Puerto Rican Identity Essay

archipelago of Puerto Rico is located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands. The main island of Puerto Rico is the smallest and most eastern of the Greater Antilles. Because of its location, the music of Puerto Rico has evolved to a dynamic product of many different cultural influences. Because Puerto Rico was colonized by Spain and then occupied by the United States in 1898, it is no surprise that Puerto Rico was most

The Impact of United States Rule on Puerto Rico Puerto Rico spent most of its history under the control of Spain. In the year 1898, the islanders wanted their freedom and welcomed the U.S. invaders as their last hope of liberation from Spanish control. The United States brought the promise of democracy to Puerto Rico, but its true intentions did not include letting go of the island. Although the United States claimed that its intentions were to civilize Puerto Rico and help it become a democratic

United States Effect on Puerto Rican Music The United States played an important role in the evolution of Puerto Rican culture, more specifically music. While Puerto Rican culture remains distinct from that of American culture, its historical progression is forever tied with that of the United States. This is evident in the evolution of Puerto Rican music. It is also evident in the experience of Puerto Rican musicians both on the island

According to census research at Lehman College (1), during 1945 to the 1950’s more than half a million Puerto Rican natives migrated to several parts of the USA, originally from their own homeland, Puerto Rico. Several of the locations that Puerto Ricans migrated to include Chicago, New Jersey, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City. One of the cities that experienced a large boom of Puerto Rican population was New York. This period was known as the “Great Migration” and had several factors that led

Puerto Rican Music and Its Significance Although the policies of Americanization and degradation of Puerto Rican culture heritage improved by the United States in Puerto Rico during the early decades of the twentieth century, the utmost concern for the United States was the strategic location of the island for political and economic advantages, not of the people who inhabited it. Puerto Rico, though a poor colony, was a rich cultural spot in an area of dynamic cultural influence of the Caribbean

higher-ups. The Young Lords Organization started to pop up in other major cities such as New York City which later separated itself from the Chicago Young Lords. The New York City branch has piles of information on the events that occurred within the Puerto Rican community but little has been said about the original Chicago Young Lords. This essay will help fill the missing history of the Young Lords Organization by addressing the origins, aspirations, the impact on the

Puerto Rico literature expresses the negative beliefs as well as perseverance of Puerto Ricans especially those who live in the U.S. The Song of Borinquen talks about a call to the people of Puerto Rico to take arms against the Spanish colonial regime. It has been a powerful symbol in Puerto Rico’s long struggle for independence (). The poem Cuba and Puerto Rico talks about the belief that Cuba and Puerto Rico were a part of a common struggle for freedom. The poems Song of Borinquen and Cuba and

construction of racialized identities, especially the identities of the Puerto Rican characters. As accused by Alberto Sandoval-Sánchez – a Puerto Rican literary scholar – in “A Puerto Rican Reading of the America of West Side Story,” these constructed identities are so unreal, inaccurate and stereotypical that the film is a “racist discourse of Latinos’ Otherness,” which reproduces and legitimates racist opinions (59). While I agree with Sandoval-Sánchez that such identities are

to make her identity as a New York Puerto Rican unique. Sotomayor reflects on emotional childhood memories in her speech. She says “[her] soul was nourished when [she] visited and played at [her] grandmother's house with [her] cousins and extended family” (Lines 33-35). Sotomayor's ideas of Puerto Rican culture stem from her memories with family. Her family experiences shaped not only her identity, but also her perspective of her culture. Everything she identifies with as Puerto Rican culture is

Puerto Ricans are an important piece in hip hop culture and in its evolution since 1970. The contribution of Puerto Ricans to hip hop have been ignored many times and when they are being noticed “it has been misinterpreted as a defection from Puerto Rican culture and identity into the African American camp.” For example, making a version of a song and adding it Spanish or Spanglish words. Puerto Ricans stories are marginalized because similarities between Puerto Ricans and Africa American are not