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Reviews
New
York Ricans from
the Hip Hop Zone
By Raquel Z. Rivera
New
York Ricans from
the Hip Hop Zone is the first book to explore the Puerto Rican dimension of
hip-hop. This volume explores the history of hip-hop music from
the standpoint of the New York Puerto Rican community, which has
been instrumental in its development.
New York Puerto Ricans have been an integral part of
hip hop culture since the very beginning: from 1970s pioneers like
Rock Steady Crew's Jo-Jo, to recent rap mega-stars Big Punisher
and Angie Martinez. Yet, Puerto Rican participation and
contributions to hip hop is frequently downplayed, if not
completely ignored. When their presence has been acknowledged, it
is usually misinterpreted as a defection from Puerto Rican culture
and identity into the African American camp. But, Rivera argues
nothing could be further from the truth. Through hip-hop, Puerto
Ricans have simply stretched the boundaries of Puerto Ricanness
and latinidad.
New
York Ricans from
the Hip Hop Zone
breaks with
the common assumption that, in terms of cultural history and
artistic expression, Puerto Ricans share more with
"Latinos" than with black communities. Using hip hop
culture as a focal point, Rivera draws parallels—past and
present—between African Americans and Puerto Ricans by
highlighting their shared New York City history and their both
being part of the African Diaspora in the Americas
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Raquel has done the
unthinkable—she has triumphed in creating what hip hop DJs
normally call a remix. She has remixed history and shed light on a
valuable coexistence that is normally shunned by the
media—namely, Boriquas represent.—BOBBITO GARCIA, DJ
Cucumberslice
Big Pun, Fat Joe,
Angie Martinez, La Bruja and many other Puerto Rican rappers speak
out here in full voice, and the result is the most authoritative
and exciting account of the Nuyorican role in hip hop to date.—JUAN FLORES, author of From
Bomba to Hip Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity
Raquel untangles
this wildly woven fabric called hip hop and uncovers the
unbreakable strands of Puerto Ricans that have been in all the
elements of hip hop since day one. Clap your hands
everybody!!!" —CHARLIE CHASE, pioneering
DJ and MC, Cold Crush Brothers
It's about time that
a book has come out showing the contribution Puerto Ricans have
made to the hip hop movement.—JAMEL SHABAZZ,
photographer, Back in the Days
A much-needed
examination of New York Puerto Ricans' essential contributions to
and continued vitality in the hip hop universe. Rivera's edgy mix
of academic research and inner-circle interviews help redefine the
way we look at urban street culture.—ED MORALES, author, Living
in Spanglish
Smart and
provocative, New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone is
written with clarity and style by someone who knows both hip hop
and Puerto Rican culture from the inside out. Not only a must
read, it's a great read.—DEBORAH PACINI HERNANDEZ,
Tufts University
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Raquel Z. Rivera is a freelance journalist
and has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the City University of New
York Graduate Center.
Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she has lived
in New York City since 1994.
A freelance editor, translator and interpreter, her first
love is writing. Her articles, stories and poetry have appeared
in newspapers El Diario/La Prensa, Siempre and Hoy
in New York, and El Nuevo Día, The San Juan Star
and Claridad in Puerto Rico; and in magazines One
World, Críticas, In the House and Stress. Her academic work has been published in Puerto
Rican Jam: Essays on Puerto Rican Culture and Politics
(University of Minnesota Press, 1997), Revista de Ciencias
Sociales (University of Puerto Rico, 1998), Mambo
Montage: The Latinization of New York (Columbia University
Press, 2001) and Latina/Latino Popular Culture (New York
University Press, 2002). E-mail:
rzrd@aol.com |
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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Blacks in Hispanic Literature: Critical Essays
Edited by
Miriam DeCosta-Willis
Blacks in Hispanic Literature is a collection of fourteen essays by scholars and creative writers from Africa and the Americas. Called one of two significant critical works on Afro-Hispanic literature to appear in the late 1970s, it includes the pioneering studies of Carter G. Woodson and Valaurez B. Spratlin, published in the 1930s, as well as the essays of scholars whose interpretations were shaped by the Black aesthetic. The early essays, primarily of the Black-as-subject in Spanish medieval and Golden Age literature, provide an historical context for understanding 20th-century creative works by African-descended, Hispanophone writers, such as Cuban Nicolás Guillén and Ecuadorean poet, novelist, and scholar Adalberto Ortiz, whose essay analyzes the significance of Negritude in Latin America. This collaborative text set the tone for later conferences in which writers and scholars worked together to promote, disseminate, and critique the literature of Spanish-speaking people of African descent. . . . Cited by a literary critic in 2004 as "the seminal study in the field of Afro-Hispanic Literature . . . on which most scholars in the field 'cut their teeth'." |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update 2
October 2011
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