Drops of Inclusivity

<p><b>A critical view of race relations on the island of Puerto Rico from 1898 to 1965.</b></p><p><i>Drops of Inclusivity</i> examines race and racism on the island of Puerto Rico by combining a wide-angle historical narrative with the individual stories of Black Puerto Ricans. While some of these Afro-Boricuas such as Roberto Clemente and Ruth Fernández are well known others such as Cecilia Orta and Juan Falú Zarzuela have been largely forgotten if remembered at all. Individually and collectively their words and lives speak to the persistent power of racial hierarchies and responses to them across periods from the Spanish-American War at the turn of the twentieth century to Martin Luther King Jr.'s visit to the island in the early 1960s. Drawing on rich archival research Milagros Denis-Rosario shows how Afro-Boricuas denounced navigated and negotiated racism in the fields of education law enforcement literature music the military performance politics and more. Each instance of self-determination marks a gain in inclusivity-<i>gota a gota</i> or drop by drop as the saying goes in Puerto Rico. This study pays homage to them.</p>