When I Was Puerto Rican Pdf

When I Was Puerto Rican PDF: A Comprehensive Guide to Finding and Understanding Esmeralda Santiago's Memoir

Are you searching for a PDF version of Esmeralda Santiago's poignant and insightful memoir, When I Was Puerto Rican? This post delves deep into the availability of this powerful story in PDF format, exploring the legal and ethical implications of accessing copyrighted material, offering alternatives for reading the book, and ultimately guiding you towards a fulfilling and legal engagement with Santiago's compelling narrative. We'll also analyze the book's themes and impact, providing a thorough understanding of its importance in literature and cultural studies.

Understanding the Search for "When I Was Puerto Rican PDF"

Many searches online revolve around finding copyrighted works in PDF format. While the immediate appeal of a free PDF might seem tempting, it's crucial to understand the legal and ethical considerations involved. Downloading copyrighted material without permission is illegal and infringes on the author's rights, hindering their ability to receive royalties and continue creating important works. This section addresses the complexities surrounding this common online query and offers responsible alternatives.


Legal and Ethical Considerations of Downloading Copyrighted PDFs

Downloading a pirated PDF of When I Was Puerto Rican carries significant legal risks. Copyright infringement can result in hefty fines, legal action from the publisher or author, and damage to your personal reputation. Furthermore, downloading from untrusted sources exposes your devices to malware and viruses. Respecting intellectual property is paramount; it supports authors and encourages the creation of more impactful literature.

Ethical Implications of Copyright Infringement

Beyond the legal implications, downloading illegal PDFs undermines the value of creative work. Authors dedicate years to crafting their stories, and the income derived from sales supports their continued writing. Downloading pirated copies deprives them of this income, discouraging future creative endeavors and diminishing the literary landscape. Ethical consumption of literature involves respecting the creator's work and contributing to a sustainable ecosystem of authorship.


Alternatives to Downloading an Illegal PDF

Fortunately, there are many legal and readily accessible ways to read When I Was Puerto Rican:

Purchasing the Book: The most straightforward method is to purchase a physical or ebook copy from reputable retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore. This supports the author directly and ensures you have a high-quality, legally obtained version.

Borrowing from a Library: Most public libraries carry copies of When I Was Puerto Rican. Checking it out is a free and legal way to access the book.

Utilizing E-book Platforms: Platforms like Kindle, Kobo, and Google Play Books offer digital versions for purchase or rental.

Audiobooks: Listening to an audiobook allows you to engage with the narrative in a different format. Many platforms offer audiobooks for purchase or subscription.

Analyzing "When I Was Puerto Rican": A Summary of Key Themes and Impact

Esmeralda Santiago's memoir is a powerful exploration of identity, cultural assimilation, and the complexities of family dynamics. It details her childhood in Puerto Rico and subsequent move to New York, highlighting the challenges and joys of navigating two distinct cultures. The book delves into themes of:

Cultural Identity: Santiago’s narrative examines the ongoing negotiation between Puerto Rican and American identities.

Family Dynamics: The memoir explores the multifaceted relationships within her family, showcasing both love and conflict.

Immigration and Assimilation: Santiago's experience moving to New York City provides a powerful account of the immigrant experience.

Gender Roles: The book illuminates the traditional gender roles prevalent in Puerto Rican society and their impact on Santiago's life.


A Detailed Outline of "When I Was Puerto Rican"

Here's a potential outline, understanding that variations exist depending on the edition:

Book Title: When I Was Puerto Rican

Author: Esmeralda Santiago

Outline:

Introduction: Sets the scene and introduces the author's early life in Puerto Rico.
Part 1: Childhood in Puerto Rico: Details life in rural Puerto Rico, family dynamics, and cultural experiences.
Part 2: Transition to New York: Describes the family's move to New York City, the cultural shock, and challenges of adapting to a new environment.
Part 3: Adolescence and Coming-of-Age: Focuses on Santiago’s experiences as a young woman navigating adolescence in New York.
Conclusion: Reflects on the author's journey and the enduring impact of her experiences.


Detailed Explanation of the Outline Points:

Introduction: This section typically introduces Esmeralda Santiago and sets the stage for the narrative. It provides context about her early life in rural Puerto Rico, hinting at the significant cultural and personal transitions that will follow.

Part 1: Childhood in Puerto Rico: This part forms the core of the memoir, detailing Santiago's childhood experiences in the rural landscape of Puerto Rico. It explores vivid descriptions of her family life, the community, and the cultural norms that shaped her upbringing. The descriptions often focus on family relationships and the unique aspects of Puerto Rican culture.

Part 2: Transition to New York: This section marks a dramatic shift in the narrative as the Santiago family moves to New York City. It's a stark contrast to the life depicted earlier, highlighting the challenges of adaptation, the cultural shock of a new environment, and the difficulties of assimilation. The experiences reflect the common struggles of immigrants attempting to build new lives in a foreign land.

