Author, journalist, professor
Since my latest book, Fantasy Island: Colonialism, Exploitation and the Betrayal of Puerto Rico (Bold Type Press) went on sale last September, I’ve had an amazing time doing talks and interacting with people who are passionate about the island-nation. The book is a historical overview of Puerto Rico’s colonial relationship with the U.S. including a […]
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[Originally published in The Washington Post on February 7, 2020] On a recent trip to London, I took the Underground from Oxford Circus to the city’s northern reaches in Tottenham, home to one of the centers of its Latinx community. A few steps from the Seven Sisters stop is the Latin Village market, also known […]
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It is difficult not to see the mostly white presidential field as partly a product of the media’s lack of interest in Hispanics and candidates of color [Originally published in The Guardian January 6, 2020] About a year ago, Julián Castro announced he was running for president in front of an adoring hometown West San […]
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Originally published in The Washington Post September 20, 2019 at 6:23 a.m. I want to take you on a journey that begins and ends with questions about the American Dream, about what being an American means, and what it means to be an “other.” I’ve survived the flowering and disintegration of that dream during my lifetime, […]
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Originally published on NBC Think Sept. 5, 2019, 6:14 PM As Hurricane Dorian spun erratically past Puerto Rico’s northeast corner last week, most of the island breathed a deep sense of relief. The storm did batter St. Thomas, a U.S. Virgin Island, and the offshore island-municipalities of Culebra and Vieques, and has wreaked havoc on the Bahamas, where […]
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Originally published in The Nation August 2, 2019 On July 26, still giddy after the massive mobilization of Puerto Ricans that played a major role in forcing Governor Ricardo Rosselló to resign, plena musician Tito Matos and street-theater activist/music video director Israel Lugo were in the Hato Rey business district of San Juan, walking together […]
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What has happened on the streets of old San Juan and the distant west coast and mountain towns of Puerto Rico has been stunning, a hauntingly beautiful display of people power — a full-on awakening augured by the decades-invoked “Despierta Boricua” slogan, one that allows islanders to say things like “ya no es el mismo […]
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