|
Latino/as
in the United States
A
list of books, videos and websites for the study of
Latino/a history and struggles in the United States.
Resource
for teachers and students.
(Compiled
12/00);
(Addition
4/02)
Introduction
In
1995, the Latino/a population consisted of 26.6 million
people in the United States representing 10 percent
of all residents. By the year 2010, the total number
of Latino/as in this country will grow to more than
40 million; and, by the year 2050, Latino/as are projected
to make up one-fourth of the entire United States population.
The
Latino/a population in the United States is extremely
diverse. It consists of millions of indigenous people,
migrants and descents of migrants from Mexico, Puerto
Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and each of the 33
countries of South America and the Caribbean. Of the
nation’s Latino/as, almost two-thirds (65 percent) are
of Mexican descent. Puerto Ricans account for 10 percent;
Cubans account for 4 percent; Central and South Americans
constitute 14 percent, and other Latino/as make up 7
percent. The population is young with an estimated median
age of 26.6 years compared to the median age of the
general population, which is 35.8 years, and 52 percent
of Latino/a households have children age 18 or under.Latino/as
reside in all 50 states, but live primarily in urban
areas in the largest states; 60 percent in California,
Texas, Florida and New York.
Latino/a immigrants have come to the United States searching
for work, fleeing political persecution, and in response
to the economic, social, and political needs of the
United States. Going back to before the well-known Monroe
Doctrine of 1822, the United States government and corporations
have directly impacted the social, economic and political
lives of the people Latin American.
The
objective of this bibliography is to provide a core
understanding of the Latino/as community in the United
States, its concerns and contributions. Given the vast
number of possibilities, the selected titles and resources
provide general background and a basis from which to
pursue advanced studies.Most of the resources have been
written or created within the last ten years, and the
majority of the sources are written by Latino/as.
The
bibliography is divided into written works, video sources
and website/Internet sources. Written works are subdivided
into five areas: 1) history, 2) politics, 3) women’s
studies, 4) literature and 5) religion.
General Background
History:
Bonilla,
Frank (Editor). Borderless Borders: U.S. Latinos,
Latin Americans, and the Paradox of Interdependence.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998.
This
book examines the impact of economic and political
restructuring within the United States, changing
concepts of community, citizenship, political
participation, and human rights, as individuals
and families construct identities in more than
one setting.
Fox,
Geoffrey. Hispanic Nation: Culture, Politics
and the Constructing of Identity. Secaucus,
New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group, 1996.
In Hispanic Nation, Fox argues that Hispanics
are creating a solidarity group, as a way to
confront injustice. It focuses on the diverse
experiences of Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, and
Cuban Americans.
Gonzalez,
Juan. Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos
in America. New York: Viking Penguin, 2000.
Gonzalez
features family portraits of Latino/as along
with sketches of political events and social
conditions that compelled migration. He also
examines how Latino/as have transformed the
cultural landscape of the United States.
Romero,
Mary (Editor). Challenging Fronteras: Structuring
Latina and Latino Lives in the U.S. New York:
Routledge, 1997.
Challenging Fronteras focuses on the diversity
of the Latino population and moves beyond generalizations
that treat Latino/as as a monolithic cultural
group.
Suro,
Roberto. Strangers Among Us: How Latino Immigration
is Transforming America. New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, 1998.
Strangers
Among Us examines Latino/a immigration to
the United States, its impact, and challenges.
It includes a chronological narrative that starts
with the Puerto Rican migration to East Harlem
in the 1950s and continues through the California-bound
rush of Mexicans and Central Americans in the
1990s.
|
Specific
Histories
Acuna,
Rodolfo. Occupied America: A History of Chicanos.
New York: Longman, 2000.
Occupied
America details the history of Chicano/as in the
United States and examines the strategies that Mexican
Americans have used to resist U.S. colonial power
and expansion.
Anzaldua,
Gloria. Borderlands: The New Mestiza. San Francisco:
Spinsters/Aunt Lute, 1987.
Anzaldua’s
Borderlands examines and documents the history
of the U.S.-Mexico border. The author also discusses
feminist theories and examines the rights of Gays
and Lesbians.
Gonzales,
Manuel G. Mexicanos: A History of Mexicans in the United
States. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000.
This
book reassesses Mexican history and paints a portrait
of Mexican American life beyond victimization and
resistance. The book probes failures as well as communitysuccesses.