Part 3: Adolescence and Coming-of-Age: This section often delves deeper into Santiago's personal journey as she navigates adolescence in New York City. This part explores themes of identity, independence, and self-discovery against the backdrop of a new culture and its expectations. The experiences are relatable to those navigating the complexities of adolescence, particularly within a diverse cultural setting.

Conclusion: The concluding section reflects upon the experiences detailed in the memoir. It provides a sense of closure and often offers insightful reflections on themes of identity, family, and the enduring influence of culture. This section serves as a culmination of the author's journey and provides a thought-provoking ending to the narrative.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Is there a free legal PDF of "When I Was Puerto Rican"? No, legally obtaining a free PDF is not possible as the book is copyrighted.

2. Where can I purchase a legal copy? Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and most bookstores sell both physical and ebook versions.

3. Are there audiobook versions available? Yes, many audiobook platforms offer "When I Was Puerto Rican."

4. What is the main theme of the book? The exploration of identity, cultural assimilation, and family dynamics are central themes.

5. Is the book appropriate for all ages? While not explicitly graphic, some mature themes may make it more suitable for older readers.

6. How long does it take to read? The reading time varies depending on the reader, but it's a moderately sized memoir.

7. What makes this memoir significant? Its honest portrayal of the immigrant experience and cultural identity resonates deeply with readers.

8. Where can I find reviews of the book? You can find numerous reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, and other book review sites.

9. Is the book suitable for academic study? Yes, it’s frequently used in literature and cultural studies courses.


Related Articles:

1. Esmeralda Santiago's Other Works: An exploration of the author's other literary contributions and their themes.

2. The Puerto Rican Diaspora in Literature: A broader look at Puerto Rican authors and their representation of the diaspora experience.

3. Immigrant Narratives in American Literature: A survey of works depicting the immigrant experience in the United States.

4. Coming-of-Age Stories in Literature: A study of common themes and tropes in coming-of-age narratives.

5. The Influence of Culture on Identity: An examination of how culture shapes an individual's sense of self.

6. Family Dynamics in Literature: An analysis of how family relationships are portrayed in various literary works.

7. Cultural Assimilation and its Challenges: A discussion of the difficulties individuals face when adapting to a new culture.

