Puerto Rican Experience Research Articles

Entre Negros, Blancos y Judios: Revisiting Claudia Tate’s “Freud and His Negro” with Puerto Rican Eyes

In this essay the author, a Puerto Rican psychoanalytic therapist, weaves personal, clinical, and theoretical material to interpret Claudia Tate’s paper, “Freud and his ‘Negro’: Psychoanalysis as ally and enemy to African Americans,” through the eyes of the Puerto Rican experience of anti-Blackness, racial mestizaje, and colonial capitalism. Drawing on Afropessimism, the author argues that Tate’s paper points toward a fundamental rethinking of psychoanalytic theory. Using clinical examples, theory and personal narrative, the author concludes by pointing toward clinical and political possibilities for theorizing anti-Blackness, and the verticality it facilitates, as a component of psychic structure.

Intra-Regional Migration: Puerto Rican and Dominican Migration to the United States Virgin Islands

Puerto Ricans and Dominicans have arrived in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) primarily as economic or working-class immigrants on the sugar plantations and in the construction and tourism industry. Over time, these immigrants have used their disadvantaged positions to expand connections between friends and families in the USVI as well as in their departed homeland. Socially, they have maintained their mores and folkways, but Puerto Ricans have shifted away from their insular environment, merging their peasant and professional ways with black Virgin Islanders to form a new Porto-Crucian ethnic group. Racial mixing has become a part of the Puerto Rican experience in the Virgin Islands. In contrast, the Dominican immigrants continue to arrive with little capital and limited educational skills. Their main challenge is adjustment and integration in pursuit of economic security. The lack of well-paying jobs and a limited command of the English language explain why Dominicans are less economically successful than other ethnic groups. The Dominicans are building themselves and their community in the Virgin Islands, however. Both immigrant groups have maintained their native Spanish language, although not always in its original form.

4155 THE ROLE OF PERIODONTAL DISEASE IN CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE IN A HISPANIC POPULATION

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The purpose of this report is to describe the role of Periodontal Disease (PD) in Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) in a Hispanic country. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Literature and Puerto Rican experience was reviewed and will be discussed. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: PD produces inflammatory disease by bacterial infection in the gingiva. This factor PD activates an inflammatory process affecting the CAD cascade inducing myocites, endothelial cells activation and cytokines. The incidence of gingival disease in the Puerto Rican population (P) is around 50%; of this group 80% will develop periodontal disease. Including this factor and diabetes mellitus Type 2, still the incidence of CAD is 20-30% less than the U.S.A. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT : CAD is a systemic disease related to genetic factors and inflammation. PD is related to an inflammatory process, which will activate the CAD process, producing tissue infarcts. The daily use of resolving or liquid Omega 3 in the gingival tissue is useful in the prevention of gingival and periodontal disease. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DESCRIPTION: All authors have no relationship with any industry or financial associations in connection with the submitted abstract.

MIGRATION, MOBILITY, AND PURSUIT OF GOOD OLD AGES: NARRATIVES OF OLDER PUERTO RICAN ADULTS WHO MIGRATE

Migration research has articulated “regimes of mobility,” or multi-scalar movements (within and across households, communities, and borders) that are interconnected and embedded in unequal power relations. Research on late-life migration has been limited by: (1) simplistic conceptualizations of mobility as adaptive or traumatic; and (2) a focus on transnationalism. The migration of older adults between Puerto Rico and US mainland presents a new frontier for examining mobility in aging. Puerto Rico’s population is rapidly aging and out-migrating. Moreover, as US citizens, Puerto Ricans experience no legal restrictions on migration typical of transnationalism. Yet little is known about their migration patterns and associated narrated meanings. I conducted semi-structured interviews and participant observation among older Puerto Ricans who migrated to the US mainland in late-life. Preliminary findings suggest that older Puerto Ricans negotiate competing definitions of “good” old ages based on residential context. They report migrating to the mainland to pursue “good” old ages defined in material terms, namely access to social and medical services. Post-migration, however, older Puerto Ricans report experiences of confinement and loneliness, due to language barriers and familial separation. In narrating hopes for the future, they describe an alternative “good” old age in Puerto Rico, emphasizing belonging and familial connection. As older Puerto Ricans negotiate multiple definitions of “good” old ages through circular mobility, the social and economic inequalities which first necessitated migration reproduce disadvantage in the new location. This study highlights the need to conceptualize multi-scalar mobilities that intersect with inequality to shape aging among migrant populations.

Boricua Cultural Nationalism and Community Development Through The Young Lords Organization

This paper pulls from historical accounts of the activities of the Young Lords Organization and draws connections to theories on nationalism, community, and Black Radicalism in the 20th century. Addressing the development, triumphs, and limitations of the Young Lords Organization (also known in New York City as the Young Lords Party) in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the authors examines the assumptions that lead to the rise of the Young Lords, and the political environment that resisted their agenda. As Puerto Ricans living on the mainland, the Young Lords held a unique position as a colonized multiracial people, despite borrowing ideologically from the Black Panthers and contributing as members of the Rainbow Coalition. The author discusses the radical and nationalist social movement discourse the Young Lords engaged with, which was accessible to many disenfranchised groups but uniquely targeted for the Puerto Rican experience. Lastly, the authors explores how the Young Lords implemented community development techniques in order to navigate the political and social climate of the United States in the sixties and seventies, and the conditions that would need to exist today in order for their programs to succeed in our modern world.