Lopez,
Adalberto. The Puerto Ricans: Their History, Culture,
and Society. Rochester, Vermont: Schenkman Books Incorporated,
1981.
Lopez focuses on Puerto Rican history especially migration
to the United States. He explores recurring issues
such as identity, gender, and education.
Perez,
Louis A. On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality and
Culture. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1999.
Perez
explores the lives of Cubans and Americans from the
late nineteenth century to the 1950s and the influences
on each other in sources such as music, oral history,
popular magazines and movies.
Torres-Saillant,
Silvio, and Ramona Hernandez. The Dominican Americans.
Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated, 1998.
The
Dominican Americans examines the historical and
cultural background of Dominicans and the reasons
for migrating to the United States. The book traces
the growth and achievements of the community since
the beginning of its mass migration in the mid-1960s.
Vento,
Arnoldo Carlos. Mestizo: The History, Culture and Politics
of the Mexican and Chicano: The Emerging Mestizo Americans.
Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1997.
This
book covers more than 2,000 years of history, tracing
the roots of the contemporary Mexican-American. It
covers the fields of history, political science, cultural
anthropology, folklore, literature, Latin American
studies and ethnic studies.
Background
Politics
Delgado,
Richard, and Jean Stefancic (Editors). The Latino
Condition: A Critical Reader. New York: New York
University Press, 1998.
This
book presents the historical origins of Latino/as
in the United States, how they were viewed by the
dominant culture, how the media magnified these views
into stereotypes, and how the Latino/a community self-
definition grew in opposition to these prejudices.
Hardy-Fanta,
Carol. Latina Politics, Latino Politics: Gender, Culture,
and Political Participation in Boston. Philadelphia:
Temple University Press, 1994.
The
author focuses on Latino/a political movements and
activist efforts in Boston. It also presents a basic
background of Latino/a culture and explores gender
issues.
Torres,
Rodolfo D., and George N. Katsiaficas (Editors). Latino
Social Movements: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives.
New York: Routledge, 1999.
Focusing on class politics, community development,
patriarchy, and capital, the contributors to this
book trace these issues within the context of popular
efforts to transform the social conditions of Latino/a
life.
Trueba,
Enrique T., adapted by George Spindler. Latinos Unidos:
From Cultural Diversity to the Politics of Solidarity.
Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,
Incorporated, 1999.
Latinos
Unidos presents Latino/as as a highly diverse
and rapidly growing population in the United States
with distinct, social, cultural, and economic features
and as a new political force with a cohesive collective
ethnic identity.
Vigil,
Maurilio E. Hispanics in American Politics: The Search
for Political Power. Lanham, Maryland: University
Press of America, 1987.
The
author evaluates the role of Latino/as in United States
politics. Through brief sketches of several groups
-Mexican-Americans, Cubans and Puerto Rican, the author
examines the realities and possibilities of conceptualizing
Latino/as as a single political group.
Specific
Political Movements
Abramson,
Michael, and The Young Lords Party. Palante: The Young
Lords Party. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1971.
This
book includes 72 pages of photographs and transcribed
interviews with members of the Young Lords Party,
a Puerto Rican activist group organizing urban communities
in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Cruz,
Jose. Identity and Power: Puerto Rican Politics and
the Challenge of Ethnicity. Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1998.
Identity
and Power discusses Puerto Rican politics in
Hartford. Through interviews Cruz examines contemporary
political issues of Latino/as in the United States.
Gandy,
Matthew. Concrete and Clay, Reworking Nature in New
York City. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2002.
The
author discusses how New York's environmental history
is bound up with among other things the environmental
politics of the barrio in the late 1960s and early
1970s and the contemporary politics of the environmental
justice movement.
Garcia,
Ignacio M. Chicanismo: The Forging of a Militant
Ethos Among Mexican Americans. Tuscon: University
of Arizona Press, 1997.
Chicanismo is a history of the Chicano Movement
and the philosophy that guided the movement. The author
examines its ideological strains that remain important
among Mexican American leaders today.
Jennings,
James, and Monte Rivera (Editors). Puerto Rican Politics
in Urban America. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group,
Incorporated, 1984.
This
book is organized into three major parts. The first
traces Puerto Rican politics between the 1860s and
the 1970s. Next it examines contemporary politics
in three cities: New York, Boston, and Chicago. Finally,
the authors examine labor activism and education.
Quinones,
Juan Gomez. Chicano Politics: Reality and Promise.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1991.