8. The Representation of Women in Literature: A critical examination of female characters and their portrayal in books.

9. Understanding Latino/a Literature: A detailed overview of the history and significant works of Latino/a literature.


  when i was puerto rican pdf: When I Was Puerto Rican Esmeralda Santiago, 2006-02-28 Magic, sexual tension, high comedy, and intense drama move through an enchanted yet harsh autobiography, in the story of a young girl who leaves rural Puerto Rico for New York's tenements and a chance for success.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Conquistadora Esmeralda Santiago, 2012-07-10 As a young girl growing up in Spain, Ana Larragoity Cubillas is powerfully drawn to Puerto Rico by the diaries of an ancestor who traveled there with Ponce de Leon. And in handsome twin brothers Ramon and Inocente—both in love with Ana—she finds a way to get there. Marrying Ramon at the age of eighteen, she travels across the ocean to Hacienda los Gemelos, a remote sugar plantation the brothers have inherited. But soon the Civil War erupts in the United States, and Ana finds her livelihood, and perhaps even her life, threatened by the very people on whose backs her wealth has been built: the hacienda’s slaves, whose richly drawn stories unfold alongside her own in this epic novel of love, discovery and adventure.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Almost a Woman Esmeralda Santiago, 2012-06-12 Following the enchanting story recounted in When I Was Puerto Rican of the author’s emergence from the barrios of Brooklyn to the prestigious Performing Arts High School in Manhattan, Esmeralda Santiago delivers the tale of her young adulthood, where she continually strives to find a balance between becoming American and staying Puerto Rican. While translating for her mother Mami at the welfare office in the morning, starring as Cleopatra at New York’s prestigious Performing Arts High School in the afternoons, and dancing salsa all night, she begins to defy her mother’s protective rules, only to find that independence brings new dangers and dilemmas.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: América's Dream Esmeralda Santiago, 2009-10-13 América Gonzalez is a hotel housekeeper on an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, cleaning up after wealthy foreigners who don't look her In the eye. Her alcoholic mother resents her; her married boyfriend, Correa, beats her; and their fourteen-year-old daughter thinks life would be better anywhere but with América. So when América is offered the chance to work as alive-in housekeeper and nanny for a family in Westchester County, New York, she takes it as a sign that a door to escape has been opened. Yet even as América revels in the comparative luxury of her new life, daring to care about a man other than Correa, she is faced with dramatic proof that no matter what she does, she can't get away from her past.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: The Battle for Paradise Naomi Klein, 2018-06-05 Fearless necessary reporting . . . Klein exposes the ‘battle of utopias’ that is currently unfolding in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico” (Junot Díaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) “We are in a fight for our lives. Hurricanes Irma and María unmasked the colonialism we face in Puerto Rico, and the inequality it fosters, creating a fierce humanitarian crisis. Now we must find a path forward to equality and sustainability, a path driven by communities, not investors. And this book explains, with careful and unbiased reporting, only the efforts of our community activists can answer the paramount question: What type of society do we want to become and who is Puerto Rico for?” —Carmen Yulín Cruz, Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich “Puertopians” are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island. In this vital and startling investigation, bestselling author and activist Naomi Klein uncovers how the forces of shock politics and disaster capitalism seek to undermine the nation’s radical, resilient vision for a “just recovery.” All royalties from the sale of this book in English and Spanish go directly to JunteGente, a gathering of Puerto Rican organizations resisting disaster capitalism and advancing a fair and healthy recovery for their island. “Klein chronicles the extraordinary grassroots resistance by the Puerto Rican people against neoliberal privatization and Wall Street greed in the aftermath of the island’s financial meltdown, of hurricane devastation, and of Washington’s imposition of an outside control board over the most important U.S. colony.” —Juan González, cohost of Democracy Now! and author of Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America
  when i was puerto rican pdf: The Turkish Lover Esmeralda Santiago, 2009-03-17 Enthralled admirers of Esmeralda Santiago's memoirs of her childhood have yearned to read more. Now, in The Turkish Lover, Esmeralda finally breaks out of the monumental struggle with her powerful mother, only to elope into the spell of an exotic love affair. At the heart of the story is Esmeralda's relationship with the Turk, a passion that gradually becomes a prison out of which she must emerge to become herself. The expansive humanity, earthy humor, and psychological courage that made Esmeralda's first two books so successful are on full display again in The Turkish Lover.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Sponsored Migration Edgardo Meléndez, 2017 In Sponsored Migration: The State and Puerto Rican Postwar Migration to the United States, Edgardo Meléndez provides the first comprehensive study of the role played by the Puerto Rican government in the promotion of migration and the incorporation of Puerto Ricans into the United States in the late 1940s, and the effects of this intervention on the political and economic development of Puerto Rico.