Puerto Rican Arrival in New York: Narratives of the Migration, 1920-1950 - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558763627 ISBN 13: 9781558763623

Publisher: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2021

Synopsis

"First to disembark were passengers traveling first class--businessmen, well-to-do families, students. In second class, where I was, there were the emigrants, most of us tabaqueros, or cigar workers. . ." Thus writes Bernardo Vega in this collection of engaging and readable first-hand reminiscences about the mid-20th-century migration from Puerto Rico to the U.S. The documentary importance of these testimonies is evident, particularly in their capturing of the actual voyage from Puerto Rico and arrival in New York. Unlike more recent writings about the migration, where attention is riveted on the later process of settlement and intergenerational adjustment, the older narratives dwell on the psychological and existential trauma of arrival and first impressions. In this collection, the element of class difference within the migrating population stands out sharply. While in subsequent literature such issues become more intricate and representation of the social classes more oblique, these early texts show that it was a divided arrival. For despite the structural uniformity and overwhelmingly working-class composition of the immigration, Puerto Ricans came to New York with divergent interests and understandings depending on their class.essential requirements for a modernist project in Puerto Rico: "Young people who are leaving our shores benefit Puerto Rico. If they return to the Island, they will bring with them the experience of living in a large country, and they will know how to see things from a broader perspective" (p. 77). Huyke also believes that Puerto Ricans have a future in U.S. politics: "Imagine the day when one of our young men, or one of their sons, is elected Representative, or Senator, or President of the United States! After all, Roosevelt's ancestors were Dutch" (pp. 78-79). Huyke "s endorsement of comparing Puerto Ricans to the Dutch, or even his support of a Protestant ethic, overlooks the way U.S. colonialism created the conditions that promoted unemployment, pov¬erty, social inequality, and emigration to the states (City University of New York, Centre de Estudios Puertorriquefios, History Task Force 1979). Also included in the anthology is the writing of Guillermo Cotto-Thorner, a former ordained Baptist minister and educator who had a column called the "Progressive Pulpit" in the revolutionary newspaper Liberation, and who authored a novel, Tropico en Manhattan (Manhattan Tropic) (Cotto-Thorner 1951), Portraying Puerto Ricans as actively redefining the physical and cul¬tural landscape of the city, this novel is one of the first books to include a glossary of "Neoyorkismos," a list of definitions explaining the new linguis¬tic practices of New York Puerto Ricans (p. 127) that give rise a generation later to the Nuyorican poetry and literature sparked by Piri Thomas's Down These Mean Streets (1967). Cotto-Thorner adopts a perspective that is still used in contemporary multicultural discourse around diversity and difference: "Our colony is something like a shiny tile mosaic .... Our people are bound together by an eternal spirit. And just like that mosaic there's a whole range of colors, designs, and shades. We, too, are divided but also united. Believe me, we're part of a mosaic encrusted in the bedrock of Manhattan" (p. 167). This mosaic metaphor is later adopted by David Dinkins, the first African American mayor of New York City (1990-1993), who celebrated the "gorgeous mosaic" of New York City's residents. Overall, Puerto Rican Arrival in New York is an accessible reminder to readers that not all Latinos are immigrants, that Puerto Rican emigration to the States is a U.S. byproduct of what Juan Gonzalez aptly describes as a "harvest of empire" (Gonzalez 2000), and that not all migrants understand and experience migration similarly. Both Spanish- and English-language readers can appreciate this bilingual edition. It will be an asset for middle school, high school, and early college students who seek to understand the diverse experiences of Puerto Rican emigrants in New York City.

About this title

About the Author:

JUAN FLORES,Hunter College, is the author of numerous books, including From Bomba to Hip-Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity.

Review:

