Puerto Rico

• 
• SOURCE: Jacobin
  9/27/2022
  

  Puerto Rico Needs Public Electric Utilities, Not More Privatization

  by Alex Standen

  Worker protest movements created the public utilities that used to provide electricity to Puerto Rico. In the face of the disastrous failure of the privatized utility system highlighted by Hurricanes Fiona and Maria, a similar movement is needed now. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  9/20/2022
  

  US Neglect of Puerto Rico is in the News, but the Main Historical Relationship has been Abuse

  by Jaquira Diaz

  From forced disruption of native industry through mass sterilization and forced austerity, one writer argues that the only escape from mainland abuse is full Puerto Rican independence. 

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  6/6/2022
  

  Ongoing US Territorial Possessions Perpetuate Colonialism and Racism

  by Anders Bo Rasmussen

  While much has changed over a century, the basic question of equal treatment for citizens in American territories has essentially remained the same.

• 
• SOURCE: Boston Review
  3/7/2022
  

  West Side Story and the Tragedy of Progressive Hollywood

  by Éric Morales-Franceschini

  Critical debates about the "West Side Story" remake focus on representation, but ignore the politics of Puerto Rico. 

• 
• SOURCE: Dissent
  4/30/2021
  

  The End of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

  by Pedro Cában

  Puerto Rico's status as Estado Libre Asociado (Free Associated State) arose in response to American desires to control the island as a colony while nodding to the island's autonomy during the Cold War. It is not up to the challenges Puerto Ricans face today, but Congress appears unwilling to move on from a colonial relationship.

• 
• SOURCE: Contingent
  4/25/2021
  

  Colony of Cobblestone

  by Carlos Santiago

  San Juan's cobblestones are an illusion, aesthetic flourishes of "old world charm" intended to boost the tourism economy and conceal the island's status as a U.S. territory.

• 
• SOURCE: Buzzfeed
  1/29/2021
  

  A New Photo Exhibit Looks At Decades Of FBI Surveillance On American Citizens

  Christopher Gregory-Rivera's new exhibit documents the FBI's surveillance, in concert with Puerto Rican authorities, of private citizens suspected of involvement in the island's independence movement.

• 
• SOURCE: Black Perspectives
  12/1/2020
  

  Race, Violence, and Resistance in Puerto Rico (Review)

  by Don S. Polite, Jr.

  A review of Marisol LeBrón's "Policing Life and Death" which connects the turn to austerity governance in Puerto Rico with increasingly punitive and racially discriminatory policing practices. 

• 
• SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
  9/8/2020
  

  Remembering Roberto Clemente as a Black Man who Fought Against Racial Injustice

  Roberto Clemente is often remembered as a pioneering Puerto Rican star in baseball, but as an Afro-Carribean player, he fought for Black civil rights as well. 

• 
• SOURCE: NPR Codeswitch
  3/17/2020
  

  The Classist History Behind Bad Bunny's 'Bichiyal'

  The introduction of the term opened the floodgates for a debate about class, womanhood, and Puerto Rico's long history of reggaeton production.

• 
• SOURCE: The Conversation
  1/28/20
  

  Puerto Rico earthquakes imperil island’s indigenous heritage

  by Jorge L. Chinea

  Many indigenous ruins lie along the shore, where ancient settlements thrived. A relatively new wave of researchers are only beginning to explore these endangered places, rediscovering the ancient relics, statues, stone engravings and paintings created and used by the Taíno people.

• 
• SOURCE: The Activist Historian Review
  1/7/20
  

  The Colonization of Puerto Rico and the Limits of Impeachment

  by DJ Polite

  It is misleading to call impeachment "justice" when it reflects the priorities of empire.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  8/1/9
  

  How music took down Puerto Rico’s governor

  by Verónica Dávila and Marisol LeBrón

  Underground music overcame censors to gain popularity and political power.

• 
• 4/28/19
  

  Breaking the Grip of Militarism: The Story of Vieques

  by Lawrence Wittner

  The successful struggle by the Viequenses to liberate their island from the burdens of militarism also provides a source of hope for people around the world.  

• 
• 1-31-18
  

  Are Puerto Ricans White?

  by Jonathan Harrison

  That’s what Tucker Carlson claimed when defending Trump from charges he neglected the island because he’s racist. Here’s the backstory.

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  10-26-17
  

  Puerto Rico's power outages are the largest in US history, report says

  In terms of the total number of lost hours of electricity, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are in the midst of the largest blackout in US history, according to a report from an economic research company.

• 
• 10-22-17
  

  One Has to Wonder After Hurricane Maria How Trump Would Treat Hawaii and Guam

  by Ronald L. Feinman

  Would he go all out to help if they were attacked in a war with North Korea?

• 
• 10-6-17
  

  Trump Tells Puerto Ricans to be “Proud” that They Aren’t Dead

  by Lillian Guerra

  History calls on us to act.

• 
• 10-2-17
  

  Puerto Rico’s Hurricane María Proves Once Again that Natural Disasters Are Never Natural

  by Stuart B. Schwartz

  The island’s political and financial crisis and its problematic political status makes coping with disaster very difficult.

• 
• SOURCE: The Conversation
  3-2-17
  

  Are Puerto Ricans really American citizens?

  by Charles R. Venator-Santiago

  In a recent poll, 41 percent of respondents said they did not believe that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens, and 15 percent were not sure.