Stories from Quick Reads and Puerto Rico (U.S.)
Do You Know These 10 Afro-Puerto Ricans?
The reclaiming of history as an ally of marginalized groups is key to their very survival. This is especially true in a colonial context such as Puerto Rico, where history has been and continues to be used as a means to justify inequalities and deny visibility. In the spirit of...
Telling Puerto Rican Stories on the Web
Esta Vida Boricua [This Boricua Life] is a digital storytelling project which explores the past and present of Puerto Rico through the collection of experiences of people from all walks of life and all ages. At its most basic level, it is “a place to share stories,” as explained in...
Accessibility and Lack of Appreciation for Young HIV Carriers Fighting AIDS
Under the premise that AIDS is the second cause of teenager deaths in the world and the nvisibility for vulnerables populatons in this field, Puerto Rican journalist Natalia A. Bonilla Berríos writes about the participation of L’Orangelis Thomas Negrón, HIV carrier from birth, on the XX 2014 AIDS International Conference...
A Documentary That Allows Transgender People's Voices to Be Heard
Though gays and lesbians are gradually gaining more acceptance in Puerto Rico, the same cannot be said yet of transgender people. That is why a film like Mala Mala, a documentary in which trans people speak freely about their stories, is so important. The film, directed by Dan Sickles (@dan_sickles) and...
What Democracy? Questioning Oscar López Rivera's Imprisonment in the United States
Puerto Rico's most widely circulated newspaper, El Nuevo Día, published an editorial [es] in its Sunday edition on June 1, 2014 in which it questions the moral standard of the United States’ government to intercede in favor of political prisoners around the world while insisting on unjustly maintaining Puerto Rican political...
Puerto Rican Diaspora Calls for Oscar López Rivera's Release
The digital magazine La Respuesta has put together a series of photo galleries that chronicle efforts in Chicago, New York City, and Cleveland to release Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera from prison. Oscar has already served 33 years in prison, an exaggerated amount of time for the charge...
High Presence of Walmart and Walgreens in Puerto Rico
The Center of Investigative Journalism of Puerto Rico (CPIPR) has recently published an article [es] on the high presence of the Walmart and Walgreens stores on the Island, an expansion that has not been able to be controlled by the state agency that regulates monopolistic entrepreneurial practices. The author of the article,...
Puerto Rican feminist organization Taller Salud Celebrates 35 years
The feminist grassroots organization Taller Salud [es] (@tsalud), which focuses on education and prevention in the areas of sexual and reproductive rights in Puerto Rico, is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Thirty-five years of hard work and struggle. The organization now works mostly with women and girls in the northeastern coastal town of...
Massive Online Campaign to Free Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera
The international campaign to free Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera is asking people from all over the world to contribute in making the hashtag #freeOscarLopez a trending topic tomorrow, April 1st. Tweets should also include U.S. president Barack Obama's handle @BarackObama. This year, López Rivera will have been...
Talking with the Director of Calle 13's Video Filmed in Palestine
The blog “Diseñado en Puerto Rico” (Designed in Puerto Rico) interviews [es] film director Kacho López Mari. Among many other musical videos, López Mari directed the most recent video of the Puerto Rican hip hop duo Calle 13, “Multi_Viral,” shot in Palestine. The lyrics are the product of a collaboration with...
Exploring Puerto Rican Music
Musician Luis Amed Irizarry [es] explores various Puerto Rican musical genres in this column [es] for the digital publication 80 Grados.
Meet Puerto Rican Feminist Organization “Proyecto Matria”
A collaborator of Proyecto Matria [es] shot a video about the Puerto Rican feminist non governmental organization in English, as a gift and a way to spread the word about the wonderful work they do. Proyecto Matria supports the development of women by offering alternative housing and comprehensive services in areas...
Christmas in the Puerto Rican Diaspora
To mark the end of the “official” Christmas season in Puerto Rico, we share some links to the online magazine La Respuesta, which focuses on gathering the experience of the Puerto Rican diaspora in the United States, about some thoughts regarding Puerto Rican Christmas traditions by two authors living in...
Moment of Truth for Puerto Rico's Economy Looms on the Horizon
Puerto Rico is currently going through one of the worst economic crises in its history. Its public debt reached $70 billion in 2013, an amount that is practically unpayable for the country. The severity of the problem has resulted in Puerto Rico being called “the Greece of the Caribbean” on...
Puerto Rico Is a Global Music Powerhouse
Renowned, multi-talented Puerto Rican pianist and composer Brenda Hopkins Miranda has written an article for the online magazine 80 grados in which she asks herself why Puerto Rico has not taken full advantage of its wealth of homegrown musical talent and calls for music to become one of the pilars of the country's economic development [es]....
Open Letter to President Obama Calling for the Release of Oscar López Rivera Goes Viral
Sociologist, poet, and blogger Guillermo Rebollo-Gil wrote an open letter on his blog to U.S. President Barack Obama in which he calls for the release of Oscar López Rivera, one of the longest-held political prisoners ever. The letter has quickly gone viral over the past two days. Oscar López Rivera has been...
Thousands March for the Liberation of Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera
Thousands of people are marching today in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in favor of the liberation of Oscar López Rivera, imprisoned in the United States 32 years ago on charges of “seditious conspiracy.” López Rivera, 70, is a fighter for the independence of Puerto Rico, a colony of the United...
Puerto Ricans Demand Oscar López Rivera's Release From Prison
The Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (MINH), a Puerto Rican pro-independence movement, is organizing a peaceful protest on November 23 to demand the liberation of Oscar López Rivera. López Rivera is the longest-held political prisoner in the western hemisphere, charged with “seditious conspiracy” for his struggle for Puerto Rico's independence from...
Unveiling the Many Mysteries of the Monthly Energy Bill in Puerto Rico
The non-profit think tank Center for the New Economy (CNE), based in Puerto Rico, has launched the innovative and creative online campaign “The Mysteries of Your Energy Bill” [es] in which they explain the unexplainable: Where do all those increases in the energy bill come from? What do those formulas and...
Teaser of Collaboration Between Calle 13 and Wikileaks’ Julian Assange
The expected single titled “Multi_Viral,” a collaboration between Puerto Rican hip hop group Calle 13 and Wikileaks’ Julian Assange, will be released next November 13, 2013 (yes, all 13s). Last June, René Pérez, the group's frontman, visited Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Using the hashtag #JulianAssangeCalle13 they asked...
The Walls Can Talk in Puerto Rico and New York City
The alternative music venue La Respuesta, in Santurce, Puerto Rico, presents “Los Muros Hablan NYC” (The Walls Talk NYC), the New York edition of the urban art festival that has put the zone of Santurce on the map of graffiti artists worldwide. The artistic project aims to strengthen bonds between...