Several weeks ago, in an article published in El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico’s principal daily newspaper, the Director of the University of Puerto Rico’s Graduate School of Planning argued that increased migration from Puerto Rico to the United States would transform the island into a “ghetto of old and poor people” [Spa]. Although I’ve grown [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Migrations : Migraciones'
Migration and Development : Migración y desarrollo
August 29th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Articles : Artículos, Caribbeanisms : Caribeñadas, Migrations : Migraciones
Tags:desarrollo económico·migración·planificació·Puerto Rico·República Dominicana
Creativity and the City
July 27th, 2010 · No Comments · Films : Filmes, Migrations : Migraciones
I’m keeping an eye out for these two new films: The Radiant Child and Downtown Calling. Asides from their primary subject matter—J.M. Basquiat and the music and art culture of NYC, respectively— they offer some clues to a pressing question: in what ways do cities/places inspire creativity? The primary stage is New York City in [...]
Grassroots Dominican Politics in Washington Heights
February 12th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Articles : Artículos, Caribbeanisms : Caribeñadas, Migrations : Migraciones
I recently finished reading an engaging text for a seminar on transnational migration. As part of the course requirements, we were asked to draft a detailed review. Here’s what I came up with. ——————————————– Dominican-Americans and the Politics of Empowerment By: Ana Aparicio Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006. 210 pp. Reviewed by: Deepak Lamba-Nieves, [...]
Tags:Dominican Republic·politics·transnational lives·Washington Heights
Haiti: The State, Diasporas and Disasters
January 14th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Caribbeanisms : Caribeñadas, Migrations : Migraciones
By now most of the world knows of the catastrophic earthquake that has battered Haiti. I first learnt about it while listening to Radio Isla, a Puerto Rican station, on my mobile phone. The journalist, who patched together the breaking news with audio from CNN en Español, highlighted the fact that a tsunami wave might [...]
Talking Trash with a Historic Mayor-Elect
December 16th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Articles : Artículos, Caribbeanisms : Caribeñadas, Migrations : Migraciones
Mayors are interesting political and government figures. Depending on the city or locality, they are required to be family councilors, community organizers, activities planners, development boosters or global power brokers. Some are rarely seen or heard outside the town hall while others make household visits to check up on the ill and needy as part of [...]
Memoirs of Migrating
September 5th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Articles : Artículos, Migrations : Migraciones
After several weeks of trials, errors and tests, I have managed to get my own web domain and migrate the blog to a new home. Please take note of the new web address and for those of you who are following my dispatches via RSS, please take note of the new feed address. While working [...]
This Land is My Land?
August 11th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Articles : Artículos, Caribbeanisms : Caribeñadas, Migrations : Migraciones
This summer has been quite heated for many poor and low-income communities in Puerto Rico. As folks try to survive in an island that is going through a three-year recessionary cycle and experiencing a massive wave of layoffs in the public sector, the national government adds insult to injury by displacing hundreds of families from [...]
Do you know who cleans up after you?
July 26th, 2009 · No Comments · Articles : Artículos, Migrations : Migraciones
This is an interesting biographical piece published in the NYT. As I write about the Dominican migrant experience in the United States, my thoughts center on many of the issues mentioned in the article since many of my informants make their living in the cleaning trades. Nevertheless, unlike the woman interviewed, those who have shared [...]
Images from the field : Algunas imágenes del trabajo de campo
June 7th, 2009 · No Comments · Caribbeanisms : Caribeñadas, Migrations : Migraciones
Here are some pictures of my first days in Villa Sombrero, Baní, the Dominican Republic. Some were taken by me and others by Eucar Alvarez, a young community journalist who runs laesquinacaliente.net. : Aquí les dejo algunas imágenes de mis primeros pasos en Villa Sombrero, Baní, en la República Dominicana. Algunas las tomé yo y [...]
SoBro : El sur del Bronx
April 21st, 2009 · No Comments · Migrations : Migraciones
For decades, the South Bronx has been a working-class enclave that has harbored countless migrants, hosted the Yankees and manufactured an urban culture that inspired folks like Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambataa and Aventura. At one point in history it was also the home of the Savage Skulls and Nomads, two street gangs that went about [...]
Tags:Afrika Bambataa·Aventura·gangas·gangs·Grandmaster Flash·imigrantes·migrants·Nomads·Savage Skulls·South Bronx