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: The Unlinking of Language and Puerto Rican Identity Brenda Domínguez-Rosado, 2015-09-04 Language and identity have an undeniable link, but what happens when a second language is imposed on a populace? Can a link be broken or transformed? Are the attitudes towards the imposed language influential? Can these attitudes change over time? The mixed-methods results provided by this book are ground-breaking because they document how historical and traditional attitudes are changing towards both American English (AE) and Puerto Rican Spanish (PRS) on an island where the population has been subjected to both Spanish and US colonization. There are presently almost four million people living in Puerto Rico, while the Puerto Rican diaspora has surpassed it with more than this living in the United States alone. Because of this, many members of the diaspora no longer speak PRS, yet consider themselves to be Puerto Rican. Traditional stances against people who do not live on the island or speak the predominant language (PRS) yet wish to identify themselves as Puerto Rican have historically led to prejudice and strained relationships between people of Puerto Rican ancestry. The sample study provided here shows that there is not only a change in attitude towards the traditional link between PRS and Puerto Rican identity (leading to the inclusion of diasporic Puerto Ricans), but also a wider acceptance of the English language itself on this Caribbean island.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: The United States and the Development of the Puerto Rican Status Question, 1936-1968 Surendra Bhana, 1975 An antique doll helps a young girl whose mother has carefully protected her from traditional sex roles achieve self-assurance and personal definition.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: War Against All Puerto Ricans Nelson A Denis, 2015-04-07 The powerful, untold story of the 1950 revolution in Puerto Rico and the long history of U.S. intervention on the island, that the New York Times says could not be more timely. In 1950, after over fifty years of military occupation and colonial rule, the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico staged an unsuccessful armed insurrection against the United States. Violence swept through the island: assassins were sent to kill President Harry Truman, gunfights roared in eight towns, police stations and post offices were burned down. In order to suppress this uprising, the US Army deployed thousands of troops and bombarded two towns, marking the first time in history that the US government bombed its own citizens. Nelson A. Denis tells this powerful story through the controversial life of Pedro Albizu Campos, who served as the president of the Nationalist Party. A lawyer, chemical engineer, and the first Puerto Rican to graduate from Harvard Law School, Albizu Campos was imprisoned for twenty-five years and died under mysterious circumstances. By tracing his life and death, Denis shows how the journey of Albizu Campos is part of a larger story of Puerto Rico and US colonialism. Through oral histories, personal interviews, eyewitness accounts, congressional testimony, and recently declassified FBI files, War Against All Puerto Ricans tells the story of a forgotten revolution and its context in Puerto Rico's history, from the US invasion in 1898 to the modern-day struggle for self-determination. Denis provides an unflinching account of the gunfights, prison riots, political intrigue, FBI and CIA covert activity, and mass hysteria that accompanied this tumultuous period in Puerto Rican history.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Matters of Choice Iris Lopez, 2008-12-10 Sterilization remains one of the most popular forms of fertility control in the world, but it has received little acknowledgment for decreasing birthrates on account of its dubious use as a means of population control, especially in developing countries. In Matters of Choice, Iris Lopez presents a comprehensive analysis of the dichotomous views that have portrayed sterilization either as part of a coercive program of population control or as a means of voluntary, even liberating, fertility control by individual women. Drawing upon her twenty-five years of research on sterilized Puerto Rican women from five different families in Brooklyn, Lopez untangles the interplay between how women make fertility decisions and their social, economic, cultural, and historical constraints. Weaving together the voices of these women, she covers the history of sterilization and eugenics, societal pressures to have fewer children, a lack of adequate health care, patterns of gender inequality, and misinformation provided by doctors and family members. Lopez makes a stirring case for a model of reproductive freedom, taking readers beyond victim/agent debates to consider a broader definition of reproductive rights within a feminist anthropological context.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Boricua Pop Frances Negrón-Muntaner, 2004-06 The first book solely devoted to Puerto Rican visability and cultural impact. The author looks as such pop icons as JLo and Ricky Martin as well as West Side Story.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Building a Latino Civil Rights Movement Sonia Song-Ha Lee, 2014-05-26 In the first book-length history of Puerto Rican civil rights in New York City, Sonia Lee traces the rise and fall of an uneasy coalition between Puerto Rican and African American activists from the 1950s through the 1970s. Previous work has tended to see blacks and Latinos as either naturally unified as “people of color” or irreconcilably at odds as two competing minorities. Lee demonstrates instead that Puerto Ricans and African Americans in New York City shaped the complex and shifting meanings of “Puerto Rican@-ness” and “blackness” through political activism. African American and Puerto Rican New Yorkers came to see themselves as minorities joined in the civil rights struggle, the War on Poverty, and the Black Power movement — until white backlash and internal class divisions helped break the coalition, remaking “Hispanicity” as an ethnic identity that was mutually exclusive from “blackness.” Drawing on extensive archival research and oral history interviews, Lee vividly portrays this crucial chapter in postwar New York, revealing the permeability of boundaries between African American and Puerto Rican communities.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Listening to Salsa Frances R. Aparicio, 1998 The pulsing beats of salsa, merengue, and bolero are a compelling expression of Latino/a culture, but few outsiders comprehend the music's implications in larger social terms.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Aftershocks of Disaster Yarimar Bonilla, Marisol LeBrón, 2019-09-03 Two years after Hurricane Maria hit, Puerto Ricans are still reeling from its effects and aftereffects. Aftershocks collects poems, essays and photos from survivors of Hurricane Maria detailing their determination to persevere. The concept of aftershocks is used in the context of earthquakes to describe the jolts felt after the initial quake, but no disaster is a singular event. Aftershocks of Disaster examines the lasting effects of hurricane Maria, not just the effects of the wind or the rain, but delving into what followed: state failure, social abandonment, capitalization on human misery, and the collective trauma produced by the botched response.