Puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New Millennium

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puerto Ricans at the Dawn of New Millennium

The Stories I Read to the Children Selected, Edited and Biographical Introduction by Lisa Sánchez González The Stories I Read to the Children documents, for the very first time, Pura Belpré’s contributions to North Puerto Ricans at American, Caribbean, and Latin American literary and library history. Thoroughly researched but clearly written, this study is scholarship that is also accessible to general readers, students, and teachers. Pura Belpré (1899-1982) is one of the most important public intellectuals in the history of the Puerto Rican diaspora. A children’s librarian, author, folklorist, translator, storyteller, and puppeteer who began her career the Dawn of the during the Harlem Renaissance and the formative decades of The New York Public Library, Belpré is also the earliest known Afro-Caribeña contributor to American literature. Soy Gilberto Gerena Valentín: New Millennium memorias de un puertorriqueño en Nueva York Edición de Carlos Rodríguez Fraticelli Gilberto Gerena Valentín es uno de los personajes claves en el desarrollo de la comunidad puertorriqueña Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Editors en Nueva York. Gerena Valentín participó activamente en la fundación y desarrollo de las principales organizaciones puertorriqueñas de la postguerra, incluyendo el Congreso de Pueblos, el Desfile Puertorriqueño, la Asociación Nacional Puertorriqueña de Derechos Civiles, la Fiesta Folclórica Puertorriqueña y el Proyecto Puertorriqueño de Desarrollo Comunitario. Durante este periodo también fue líder sindical y comunitario, Comisionado de Derechos Humanos y concejal de la Ciudad de Nueva York. En sus memorias, Gilberto Gerena Valentín nos lleva al centro de las continuas luchas sindicales, políticas, sociales y culturales que los puertorriqueños fraguaron en Nueva York durante el periodo de a Gran Migracíón hasta los años setenta. Gilberto Gerena Valentín: My Life as a Community Activist, Labor Organizer, and Progressive

ueva N ueva en puertorriqueño un de SOYVALENTÍN:GILBERTOmemorias GERENA Politician in New York City Edited by Carlos Rodríguez Fraticelli / Translated by Andrew Hurley / Introduction by José E. Cruz

Gilberto Gerena Valentín is a key figure in the development of the Puerto Rican community in the United States, especially from the forties through the seventies. He was a union organizer, community leader, GILBERTO political activist, and general in the war for the civil-rights recognition of his community. Gerena Valentín York

GERENA played an active part in the founding and development of all the major Puerto Rican organizations in the GILBERTO VALENTÍN: I

GERENA MY LIFE AS A COMMUNITY postwar period, including the Congreso de Pueblos, the Puerto Rican Day Parade, the National Association for

VALENTÍN ACTIVIST, LABOR ORGANIZER, AND PROGRESSIVE POLITICIAN IN NEW YORK CITY Puerto Rican Civil Rights, the Puerto Rican Folklore Festival, and the Puerto Rican Community Development GILBERTO GERENA VALENTÍN Edited by Carlos Rodríguez-Fraticelli Project. During this period he was also a member of the New York City Human Rights Commission and a I New York City councilman. Gerena Valentín was also a pioneer in the creation of coalitions with the principal

African-American civil rights organizations, playing a central role in the mobilization of Puerto Ricans for the MeléndezEdwin / Carlos Vargas-Ramos Hunter CEPR, College, NY famed marches on Washington in 1963 and 1968 and in the New York City school boycott of 1964, the largest in the nation’s history. In his memoirs, Gilberto Gerena Valentín takes us into the center of the fierce labor, political, civil rights, social and cultural struggles waged by Puerto Ricans in New York from the 1940s through the 1970s. THE STATE OF PUERTO RICANS —

THE STATE OF PUERTO RICANS 2013: INTRODUCTION EDWIN MELÉNDEZ and CARLOS VARGAS-RAMOS Demographic Transitions: Settlement and Distribution of the Puerto Rican Population in the United States CARLOS VARGAS-RAMOS and JUAN C GARCÍA-ELLÍN Puerto Rican Migration in the 21st Century: Is There a Brain Drain? State of Puerto Ricans 2013 KURT BIRSON THE STATE OF Internal Migration of Puerto Ricans in the United States JUAN C. GARCÍA-ELLIN The Puerto Rican Education Pipeline: PUERTO RICANS Edited by Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos New York City, New York State and the United States LUIS O. REYES and ANNA ROSOFSKY — 2013 —

School, Work and the Transition 2013 of Puerto Rican Youth to Adulthood ROSENI PLAZA and RAÚL SEGURA

The Economic Impact of the Great Recession — On Puerto Ricans in the United States

EDWIN MELÉNDEZ and KURT BIRSON Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Editors Health of Puerto Ricans in the United States: 2000–2010 Edwin Meléndez ANNA ROSOFSKY The State of Puerto Ricans 2013 collects in a single report the most current data on social, economic, and Human Development Index: and How do Puerto Ricans Measure Up RAÚL SEGURA and KURT BIRSON Carlos Vargas-Ramos Housing Characteristics: Research Brief EDITORS ANNA ROSOFSKY civic conditions of the Puerto Rican population in the United States available from governmental sources, Puerto Rican Civic and Political Participation at the Turn of the 21st Century CARLOS VARGAS-RAMOS mostly from the U.S. Census Bureau. The report presents a picture of endurance and resiliency in the midst of declining opportunity.

Forthcoming titles in 2014

Puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New Millennium, Edited by Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas Ramos AmeRícan Poet Historian: Essays on the Works of Tato Laviera, Edited by Stephanie Alvarez and William Luis Patria: Puerto Rican Revolutionaries in 19th Century New York by Edgardo Meléndez To request review copies, for submission of book proposals, or for any other information contact us at:

Center for Puerto Rican Studies / Hunter College, CUNY . 695 Park Ave, E-1429 . New York, NY 10065 I 212.772-5688 / Fax 212.650.3673 / http://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu / [email protected] A PREVIEW

puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New Millennium Millennium New the of Dawn the at Ricans puerto The Stories I Read to the Children Selected, Edited and Biographical Introduction by Lisa Sánchez González

The Stories I Read to the Children American, Caribbean, and Latin American literary and library history. Thoroughly researched but clearly written, this study is scholarship that documents, is also accessible for the very to general first time, readers, Pura students,Belpré’s contributionsand teachers. to PuraNorth Belpré (1899-1982) is one of the most important public intellectuals in the history of the Puerto Rican diaspora. A children’s librarian, author, folklorist, translator, storyteller, and puppeteer who began her career during the Harlem Renaissance and the formative decades of The New York Public Library, Belpré is also the earliest known Afro-Caribeña contributor to American literature. Puerto Ricans at Soy Gilberto Gerena Valentín: memorias de un puertorriqueño en Nueva York Edición de Carlos Rodríguez Fraticelli the Dawn of the Gilberto Gerena Valentín es uno de los personajes claves en el desarrollo de la comunidad puertorriqueña en Nueva York. Gerena Valentín participó activamente en la fundación y desarrollo de las principales organizaciones puertorriqueñas de la postguerra, incluyendo el Congreso de Pueblos, el Desfile Puertorriqueño, New Millennium la Asociación Nacional Puertorriqueña de Derechos Civiles, la Fiesta Folclórica Puertorriqueña y el Proyecto Puertorriqueño de Desarrollo Comunitario. Durante este periodo también fue líder sindical y comunitario, Comisionado de Derechos Humanos y concejal de la Ciudad de Nueva York. En sus memorias, Gilberto Gerena Valentín nos lleva al centro de las continuas luchas sindicales, políticas, sociales y culturales que los puertorriqueños fraguaron en Nueva York durante el periodo de a Gran Migracíón hasta los años setenta. Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Editors Gilberto Gerena Valentín:

My Life as a Community Activist, ueva ueva SOY GILBERTO GERENA VALENTÍN: memorias de un puertorriqueño en N en puertorriqueño un de memorias VALENTÍN: GERENA GILBERTO SOY Labor Organizer, and Progressive Politician in New York City Centro is the nation’s leading university-based institution Edited by Carlos Rodríguez Fraticelli / Translated by Andrew Hurley / Introduction by José E. Cruz

Gilberto Gerena Valentín is a key figure in the development of the Puerto Rican community in the United York States, especially from the forties through the seventies. He was a union organizer, community leader, GILBERTO

GILBERTO GERENA political activist, and general in the war for the civil-rights recognition of his community. Gerena Valentín

GERENA

VALENTÍN: VALENTÍN MY played an active part in the founding and development of all the major Puerto Rican organizations in the LIFE AS A COMMUNITY ACTIVIST, LABOR ORGANI devoted to the interdisciplinary study of the mainland AND PROGRESSIVE POLITICIANZER, IN NEW YORK CITY postwar period, including the Congreso de Pueblos, the Puerto Rican Day Parade, the National Association for

GILBERTO GERENA VALENTÍN Puerto Rican Civil Rights, the Puerto Rican I Folklore Festival, and the Puerto Rican Community Development Edited by Car los Rodríguez-Fraticelli Project. During this period he was also a member of the New York City Human Rights Commission and a New York City councilman. Gerena Valentín was also a pioneer in the creation of coalitions with the principal African-American civil rights organizations, playing a central role in the mobilization of Puerto Ricans for the famed marches on Washington in 1963 and 1968 and in the New York City school boycott of 1964, the Puerto Rican experience. Founded in 1973 by a coalition largest in the nation’s history. In his memoirs, Gilberto Gerena Valentín takes us into the center of the fierce

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On P ct o State of Puerto Ricans 2013 uerto f the Gr Ricans in the eat Rec — EDW U ession 2013 IN MELÉNDE nited S Health Z and KUR tates — of Pu T BIRSON erto Rican — s in the U ANNA nited Sta ROSOFSK tes: 2 of faculty, students, and community activists, Centro seeks

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10 Vargas-Ramos, Carlos and Meléndez Edwin Edited by Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos Hu man De How d velopme o Puerto nt Index: RA Ricans ÚL SEGURA Measur and KURT e Up Ho BIRSO using Charac N teris tics: Re ANNA R search Bri Puer OSOFSKY ef Edwi to Ric n Me an Civic léndez at and Po the Turn litical Pa and of the 2 rticipat CARLOS VA 1st Ce ion RGA ntury S-RAMOS Carlos Vargas-Ramos EDIT The State of Puerto Ricans 2013 collects in a single report the most current data on social, economic, and ORS civic conditions of the Puerto Rican population in the United States available from governmental sources, mostly from the U.S. Census Bureau. The report presents a picture of endurance and resiliency in the midst of declining opportunity. to link scholarly inquiry to policy and social action and to Forthcoming titles in 2014

Puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New Millennium, Edited by Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas Ramos AmeRícan Poet Historian: Essays on the Works of Tato Laviera, Edited by Stephanie Alvarez and William Luis preserve the history of the Puerto Rican people. Centro is Patria: Puerto Rican Revolutionaries in 19th Century New York by Edgardo Meléndez To request review copies, for submission of book proposals, or for any other information contact us at: Center for Puerto Rican Studies / Hunter College, CUNY . 695 Park Ave, E-1429 . New York, NY 10065

212.772-5688 / Fax 212.650.3673 / http://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu / [email protected] the primary source of critical research into issues affecting

I I the well-being of the stateside Puerto Rican community and is home to the only library and archive in the world

dedicated to the Puerto Rican experience on the mainland.

Since 2001, its researchers have made intensive use of the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey, which provides a wealth of demographic and economic information about metropolitan areas in the U.S., broken down by ethnicity. Centro has also conducted its own national survey of nearly 500 stateside Puerto Ricans, exploring the effects of the recession and how the Puerto Rican community has coped with the economic hard times.

Puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New Millennium is a result of that research. A comprehensive look at the changing realities for Puerto Ricans since the beginning of the 21st century, this book collects and analyzes research regarding Puerto Rican migration, the lingering effects of the last recession, coping strategies that Puerto Ricans have used, and the issues affecting the population.

Note: The volume Puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New Millennium includes information up to 2011, the most recent year for which data were available at the time of publication. Some of the charts and figures presented in this handout have been updated using 2013 data.

An Excerpt from the Introduction Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos

The demographic and socioeconomic profile of Puerto Ricans at this early point in the New Millennium is dramatically different from what it was just a decade ago. To begin with, consider the fact that equal numbers of Puerto Ricans, 3.8 million, lived stateside and on the island in 2003. However, by 2013, the most recent year for which data are available, there were 5,121,921 Puerto Ricans living stateside and 3,466,276 Puerto Ricans residing on the island, representing a population swing of nearly 1.5 million over a decade.

Such a population swing constitutes a migration wave to rival Even as stateside Puerto Ricans became more numerous than the magnitude of what is known in the literature as the “Great those living on the island, a significant change in population Migration” of Puerto Ricans to the United States during the settlement and dispersion has also transpired. The Puerto Rican 1950s. Fueled by the collapse of the Puerto Rican economy population has grown in almost every state and region of the and the inability of the political establishment to stabilize the United States. Puerto Ricans now make up 9.5% of the total fiscal crisis and reduce crime and violence, an extraordinary Hispanic population, and 1.6% of the country’s total population. wave of migration from Puerto Rico to the United States has These changes warrant both our understanding of this changed the landscape. If these patterns continue, by the end transformation and the forging of fresh approaches and collective of the decade it is probable that two-thirds of Puerto Ricans responses to the new challenges posed by these patterns. will reside stateside. steps to overcome dire circumstances. The narrative that Population Change 2000-2013 emerges from our research is very different from that of past 5.5 decades, which sought to explain economic disadvantage

5 by so-called underclass behavior, lack of attachment to the labor markets, or the detrimental effects of migration. Our 4.5 findings also challenge the portrayal of Puerto Ricans as US

PR lacking socioeconomic advancement compared with other 4 “immigrant” groups.