"Juan Flores, the former professor of German studies at Stanford University who "migrated" to sociology and Puerto Rican studies after being politicized on account of the antiwar and Chicano student movements during the late 1960s and early 1970s (AlcofT2003), is acknowledged as one of the found¬ing scholars of Puerto Rican studies in New York City. Having worked as a researcher and director at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College from its early inception, Flores helped organize numerous research projects, including the migratory narratives of the Puerto Rican communi¬ties settling in New York City's early colonias before and after World War II. Puerto Rican Arrival is a product of this effort that complements earlier historical critiques (Colon Lopez 2002; Glasser 1995, Matos Rodriguez & Hernandez 2001; Sanchez Korrol 1994). First published as Divided Arrival in 2003, the text brings together the migration experiences and reflections of Bernardo Vega, Juan B. Huyke, Jesus Colon, and Guillermo Cotto-Thorner - all male leaders who traveled via ship from the ports of San Juan to New York City. The book highlights the initial testimonial and literary accounts of diasporic Boricuas as they navigated the economic changes occurring before and after the industrial planning of "Operation Bootstrap," which was mas¬terminded by the administration of the former Governor Luis Munoz Marin.essential requirements for a modernist project in Puerto Rico: "Young people who are leaving our shores benefit Puerto Rico. If they return to the Island, they will bring with them the experience of living in a large country, and they will know how to see things from a broader perspective" (p. 77). Huyke also believes that Puerto Ricans have a future in U.S. politics: "Imagine the day when one of our young men, or one of their sons, is elected Representative, or Senator, or President of the United States! After all, Roosevelt's ancestors were Dutch" (pp. 78-79). Huyke's endorsement of comparing Puerto Ricans to the Dutch, or even his support of a Protestant ethic, overlooks the way U.S. colonialism created the conditions that promoted unemployment, pov¬erty, social inequality, and emigration to the states (City University of New York, Centro de Estudios Puertorriquefios, History Task Force 1979). Also included in the anthology is the writing of Guillermo Cotto-Thorner, a former ordained Baptist minister and educator who had a column called the "Progressive Pulpit" in the revolutionary newspaper Liberation, and who authored a novel, Tropico en Manhattan (Manhattan Tropic) (Cotto-Thorner 1951). Portraying Puerto Ricans as actively redefining the physical and cul¬tural landscape of the city, this novel is one of the first books to include a glossary of "Neoyorkismos," a list of definitions explaining the new linguis¬tic practices of New York Puerto Ricans (p. 127) that give rise a generation later to the Nuyorican poetry and literature sparked by Piri Thomas's Down These Mean Streets (1967). Cotto-Thorner adopts a perspective that is still used in contemporary multicultural discourse around diversity and differ¬ence: "Our colony is something like a shiny tile mosaic .... Our people are bound together by an eternal spirit. And just like that mosaic there's a whole range of colors, designs, and shades. We, too, are divided but also united. Believe me, we're part of a mosaic encrusted in the bedrock of Manhattan" (p, 167). This mosaic metaphor is later adopted by David Dinkins, the first African American mayor of New York City (1990-1993), who celebrated the "gorgeous mosaic" of New York City's residents. Overall, Puerto Rican Arrival in New York is an accessible reminder to readers that not all Latinos are immigrants, that Puerto Rican emigration to the States is a U.S. byproduct of what Juan Gonzalez aptly describes as a "harvest of empire" (Gonzalez 2000), and that not all migrants understand and experience migration similarly. Both Spanish- and English-language readers can appreciate this bilingual edition. It will be an asset for middle school, high school, and early college students who seek to understand the diverse experiences of Puerto Rican emigrants in New York City." REFERENCES ALCOFF, LINDA MARTIN, 2003. Puerto Rican Studies in a German Philosophy Context. Nepantia: Views from South 4(l):139-46. CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS PUERTORRIQUENOS, HISTORY TASK FORCE, 1979. Labor Migration under Capitalism: The Puerto Rican Experience. New York: Monthly Review Press. COLON, JESUS, 1982. A Puerto Rican in New York, and Other Sketches. New York: International Publishers. COLON LOPEZ, JOAQUIN, 2002. Pioneros Puertorriquenos en Nueva York: 1917-1947. Houston: Arte Publico Press. COTTO-THORNER, GUH.LERMO, 1951, Tropico en Manhattan: Novela. San Juan: Editorial Occidente. FLORES, JUAN, 1987. Divided Arrival: Narratives of the Puerto Rican Migration, 1920-1950. New York: Centre de Estudios Puertorriquenas, Hunter College, the City University of New York. GLASSER, RUTH, 1995. My Music Is My Flag: Puerto Rican Musicians and Their New York Communities, 1917-1940. Berkeley: University of California Press. GONZALEZ, JUAN, 2000. Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America. New York: Viking. MATOS RODRJGUEZ, FELIX V. & PEDRO JUAN HERNANDEZ, 2001. Pioneros: Puerto Ricans in New York City 1892-1948. Bilingual Edition. Charleston SC: Arcadia Publishing. SANCHEZ KORROL, VIRGINIA, 1994. From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City. Berkeley: University of California Press. THOMAS, PlRI, 1967. Down These Mean Streets. New York: Knopf. --New West Indian Guide 2009 --New West Indian Guide

About this edition

• Publisher: Markus Wiener Publishers
• Publication date: 2021
• ISBN 10: 1558763627
• ISBN 13: 9781558763623
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 170
• Editor: Flores Juan