This
author analyses and interprets the last 50 years of
social movement examining the leaders and organizations
that struggled for political rights as well as the
evolution of their goals and strategies.
Torres,
Andres, and Jose Velasquez (Editors). The Puerto Rican
Movement: Voices from the Diaspora. Philadelphia:
Temple University Press, 1998.
The
Puerto Rican Movement focuses on the Puerto
Rican organizations that emerged during the 1960s
and 1970s to fight for Puerto Rican independence and
the radical transformation of U.S. society. It includes
interviews with and essays written by activists.
Women’s
Studies
Anzaldua,
Gloria and Ana Louise Keating (Editors). This Bridge
Called My Back: Twenty Years Late-Enacting the Visions
of Radical Women of Color. New York: Routledge,
2001
A
compilation of writings by feminist women of color
that reflects a basis for political solidarity beyond
differences and conflicts.
Blea,
Irene I. U.S. Chicanas and Latinas within a Global
Context: Women of Color at the Fourth World Women’s Conference.
Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1997.
This
book explores the idea of racializing feminism arising
as a result of Latinas participation in the Fourth
World Women’s Conference. It examines Chicanas’ historical
struggle to relate to the United Nations conference
and the platform.
Castillo-Speed,
Lillian (Editor). Latina: Women’s Voices from the Borderlands.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Fiction
and nonfiction works by both well-known and emerging
Latina writers focus on themes of heritage, living
in an alienating land, political concerns, hopes and
dreams. Contributors include Sandra Cisneros, Julia
Alvarez, Ana Castillo, and others.
Espin,
Olivia M. Latina Realities: Essays on Healing, Migration,
and Sexuality. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press,
1997.
The
book focuses on the experiences of Latina women. It
discusses issues relevant to immigrant women and girls
such as sexuality and language and other similar topics.
Fernandez,
Roberta (Editor). In Other Words: Literature by Latinas
of the United States. Houston, Texas: Arte Publico
Press, 1994.
Fernandez
has compiled representative examples of fiction, poetry,
drama, and essay currently being written by Latina
writers in the United States. Subjects include the
challenge of living in two cultures; experiencing
marginality as a result of class, ethnicity and/or
gender; Latina feminism; the celebration of one’s
culture and its people.
Feyder,
Linda (Editor). Shattering the Myth: Plays by Hispanic
Women. Houston, Texas: Arte Publico Press, 1992.
Six
plays question traditions rooted in the familial culture
of which these playwrights are still a part. They
explore their need to reinterpret the inherited customs
for a new identity in the present bicultural existence.
The playwrights confront the myths and stereotypes
that continue to circumscribe freedom of expression
and life fulfillment for Latinas.
Hinojosa,
Maria. Daughter of the Fifth Sun: A Collection of Latina
Fiction and Poetry. New York: Riverhead Books, 1995.
An
anthology of short fiction and poetry displaying the
breadth and achievement of celebrated Latina writers
while introducing the next generation of voices. Contributors
include Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, Julia Alvarez,
and others.
Horno-Delgado,
Asuncion (Editor). Breaking Boundaries: Latina Writing
and Critical Readings. Amherst: University of Massachusetts
Press, 1989.
A
collection of essays by feminist writers of Latin
American descent and others residing in the United
States. Most of the articles originated at the Tenth
Symposium of Spanish and Portuguese Bilingualism held
1986 and deal with issues of literary criticism and
efforts to develop a framework to analyze Latina writing.
Lopez,
Antoinette Sedillo (Editor). Latina Issues: Fragments
of Historia (Ella) (Herstory). New York: Garland Publishing
Press, 1995.
The
second of six volumes in a series, this book explores
the history available about Latinas in the United
States. It highlights emerging voices in a unified
collection of reprinted articles illustrating Latina
perspectives on colonization, gender, race, and class.
Martinez,
Elizabeth. De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views
for a Multi-Colored Century. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
South End Press, 1998.
The
author presents a radical Latina perspective on race,
identity and liberation through a collection of essays
that document a new wave of activism among Latino/a
youth.
Literature:
Novelists
Other
works by the following authors are also recommended.
Alvarez,
Julia. In the Time of the Butterflies. New York:
Dutton/Plume, 1995.
Set
during the waning days of the Trujillo dictatorship
in the Dominican Republic in 1960, this novel tells
the story of the Mirabal sisters, three young wives
and mothers who are assassinated after visiting their
jailed husbands.
