Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Department, Brooklyn College (CUNY)

Today PRLS celebrates Afro-Latinos in the U.S. Economy, by Dr. Michelle Holder (John Jay College of Criminal Justice) and our very own Dr. Alan Aja. Coming out late May. Enhoranuena! "Afro-Latinos in the U.S. Economy outlines the current position and status of Afro-Latinxs in the economy of the United States. Very little research has thus far been disseminated in the field of economics on the contributions of Afro-Latinxs regarding income and wealth, labor market status, occ...upational mobility, and educational attainment. On the other hand, cultural studies, literary criticism, and social science fields have produced more research on Afro-Latinxs; the discipline of economics is, thus, significantly behind the curve in exploring the economic dimensions of this group. While the Afro-Latinx community constitutes a comparatively small segment of the U.S. population, and is often viewed as the nexus between two of the country’s largest minority groupsAfrican Americans and Latinxs, who comprise 13 percent and 17 percent, respectively, of the U.S. populationHolder and Aja outline how the group’s unique economic position is different than non-black Latinxs. Despite possessing higher levels of education relative to the Latinx community as a whole, U.S. Afro-Latinxs do not experience expected returns in income and earnings, underscoring the role anti-Blackness plays in everyday life regardless of ancestral origin. The goal of this book is to provide a foundation in the economic dimensions of Afro-Latinxs in the U.S. which can be used to both complement and supplement research conducted on this group in other major disciplines." https://rowman.com//97814/Afro-Latinos-in-the-U-S-Economy

Robert Jones, a BC graduate and author of bestseller The Prophet, talked to our students and encouraged them to follow their passion. Enjoy the amazing talk below. https://m.youtube.com/playlist

Last March 25th the Center for Puerto Rican Studies hosted a panel on the documentary Making the Impossible Possible and the forthcoming book 50 Years of Puerto Rican Studies at the City University of New York, edited by our very own Dr. María Pérez y González and Professor Emeritus Virginia Sánchez-Korrol. Both projects narrate the struggle led by a diverse group of students, who fought tirelessly until making the impossible dream a reality: the foundation of the Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Department at Brooklyn College. See some segments of the exciting event in the link below. https://centropr.nationbuilder.com/50yearsprstudies

PRLS Commencement/Awards 2020, Part I held on 5/26/20: https://www.dropbox.com//PRLS%20Grad_Awards%20May%2026%202

PRLS Commencement/Awards 2020, Part II held on 6/1/20: https://www.dropbox.com//PRLS%20Grad%20June%201%2020_ZOOM.

https://www.ny1.com//hispanic-heritage--50-years-of-puerto

The Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies is very proud to inform that our very own Dr. Viginia Sánchez-Korrol was awarded with the Herbert H. Lehman Prize for Distinguished Service in New York History. With this award the New York Academy of History recognizes Dr. Sánchez-Korrol for her outstanding contributions to the study of Latinx history as well as her extensive involvement in cultural and community history. Congratulations!!!!! ¡¡¡Enhorabuena!!!

El Departamento de Estudios Puertorriqueños y Latinos de Brooklyn College expresa su respaldo absoluto a la decisión presentada por el Tribunal Supremo de los Estados Unidos de fallar a favor del programa Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA, por sus siglas en inglés), el cual protege a 800,000 jóvenes inmigrantes que residen en los Estados Unidos. Tal medida nos colma de mucho regocijo y una breve sensación de alivio, justo cuando somos asediados por e...l COVID-19 y la crisis económica provocada por la pandemia. Esta resolución llega justo cuando Estados Unidos y otras partes del mundo se encuentran en una coyuntura histórica. Durante las últimas semanas hemos sido testigos de la efervescencia social que se vive a nivel global y que intenta denunciar el abuso policíaco y toda acción racista, resultado de un sistema que se sustenta en una filosofía eurocentrista, perpetuadora de la supremacía blanca. Nuestro departamento nació como fruto de la ardua lucha de varies hermanes puertorriqueñes, afro-puertorriqueñes, latines, afro-latines, latinoamericanes, en conjunto con nuestres aliades afro-americanes. Por lo tanto, permanecemos en completa solidaridad con todas las comunidades afro-descendientes, que se encuentran luchando por el derecho a defender su vida. Esto incluye a sus inmigrantes, quienes no solo viven en continua amenaza debido al racismo institucionalizado, sino que también son acosados por el injusto aparato de las leyes de inmigración y su sistema de deportaciones. Dicho momento histórico debe servir como detonante para comprometernos a seguir luchando por una transformación que ayude a destruir la inequidad social, la cual todavía funge como médula del sistema jurídico estadounidense. La criminalización institucionalizada continúa amenazando a las comunidades afro-descendientes, indígenas y latines. Esto demuestra lo imprescindible que se vuelve la oferta académica de nuestro departamento, la cual aboga por los derechos de los más vulnerables, incluyendo a nuestres hermanes indocumentades. La ideología racista y punitiva del sistema legal estadounidense se ha convertido en un arma para la administración Trump, que sirve para estigmatizar a las personas afro-descendientes, incluyendo a grupos inmigrantes y a otros sectores marginados de la sociedad. Tal discurso también priva a las poblaciones con menor entrada a las esferas dominantes de vivir sus derechos a plenitud. El Departamento de Estudios Puertorriqueños y Latinos de Brooklyn College (CUNY) mantiene firme su compromiso y continúa batallando por la dignidad de todes los hijes del continente americano. Declaramos nuestro apoyo incondicional a la lucha por una legislación que garantice la instauración de DACA de forma permanente y el acceso a los beneficios de salud, nutrición, vivienda, trabajo y transporte no como un privilegio, sino como un derecho humano.

PRLS Statement on SCOTUS and DACA The Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies (PRLS) at Brooklyn College (CUNY) firmly supports the United States Supreme Court’s decision to uphold DACA for 800,000 residents of U.S. society. We further rejoice in the measure of, albeit temporary, stability this provides in the middle of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and corresponding global financial crisis. The ruling comes at a conjectural moment in U.S. and world history given the magn...itude of justified social unrest and uprising challenging racist police violence and white supremacy in all its manifestations. Born out of the continued struggles by Puerto Rican/Afro-Puerto Rican, Latinx/Afro-Latinx, and Latin American sons, daughters, siblings, and Black allies, PRLS fully understands and remains in solidarity with Black people in all our spectrum of existence who are fighting for their lives, including Black immigrants who find themselves within the juggernaut of the U.S. immigration-industrial complex and deportation machine. Such a moment in history must be used as a catalyst to fuse us into further action that seeks to transform society writ large and undo the structural inequities that still serve as the core of the makeup of U.S. society. The machinery of criminalization will continue to threaten Black and Brown communities of color, which only makes more urgent the academic preparation PRLS offers students to defend the rights of the most vulnerable, including, but not limited to, the unDACAmented, members of our society. The Trump administration has forcefully sought to capitalize and weaponize the racist and punitive ideology of the U.S. criminal legal system, including local police and prisons, as a way to further demonize people of African descent, including immigrants, as well as to marginalize the most vulnerable groups of society from full civic membership in the United States. For this reason, the Department of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College (CUNY) pledges to continue the fight to uphold the value of dignity and respect for the children of Americathe continent(s)--ALL of America. PRLS vows to unequivocally support the struggle for a permanent, legislated DACA program as well as a fully transformative society that challenges racial inequities in all sectors of U.S. society and that guarantees health care, food, housing, jobs, and transportation as human rights.