3.5 Several years after the Great Recession officially ended, the 3 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 effects are still palpable to the jobless and the poor and to those whose incomes have stagnated or who have taken Consider that in the last decade over a million stateside lower-paying jobs. Yet Puerto Ricans have recovered faster Puerto Ricans migrated across state lines. This extraordinary and fared better in the aggregate than other ethnic groups. rate of mobility is several times the rate for the population Puerto Ricans’ resiliency is demonstrated by their seeking jobs of the United States as a whole or for any other major ethnic wherever these were available, by taking training to improve group. More stunning is the fact that this pattern of migratory skills and employability, by changing careers and occupations behavior is fueled by movement among those born in the to accommodate employment demand, and in general, by United States, not by island-born or recent migrants as one deploying more strategies for improving competitiveness in might speculate based on prior historical patterns. In fact, 7 the job market than other ethnic groups. As a result, though out of 10 Puerto Ricans moving to another state during the last the earnings for full-time, year-round Puerto Rican workers decade were born in the United States. remained basically stagnant between 2007 (the last business cycle peak year) and 2011, their relative standing improved Consider also that the South, as a region, and Central Florida, compared with average earnings of workers in the United in particular, are the main destinations of interstate movers States or non-Hispanic white workers. Puerto Rican women and recent migrants. What is most significant and least known have shown the most significant gains in earnings during this is the likelihood that in just a few years, more Puerto Ricans period, in both absolute and relative terms. will live in Florida than in the state of New York, the historical entry port and traditional enclave of Puerto Ricans. Similarly, Yet a sizable portion of the Puerto Rican community is still it is apparent that before long, the fast-growing Puerto Rican caught in the trough of the recession like many others. Puerto population in the South, West, and Midwest will outnumber Ricans continue to be overrepresented in the low-wage Puerto Ricans in the Northeast. When (not if) this event labor market and among the poor, lag behind in educational happens, it will mark a significant shift in the history of Puerto attainment, and have greater need for childcare in order Ricans in the United States. to participate in the labor force than other groups. For this segment of the population resiliency is insufficient in the midst of declining opportunity. Despite tangible advances in electing Today, population figures show that representatives to state and local office and in having well- 60% of Puerto Ricans reside in the established community and professional leadership, these states and only 40% on the island. gains have not been translated into substantial improvement for those suffering adverse social circumstances. What explains such dramatic population swings? Related to these patterns of population movement and resettlement is the disproportionate impact of the Great Recession on Puerto Largest Migration Flows to and from Puerto Rico, Ricans on both the continent and the island. To ascertain the 2006–2013 impact of the recession on stateside Puerto Ricans, Centro 150000 conducted a national survey that included a sample of close to 500 respondents. This proprietary data was combined with available public data from the American Community Survey 100000 (ACS) to construct a detailed profile of how the Puerto Rican community coped with the impact of the recession and how 50000 their responses compared with those of other racial or ethnic From PR to US groups including non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks From US to PR and other Latinos. The findings from this study are revealing 0 and begin to explain the observed migratory and interstate mobility patterns of stateside Puerto Ricans. -‐50000

The Puerto Rican story is one of resiliency. This is a community -‐100000 that despite facing difficult challenges in finding employment Florida New York Pennsylvania Texas New Jersey Connec

Population Movements and New Settlements The educational attainment of migrants is consistent with the The 1950s are considered the period of the Great Migration, occupational pattern. Among those twenty-five years of age or given that about half a million Puerto Ricans migrated to the older, individuals with bachelor’s or graduate degrees were slightly United States (Vázquez Calzada 1988). However, it is likely that underrepresented among migrants when compared with Puerto a much higher number of Puerto Ricans migrated to the United Rico’s labor force. Those with graduate degrees represented 5% States in the 2000s. For the first time under the jurisdiction of migrants in comparison with 6% of Puerto Rico’s labor force, of the United States, Puerto Rico experienced a net decline in while those with bachelor’s degrees represented 15% of the flow population. Today, population figures show that 60% of Puerto versus 16% of the island’s labor force. Ricans reside in the states and only 40% on the island. This population surge from the island to the United States has had It is also important to consider the data on the labor-force significant consequences for stateside Puerto Ricans. attachment of migrants. Despite high unemployment and a low labor-force participation rate in Puerto Rico, one year Migration to and from the United States is an enduring element after arriving in the United States, Puerto Rican migrants in the daily life of Puerto Ricans. Data from ACS and the showed a remarkable attachment to the labor force. Fifty-six Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS), available since 2001 percent of the migrants from the island were in the labor force, and 2006, respectively, provide the opportunity to ascertain with 40% employed and 25% unemployed. These findings the social and economic characteristics of migrants moving to portray, to a large degree, an exodus that is representative of and from the island. With this data, it is now possible to create the island population and migrants who are mostly in search a detailed profile of recent migrants, exploring the factors that of employment and economic opportunity. contribute to the decision to migrate and ascertaining their meaning for both stateside and island Puerto Ricans. One of the most important findings reported in this volume is that between 2000 and 2011, a total of 1.2 million In the chapter “Puerto Rican Migration and the Brain Drain Puerto Ricans, equivalent to a quarter of the Puerto Rican Dilemma,” Birson presents a detailed profile of recent migrants. mainland population, crossed from one state into another. In general, the data indicate that recent migrants to the United The continued dispersion of the Puerto Rican population States “tended to be younger, neither more or less educated, throughout the country has come to characterize a new period were more attached to the labor force, and consisted of more in the history of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. While the majority blue-collar workers compared to their counterparts that they of Puerto Ricans are still concentrated in the Northeast, their had left behind.” These findings are interesting because they concentration continues to increase in the South. New York challenge the prevalent view presented in the popular media is still the state with the most Puerto Ricans, with more than in Puerto Rico of a “brain drain” of more educated and skilled one million, but Florida is closely behind with 987,663 as of workers from the island. 2013, and is poised to take the lead by 2020. In the chapter “A Brief Look at Internal Migration of Puerto Ricans in the United It is apparent that before long, the States,” García-Ellín analyzes the composition and main points of origin and destinations of these migratory flows. To our fast-growing Puerto Rican population knowledge, this is the first time that data from over a decade in the South, West, and Midwest of observations have been combined in an effort to analyze the internal migration of stateside Puerto Ricans. Who moves? will outnumber Puerto Ricans in the Where do they go? Are they men or women, young or old, born Northeast. in the United States or on the island, more or less educated? in comparison. The second-largest settlement is in Texas, with One of the most important findings about 131,000 in 2010. In the southern states with the largest population growth, Puerto Ricans generally have a better reported in this volume is that between educational profile than stateside Puerto Ricans as a whole, 2000 and 2011, a total of 1.2 million although there are important differences between states. Puerto Ricans, equivalent to a quarter of While in Florida and South Carolina, those with a bachelor’s degree and above are about equally represented as they are the Puerto Rican mainland population, among Puerto Ricans nationally, Puerto Ricans in Virginia have crossed from one state into another. a sizable advantage in this category as well as among those with graduate and professional degrees. There also tends to García-Ellín finds that migration to the South and Northeast be a smaller gap in median household income between Puerto accounted for most of the population flow, with Florida Ricans and non-Hispanic whites in the southern states. receiving the greatest number of migrants. The South received about half of the total flow of internal migration (599,359), The Puerto Rican population in the South has experienced and Florida received about half of the flow to the South different socioeconomic dynamics from what has been reported (283,045). For the most part, New York is the largest sending in the literature about earlier settlements, and Silver concludes state to Florida, but also sends migrants to the neighboring with suggestions for further research on Puerto Ricans in the states of New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Florida South. In contrast to early migrants to New York and settlements receives migrants from these eastern states as well as in other northern cities, contemporary migration to the South is Illinois. Overall, these migrants are slightly more educated relatively more scattered with lower concentrations of Puerto than the stateside Puerto Rican population as a whole, with Ricans. The majority of Latinos in the region are of Mexican overrepresentation among those with some college education descent (or Cuban in Miami), and racial dynamics are tainted (32.3% of the flow compared with 27.6 % of the population) by the history of Jim Crow segregation. Furthermore, the mix of and underrepresented among the least educated (20.8% of Puerto Ricans born and raised in the United States and recent the flow have less than a high school degree compared with arrivals from the island induces a different cultural experience. 26.6% of the population). These racial and inter-ethnic dynamics offer a new complexity that is yet to be fully understood. In the chapter “New Puerto Rican Diasporas in the Southern United States,” Silver dissects the magnitude of the flows and Another chapter by Silver, “Puerto Ricans in Florida,” offers characteristics of migrants to the seven southern states that a unique case study of the contemporary stateside Puerto had over 10,000 Puerto Ricans in 2000 and that grew by over Rican experience. New Puerto Rican settlements in Florida 10,000 Puerto Ricans from 2000 to 2010. Over the last decade, are concentrated in the central region, while the smaller Florida has seen the largest growth in population with a gain and older settlements are in Miami and South Florida. The of 365,000 to reach almost 850,000 as reported by the 2010 origin of these communities can be traced to military service, Census. The remaining settlements in the South are smaller land sales, and the opening of the Disney World complex in