Castillo,
Ana. So Far from God. New York: Dutton/Plume, 1994.
This
novel, set in New Mexico, tells the stories of Sofi
and her four daughters, La Loca, the crazy one; Fe,
Faith; Caridad, Charity; and Esperanza, Hope.
Cisneros,
Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage
Books, 1991.
The
story of a young girl growing up in Chicago’s Latino/a
area where she discovers the hard realities of life
relating to class, gender, racial prejudice, sexuality,
and more.
Diaz,
Junot. Drown. New York: Berkley Publishing Group,
1997.
Diaz’s
first collection of short stories are linked by a
common narrator who was born in the Dominican Republic
and emigrated to the United States as a boy.
Santiago,
Esmeralda. When I was Puerto Rican. New York: Vintage
Books, 1994.
This
book is about the author’s childhood living in Puerto
Rico and chronicles her life after moving to New York
when she was a teenager.
Literature:
Poets
Other
works by the following poets are also recommended.
Cisneros, Sandra. Loose Woman. New York: Vintage
Books, 1995.
This collection of poetry celebrates the aspects of love.
Cruz,
Victor Hernandez. Red
Beans. Minneapolis: CoffeeHouse Press, 1994.
Hernandez
Cruz writes poetry that keeps Caribbean lyrics and rhythms
alive.
Perdomo,
Willie. Where a Nickel Costs a Dime. Norton,
W, 1996. A collection of poems about the poet’s experiences
growing up in Spanish Harlem.
Perez-Torres, Rafael. Movements
in Chicano Poetry: Against Myths, Against Margins.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. This
book studies the aesthetic and thematic concerns addressed
by recent Chicano poetry and places Chicano literature
within contemporary studies.
Pietri,
Pedro. Puerto Rican Obituary. New York: Monthly
Review Press, 1990.
The poet explores the social realities faced by Puerto
Ricans in the United States. He deals with racism, unemployment
and exploitation to awaken all Latino/as, especially
Puerto Ricans, to the fact that the ‘American Dream’
is a myth.
Quintana,
Leroy V. The History of Home. Temple, Arizona:
Bilingual Review Press, 1997.
The poet focuses on the stories of children who through
simple experiences, transcend the hardships of their
lives.
Suarez,
Virgil. Spanned Angola: Memories from a Cuban Childhood.
Houston, Texas: Arte Publico Press, 1997. A collection
of autobiographical stories, essays and poems that detail
the psychological pressure of male expectations, family
gender battles, migration and adjustment to a new culture.
Religion
Banuelas,
Arturo J (Editor). Mestizo Christianity: Theology from
the Latino Perspective. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis
Books, 1995.
Mestizo
Christianity introduces the work of the principal
figures in U.S. Hispanic theology - Protestant and Catholic.
It provides writing by each of fourteen "first-generation"
theologians in their areas of specialization.
Isasi-Diaz,
Ada Maria. Mujerista Theology for the 21st
Century. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1997.
Mujerista
Theology is an introduction to Hispanic feminist
theology written from experience. Continually drawing
on her Cuban roots, Isasi-Diaz focuses on the life journeys
and struggles of Hispanic women.
Vega,
Marta Moreno. Altar of my Soul: The Living Traditions
of Santeria. New York: The Ballantine Publishing Group,
2000.
The
author details her journey into Santeria, a religion
that originated in Nigeria, Africa. She provides an
in-depth look at the beliefs and practices of the religion
and dispels popular myths surrounding it.
Videos
Other
works by the following producers are recommended.
A
Bowl of Beings
Producer: Culture Clash
Chicano!
The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement
Producer: Galan Productions
El
Pueblo Se Levanta
Producer & Distributor: Third World Newsreel
Mi
Puerto Rico
Producer: Raquel Ortiz
!Palante
Siempre Palante! The Young Lords
Producer: Iris Morales
Distributor:
Third World Newsreel
The
Border
Producer: Paul Espinosa
The
Double Life of Ernesto Gomez
Producer: Luna Productions
Websites
www.centropr.org
The Center for Puerto Rican Studies
www.pbs.org
PBS distributes documentaries and other works with
Latino/a themes.
www.palante.org
Latino/a Education Network Service website. Focuses
on the history and contributions of the Young Lords
Party, an activist group of the 1960s and 1970s
and contemporary community activism for human rights.
www.libroslatinos.com/
This site furthers knowledge of Latinos in and out
of the United States by presenting literature by
Latino/as. |
|