Role of Ancestry Genes in Asthma Susceptibility

Adverse racial differences exist throughout respiratory diseases, including asthma where African descent minority groups such as African Americans and Puerto Ricans experience greater asthma risk and morbidity compared to European descent Whites. Advances in genomic technologies have advanced the complexity and quantity of genetic data to analyze and interpret in individuals from different racial groups with varying inter‐individual ancestral backgrounds. The vast majority of genomic studies have been performed in European descent Whites, but there has been increasingly diverse studies consisting of different racial and ethnic groups where differences have been demonstrated in asthma risk, severity, and drug response. A “bottleneck” resulted in a collapse of genetic diversity following the first human colonization of Europe during the Upper Paleolithic period and the more recent mixing of African, European, and Native American ancestries. These recent admixture events have resulted in different ethnic groups with varying degrees of genetic diversity, including variability in genetic tagging architectures and the frequency of genetic variants, particularly rare variants which are most frequently found to be unique to individual ancestries. Variability in genetic ancestral background could be associated with variation that has the potential to alter asthma risk, severity, or therapeutic responsiveness to commonly used therapies. Genomic studies have employed both traditional and admixture‐based whole‐genome approaches in minority, ethnically diverse cohorts resulting in the confirmation of genomic discoveries initially only found in Whites while identifying novel genetic determinants of asthma risk and drug response unique to specific ethnic groups. Large consortium‐based sequencing studies utilize next‐generation whole‐genome sequencing in diverse multi‐ethnic cohorts to provide a map of the genomes of different recently admixed populations to guide future genomic studies. Genomic studies in increasingly diverse cohorts provide an opportunity to facilitate discoveries and are a critical step towards precision medicine applicable to all people.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

CENTRO Journal: Three Decades of Struggle and Scholarship in Support of Puerto Rican Studies

This article offers a historical analysis of CENTRO Journal in order to trace its long-standing impact on the configuration of Puerto Rican Studies. It examines the conjuncture that led to the journal's inception as an outgrowth of the City University of New York's Center for Puerto Rican Studies, relevant periodical predecessors, and the journal's evolution into a peer-reviewed publication open to a multitude of new theoretical viewpoints that have greatly broadened our understanding of the past and present contours of the Puerto Rican experience. In so doing, it demonstrates how CENTRO Journal 's founding premise—to support the advancement of Puerto Rican–centered scholarship—has remained constant through its three decades in print.

The Puerto Rican Experience: Overcoming Institutional and Cultural Barriers to Improve Breastfeeding Equity in the Hospital, Workplace, and the Community.

The Puerto Rican Experience: Overcoming Institutional and Cultural Barriers to Improve Breastfeeding Equity in the Hospital, Workplace, and the Community.

Puerto Rican Intergroup Marriage and Residential Segregation in the U.S.: A Multilevel Analysis of Structural, Cultural, and Economic Factors

This study examines intermarriage patterns of Puerto Ricans who reside in the United States (referred to as stateside Puerto Ricans) and discusses the implications of these patterns for practice with this community. Because Puerto Ricans experience higher levels of intermarriage than other Latino groups, an analysis of out-marriage factors for Puerto Ricans yields important considerations for the future of Latino integration within U.S. society.

Thriving in Our Identity and in the Academy: Latina Epistemology as a Core Resource

In this article, Milagros Castillo-Montoya and María Torres-Guzmán, two intergenerational Puerto Rican female scholars, use testimonios as a method for sharing funds of knowledge that may support and encourage emerging scholars’ efforts to critique, create, and expand on current educational theories, methods, and pedagogies. They draw on Chicana feminist epistemology to analyze their six-month charlas, informal conversations. They view their own Puerto Rican experiences from this lens and, in an effort to develop a Latina Epistemology Framework, expand the existing framework through a new dimension they refer to as lucha. They also put forth a model of research that furthers the use of testimonios as a mode of inquiry and as a process that may lead to mentorship in the academy for first-generation scholars.

The Interregnum of Hegemonies: Reflections on the Recent Puerto Rican Shift in the Hegemonic Discourse of Heteronormativity

Gramsci’s hegemony framework has been the subject of extensive study and enhancement since its emergence. However, the interregnum of hegemonies – the period during which the hegemonic discourse has started to lose its supremacy and the counter-hegemonic discourse has started to become a real antagonistic force – has not been the object of study or of theoretical formulation. This paper attempts to describe and explain the phenomena that evolve during such period. In order to do so, this paper takes as a case study the current shift in the hegemonic discourse of heteronormativity in Puerto Rico. After the discussion on how the hegemonic discourse of heteronormativity was established, maintained and defied in Puerto Rico, the paper focuses on the most recent event related to the aforementioned shift. With this in mind, a study of the legislative and political process surrounding Resolution 99, a bill proposing the amendment of the Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, is given. This study is followed by an analysis of the actions and reactions taken by the groups attempting to either preserve or acquire the dominion over the regulation of sexuality. Finally, based on the Puerto Rican experience, a theoretical formulation of the interregnum of hegemonies is given.