The Old Enclave, 2006-2013 The New Enclave , 2006-2013

Migration patterns of the “Old Enclave” represent movement between the long-established Puerto Rican enclaves in the Northeast and Midwest, such as in New York City, Boston, Northern New Jersey, and Chicago. Patterns of the “New Enclave” demonstrate an expansion from these traditional migrant networks to the nascent Puerto Rican communities in the Southern and Western United States. Top Ten States with highest Puerto Rican population Ricans. Two years after the recovery started, Puerto Rican poverty rates for all individuals remained three percentage 1,200,000 points higher than in 2007, reaching 27.4% in 2011. For 1,000,000 Puerto Rican children under 18 years of age, the poverty rate of 35.5% was among the highest of all other groups and twice 800,000 that of non-Hispanic whites. 2000 600,000 2010 2013 Despite the worsening employment indicators across the board 400,000 for Puerto Ricans, mean earnings for full-time, year-round

200,000 workers stayed about the same on average ($42,390 in 2007 compared with $42,351 in 2011); they actually improved 4 % 0 NY FL NJ PA MA CT IL CA TX OH for Puerto Rican women, rising to $38,591 by 2011. Similarly, the overall ratio of .80 of Puerto Rican workers’ earnings in the early 1970s. Although the educational profile of Puerto 2011 to non-Hispanic whites’ earnings was higher than the Ricans in these areas is not different from those in other ratios for non-Hispanic blacks (.76) and for Latinos overall parts of the country, Florida’s Puerto Rican households enjoy (.59). The earnings ratio improved slightly for Puerto Rican a slightly higher median income and lower poverty rates. In men over pre-recession levels, from 74.2% to 74.4%, but Central Florida, there is an even distribution of Puerto Ricans improved four percentage points from 83.8 %to 88.0% for who were born in the United States and on the island. Even Puerto Rican women. This relative increase in the earnings as Puerto Ricans in Florida have made some modest gains ratios of Puerto Rican women compared with non-Hispanic in political representation, they were energized by the 2012 white women was the result of a slight gain during the period Presidential election in which they voted in record numbers. for Puerto Rican women and a slight loss for non-Hispanic white women. One of the critical questions posed by this surge in the number of Puerto Ricans moving to various areas across the country is whether or not increased population dispersion has led to The data suggest that Puerto Rican greater social isolation. Vargas-Ramos uses the most common workers implemented a variety social science indicators to address the question, “Are Puerto Ricans More Segregated?” Using decennial census data, of strategies to improve their he found that the segregation of Puerto Ricans from non- competitiveness in labor markets. Hispanic whites decreased markedly between 2000 and 2010 as measured by the dissimilarity index. In 2000, nearly half The data suggest that Puerto Rican workers implemented (45%) of Puerto Ricans lived in the 26 counties identified as a variety of strategies to improve their competitiveness in having high levels of segregation (i.e., with dissimilarity scores labor markets. Among the employed, they reported moving higher than .60). By 2010, this number dropped to about a to find a job (26%), taking training for new skills (25%) third of Puerto Ricans who lived in the 20 counties identified or job hunting (17%), taking a job in a new field (24%), as having high levels of segregation. In similar fashion, visiting career centers (13%), and using the Internet for Puerto Ricans are mingling with other ethnic groups as they job searching (36%) at a higher rate than all other ethnic increasingly reside in areas that are also populated by blacks groups. Furthermore, the evidence from various chapters and non-Puerto Rican Latinos. in this volume documents the high internal mobility and migration from the island, which is primarily driven by Education and Economic Opportunity efforts to gain employment. Years after the Great Recession ended, many workers and working-class families are still experiencing its effects. In the These findings on the labor-market standing of Puerto Ricans chapter “Puerto Rican Economic Resiliency after the Great two years after the recession ended are indicative of two Recession,” Birson and Meléndez analyze the impact of the different scenarios within the stateside Puerto Rican community. recession and the strategies that workers have implemented to One group of workers suffered higher unemployment, cope with economic adversity. In particular, they examine the long-term effects of the recession on the stateside Puerto Rican U.S. Unemployment by Ethnic Group, 2007–2013 community compared with its effects on the major racial and ethnic groups within the United States—non-Hispanic whites, 17.8% non-Hispanic blacks, and Latinos. 17.2% 14.5% 15.1% 12.6% 11.8% Puerto Ricans experienced the highest increase in 9.8% 9.0% 9.6% unemployment in the labor force of the United States during 6.8% 7.0% the recession, from 6.1% in 2007 to 9.8% in 2011. Among the 5.1% unemployed, the percentage of those who were undergoing long-term unemployment rose dramatically, from 30.7% in 2007 to 46.4% in 2011. Of course, the erosion of employment Puerto Rican White Black Other La?no during the recession had an effect on poverty rates for Puerto 2007 2010 2013 Puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New Millennium Abstracts of the Chapters

