Trans(actions) : Trans(acciones)

Several weeks ago, while visiting some of my friends in Jamaica Plain, I saw a Census worker sitting in a small restaurant. He had a pile of forms besides him and looked tired. I tried to imagine what his day was like but came up empty since it’s hard to picture all the different people [...]

[Read more →]

By Peggy Levitt, Wellesley College and Harvard University Deepak Lamba-Nieves, MIT and Center for the New Economy May 1, 2010 Migrants sent $338 billion to their homelands in 2008, according to the World Bank. Origin-country governments and aid agencies alike readily acknowledge this is no small chunk of change. In the last decade, they have [...]

[Read more →]

By now, many people have begun to forget about the situation in Haiti. As an urban planning student from the Caribbean, I’m constantly thinking about what the future holds, especially now that immediate relief projects are slowly moving towards reconceptualizing and rebuilding efforts. But my mind is severely overloaded these days as I get set [...]

[Read more →]

During the summer months, I spent several weeks in the Dominican Republic performing fieldwork for a research project on transnational migration and local governance. The town where I resided, Villa Sombrero, is “home” to a significant number of women and men who have made their way to the Eastern Seaboard of the United States in [...]

[Read more →]

I have just finished reading the first few chapters of Manuel Castells‘ newest text, Communication Power, and feel compelled to recommend it to everyone interested in debates on power, information technologies, social movements and change. The writing is very neat and the book is well organized. More than just a collection of theoretical passages, the [...]

[Read more →]

As if things weren’t already messed up, an oil refinery explosion in Bayamón, Puerto Rico has wreaked havoc in the San Juan metro area. Here’s a time-lapse created by Luis Andrei Muñoz. More to follow.

[Read more →]

Much has been commented about the t-shirts worn by Residente Calle 13 (aka René Pérez) during the MTV Latino Awards and his remarks towards the Governor of Puerto Rico—calling him a “son of a bitch”. The short-term effect: a series of concert cancellations by local authorities in Puerto Rico and Colombia. The issue has also [...]

[Read more →]

Here are some cel phone photos taken during in the march supporting the general strike (the photographer shall remain anonymous). I had originally chosen “Back in Black” by AC/DC as the background track but then “London Calling” by The Clash came to mind. If you want to get the rundown on what transpired, and the [...]

[Read more →]

Video clips at Ustream Courtesy of Betances TV, an offshoot of  La Nueva Escuela, a leftist organization from Puerto Rico (the transmission may be sporadic). Let me be clear: I do not endorse the particular views of several groups that are involved in the march, especially opportunistic entities that clamor for revolution. As is always [...]

[Read more →]

Tomorrow, a good number of people in Puerto Rico will take to the streets to protest a series of policy decisions that have left thousands unemployed, displaced poor people from their homes, raised taxes and attempted to give more power to the private sector. A broad coalition composed of unions, public sector workers, students, women [...]

[Read more →]