Making Manhood Mean Something: Notable Puerto Rican Men in Chicago

The Center for Puerto Rican Studies has been conducting an archive-building and oral history project across various Puerto Rican communities in the US. As Chicago-based oral historian for the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, I... [ view full abstract ]

The Center for Puerto Rican Studies has been conducting an archive-building and oral history project across various Puerto Rican communities in the US. As Chicago-based oral historian for the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, I have interviewed over ten men regarding their community engagement in Puerto Rican Chicago. Having made contributions in the arts, nonprofit, legal and political sector, perceptions of their work and the work of other men began to organically foment themes that will be explored in this presentation. Framed with Rafael Rivera’s text What it Means to be a Man: Reflections on Puerto Rican Masculinity, Oscar Lopez Rivera reflections on what it means to struggle, this presentation will explore how these men negotiated moments of uncivility, disciplinarity and political promiscuity to rise to positions in which they could best serve their community. Further contextualized in how scholars are discussing Puerto Rican Chicago, the following questions will be answered: how did Puerto Rican male pioneers work with other Puerto Ricans and Latinos across ideological lines? what of their racialized--white, black--Puerto Ricanness shaped their political consciousness? and how did their perceived contributions compare to what they articulate as their intended efforts to empower Puerto Ricans and Latinos?