Month: September 2024

Entry Questions

What things do you know about the Lenape and the Arawak (Taíno) indigenous groups? What cosmovisions do they have in common? To what extent does colonization in the Caribbean and what is now the US resemble?

Writing Exercise

Interpreting the significance of “The Golden Flower” myth, what type of relationship did the Arawak (Taíno) peoples have with their ecosystem? What spiritual beliefs can we distill from the myth?

“Boriken’s First Peoples”

Dr. Jorell Meléndez Badillo is a historian of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and Latin America. His work focuses on the global circulation of radical ideas from the standpoint of working-class intellectual communities.

Puerto Rico: A National History (2024) introduces Puerto Rico, its history, and the contemporary political moment. It is a national history of a country without a nation-state. It tells how Puerto Rico has been colonized for more than five centuries. However, it also documents how the people have resisted colonial domination. Ultimately, the book provides readers with an informed argument of how and why Puerto Rico arrived at its current juncture and how Puerto Ricans imagine possible futures in the face of austerity, failing infrastructures, and the rubble left behind by colonial neglect.

Initial Questions

According to Meléndez Badillo, what are some challenges in assessing and understanding Arawak (Taíno) culture in Puerto Rico and the Antilles?

What description do we have of the social, political, and economic structures of Arawak (Taíno) societies in the Caribbean before European contact? How did these structures influence their initial responses to European arrival?

Presentation(s):

Fornes Jr,Brandon Lee

Rosado,Sade

Discussion Questions in Groups

In what ways did the Taíno resist European conquest through direct confrontation and more subtle forms of resistance? How effective were these methods in preserving their culture and autonomy?

What role did Taíno leaders (caciques) play in organizing resistance against the European colonizers?

How did the introduction of European diseases and weapons impact the ability of Taíno societies to resist colonization? In what ways did these external factors shape the outcome of their resistance efforts?

Arawak Survival

According to the video, in which ways has the native Arawak (Taíno) legacy perdured in Puerto Rico?

How did Taíno spiritual beliefs and practices influence their resistance to European domination? To what extent did these cultural and religious elements help sustain the Taíno identity and resilience in the face of colonization?

I. Historical Context

Harvest of Empire (Watch 4:10-11:40)

Key concepts

Imperialism is a policy or ideology of extending a country’s rule over foreign nations, often by military force or gaining political and economic control of other areas.

Colonialism is the policy of a country seeking to extend or retain its authority over other people or territories, generally aiming for economic dominance. In the process, colonizers may impose their religion, economics, and other cultural practices on the Indigenous peoples.

Puerto Rico

.After the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico became a prize/colony under a new empire.

.U.S. companies benefitted from the unincorporated territory (colonial) status.

.Puerto Ricans on the island cannot participate in US political decisions.

.Imposed citizenship tied to the recruitment of soldiers and workers and to debilitate the pro-independence movement.

.Migration as a safety vault after World War II.

.Ongoing indifference and neglect from (and in) the U.S.

II. Puerto Ricans Building the Institutions for the Next Generations of Latinos by Clara Rodríguez

Central Question:

What is the legacy of the Puerto Rican community in New York City?

.In this essay, Clara E. Rodríguez’ s interest is in “how established ethnic communities have provided the historical base upon newer communities have developed.” (57)

.After World War I “subsequent Spanish-speaking groups built upon the established Puerto Rican communities in New York.” (58)

.Although their number were few and their communities small… (first paragraph, 59)

.But this Puerto Rican im (migration) took place… (second paragraph, 59)

. “The early immigrants entered a world where any departure from the white, nonethnic American- whether in language, accent, culture, or color- was often a basis for exclusion and discrimination.”

. “Those large numbers of Puerto Ricans who came after World War II… entered a system that embraced the entrenched assimilationist ethics of an earlier period. The diversity, cosmopolitanism, and international flavor that is much a part of New York today… was seldom acknowledged or taught during this hiatus period.” (60)

. “But this Latinos pushed ahead in spite of these reactions, and their children came together in the ‘Pa’lante,’ of ‘Forward’ rallying call. In so doing, they carved out new cultural and social spaces for Latinos” in NYC. (60)

III. “Puerto Rican Obituary”

Pedro Pietri (1944-2004)

Puerto Rican poet, playwright, performer, and founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. He was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. However, his family moved to New York City in 1947 when he was only three.  After graduating from high school, Pietri worked various jobs until he was drafted into the Army and sent to fight in the Vietnam War. The experiences he faced in the Army and Vietnam, plus the discrimination he witnessed while growing up in New York, were the leading factors that would forge his personality and style of poetry.

Upon his discharge from the Army, Pietri affiliated himself with the Puerto Rican Civil Rights group The Young Lords.

In 1969, he read his poem, “Puerto Rican Obituary,” at one of the Young Lords’ events for the first time.  The poem sketched the lives of five Puerto Ricans who came to the United States with unfulfilled dreams. By turns angry, heartbreaking, and hopeful, it was embraced by young Puerto Ricans imbued with a sense of pride and nationalism. It was a cry for social and cultural self-determination.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58396/puerto-rican-obituary

Group Question

. What social issues the poet is trying to put into perspective in “Puerto Rican Obituary”?

.What are the poem’s meanings of “death” and “dying”?

.What solutions does Pietri propose to these issues?

IV. Blackout Poetry Workshop

Instructions:

Today:

Creating the Blackout Poem:

• Read your chosen document several times, identifying noteworthy words or phrases.
• Using a pencil and then a black marker, carefully black out the words you do not want to include in your poem, leaving only the selected words visible.
• The goal is to create a poem that conveys a new counter-meaning or highlights themes from the original document.