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Rethinking Puerto Rican Precolonial History Reniel Rodríguez Ramos, 2010-07-19 Focuses on the successive indigenous cultures of Puerto Rico prior to 1493 The history of Puerto Rico has usually been envisioned as a sequence of colonizations-various indigenous peoples from Archaic through Taíno were successively invaded, assimilated, or eliminated, followed by the Spanish entrada, which was then modified by African traditions and, since 1898, by the United States. The truth is more complex, but in many ways Puerto Rico remains one of the last colonies in the world. This volume focuses on the successive indigenous cultures of Puerto Rico prior to 1493. Traditional studies of the cultures of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean have centered on ceramic studies, based on the archaeological model developed by Irving Rouse which has guided Caribbean archaeology for decades. Rodríguez Ramos departs from this methodology by implementing lithics as the primary unit for tracing the origins and developments of the indigenous peoples of Puerto Rico. Analyzing the technological styles involved in the production of stone artifacts in the island through time, as well as the evaluation of an inventory of more than 500 radiocarbon dates recovered since Rouse's model emerged, the author presents a truly innovative study revealing alternative perspectives on Puerto Rico's pre-Columbian culture-historical sequence. By applying a multiscalar design, he not only not only provides an analysis of the plural ways in which the precolonial peoples of the island interacted and negotiated their identities but also shows how the cultural landscapes of Puerto Rico, the Antilles, and the Greater Caribbean shaped and were shaped by mutually constituting processes through time.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: We, the Puerto Rican People Juan Angel Silén, 1971 Silén restores to his people their history, stolen from them along with their land and independence.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Concrete and Countryside Carmelo Esterrich, 2018-07-06 From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, Puerto Rico was swept by a wave of modernization, transforming the island from a predominantly rural society to an unquestionably urban one. A curious paradox ensued, however. While the island underwent rapid urbanization, and the rhetoric of economic development reigned over official discourses, the newly installed insular government, along with some academic circles and radio and television media, constructed, promoted, and sponsored a narrative of Puerto Rican culture based on rural subjects, practices, and spaces. By examining a wide range of cultural texts, but focusing on the film production of the Division of Community Education, the popular dance music of Cortijo y su combo, and the literary texts of Jose Luis Gonzalez and Rene Marques, Concrete and Countryside offers an in-depth analysis of how Puerto Ricans responded to this transformative period. It also shows how the arts used a battery of images of the urban and the rural to understand, negotiate, and critique the innumerable changes taking place on the island.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: The Politics of Language in Puerto Rico Amílcar Antonio Barreto, 2018-11-05 A [book] rich in detail and analysis, which anyone wanting to understand the language debate in Puerto Rico will find essential.--Arlene Davila, Syracuse University This is the first book in English to analyze the controversial language policies passed by the Puerto Rican government in the 1990s. It is also the first to explore the connections between language and cultural identity and politics on the Caribbean island. Shortly after the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898, both English and Spanish became official languages of the territory. In 1991, the Puerto Rican government abolished bilingualism, claiming that Spanish only was necessary to protect the culture from North American influences. A few years later bilingualism was restored and English was promoted in public schools, with supporters asserting that the dual languages symbolized the island’s commitment to live in harmony with the United States. While the islanders’ sense of ethnic pride was growing, economic dependency enticed them to maintain close ties to the United States. This book shows that officials in both San Juan and Washington, along with English-first groups, used the language laws as weapons in the battle over U.S.-Puerto Rican relations and the volatile debate over statehood. It will be of interest to linguists, political scientists, students of contemporary cultural politics, and political activists in discussions of nationalism in multilingual communities.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: A Puerto Rican in New York, and Other Sketches Jesús Colón, 1982 Stories about the experiences of Puerto Ricans in New York.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: America's Colony Pedro A Malavet, 2007-11 An examination of the legal relationship between U.S. and Puerto Rico.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Defending Their Own in the Cold Marc Zimmerman, 2011-09-15 Defending Their Own in the Cold: The Cultural Turns of U.S. Puerto Ricans explores U.S. Puerto Rican culture in past and recent contexts. The book presents East Coast, Midwest, and Chicago cultural production while exploring Puerto Rican musical, film, artistic, and literary performance. Working within the theoretical frame of cultural, postcolonial, and diasporic studies, Marc Zimmerman relates the experience of Puerto Ricans to that of Chicanos and Cuban Americans, showing how even supposedly mainstream U.S. Puerto Ricans participate in a performative culture that embodies elements of possible cultural Ricanstruction. Defending Their Own in the Cold examines various dimensions of U.S. Puerto Rican artistic life, including relations with other ethnic groups and resistance to colonialism and cultural assimilation. To illustrate how Puerto Ricans have survived and created new identities and relations out of their colonized and diasporic circumstances, Zimmerman looks at the cultural examples of Latino entertainment stars such as Jennifer Lopez and Benicio del Toro, visual artists Juan Sánchez, Ramón Flores, and Elizam Escobar, as well as Nuyorican dancer turned Midwest poet Carmen Pursifull. The book includes a comprehensive chapter on the development of U.S. Puerto Rican literature and a pioneering essay on Chicago Puerto Rican writing. A final essay considers Cuban cultural attitudes towards Puerto Ricans in a testimonial narrative by Miguel Barnet and reaches conclusions about the past and future of U.S. Puerto Rican culture. Zimmerman offers his own semi-outsider point of reference as a Jewish American Latin Americanist who grew up near New York City, matured in California, went on to work with and teach Latinos in the Midwest, and eventually married a woman from a Puerto Rican family with island and U.S. roots.