Puerto Rican Migration and the Brain-Drain Dilemma School, Work, and the Transition of Puerto Rican Kurt Birson Youth to Adulthood Edwin Meléndez, M. Anne Visser, and Kurt Birson In 2004, the number of Puerto Ricans living in the mainland U.S. exceeded the population in Puerto Rico for the first time in history. Puerto Ricans experience rates of non-participation in school or This unprecedented event highlights a new shift in the pattern of work as high as those of African-American youth and higher than Puerto Rican migration. other Latinos. Moreover, rates of employment among Puerto Ricans who hold higher levels of education suggest that Puerto Ricans also A Brief Look at Internal Migration of Puerto Ricans experience difficulties in the transition to adulthood across various Juan Carlos García-Ellín levels of educational attainment. This chapter presents the state-to-state migration patterns of Puerto The Asset Profile of Puerto Ricans and Ricans living in the United States after the 2000 census. The findings show that across the decade Puerto Ricans are migrating away from Other Latinos After the Great Recession: 2008–2010 the state of New York and relocating to other states in the northeast. Kurt Birson, Ramón Borges-Méndez and Kofi Ampaabeng Using the Consumer Expenditure Surveys for 2008 and 2010, Patterns of Puerto Rican Settlement and Segregation in the we analyze the asset wealth of Puerto Ricans compared to other United States, 1990–2010 groups in the United States, and observe the changes in the Carlos Vargas-Ramos composition of asset portfolios after the Great Recession. The chapter describes the continued growth of the Puerto Rico The Well-Being of Puerto Rican Veterans and in the United States and its dispersion throughout the country, particularly toward the Sunbelt. The analyses find that residential Service Members separation from non-Hispanic whites had improved between 2000 Harry Franqui-Rivera and 2010 to the extent that there were fewer Puerto Ricans living in The military offers opportunities to Puerto Rican youth not readily counties with very high dissimilarity rates from non-Hispanic whites. available in civilian society. Overall, Puerto Rican veterans enjoy advantages in measurable standards of quality of life over their Puerto Ricans in Florida Puerto Rican civilian counterparts. Such advantages disappear Patricia Silver when compared to the total population. A review of Puerto Rican settlement in Miami, Tampa, and Orlando is followed by an ethnographic portrait of Central Florida, especially Lessons from the European Demographic Winter Orlando, home to the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the for Puerto Rico state. Alejandro Macarrón Puerto Rico is in the initial stages of the so-called “demographic New Puerto Rican Diasporas in the Southern winter.” It would start a steady loss of population within a few years. United States At the same time, the island’s population is aging very quickly. Patricia Silver New Puerto Rican diaspora settlements in the U.S. South challenge Asthma and Diabetes within the earlier research frameworks. In southern “right-to-work” states, Puerto Rican Population where immigration is a relatively new phenomenon, the context Anna Rosofsky and Judith Aponte of reception is significantly different, and compared to the largely The wellness of Puerto Ricans in the United States is challenged by working-class migration of the mid-20th century, Puerto Rican class a number of health conditions, in particular, diabetes and asthma. relations in 21st century southern settlements are less unified. Puerto Rican Political and Civic Engagement in the United Puerto Rican Economic Resiliency after the States Great Recession Carlos Vargas-Ramos Kurt Birson and Edwin Meléndez An analysis of current conditions of political and civic involvement Several years after one of the longest and deepest recessions in the of the Puerto Rican population in the United States reveals a U.S. Unemployment by Ethnic Group, 2007–2013 United States since the 1930s, we look back at its long-term impact continuing pattern of relatively low political involvement in the on Puerto Ricans in the United States. political process and civic life in the United States among Puerto Ricans (and other Latinos). Rebuilding the Puerto Rican Education Pipeline for a Multilingual and Multicultural Future Luis O. Reyes Puerto Ricans in New York City continue to experience chronic, academic underachievement with low enrollment levels at various points in the “education pipeline” and with low education attainment levels among adults over 25 years of age. The chapter presents policy and programmatic solutions based on re-envisioning our educational goals and instructional programs. Incidence of Out of School and Work by Race or Puerto Ricans residing in New York City and gender disparities Ethnicity, Ages 16 to 24 (2013) are substantially higher across the educational attainment ladder. Enrollment in college or graduate school among Puerto Ricans and Latinos overall is about 10 percentage points lower than it is among non-Hispanic whites in New York State and in the country as a whole. The disparity is 16 percentage points in New York City, with 20.5% enrollment rates for Puerto Ricans compared with 36.4% for non-Hispanic whites.

In the chapter “Rebuilding the Puerto Rican Education Pipeline for a Multilingual and Multicultural Future,” Reyes presents an educational profile of Puerto Ricans in New York City, discusses the limitations of the civil rights framework embedded in current transitional bilingual education programs, and proposes a reform agenda that is culturally and linguistically appropriate for Puerto Rican and other Latino often for long periods, while at the same time workers who children. An education reform agenda that will benefit Puerto remained employed year-round were not affected palpably by Rican children includes the recognition of bilingualism and the the recession and may have even experienced improvement native language of children as a foundation for learning and in their labor-market standing. In general, a more proactive school readiness, the engagement of parents and community behavior in skills development and adaptability to tighter job organizations in school governance and partnerships, and the markets led to better outcomes for employed workers. adoption of a rigorous curriculum.

One of the most significant paradigmatic changes in approaches Youth not at school or work are commonly referred to as to alleviating poverty over the last decades has come from “disconnected youth” in the academic literature and popular the community development movement. The asset-building media. Research on disconnected youth portrays a population approach proposes that the failure of anti-poverty strategies has that is largely African American, male, and low-income. been partly rooted in its focus on income rather than on asset However, Puerto Ricans have as high an incidence of not being development. Advocates of an asset-building approach claim at work or school as African Americans and a higher rate than that a focus on savings, investments in post-secondary education other Latinos. In the chapter “School, Work and the Transition and training, and creating a nest egg for retirement, along with of Puerto Rican Youth to Adulthood,” Melendez, Visser, and other strategies and programs that enable people with limited Birson present a statistical profile of Puerto Rican youth ages financial resources to accumulate long-term, productive assets, 16 to 24 and discuss policies to benefit them. will have a greater impact on poverty alleviation. In sum, disparities in school enrollment Any approach to asset building within the Puerto Rican and overall Latino population has to start with the dramatic wealth and employment among Puerto Rican gap that exists relative to non-Hispanic whites. At the heart youth begin early, when entering of the problem is the fact that Puerto Ricans have the lowest high school, and grow throughout the mean assessed value for housing assets, the most important component of wealth, which accounts for 86 % of all assets for transition to post-secondary education. the population as a whole. Housing assets for Puerto Ricans are primarily affected by extreme spatial segregation in low-value Puerto Ricans have a rate of non-participation in school or housing areas and very low incomes that impede conventional work of 20%, less than that of non-Hispanic blacks but almost financing, especially in the Northeast where Puerto Ricans are double the rate of non-Hispanic whites and three points higher still concentrated. Although home ownership and equity are than the overall rate of 17% for Latinos. The rates of being not critical when explaining wealth differences, the gap is the same at school or work increase with age for all groups, but Puerto for all types of assets, such as savings, cars, business ownership, Ricans have the highest rates within each of the age cohorts. retirement, stocks, bonds and other financial investments. The proportion of Puerto Ricans who attend school and do not work is fairly similar to that of Latinos and non-Hispanic How workers fare in job markets and in accumulating wealth whites, suggesting that there is a core group among Puerto to cope with economic fluctuations are closely related to Rican youth who follow the idealized pattern of transitioning educational attainment, an area in which Puerto Ricans have from high school into college enrollment or employment made steady gains over the last decade. Between 2000 and training. The chances of being out of work and school by age 2011, the proportion of high school graduates increased 12 24 are roughly one in eight for non-Hispanic whites, but one percentage points to .75, and the rate of completion for a in five for Puerto Rican youth. In New York City, the figures are bachelor’s degree gained almost four percentage points to reach more stark; one in ten for non-Hispanic whites, and one nearly .16. Yet, paradoxically, disparities in relation to other groups one in three for Puerto Rican youth. The majority of youth have remained constant. Even more puzzling, disparities for ages 22 to 24 are entering the work force, yet a significant number of young Puerto Ricans reach this stage completely disconnected from school or work. this demographic winter phenomenon a few decades ahead of In sum, disparities in school enrollment and employment Puerto Rico and offers useful lessons to the island from the Old among Puerto Rican youth begin early, when entering World. In the end, the fate of the island depends on policies to high school, and grow throughout the transition to post- mitigate population loss, especially for keeping on the island— secondary education. These disparities, the authors suggest, and attracting back to the island—young workers in the prime are intricately related to educational attainment, and confirm of their reproductive years. a general finding in the literature that “disconnected youth” have less education than their counterparts (Bloom et al. 2010; For youth serving in the military, Fernandes and Gabe 2009). The evidence presented in the chapter indicates that work and education are closely related serving in the armed forces is in the transition to adulthood for many young people. The a pathway to socioeconomic authors suggest that pathways programs combining education and workforce development could be especially beneficial to advancement, and this path is Puerto Rican youth (Visser and Meléndez 2011). inherently linked to migration to the United States. Old Problems, New Challenges It is evident that migration patterns are fueling significant population changes for stateside Puerto Ricans. In this Since World War II, military service has been one of the volume, we take a closer look at the interdependence of constant sources of employment, skills development, and work the island’s economy and migration. Over the years, Puerto experience available to Puerto Rican youth both on the island Ricans in general and the government of Puerto Rico in and in the United States. Yet, although many studies have particular have regarded migration as an escape valve for documented the contributions of Puerto Ricans to the military, growing unemployment. In the early 1950s, when policies especially during wars, to date there are very few studies were developed to support the massive export of workers, examining military service as an industry that provides career migration was portrayed as having an additional benefit: advancement and opportunities as well as spatial mobility. return migrants, with enhanced skills and experience in Franqui-Rivera examines those issues “The Well-Being of growing industries and occupations, would spur the island’s Puerto Rican Veterans and Service Members and Their Place economic development. In essence, migration reduced within the Diaspora.” unemployment and served as a training ground for workers. Among the most interesting findings in Franqui-Rivera’s paper Today economic circumstances have changed. Schools are is that military service and veteran status among Puerto Rican closing for lack of students, new residential buildings are youth are contributing to the growth of communities around empty, commercial spaces remain vacant for years, pension military bases and to the dispersion of Puerto Rican migrants. funds are defunded, and the country’s debt spirals out of Puerto Rican military service has steadily increased since the control. All of these indicators point to a structural decline first Gulf War and in subsequent wars after September 11, in aggregate demand in the economy, and no other factor 2001. The surge in troops has led to a subsequent rise in the contributes as much to this economic downfall as the number of Puerto Rican military veterans. The rate of military sudden and severe decline in population primarily driven participation among Puerto Ricans is higher than it is for the by migration. population as a whole, a clear departure from the pattern observed for other Latinos. Puerto Rican veterans enjoy higher Given the state of the global economy, Puerto Rico is not alone. median income and lower unemployment and poverty rates In the chapter “Lessons from the European Demographic than the non-veteran population. In 2013, for example the Winter for Puerto Rico,” Macarrón examines the effects of mean income of island-side Puerto Rican female veterans demographic changes on the economy and society of Puerto (with income) was $33,109 while for non-veteran females it Rico. Besides the impact of migration, Macarrón considers was $20,045; for male veterans it was $33,577 compared with the impact of fertility rates dropping below replacement rates and of higher life expectancy. In many European countries Income for Veterans and Non-Veterans, fertility levels are below 2.1 children per woman and native US and Puerto Rico populations are shrinking. This phenomenon is dubbed $60,000 “demographic winter” by many, as the winter in Nordic latitudes of Eurasia and America is a season in which nature $50,000 seems close to dead. Macarrón refers to this phenomenon $40,000 as “demographic suicide” (Macarrón Larumbe 2011), $30,000 because indefinite voluntary sub-replacement fertility would Non-‐Vet Vet eventually lead to extinction of the population. $20,000

