You should review these topics and sources as you prepare for the exam. The in-person exam will consist of five critical and comparative questions about the class sources. You will choose five from nine questions based on your interest as a learner.
Challenging the “Discovery,” Unveiling the Horrors of Colonization
.Yolen, Jane. Encounter. YouTube. https://youtu.be/lxnDJybshOc?si=4fTytCVpDdw9DgAA
.Meléndez-Badillo, Jorell. “Borikén’s First Peoples: From Migration to Insurrection.” In Puerto Rico: A National History. Princeton University Press, 2024.
Slave Trade and African Women Rebellion
.Arroyo Pizarro, Yolanda. “Arrowhead.” In Negras, Stories of Puerto Rican Slave Women. Boreales, 2012.
.Dadzie, Stella. “Enslaved Women and Subversion.” In A Kick in the Belly: Women, Slavery and Resistance. Verso, 2020.
1960s Activism
.Takeover (Emma Francis-Snyder, 2022)
.The Five Demands (Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss, 2023)
Puerto Rican Empowering Poetics
.Pietri, Pedro. “Puerto Rican Obituary”
.Girmay, Aracelis.”You are who I love.” https://poets.org/poem/you-are-who-i-love
Dispersal and Preservation in the Diaspora
.Gautier, Amina. “Aguanile.” Now We Will Be Happy. University of Nebraska Press, 2014.
.Rodriguez, Abraham. “The Boy Without a Flag.” Boricuas: Influential Puerto Rican Writings- An Anthology. One World Book, 1995.
Political Status
.Why isn’t Puerto Rico a state? (Bianca Graulau, 2022)
.How the U.S. Silenced Calls for Puerto Rico’s Independence (Bianca Graulau, 2021)
Current forms of colonization in Puerto Rico
.Meléndez-Badillo, Jorell. “Broken Memories and Future-Oriented Histories.” In Puerto Rico: A National History. Princeton University Press, 2024.
.“El apagón” (Bad Bunny and Bianca Graulau, 2022) https://youtu.be/1TCX_Aqzoo4?si=x9-mELx4WxZBI_CK
Grassroots Organizing
.Llenín Figueroa, Beatriz. “The Maroons are Deathless, We are Deathless.” Abusable Past. https://abusablepast.org/from-puerto-rico-the-maroons-are-deathless-we-are-deathless/
.“Tito Matos ¡Ahora Sí!” In Puerto Rican Voices https://youtu.be/2mf8C6f9GSY?si=J6tPQ5eBLD3meAF5
Dominican Migration to Puerto Rico
.Del Valle Schorske, Carina. “An Arsenal of Mysteries: The Terrifying Allure of a Remote Caribbean Island.” New York Times. March 20, 2024.
.Ceballos, Helen. “Cerezas por papeles” In “Pensamientos” Afro-Latin@ Forum. https://www.afrolatinoforum.org/pensamientos-blog/cerezas-por-papeles-cherries-for-documents