Ep. 18: Puerto Rico's Long Fight for Independence

Puerto Rico is one of America's remaining colonies after being ceded to the U.S. by Spain in 1898. In this episode, Puerto Rican scholar Nina Vazquez discusses the island's long history of colonization and activism in an attempt to become an independent Caribbean island and what are the current beliefs around independence today.

Nina Vazquez is an aspiring Caribbeanist Historian. She is originally from Aguada, Puerto Rico and she moved stateside where she has earned her Bachelor degree(s) in Criminal Justice and Political Science with a concentration in Racism. She recently graduated from the University of Connecticut with her Master’s Degree in Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latinx Studies. Nina is an avid advocate for Puerto Rican independence and liberation for all women in the Caribbean and across the globe. She is known for her community activism in the state of Connecticut and in Puerto Rico. Nina Vazquez hopes to educate people on Puerto Rico’s history to better understand the island’s status today. Follow Nina on Twitter and Instagram!

Strictly Facts Reads

·      “Aftershocks of Disaster: Puerto Rico Before and After the Storm” by Yarimar Bonilla and Marisol LeBrón

·      “Fantasy Island: Colonialism, Exploitation, and the Betrayal of Puerto Rico” by Ed Morales

·      “Foreign in a Domestic Sense: Puerto Rico, American Expansion, and the Constitution” by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall

·      “Oscar López Rivera: Between Torture and Resistance” by Luis Nieves Falcon

·      “Policing Life and Death: Race, Violence, and Resistance in Puerto Rico” by Marisol LeBrón

·      “Puerto Rico: What Everyone Wants To Know” by Jorge Duany

·      “Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico” by Laura Briggs

·      “Through the Eyes of Rebel Women: The Young Lords, 1969-1976” by Iris Morales

Strictly Facts Sounds

·      Marc Anthony - Lamento Borincano

·      Julia de Burgos – “Ay, Ay, Ay, de la Grifa Negra.” Read by Glaisma Pérez-Silva

·      Residente, iLe & Bad Bunny - Afilando los Cuchillos