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MILLS-DISSERTATION-2018.Pdf (1.920Mb) Copyright by Regina Marie Mills 2018 The Dissertation Committee for Regina Marie Mills certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Afro-Latinx Literary History: Identities and Politics Across the Ethno- Racial Divide Committee: John Morán González, Supervisor James H. Cox Jennifer M. Wilks David J. Vázquez Afro-Latinx Literary History: Identities and Politics Across the Ethno- Racial Divide by Regina Marie Mills Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2018 Dedication For my mama, Scarlet Regina Rendón LaFever (QEPD) and my dad, Brian Luther Mills. Acknowledgements President Barack Obama once said, “if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.” I believe this wholeheartedly. I know that I worked hard to become the first person in my family to go to college and earn a PhD. However, I recognize that many other people believed in me and have been invested in my success. Without them, I would not have reached this milestone or the many smaller ones that came before it. I am so fortunate to have cultivated a community that uplifts me. First, I would like to thank my family who have cheered me on in this process. I’m not sure they always understood what graduate school entails but they watched my Youtube video on Afro-Puerto Rican socialists and sent me good luck texts for every job interview. I am lucky to be the oldest of seven, and I have no doubt everything that comes with being the eldest—assertiveness and multitasking, for instance—have been assets in my career. So, thank you to my siblings, Scarlet Ann, BJ, Stephanie, Derek Jr, Daniel, and Patrick. Thank you also to my father, Brian Mills, who has sacrificed in so many ways for my siblings and me. Not only did his devotion and love teach me a lot about the kind of woman I want to be, but he also instilled in me a love of video games, comic books, and fantasy. He is responsible for the fact that I’ve never lost my childlike wonder. Thank you to my mother, Scarlet, who inspires my research and teaching in more ways than she will ever know. The world is a sadder place without her smile, fashion sense, and infectious laugh. I miss you every day, Mama. v My family lives on the East Coast, and living so far has not been easy since I moved out West in 2009. But at UT and in Austin, I have been fortunate to have a wide array of friends, who make me feel safe, loved, and supported. For instance, the Department of Rhetoric and Writing has always welcomed me. Anna Crain and Holly Schwadron have been amazing supervisors, resources, and friends, as have the ADs (past and present). A special shout-out to Anne Stewart and Sequoia Maner, who offered lots of cheerleading and crucial perspectives through our dissertation writing group. Thank you also to Debbie Cifuentes who regularly shared writing time with me. Friends in other departments, especially LLILAS, Government, and Spanish and Portuguese, kept me grounded and provided insight into different disciplinary concerns and perspectives. Two friends I’d like to thank specifically are Nitya Rao and Christina Bambrick. I will always cherish our meaningful discussions, Disney, Are You Afraid of the Dark? and 90s nostalgia parties, and game nights. Thank you also to the staff and fellow volunteers at SAFE, especially the peer support program, led by Lisa Pous, who remind me that I have a responsibility to the world outside of academia. In thinking about my Austin support system, I cannot adequately express my gratitude to Jim Cox, Domino Pérez, and Ewan. Your kindness and encouragement, especially after my mother’s death, may be the number one reason that I finished my doctorate. I hope that I can be the type of mentor to my future graduate students that you both have been to me. I want to emphasize that I have been one lucky grad student. My committee, John Morán González, Jim Cox, Jennifer Wilks, and David Vázquez, have always been caring vi and generous scholars who champion my work. Thank you for making the dissertation process as pleasant as writing a 200+ page book can be. My dissertation benefits tremendously from two research fellowships that I received in 2017-18. Many thanks to The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the New York Public Library, who supported my research through a 2017-18 Short- Term Research Fellowship. Their holdings are integral to Chapters One, Three, and Four. And mil gracias to el Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños / Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, who supported my research through a 2017 Summer Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Their holdings are vital to my argument in Chapter Two. Lastly, I’d like to thank my husband, Anthony Ives, for his unfailing support during this project and for a decade of loving encouragement. I believe that the best relationships urge each person to be more than they might be on their own, challenging them to try new things and to push beyond the limits we imagine for ourselves. It is sometimes hard to believe all that we have accomplished together. I am grateful each day for the life that we share. vii Afro-Latinx Literary History: Identities and Politics Across the Ethno- Racial Divide Regina Marie Mills, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2018 Supervisor: John Morán González Abstract: My dissertation finds that Afro-Latinx writers have repurposed the genre of life writing in response to their marginalization in US Black and Latinx communities. Through journalistic sketches, collaborative autobiographies, and other forms of life writing, Afro-Latinxs have constructed and deployed a variety of Afro-Latinidades—the negotiation of ascribed characteristics and lived experiences that shape the confluence of migrant, Black, and Latinx identities—that take form in their writing, which critiques existing hegemonies of race, gender, politics, and religion in US, Caribbean, and Latin American institutions. The writers and organizers who are the subjects of this study recover Black contributions to politics and the arts globally, articulate a distinct strand of socialist politics, fight the stigma against Afro-diasporic religions, and reclaim the legitimacy of street practices. My dissertation ties together literary close reading with extensive archival research. Because of a certain unease about where to place Afro-Latinx writers (Black Studies or Latinx Studies) and the overtly political and pedantic structure of some Afro- Latinx memoirs, these works have been underexamined in literary studies. As the first book-length analysis focused entirely on Afro-Latinx life writing, my dissertation builds on the recovery work of the last 20 years to take seriously the literary and political contributions of Afro-Latinxs. My project contests the common articulation of Afro- viii Latinidad as a “bridge” between US Black and (white) Latinx communities, and in doing so, provides a literary history of Afro-Latinx communities. I draw from bell hooks’ conception of “writing from the margin” and woman of color feminist analyses to demonstrate that Afro-Latinx life writing has shaped our discussions on immigration, colonialism, socialism, and spirituality for a century. Each chapter illustrates how different Afro-Latinidades—political, cultural, spiritual, and gendered—structure the life writing used by activists, socialist organizers, santeras (priests of Afro-diasporic orisha worship), former prisoners, and 23andMe genealogists. ix Table of Contents List of Figures ....................................................................................................... xii Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Chapter Descriptions and Methodology .......................................................10 Chapter 1: Arturo Schomburg and the “Racial Integrity” of Auto/Biography ......15 Introduction ...................................................................................................15 Schomburg Theorizing Black History and Biography ..................................20 The Auto/Biography of “Racial Integrity” ...................................................24 Revising America’s Beginnings ..........................................................25 Afro-Latino Excellence and the “Great (Black) Man” Narrative ........32 Conclusion ....................................................................................................47 Chapter 2: “Observe and participate”: Jesús Colón, the New York Young Lords, and Afro-Puerto Rican Socialist Life Writing .....................................................49 Introduction ...................................................................................................49 A Genealogy of Afro-Puerto Rican Socialism, from 1898 to 1976 ..............53 “Observe and participate” .............................................................................65 The “observer becomes participant” plot .............................................66 The reader-observer becoming participant ..........................................78 The Afro-Boricua: Challenging the Jíbaro Myth .................................89 Conclusion ..................................................................................................110 Chapter 3: Afro-Latinidad as Creative Destruction: Theorizing Violence in Piri
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