than 40 years of his writing. And more is on the way.

"I'm interested in writing new material all the time," Melendez said. "I have a lot of literature to finish."

Melendez said it was a junior high school teacher who first noticed his writing talent.    

"I thought they were talking about my penmanship," he said.

But it was the meaning of the words, not how they were written, that was impressive.

Papoleto's readings of his poetry in the homes of fellow writers soon gave way to readings in clubs like the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, which is still open. Papoleto, too, is still plugging away.

"A lot of people know me, you know, Papoleto this, that and that, which is good, feels good and all of that," he said. "It's like I tell people, I've got the fame part. I'm working on the fortune."

One thing Papoleto never did was act in a movie, but that has now changed. He is co-starring in a new film called "The Stockroom." You can check it out at El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem on October 28.