Winning Means Hope: Puerto Rican Struggles for School Equality in 1960s and 1970s Chicago

In her paper, “Winning Means Hope: Puerto Rican Struggles for School equality in 1960s and 1970s Chicago,” Mirelsie Velazquez examines the ensuing school activism of Chicago’s Puerto Rican population as it sought to... [ view full abstract ]

In her paper, “Winning Means Hope: Puerto Rican Struggles for School equality in 1960s and 1970s Chicago,” Mirelsie Velazquez examines the ensuing school activism of Chicago’s Puerto Rican population as it sought to facilitate meaningful change through their quotidian practices, in their fight for Tuley and later Clemente High Schools, in 1960s and 1970s Chicago. Puerto Rican students at Chicago’s Tuley High School organized in the early 1970s for the creation of a new high school and the removal of their high school principal. These students, many who were the children of early migrants to the city, understood the importance of schools and schooling in transforming their lives and the life of their community. Chicago’s Puerto Rican community’s constant struggle with economic, labor, and housing displacement saw itself played out within Chicago schools, forcing local response in the hopes of alleviating schooling inequalities, especially as the population fought to lay claim to space within the city, especially within schools.

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