Macarrón proposes that the combination of demographic $10,000 winter and high migration is “very challenging for the $-‐ US Puerto Rico US Puerto Rico economic welfare, the quality of democracy and the richness of Male Female interaction in private lives.” However, Europe has experienced $22,139 for non-veterans. For youth serving in the military, Diabetes Prevalence, 2013 serving in the armed forces is a pathway to socioeconomic advancement, and this path is inherently linked to migration 10.1% 10.0% to the United States. 9.2% 9.3%

7.3% 6.4% Puerto Ricans in this country have the highest rates of 5.9% cancer, infant mortality, diabetes and asthma. In the chapter “Asthma and Diabetes within the Puerto Rican Population,” Rosofsky and Aponte examine the two health conditions that have received the most attention in the literature and public discourse over the last decade, and with good reason. Asthma is a chronic disease that has no cure and can be triggered by All Hispanic Puerto Mexican Cuban NHWhite NHBlack Total US a host of environmental toxins. Although genetics play a role, Rican such environmental factors as higher exposure to pollutants processes among stateside Puerto Ricans—in stark contrast and allergens have been linked to the spread of asthma. As with the electoral intensity and voter participation among for diabetes, in 2013 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Puerto Ricans living on the island. estimated that the rate of diabetes prevalence among Puerto Ricans of 10.1%, which was higher than it was for other ethnic In the chapter “Puerto Rican Political and Civic Participation groups.Genetics, cultural factors, and access to health care in the United States,” Vargas-Ramos takes a look at the services, as in the case of asthma, play a role in inducing a stateside Puerto Rican population and its political and civic high incidence of diabetes among Puerto Ricans. In addition, engagement. Although, voting is the most common form of physical activity and dietary customs also play an important Puerto Ricans’ involvement in the political process, only about role. half of eligible Puerto Ricans voted in 2008. This turnout rate was commensurate with the Latino population as a whole, Given the great need for alleviating higher than the largest Latino subgroups (i.e., Mexicans), but lower than some Latino subgroups, such as Cubans or South the adverse circumstances affecting Americans. This pattern of political participation is confirmed many Puerto Ricans, civic and political by other indicators, such as contributing to or working for engagement should be a high priority. political campaigns or attending meetings where political issues are discussed.

The management of asthma is influenced by access to health Despite the overall picture suggested by the data on political insurance, family-based supports, and access to health facilities. engagement, there must be more to the story. Stateside Community strategies in prevention and management can help Puerto Ricans have made great strides in the political arena mitigate the incidence and costs to families of both asthma and as evidenced by the number of elected representatives serving diabetes. The authors advocate for the implementation of such in Congress and the scores of state legislators, mayors, and programs as education, patient navigators, and community municipal officials in office throughout the country. How do health care workers that have proven to be effective in Puerto we explain that despite showing lower rates of electoral and Rican and other Latino communities. In this context, popular civic engagement, Puerto Ricans have made significant strides education and healthy neighborhood initiatives focusing on in the political arena and elected a considerable number of diabetes, asthma, and alcohol consumption may help reduce state and federal government officials? health disparities. Vargas-Ramos asserts that Puerto Ricans benefited from Most of these health disparities are partly related to the social and political reforms of the 1960s that created environmental, nutritional, and other social conditions. For state and local districts, which facilitated the election example, diabetes is related to diet and alcohol consumption, of previously unrepresented minorities. However, an and asthma is related to family poverty and access to health Asthma Prevalence in the United States, 2013 (All ages) care resources. The CDC has estimated that two-thirds of the disparities in infant-mortality rates between Puerto Rican and Total US 12% non-Hispanic whites are attributable to preterm-related causes of death, while congenital malformations accounted for only Puerto Rican 23% 6% of the difference. Mexican 8%

All Hispanic 10% Civic and political participation play a determinant role in the improvement of social conditions affecting any community. NH Black 15% Given the great need for alleviating the adverse circumstances NH White 13% affecting many Puerto Ricans, civic and political engagement other NH 11% should be a high priority. Yet one of the puzzling findings of 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% political science is the low level of participation in electoral unintended consequence of Puerto Rican elected officials candidates who take the “right” position on issues. And, when representing districts with a relatively high percentage of they vote, history and recent experiences suggest, they make Puerto Rican voters is that lower competition tends to induce a difference. According to Vargas-Ramos, Puerto Ricans were lower voter registration and lower turnout rates. Since voter instrumental in the President’s victory in Florida. “In all, Puerto participation levels influence other elected officials, lower Ricans contributed 3.8% of the votes Barack Obama received participation undermines the political influence of Puerto in the state. President Obama won Florida by less than 1%.” Rican elected officials. Voted for President, 2008 (%) Despite low participation rates, to the extent that Puerto Ricans become engaged, political and civic participation has served the community well in the past. Social engagement and political mobilization are the institutional and political foundations of the community. Recent events confirm the potential role that civic engagement and political mobilization could play in finding solutions to the many pressing challenges facing Puerto Ricans. There are no more appealing issues to the Puerto Rican community than those that promise to close the social divide and offer hope for a better future. However, the same issues that hinder social advancement for Puerto Ricans also contribute to their below-average involvement in the political process. ______

