Against the Myth of Racial Harmony in Puerto Rico

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter ii
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments xiii
4. Editorial Note xv
5. Introduction 1
6. I. Historical Background before 1900
7. Introduction 17
8. The Earliest Africans in North America 19
9. Black Pioneers: The Spanish-Speaking Afro-Americans of the Southwest 27
10. Slave and Free Women of Color in the Spanish Ports of New Orleans, Mobile, and Pensacola 38
11. Afro-Cubans in Tampa 51
12. Excerpt from Pulling the Muse from the Drum 62
13. II. Arturo Alfonso Schomburg
14. Introduction 65
15. Excerpt from “Racial Integrity: A Plea for the Establishment of a Chair of Negro History in Our Schools and Colleges,” 67
16. The World of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg 70
17. Invoking Arturo Schomburg’s Legacy in Philadelphia 92
18. III. Afro-Latin@s on the Color Line
19. Introduction 97
20. Black Cuban, Black American 99
21. A Puerto Rican in New York and Other Sketches 113
22. Melba Alvarado, El Club Cubano Inter-Americano, and the Creation of Afro-Cubanidades in New York City 120
23. An Uneven Playing Field: Afro-Latinos in Major League Baseball 127
24. Changing Identities: An Afro-Latin@ Family Portrait 142
25. ¡Eso era tremendo! An Afro-Cuban Musician Remembers 150
26. IV. Roots of Salsa: Afro-Latin@ Popular Music
27. Introduction 155
28. From “Indianola” to “Ño Colá”: The Strange Career of the Afro-Puerto Rican Musician 157
29. Excerpt from cu/bop 176
30. Bauzá–Gillespie–Latin/Jazz: Difference, Modernity, and the Black Caribbean 177
31. Contesting that Damned Mambo: Arsenio Rodríguez and the People of El Barrio and the Bronx in the 1950s 187
32. Boogaloo and Latin Soul 199
33. Excerpt from the salsa of bethesda fountain 207
34. V. Black Latin@ Sixties
35. Introduction 209
36. Hair Conking; Buy Black 211
37. Carlos A. Cooks: Dominican Garveyite in Harlem, 215
38. Down These Mean Streets 219
39. African Things 232
40. Black Notes and “You Do Something to Me,” 233
41. Before People Called Me a Spic, They Called Me a Nigger 235
42. Excerpt from Jíbaro, My Pretty Nigger 244
43. The Yoruba Orisha Tradition Comes to New York City 245
44. Reflections and Lived Experiences of Afro-Latin@ Religiosity 252
45. Discovering Myself: Un Testimonio 262
46. Excerpt from Dominicanish 266
47. VI. Afro-Latinas
48. Introduction 267
49. The Black Puerto Rican Woman in Contemporary American Society 269
50. Something Latino Was Up with Us 276
51. Excerpt from Poem for My Grifa-Rican Sistah, or Broken Ends Broken Promises 280
52. Latinegras: Desired Women—Undesirable Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, and Wives 282
53. Letter to a Friend 296
54. Uncovering Mirrors: Afro-Latina Lesbian Subjects 298
55. The Black Bellybutton of a Bongo 314
56. VII. Public Images and (Mis)Representations
57. Introduction 317
58. Notes on Eusebia Cosme and Juano Hernández 319
59. Desde el Mero Medio: Race Discrimination within the Latin@ Community 323
60. Displaying Identity: Dominicans in the Black Mosaic of Washington, D.C. 326
61. Bringing the Soul: Afros, Black Empowerment, and Lucecita Benítez 343
62. Can BET Make You Black? Remixing and Reshaping Latin@s on Black Entertainment Television 358
63. The Afro-Latino Connection: Can this group be the bridge to a broadbased Black-Hispanic alliance? 364
64. VIII. Afro-Latin@s in the Hip Hop Zone
65. Introduction 371
66. Ghettocentricity, Blackness, and Pan-Latinidad 373
67. Chicano Rap Roots: Afro-Mexico and Black-Brown Cultural Exchange 387
68. The Rise and Fall of Reggaeton: From Daddy Yankee to Tego Calderón and Beyond 396
69. Do Plátanos Go wit’ Collard Greens? 404
70. Divas Don’t Yield 411
71. IX. Living Afro-Latinidades
72. Introduction 415
73. An Afro-Latina’s Quest for Inclusion 417
74. Retracing Migration: From Samaná to New York and Back Again 422
75. Negotiating among Invisibilities: Tales of Afro-Latinidades in the United States 426
76. We Are Black Too: Experiences of a Honduran Garifuna 431
77. Profile of an Afro-Latina: Black, Mexican, Both 434
78. Enrique Patterson: Black Cuban Intellectual in Cuban Miami 439
79. Reflections about Race by a Negrito Acomplejao 445
80. Divisible Blackness: Reflections on Heterogeneity and Racial Identity 453
81. Nigger-Reecan Blues 467
82. X. Afro-Latin@s: Present and Future Tenses
83. Introduction 469
84. How Race Counts for Hispanic Americans 471
85. Bleach in the Rainbow: Latino Ethnicity and Preference for Whiteness 485
86. Brown Like Me? 499
87. Against the Myth of Racial Harmony in Puerto Rico 508
88. Mexican Ways, African Roots 512
89. Afro-Latin@s and the Latin@ Workplace 520
90. Racial Politics in Multiethnic America: Black and Latin@ Identities and Coalitions 527
91. Afro-Latinism in United States Society: A Commentary 540
92. Sources and Permissions 547
93. Contributors 551
94. Index 559