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Loisaida as Urban Laboratory Timo Schrader, 2020-11-15 Loisaida as Urban Laboratory is the first in-depth analysis of the network of Puerto Rican community activism in New York City’s Lower East Side from 1964 to 2001. Combining social history, cultural history, Latino studies, ethnic studies, studies of social movements, and urban studies, Timo Schrader uncovers the radical history of the Lower East Side. As little scholarship exists on the roles of institutions and groups in twentieth and twenty-first-century Puerto Rican community activism, Schrader enriches a growing discussion around alternative urbanisms. Loisaida was among a growing number of neighborhoods that pioneered a new form of urban living. The term Loisaida was coined, and then widely adopted, by the activist and poet Bittman “Bimbo” Rivas in an unpublished 1974 poem called “Loisaida” to refer to a part of the Lower East Side. Using this Spanglish version instead of other common labels honors the name that the residents chose themselves to counter real estate developers who called the area East Village or Alphabet City in an attempt to attract more artists and ultimately gentrify the neighborhood. Since the 1980s, urban planners and scholars have discussed strategies of urban development that revisit the pre–World War II idea of neighborhoods as community-driven and ecologically conscious entities. These “new urbanist” ideals are reflected in Schrader’s rich historical and ethnographic study of activism in Loisaida, telling a vivid story of the Puerto Rican community’s struggles for the right to stay and live with dignity in its home neighborhood.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Fishers At Work, Workers At Sea David Griffith, Manuel Valdes Pizzini, 2002-01-30 Based on a sample survey of 102 households. Focuses on Puerto Rican fishers who also engage in paid employment in the USA.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Puerto Rican Citizen Lorrin Thomas, 2010-06-15 By the end of the 1920s, just ten years after the Jones Act first made them full-fledged Americans, more than 45,000 native Puerto Ricans had left their homes and entered the United States, citizenship papers in hand, forming one of New York City’s most complex and distinctive migrant communities. In Puerto Rican Citizen, Lorrin Thomas for the first time unravels the many tensions—historical, racial, political, and economic—that defined the experience of this group of American citizens before and after World War II. Building its incisive narrative from a wide range of archival sources, interviews, and first-person accounts of Puerto Rican life in New York, this book illuminates the rich history of a group that is still largely invisible to many scholars. At the center of Puerto Rican Citizen are Puerto Ricans’ own formulations about political identity, the responses of activists and ordinary migrants to the failed promises of American citizenship, and their expectations of how the American state should address those failures. Complicating our understanding of the discontents of modern liberalism, of race relations beyond black and white, and of the diverse conceptions of rights and identity in American life, Thomas’s book transforms the way we understand this community’s integral role in shaping our sense of citizenship in twentieth-century America.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: My Music Is My Flag Ruth Glasser, 1997-05-23 Puerto Rican music in New York is given center stage in Ruth Glasser's original and lucid study. Exploring the relationship between the social history and forms of cultural expression of Puerto Ricans, she focuses on the years between the two world wars. Her material integrates the experiences of the mostly working-class Puerto Rican musicians who struggled to make a living during this period with those of their compatriots and the other ethnic groups with whom they shared the cultural landscape. Through recorded songs and live performances, Puerto Rican musicians were important representatives for the national consciousness of their compatriots on both sides of the ocean. Yet they also played with African-American and white jazz bands, Filipino or Italian-American orchestras, and with other Latinos. Glasser provides an understanding of the way musical subcultures could exist side by side or even as a part of the mainstream, and she demonstrates the complexities of cultural nationalism and cultural authenticity within the very practical realm of commercial music. Illuminating a neglected epoch of Puerto Rican life in America, Glasser shows how ethnic groups settling in the United States had choices that extended beyond either maintenance of their homeland traditions or assimilation into the dominant culture. Her knowledge of musical styles and performance enriches her analysis, and a discography offers a helpful addition to the text.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Writing Puerto Rico Guillermo Rebollo Gil, 2018-07-04 This book is a manifesto-like consideration of the potentialities of radical political thought and action in contemporary Puerto Rico. Framed within the context of the present economic crisis, of austerity measures, PROMESA and mass migration, this book engages recent literary, artistic and activist work on the island in order to highlight the manners in which such work—however precarious, innocuous and/or fleeting—fosters hope among audiences, artists, protesters and onlookers alike for a more egalitarian and just society. Autoethnographically grounded, informal in tone, and with an eye toward intersectionality, this book serves as a unique contribution to the field of Puerto Rican Studies, by offering alternate points of departure for emergent theorizing and intellectual production across academic disciplines.