San Antonio College Library

With the homeland of Puerto Rico strongly evoked as background, the entire immigration and adaptation process of Puerto Ricans in this country since the early 1900s takes shape in a thoughtful analysis. This is essential reading for understanding an important American (im)migrant group and the development of our urban culture as well.

Employing a sociological storytelling method, Black, associate professor of sociology at the University of Hartford, recounts the lives of three Puerto Rican brothers living in poor, gang-dominated Springfield, Mass., whom he befriended and followed for 18 years. The book is not so much about the brothers--Julio, Fausto and Sammy--and their friends as it is about the cultural and social forces and the economic and political policies that in the latter...

Two episodes in the life of a thirteen-year-old Puerto Rican. The first revolves around getting a job and being fired from it; the second recounts his experience of kite flying in the city.

"Though the presence of Puerto Ricans in the United States is longstanding, knowledge about them - their culture, history, socioeconomic status, and contributions - has been decidedly inadequate. Edna Acosta-Belen and Carlos E. Santiago change this status quo, presenting a nuanced portrait of both the community today and the trajectory of its development."--Jacket.

In his sixth collection, American Book Award winner Martin Espada has created a poetic mural. There are conquerors, slaves, and rebels from Caribbean history; the "Mayan astronomer" calmly smoking a cigarette in the middle of a New York tenement fire; a nun staging a White House vigil to protest her torture; a man on death row mourning the loss of his books; and even Carmen Miranda.

"The Young Lords were one of the most provocative and controversial organizations to arise during the tumult of the late 1960s. Inspired by the wave of protest movements sweeping the country, and the world, as well as organizations like the Black Panthers, the Brown Berets, and the American Indian Movement, the Young Lords became the most respected and powerful voice of Puerto Rican empowerment in the country." "In 1968 Miguel "Mickey" Melendez was...