By Cynthia Tong
Throughout our run of Recent Alien Abductions, by Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas, we well be hosting a series of free “teach-ins” as part of our Idea Lab program. The series is designed to examine a range of issues pertaining to Puerto Rico, the play’s setting. The sessions will be hosted in March by our community partner, New York Law School, 185 West Broadway, Tribeca.
You can find a full schedule of events here and if you are interested in attending, please sign up here to guarantee your reservation. Reservations are encouraged as seating will be on a first come, first served basis according to availability.
For those attending and for anyone interested in learning, we’ve worked with our partners to assemble a list of useful resources to spark conversation. On each topic we recommend the following resources:
(Deep) Roots of the Debt – The Colonial Context
- From the Puerto Rico Syllabus:
- 1898 and the Unincorporation of Puerto Rico
- U.S. Colonialism and Puerto Rican Identity
- Development and It’s Discontents
- From Roar Magazine: Black flags and debt resistance in America’s oldest colony
The Debt Crisis Era – How did Puerto Rico become one of the most indebted places in the world?
- From the Puerto Rico Syllabus: How the Debt Crisis Exploded
- From the NYTimes: The Bonds That Broke Puerto Rico
- From The Nation by Ed Morales:
- How Hedge and Vulture Funds Have Exploited Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis
- Puerto Rico’s Political and Economic Crisis Deepens
The Impact of Hurricane Maria – How the devastation was not a “natural” disaster
- From the Puerto Rico Syllabus:
- The Storm
- The Aftermath
- What the Storm Revealed
- From the Conversation, by Catalina M. de Onís: For many in Puerto Rico, ‘energy dominance’ is just a new name for US colonialism
- From The Miami Herald, by Patricia Mazzei & Omaya Sosa Pascual: ‘Days were lost’: Why Puerto Rico is still suffering a month after Hurricane Maria
- From the Guardian, by Marisol LeBrón: Congress could help Puerto Rico recover. What’s stopping it?
The “Emptying Island” – How mass migrations are reconfiguring Puerto Rico and the U.S.
- From the Puerto Rico Syllabus: The New Great Migration
- From Al Jazeera America: Job migration the new ‘normal’ for all professions in Puerto Rico
- From Pew Research:Historic population losses continue across Puerto Rico
- From NBC News:
- #YoNoMeQuito Movement Aims To Inspire, Uplift Puerto Ricans
- Voices: Too Many Of Puerto Rico’s Veterans Are Moving Away
Debtless Futures – How the crisis is producing new ways of thinking and acting in the world.
- From the Puerto Rico Syllabus: Resistance and New Imaginaries
- From Truthout: It Is Time to Transform, Not Just Rebuild, in Puerto Rico
- From Huffington Post: Students Of Puerto Rico Lead Resistance Against PROMESA
- From NACLA, by Angel “Monxo” López Santiago: Decolonize the Caribbean
