Bodegas, Baseball & Ballads: The Democratization of Puerto Rican Identity
Evident within many diasporic communities is a group consciousness and organization that operates in non-institutional spaces outside the realms of government agencies. The case of Puerto Ricans is no different and beyond collective organization, islanders in the diaspora went further in redefin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Caribbean Studies Students' Union
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Caribbean Quilt |
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| Online Access: | https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cquilt/article/view/35974 |
| _version_ | 1819280861968728064 |
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| author | Ruth Masuka |
| author_facet | Ruth Masuka |
| author_sort | Ruth Masuka |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Evident within many diasporic communities is a group consciousness and organization that operates in non-institutional spaces outside the realms of government agencies. The case of Puerto Ricans is no different and beyond collective organization, islanders in the diaspora went further in redefining the very criteria of Puerto Rican identity. This paper focuses on the migrant communities located in New York and the ways in which informal activities and non-institutional venues served as community centres. Food traditions, sporting competitions, and poetic practices all acted as cultural bases. Such activities fostered a democratic and participatory formation of Puerto Rican identity and played a critical role in the socio- economic development of migrants. These spaces also provided room for the complex nuances of Puertoricanness that were overlooked or purposely excluded from dominant ideologies by both the American and Puerto Rican government. Looking at bodegas, athletic clubs, and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, we can observe the vital role of spaces outside the state’s control in facilitating an egalitarian and communal process of identity-making.
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| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T00:50:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-df8a719cbc58427b952a7c4f4e679797 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1925-5829 1929-235X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T00:50:32Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | Caribbean Studies Students' Union |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Caribbean Quilt |
| spelling | doaj.art-df8a719cbc58427b952a7c4f4e6797972022-12-21T17:23:36ZengCaribbean Studies Students' UnionCaribbean Quilt1925-58291929-235X2022-02-016210.33137/cq.v6i2.35974Bodegas, Baseball & Ballads: The Democratization of Puerto Rican IdentityRuth Masuka0University of Toronto Evident within many diasporic communities is a group consciousness and organization that operates in non-institutional spaces outside the realms of government agencies. The case of Puerto Ricans is no different and beyond collective organization, islanders in the diaspora went further in redefining the very criteria of Puerto Rican identity. This paper focuses on the migrant communities located in New York and the ways in which informal activities and non-institutional venues served as community centres. Food traditions, sporting competitions, and poetic practices all acted as cultural bases. Such activities fostered a democratic and participatory formation of Puerto Rican identity and played a critical role in the socio- economic development of migrants. These spaces also provided room for the complex nuances of Puertoricanness that were overlooked or purposely excluded from dominant ideologies by both the American and Puerto Rican government. Looking at bodegas, athletic clubs, and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, we can observe the vital role of spaces outside the state’s control in facilitating an egalitarian and communal process of identity-making. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cquilt/article/view/35974diasporaPuerto RicoidentityNew York CityNuyoricanbodega |
| spellingShingle | Ruth Masuka Bodegas, Baseball & Ballads: The Democratization of Puerto Rican Identity Caribbean Quilt diaspora Puerto Rico identity New York City Nuyorican bodega |
| title | Bodegas, Baseball & Ballads: The Democratization of Puerto Rican Identity |
| title_full | Bodegas, Baseball & Ballads: The Democratization of Puerto Rican Identity |
| title_fullStr | Bodegas, Baseball & Ballads: The Democratization of Puerto Rican Identity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bodegas, Baseball & Ballads: The Democratization of Puerto Rican Identity |
| title_short | Bodegas, Baseball & Ballads: The Democratization of Puerto Rican Identity |
| title_sort | bodegas baseball ballads the democratization of puerto rican identity |
| topic | diaspora Puerto Rico identity New York City Nuyorican bodega |
| url | https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cquilt/article/view/35974 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ruthmasuka bodegasbaseballballadsthedemocratizationofpuertoricanidentity |