Teaching and Learning Guide for: A Glimpse into the Sociology of White Antiracism and White Nationalism

Teaching and Learning Guide for: A Glimpse into the Sociology of White Antiracism and White Nationalism

Identity issues in building an ESL community: The Puerto Rican experience

AbstractEnglish has a unique status in Puerto Rico, giving rise to special challenges in building community and teaching English as a second language on the island. Identity is at the core of these issues.

Cesarean Delivery as a Barrier for Breastfeeding Initiation: The Puerto Rican Experience

The study's objective was to examine the relationship between cesarean section delivery and the initiation of breastfeeding in a representative sample of 1695 Puerto Rican women aged 15 to 49 years, who delivered their last healthy singleton child in Puerto Rico between 1990 and 1996. Secondary analysis of data collected in the population-based cross-sectional study Puerto Rico Reproductive Health Survey was performed. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine the crude and covariate adjusted association between type of childbirth and initiation of breastfeeding. Overall, 36% of all births were performed by cesarean section, while initiation of breastfeeding was achieved by 61.5% of the women. Cesarean section was negatively related to breastfeeding initiation in multivariable logistic regression models (odds ratio=.64; 95% CI=0.51-0.81) after controlling for confounding variables. Intervention programs that aim to promote breastfeeding and that provide special assistance to women undergoing this procedure should be developed.

Latino Politics in the United States: Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender in the Mexican American and Puerto Rican Experience

Latino Politics in the United States: Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender in the Mexican American and Puerto Rican Experience

Ethnic variation in health and the determinants of health among Latinos

The purpose of this research is to document and explain ethnic variation in health among Latino adults in the United States. Results of analyses of data pooled from the 1997–2001 National Health Interview surveys reveal that health patterns are clearly different among Latino ethnic groups. Mexicans have health advantages, whereas Puerto Ricans experience health disparities. Cubans and Dominicans reveal a mix of health disparities and advantages, depending on the health outcome. The effects of social determinants of health are also contingent upon ethnicity. For example, worse health is associated with higher levels of socioeconomic status (SES) and acculturation among Mexicans, but with lower levels of SES and acculturation among Latinos whose origins are from Caribbean islands. We conclude that racial/ethnic comparative health research should avoid pan-ethnic groupings, and explicitly acknowledge ethnic group distinctiveness.

The challenge of a positive self-image in a colonial context: a psychology of liberation for the Puerto Rican experience.

Community psychology and the psychology of liberation provide a framework to analyze colonization. Puerto Rico has always been a colony. This experience has direct negative effects on Puerto Ricans' national identities and their emotions. The purpose of this study was to explore emotions associated with Puerto Rican national identities in a sample of 35 high school students. While participating in 4 focus groups, the youths discussed negative and positive emotions associated to their national identities. The most frequent ones were shame and pride. They also identified situations which promoted negative and positive emotions. The role of a community psychology of liberation in understanding these phenomena as well as in embracing resistance to colonization is discussed.

Global Discourse and Local Readings of Development

/ This article builds upon the definition of development as an ideological field to explore journalism as a site where global discourses of development meet locally grounded meanings to shape social understandings of modernization and progress in developing nations. The Puerto Rican experience during the promotion of Operation Bootstrap (1947—63) was selected as a case study to examine how the local press framed the process of industrialization as a news event of national and international relevance and thus mediated the definition of development as a public affair and redefined boundaries in the public and private spheres. Drawing on the notion of `mediated publicness', and its implications for the transformation of visibility and the organization of hegemony in modern societies, this research also discusses the ideological effects of such reporting in the particular context of colonialism and dependent development in Puerto Rico.

Ana Celia Zentella, Growing up bilingual: Puerto Rican children in New York. Oxford (UK) & Cambridge (MA): Blackwell, 1997. Pp. ix, 323. Pb $24.95.

The past two years have seen the publication of three books on linguistic practices among different Puerto Rican communities in the United States, and Zentella's book is one of the three. The other two are Urciuoli 1996 and Torres 1997. This sudden wealth within a particular disciplinary domain seemingly proves the first part of Gordon Lewis's (1963) pronouncement that Puerto Ricans are among the most researched peoples in the United States; but the sensitive ideological insights that guide Zentella's ethnography and analyses will certainly contribute to undermining the second part of his statement – that they are nonetheless the least understood. The books by Urciuoli and Torres are likewise valuable in this sense; but obviously, they are not under review here. Her documentation of the uses of language among Puerto Ricans in a New York City barrio greatly enhances our understanding of the Puerto Rican experience, as its meaning and place within “mainstream” US society is defined and contested through struggles over linguistic ideologies and practices.

Exposing Prejudice: Puerto Rican Experiences of Language, Race, and Class

Exposing Prejudice: Puerto Rican Experiences of Language, Race, and Class. BONNIE URCIUOLI. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996. xvi + 179 pp. appendixes, references, index.