For next week:

Polishing the Poem:

• Once the blackout process is complete with a pencil, review your poems and make any final adjustments.
• Consider how the remaining words flow together and if they effectively capture your intended message or emotion.
• Repeat the blackout process with a black marker.

Reflection and Sharing:

• After completing your blackout poem, you will write a short reflection (one page) on your process. You should consider why you chose certain words, what themes emerged, and how your poem connects to the historical context of the original document.

Entry Work

Considering these questions actualize (bring to the present and our current reality) one of the FIVE DEMANDS:

.What has been your experience at Baruch College/ CUNY thus far? 

.Do you feel included and well-represented within the space and the curriculum? What about the communities you belong? 

.Do you think Baruch and CUNY promote Black-Puerto Rican-Latine-affirming spaces? Why? Why not?

.What type of classroom engagements (activities, assignments, lecture style, sources, materials, events, etc) do you prefer?

.How could the institutions increase and even center the study of our saberes (knowledge)?

The CUNY 1969 Project

The CUNY 1969 Project was developed over several years and is housed by the Baruch Center for Teaching and Learning. It has been a labor of love among many collaborators (including Dr. Robles). Lindsey Albracht and Hamad Sindhi started the project as The CUNY Game in consideration of an open-access gaming pedagogy model about CUNY’s student activist histories.

Discussion in Pairs

With a partner, investigate The CUNY 1969 Project. Interact with the story, choose a scene, and explore its routes. Listen or watch some of the supplemental material.

.Annotate and answer the following questions together:

How does the game complement or go beyond some of the discussions elaborated in the documentary The Five Demands?

Describe the atmosphere on campus you got from the game? What factors of campus life and discussions stood out?

What new elements did you learn? Did the game clarify something important about the Puerto Rican involvement in this pivotal era in CUNY?

Pick one of the archival materials in the game. Why do you think this document is relevant to the discussions in this class?

Takeover (Emma Francis-Snyder, 2022)

Short Written Reflection

Write a paragraph comparing the direct action of CUNY students and the Young Lords. What social gains came from this type of combative activism? What issues with these strategies came to the surface in the documentaries?

Recommended Video:

THE FIVE DEMANDS (2023) is a documentary film directed by Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss about the student strike that changed the face of CUNY (and higher education) forever. In April 1969, a small group of Black-Puerto Rican students shut down the City College of New York, the then-elite public university located in the heart of Harlem. Fueled by the revolutionary fervor sweeping the US, the strike soon turned into an uprising, leading to the extended occupation of the campus, classes being canceled, students being arrested, and the resignation of the college president.

Through archival footage and modern-day interviews, the documentary follows the students’ struggle against the institutional racism that, for over a century, had shut out racialized and minoritized people from this and other public universities.

Context

.Allan Ballard initiated the S.E.E.K. program at City College, which was supported by black Puerto Rican legislators. The program aimed to provide equitable educational opportunities for students of color, primarily from Harlem, by employing radical and influential instructors like Audre Lorde and Toni Cade Bambara.

.The Black-Puerto Rican student takeover at City College, inspired by movements like the Black Panthers and the Young Lords, was part of a broader wave of student-led protests demanding the inclusion of their contributions and history in academia.

.Despite its significant impact, including establishing the groundbreaking “Open Admissions” policy that democratized higher education, the radical changes brought by the City College protests have been largely forgotten and overshadowed by other student protests of the era.

Annotations

Instructions:

.As you watch the film, annotate ideas, quotes, scenes, sequences, and questions that arise.

.Share your annotations with a partner.

.Each pair will summarize their discussion to the rest of the group.

Watch The Five Demands here.

Group Discussion

.In the movie, we witness archival footage of a Black elementary school where a white teacher is frustrated to the point of abuse. This scene illustrates how the least experienced teachers are assigned to the most poorly-equipped students and how “ghetto children” were tracked into vocational programs rather than prepared for college. What do these scenes, and the testimonials from City College alumni, show about the education that Black-Puerto Rican students received?

.Equity and equality are two systems that promote the concept of fairness. Equality means treating everyone the same; it assumes that a diverse group begins at the same level and has the exact needs. Equity considers the specific needs of individuals and what they require to succeed. Reading these definitions, what were the student protestors at City College asking for in their demands? Explain your response.

.In the film, it was mentioned that City College’s security guards were all Black, and would not agree to carry out the order from the institution
to clear student protestors. What motivated this decision? Discuss this as an example of solidarity, or unity, between people coming together. What other examples of solidarity between people do you see in the film? How does the film address the solidarity between the Black-Puerto Rican students?

.In the film, student papers are shown on screen, simple xeroxed flyers, pamphlets, and papers assembled on typewriters from the Black
and Puerto Rican student organizations Onyx and PRISSA (Puerto Rican Students Involved in Student Action). What was the role of underground media in these movements? Why was it used as a tactic for political organizing?

.Newspaper headlines pepper the film. What makes a catchy headline? Where is bias baked into the language used to describe a scene? How does the media use sensationalism, and to what end? Who does this “catchy language” harm? For example, consider and deconstruct the language in these archival newspaper headline in THE FIVE DEMANDS, paying particular attention to the following words:

NEGROES HOLD HIT-RUN RAID AS CCNY OPENS

10 ATTACK CAMPUS BUILDING AS STUDENTS RETURN