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Modern Colonization by Medical Intervention Nicole Trujillo-Pagan, 2013-09-12 Modern Colonization by Medical Intervention adds to our understanding of the political and economic transformations establishing colonial modernity in Puerto Rico. By focusing on influential physicians’ clinical work and their access to a remote and inaccessible rural population, this volume details how rural areas suffered the ravages of social dislocation, unemployment and hunger. The colonial administration’s hookworm campaign involved many Puerto Rican physicians in complex struggles with other elites, rural peasants and U.S. colonial administrators for political legitimacy. Puerto Rican physicians did not gain the professional autonomy their counterparts in the United States enjoyed. Instead, they became centrally implicated in the struggle between labor and capital enforcing the island’s subordination to a colonial modernity and the development of capitalism on the island.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Caribeños at the Table Melissa Fuster, 2021-09-15 Melissa Fuster thinks expansively about the multiple meanings of comida, food, from something as simple as a meal to something as complex as one's identity. She listens intently to the voices of New York City residents with Cuban, Dominican, or Puerto Rican backgrounds, as well as to those of the nutritionists and health professionals who serve them. She argues with sensitivity that the migrants' health depends not only on food culture but also on important structural factors that underlie their access to food, employment, and high-quality healthcare. People in Hispanic Caribbean communities in the United States present high rates of obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related diseases, conditions painfully highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both eaters and dietitians may blame these diseases on the shedding of traditional diets in favor of highly processed foods. Or, conversely, they may blame these on the traditional diets of fatty meat, starchy root vegetables, and rice. Applying a much needed intersectional approach, Fuster shows that nutritionists and eaters often misrepresent, and even racialize or pathologize, a cuisine's healthfulness or unhealthfulness if they overlook the kinds of economic and racial inequities that exist within the global migration experience.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: The Young Lords Johanna Fernández, 2019-12-18 Against the backdrop of America's escalating urban rebellions in the 1960s, an unexpected cohort of New York radicals unleashed a series of urban guerrilla actions against the city's racist policies and contempt for the poor. Their dramatic flair, uncompromising socialist vision for a new society, skillful ability to link local problems to international crises, and uncompromising vision for a new society riveted the media, alarmed New York's political class, and challenged nationwide perceptions of civil rights and black power protest. The group called itself the Young Lords. Utilizing oral histories, archival records, and an enormous cache of police surveillance files released only after a decade-long Freedom of Information Law request and subsequent court battle, Johanna Fernandez has written the definitive account of the Young Lords, from their roots as a Chicago street gang to their rise and fall as a political organization in New York. Led by poor and working-class Puerto Rican youth, and consciously fashioned after the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords occupied a hospital, blocked traffic with uncollected garbage, took over a church, tested children for lead poisoning, defended prisoners, fought the military police, and fed breakfast to poor children. Their imaginative, irreverent protests and media conscious tactics won reforms, popularized socialism in the United States and exposed U.S. mainland audiences to the country's quiet imperial project in Puerto Rico. Fernandez challenges what we think we know about the sixties. She shows that movement organizers were concerned with finding solutions to problems as pedestrian as garbage collection and the removal of lead paint from tenement walls; gentrification; lack of access to medical care; childcare for working mothers; and the warehousing of people who could not be employed in deindustrialized cities. The Young Lords' politics and preoccupations, especially those concerning the rise of permanent unemployment foretold the end of the American Dream. In riveting style, Fernandez demonstrates how the Young Lords redefined the character of protest, the color of politics, and the cadence of popular urban culture in the age of great dreams.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone R. Rivera, 2003-02-07 New York Puerto Ricans have been an integral part of hip hop culture since day one: from 1970s pioneers like Rock Steady Crew's Jo-Jo, to recent rap mega-stars Big Punisher (R.I.P.) and Angie Martinez. Yet, Puerto Rican participation and contributions to hip hop have often been downplayed and even completely ignored. And when their presence has been acknowledged, it has frequently been misinterpreted as a defection from Puerto Rican culture and identity, into the African American camp. But nothing could be further from the truth. Through hip hop, Puerto Ricans have simply stretched the boundaries of Puerto Ricanness and latinidad.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano Sonia Manzano, 2012-09-01 One of America's most influential Hispanics -- 'Maria' on Sesame Street -- presents a powerful novel set in New York's El Barrio in 1969There are two secrets Evelyn Serrano is keeping from her Mami and Papo? her true feelings about growing up in her Spanish Harlem neighborhood, and her attitude about Abuela, her sassy grandmother who's come from Puerto Rico to live with them. Then, like an urgent ticking clock, events erupt that change everything. The Young Lords, a Puerto Rican activist group, dump garbage in the street and set it on fire, igniting a powerful protest. When Abuela steps in to take charge, Evelyn is thrust into the action. Tempers flare, loyalties are tested. Through it all, Evelyn learns important truths about her Latino heritage and the history makers who shaped a nation. Infused with actual news accounts from the time period, Sonia Manzano has crafted a gripping work of fiction based on her own life growing up during a fiery, unforgettable time in America, when young Latinos took control of their destinies.