For the full introduction, see Puerto Ricans at the Dawn on the New Millennium, available online at: Vargas-Ramos concludes, “as Puerto Ricans disperse http://www.centropr-store.com/puerto-ricans-at-the-dawn-of-the-new- throughout the country, they are also contributing to the millennium/ electoral reconfiguration taking place across the country.” The results of the 2012 presidential election in Florida show NB: Some of the charts here contain information updated since the publication of the book. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American

that Puerto Ricans participate in elections when motivated by Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2006–2015. puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New Millennium Millennium New the of Dawn the at Ricans puerto The Stories I Read to the Children Selected, Edited and Biographical Introduction by Lisa Sánchez González

The Stories I Read to the Children American, Caribbean, and Latin American literary and library history. Thoroughly researched but clearly written, this study is scholarship that documents, is also accessible for the very to general first time, readers, Pura students,Belpré’s contributionsand teachers. to PuraNorth Belpré (1899-1982) is one of the most important public intellectuals in the history of the Puerto Rican diaspora. A children’s librarian, author, folklorist, translator, storyteller, and puppeteer who began her career during the Harlem Renaissance and the formative decades of The New York Public Library, Belpré is also the earliest known Afro-Caribeña contributor to American literature. Puerto Ricans at Soy Gilberto Gerena Valentín: memorias de un puertorriqueño en Nueva York Edición de Carlos Rodríguez Fraticelli the Dawn of the Puerto Ricans at the Dawn of Gilberto Gerena Valentín es uno de los personajes claves en el desarrollo de la comunidad puertorriqueña en Nueva York. Gerena Valentín participó activamente en la fundación y desarrollo de las principales organizaciones puertorriqueñas de la postguerra, incluyendo el Congreso de Pueblos, el Desfile Puertorriqueño, New Millennium la Asociación Nacional Puertorriqueña de Derechos Civiles, la Fiesta Folclórica Puertorriqueña y el Proyecto Puertorriqueño de Desarrollo Comunitario. Durante este periodo también fue líder sindical y comunitario, Comisionado de Derechos Humanos y concejal de la Ciudad de Nueva York. En sus memorias, Gilberto Gerena Valentín nos lleva al centro de las continuas luchas sindicales, políticas, sociales y culturales que los puertorriqueños fraguaron en Nueva York durante el periodo de a Gran Migracíón hasta los años setenta. Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Editors the New Millennium Gilberto Gerena Valentín:

My Life as a Community Activist, ueva ueva SOY GILBERTO GERENA VALENTÍN: memorias de un puertorriqueño en N en puertorriqueño un de memorias VALENTÍN: GERENA GILBERTO SOY Labor Organizer, and Progressive Politician in New York City Edited by Carlos Rodríguez Fraticelli / Translated by Andrew Hurley / Introduction by José E. Cruz

GILBERTO GERENA political activist, and general in the war for the civil-rights recognition of his community. Gerena Valentín

GERENA

VALENTÍN: VALENTÍN MY LIFE AS A CO played an active part in the founding and development of all the major Puerto Rican organizations in the MMUNITY ACTIVIST, LABOR ORGANIZER, $25.99 (pbk) AND PROGRESSIVE POLITICIAN IN NEW YORK CITY postwar period, including the Congreso de Pueblos, the Puerto Rican Day Parade, the National Association for

GILBERTO GERENA VALENTÍN Puerto Rican Civil Rights, the Puerto Rican I Folklore Festival, and the Puerto Rican Community Development Edited by Carlos Rodríguez-Fraticelli Project. During this period he was also a member of the New York City Human Rights Commission and a New York City councilman. Gerena Valentín was also a pioneer in the creation of coalitions with the principal African-American civil rights organizations, playing a central role in the mobilization of Puerto Ricans for the famed marches on Washington in 1963 and 1968 and in the New York City school boycott of 1964, the ISBN: 978-1-878483-79-9 (pbk); 2014; 319 pages largest in the nation’s history. In his memoirs, Gilberto Gerena Valentín takes us into the center of the fierce

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Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Vargas-Ramos, Carlos and Meléndez Edwin Edited by Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos Human Development Index: How do Puerto Ricans Measure Up RAÚL SEGUR A and KUR Housing T BIRSON Chara cteristics: ANNA ROS Research Brief Puerto Ric OFSKY Edwin Meléndez a n Civic an at the Turn d Politica of the 21st Centuryl Partic and ipation CARLOS VARGAS-RAMOS Carlos Vargas-Ramos EDITORS The State of Puerto Ricans 2013 collects in a single report the most current data on social, economic, and civic conditions of the Puerto Rican population in the United States available from governmental sources, mostly from the U.S. Census Bureau. The report presents a picture of endurance and resiliency in the midst A new millennium, with new realities. The demographic and socioeconomic of declining opportunity.

Forthcoming titles in 2014

Puerto Ricans at the Dawn of the New Millennium, Edited by Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas Ramos profile of Puerto Ricans has changed dramatically. In less than a decade, the Puerto AmeRícan Poet Historian: Essays on the Works of Tato Laviera, Edited by Stephanie Alvarez and William Luis Patria: Puerto Rican Revolutionaries in 19th Century New York by Edgardo Meléndez To request review copies, for submission of book proposals, or for any other information contact us at: Center for Puerto Rican Studies / Hunter College, CUNY . 695 Park Ave, E-1429 . New York, NY 10065 Rican population living in the U.S. has surpassed those living in Puerto Rico. The

212.772-5688 / Fax 212.650.3673 / http://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu / [email protected]

I I migration wave of the past decade rivals the magnitude of the Great Migration of the 1950s. Even among Puerto Ricans on the mainland, the patterns of migration have changed significantly. With over a million Puerto Ricans crossing state lines

over the past decade, a rate of mobility far exceeding that of the U.S. population

as a whole, the traditional centers of Puerto Rican community in the U.S. are changing. Florida is on its way to eclipsing New York State as the major stateside location of Puerto Ricans. At the same time, the Puerto Rican community has endured the effects of the Great Recession of 2008 in distinct ways. Economic hard times spurred migration to the mainland, as the recession brought unemployment and poverty to a great many Puerto Ricans. Yet, stateside, Puerto Ricans recovered faster and fared better overall than other ethnic groups. By 2011, Puerto Ricans workers had improved when compared to average earnings of non-Hispanic white workers. Puerto Rican women show the most significant gains in earnings during this period, in both absolute and relative terms. The depictions that emerge from this book are tales of resiliency amid declining opportunity and the enduring challenges faced by those still caught in the trough of the recession. The book is also a story about those who left the island for the mainland United States in search of economic opportunities and about the social contexts of the new communities throughout the United States in which they have settled.

Available on the Centro Store, www.centropr-store.com Another publications found at The AmeRícan Poet: Essays Price: $24.99 (pbk) on the Work of Tato Laviera Centro Edited by Stephanie Alvarez and William Luis ISBN: 978-1-878483-66-9 (pbk); 2014; 418 pages The AmeRícan Poet is a collection of thirteen essays, an introduction and a foreword by fifteen Press established and emerging scholars. Known as a Nuyorican poet, Laviera is more appropriately celebrated as an AmeRícan writer of national and international prominence. As a whole, the essays discuss diverse aspects of Laviera’s life and substantial body of work that includes five Center for Puerto Rican Studies published collections of poetry, twelve written and staged plays, and many years of political, Hunter College, CUNY social, literary and healthcare activism. The book also includes four unpublished poems and the 695 Park Avenue, E-1429 play King of Cans. As the AmeRícan poet, the collection confirms Tato Laviera’s much deserved reputation as a major poet in any language. New York, NY 10065

For more information on any of the Labor Organizer,YorkLabor New Progressivein and CityPolitician CommunityActivist, a as VALENTÍN:Life GERENA My GILBERTO

Gilberto Gerena Valentín is a key ﬁgure in the development of the Puerto Rican community in the United States, especially from the forties through the seventies. He was a union organiz- featured work contact er, community leader, political activist and general in the war for the civil-rights recognition of his community. Gerena Valentín played an active part in the founding and development Gilberto Gerena Valentín: of all the major Puerto Rican organizations in the postwar period, including the Congreso de Pueblos, the Puerto Rican Day Parade, the National Association for Puerto Rican Civil Rights, the Puerto Rican Folklore Festival and the Puerto Rican Community Development Project. [email protected] orDuring this period he was also a member of the New York City Human Rights Commission My Life as a Community Activist, Labor Price: $20 (pbk) and a New York City councilman. Gerena Valentín was also a pioneer in the creation of coalitions with the principal African American civil rights organizations, playing a central role in the mobilization of Puerto Ricans for the famed marches on Washington in 1963 and 1968 and in the New York City school boycott of 1964, the largest in the nation’s history. Organizer, and Progressive Politician in New In his memoirs, Gilberto Gerena Valentín takes us into the center of the ﬁerce labor, po- call (212)772-5688 litical, civil-rights, social and cultural struggles waged by Puerto Ricans in New York from the 1940s through the 1970s.

This extraordinary memoir is an essential document to understand the history of Puerto York City, Gilberto Gerena Valentín http://centropr.hunter.cuny.eduRico in the 20th century. It is also an impressive chronicle of the struggle Latino immigrants in the United States undergo in order to enjoy full citizen rights. CÉSAR J. AYALA, University of California, Los Angeles—author of Puerto Rico in the American Century: A History Since 1898.

As a successor to Jesus Colon’s A Puerto Rican in New York and Bernardo Vega’s Memorias, www.centropr-store.com Gilberto Gerena Valentín’s memoirs document, with guileless style and understated human- GILBERTO ism, the brave and effective efforts of another Puerto Rican paladin of the people, whose work GILBERTO would have come to naught had it not been for the support they found for their work from Edited by Carlos Rodríguez Fraticelli; Translated by Andrew Hurley the humblest Puerto Ricans cast upon the streets of a sadly unwelcoming New York City. GERALD J. MEYER, Hostos Community College, CUNY—author of Vito Marcantonio:

Radical Politician, 1902–1954. GERENA GERENA With an Introduction by José E. Cruz Gilberto Gerena Valentín’s memoir is a gem. The chronicle of his life as an activist offers a road map of so many key social and political organizations established in New York City between the

1930s through the 1970s, from the Congreso de Pueblos to the American Labor Party to the Des- VALENTÍN VALENTÍN: ﬁle Puertorriqueño and the National Association of Puerto Rican Civil Rights — all focused on the struggles of working class Puerto Ricans and other minority groups in the city and beyond. MY LIFE AS A COMMUNITY ISBN 978-1-878483-74-4 (pbk); 2013; 315 pages LORRIN THOMAS, Rutgers University — author of Puerto Rican Citizen: History and Political Identity in Twentieth-Century New York City. ACTIVIST, LABOR ORGANIZER, CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ FRATICELLI is a professor of social sciences at the University of Puerto AND PROGRESSIVE POLITICIAN Rico, Río Piedras. Gilberto Gerena Valentín is a key figure in the development of the Puerto Rican community in ANDREW HURLEY is Professor Emeritus at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. IN NEW YORK CITY JOSÉ E. CRUZ is an associate professor of political science at the University at Albany, SUNY. the United States, especially from the forties through the seventies. He was a union organizer, GILBERTO GERENA VALENTÍN Edited by Carlos Rodríguez-Fraticelli community leader, political activist and general in the war for the civil-rights recognition of his community. In his memoirs, Gilberto Gerena Valentín takes us into the center of the fierce labor, political, civil-rights, social and cultural struggles waged by Puerto Ricans in New York from the 1940s through the 1970s.

Soy Gilberto Gerena Valentín : Price: $20 (pbk); memorias de un puertorriqueño en Nueva $6 (ebook) York, Gilberto Gerena Valentín

Edición de Carlos Rodríguez Fraticelli ISBN: 978-1-878483-64-5 (pbk)—ISBN: 978-1-878483-45-4 (ebook); 2013; 302 pages Gilberto Gerena Valentín es uno de los personajes claves en el desarrollo de la comunidad puertorriqueña en Nueva York. En sus memorias, Gilberto Gerena Valentín nos lleva al centro de las continuas luchas sindicales, políticas, sociales y culturales que los puertorriqueños fraguaron en Nueva York durante el periodo de la Gran Migración hasta los años setenta. THE STATE OF PUERTO RICANS —

THE STATE OF PUERTO RICANS 2013: INTRODUCTION EDWIN MELÉNDEZ and CARLOS VARGAS-RAMOS Demographic Transitions: Settlement and Distribution of the Puerto Rican Population in the United States CARLOS VARGAS-RAMOS and JUAN C GARCÍA-ELLÍN Price: $15 (pbk) Puerto Rican Migration in the 21st Century: Is There a Brain Drain? The State of Puerto Ricans 2013 KURT BIRSON THE STATE OF Internal Migration of Puerto Ricans in the United States JUAN C. GARCÍA-ELLIN The Puerto Rican Education Pipeline: PUERTO RICANS New York City, New York State and the United States LUIS O. REYES and ANNA ROSOFSKY — 2013 —

School, Work and the Transition 2013 of Puerto Rican Youth to Adulthood ROSENI PLAZA and RAÚL SEGURA

— Edited by Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos The Economic Impact of the Great Recession On Puerto Ricans in the United States

EDWIN MELÉNDEZ and KURT BIRSON Edwin Meléndez and Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Editors Health of Puerto Ricans in the United States: 2000–2010 Edwin Meléndez ISBN: 978-1-878483-72-0 (pbk); 2013; 91 pages ANNA ROSOFSKY Human Development Index: and How do Puerto Ricans Measure Up RAÚL SEGURA and KURT BIRSON Carlos Vargas-Ramos Housing Characteristics: Research Brief EDITORS The State of Puerto Ricans 2013 collects in a single report the most current data on social, ANNA ROSOFSKY Puerto Rican Civic and Political Participation at the Turn of the 21st Century CARLOS VARGAS-RAMOS economic and civic conditions of the Puerto Rican population in the United States available from governmental sources, mostly the U.S. census Bureau.

The Stories I Read to the Children: Price: $20 (pbk); The Life and Writing of Pura Belpré, the $7.99 (ebook) Legendary Storyteller, Children’s Book Author, and New York Public Librarian

Edited and Biographical Introduction by Lisa Sánchez González ISBN: 978-1-878483-80-5 (pbk)—ISBN: 978-1-878483-45-4 (ebook); 2013; 286 pages The Stories I Read to the Children documents, for the very first time, Pura Belpré’s contributions to North American, Caribbean, and Latin American literary and library history. Thoroughly researched but clearly written, this study is scholarship that is also accessible to general readers, students, and teachers. Lisa Sánchez González has collected, edited, and annotated over 40 of Belpré’s stories and essays, most of which have never been published. Her introduction to the volume is the most extensive study to date of Belpré’s life and writing.

Available on the Centro Store, www.centropr-store.com