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Writing Off the Hyphen Jose L. Torres-Padilla, Carmen Haydee Rivera, 2011-12-01 The sixteen essays in Writing Off the Hyphen approach the literature of the Puerto Rican diaspora from current theoretical positions, with provocative and insightful results. The authors analyze how the diasporic experience of Puerto Ricans is played out in the context of class, race, gender, and sexuality and how other themes emerging from postcolonialism and postmodernism come into play. Their critical work also demonstrates an understanding of how the process of migration and the relations between Puerto Rico and the United States complicate notions of cultural and national identity as writers confront their bilingual, bicultural, and transnational realities. The collection has considerable breadth and depth. It covers earlier, undertheorized writers such as Luisa Capetillo, Pedro Juan Labarthe, Bernardo Vega, Pura Belpré, Arturo Schomburg, and Graciany Miranda Archilla. Prominent writers such as Rosario Ferré and Judith Ortiz Cofer are discussed alongside often-neglected writers such as Honolulu-based Rodney Morales and gay writer Manuel Ramos Otero. The essays cover all the genres and demonstrate that current theoretical ideas and approaches create exciting opportunities and possibilities for the study of Puerto Rican diasporic literature.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: When I Was Puerto Rican Esmeralda Santiago, 2006-02-28 One of The Best Memoirs of a Generation (Oprah's Book Club): a young woman's journey from the mango groves and barrios of Puerto Rico to Brooklyn, and eventually on to Harvard In a childhood full of tropical beauty and domestic strife, poverty and tenderness, Esmeralda Santiago learned the proper way to eat a guava, the sound of tree frogs, the taste of morcilla, and the formula for ushering a dead baby's soul to heaven. But when her mother, Mami, a force of nature, takes off to New York with her seven, soon to be eleven children, Esmeralda, the oldest, must learn new rules, a new language, and eventually a new identity. In the first of her three acclaimed memoirs, Esmeralda brilliantly recreates her tremendous journey from the idyllic landscape and tumultuous family life of her earliest years, to translating for her mother at the welfare office, and to high honors at Harvard.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Eating Puerto Rico Cruz Miguel Ortíz Cuadra, 2013-10-14 Available for the first time in English, Cruz Miguel Ortiz Cuadra's magisterial history of the foods and eating habits of Puerto Rico unfolds into an examination of Puerto Rican society from the Spanish conquest to the present. Each chapter is centered on an iconic Puerto Rican foodstuff, from rice and cornmeal to beans, roots, herbs, fish, and meat. Ortiz shows how their production and consumption connects with race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and cultural appropriation in Puerto Rico. Using a multidisciplinary approach and a sweeping array of sources, Ortiz asks whether Puerto Ricans really still are what they ate. Whether judging by a host of social and economic factors--or by the foods once eaten that have now disappeared--Ortiz concludes that the nature of daily life in Puerto Rico has experienced a sea change.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Silent Dancing Judith Ortiz Cofer, 1991-01-01 Silent Dancing is a personal narrative made up of Judith Ortiz CoferÍs recollections of the bilingual-bicultural childhood which forged her personality as a writer and artist. The daughter of a Navy man, Ortiz Cofer was born in Puerto Rico and spent her childhood shuttling between the small island of her birth and New Jersey. In fluid, clear, incisive prose, as well as in the poems she includes to highlight the major themes, Ortiz Cofer has added an important chapter to autobiography, Hispanic American Creativity and womenÍs literature. Silent Dancing has been awarded the 1991 PEN/Martha Albrand Special Citation for Nonfiction and has been selected for The New York Public LibraryÍs 1991 Best Books for the Teen Age.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Puerto Rican Poetry Robert Márquez, 2007 Offering a comprehensive collection of Puerto Rican poetry in English, this text includes the work of 64 poets, as well as selections from Puerto Rico's tradition of popular verse forms - coplas, decimas, bombas - produced by anonymous writers.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: The Vanquished César Andreu Iglesias, 2002 Follows three middle-aged revolutionaries as they plan to kill a U.S. general.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Side by Side Marilisa Jiménez García, 2021-03-19 Winner of the Children’s Literature Association’s 2023 Book Award During the early colonial encounter, children’s books were among the first kinds of literature produced by US writers introducing the new colony, its people, and the US’s role as a twentieth-century colonial power to the public. Subsequently, youth literature and media were important tools of Puerto Rican cultural and educational elite institutions and Puerto Rican revolutionary thought as a means of negotiating US assimilation and upholding a strong Latin American, Caribbean national stance. In Side by Side: US Empire, Puerto Rico, and the Roots of American Youth Literature and Culture, author Marilisa Jiménez García focuses on the contributions of the Puerto Rican community to American youth, approaching Latinx literature as a transnational space that provides a critical lens for examining the lingering consequences of US and Spanish colonialism for US communities of color. Through analysis of texts typically outside traditional Latinx or literary studies such as young adult literature, textbooks, television programming, comics, music, curriculum, and youth movements, Side by Side represents the only comprehensive study of the contributions of Puerto Ricans to American youth literature and culture, as well as the only comprehensive study into the role of youth literature and culture in Puerto Rican literature and thought. Considering recent debates over diversity in children’s and young adult literature and media and the strained relationship between Puerto Rico and the US, Jiménez García's timely work encourages us to question who constitutes the expert and to resist the homogenization of Latinxs, as well as other marginalized communities, that has led to the erasure of writers, scholars, and artists.
  when i was puerto rican pdf: Silencing Race I. Rodríguez-Silva, 2012-10-19 Silencing Race provides a historical analysis of the construction of silences surrounding issues of racial inequality, violence, and discrimination in Puerto Rico. Examining the ongoing racialization of Puerto Rican workers, it explores the 'class-making' of race.