Where does power come from? Why does it sometimes disappear? How do groups, like the Puerto Rican community, become impoverished, lose social influence, and become marginal to the rest of society? How do they turn things around, increase their wealth, and become better able to successfully influence and defend themselves? Boricua Power explains the creation and loss of power as a product of human efforts to enter, keep or end relationships with others in an attempt to satisfy passions and interests, using a theoretical and historical case study of one community–Puerto Ricans in the United States. Using archival, historical and empirical data, Boricua Power demonstrates that power rose and fell for this community with fluctuations in the passions and interests that defined the relationship between Puerto Ricans and the larger U.S. society.

"Since its first publication over forty years ago Puerto Rico: Freedom and Power in the Caribbean by Gordon K. Lewis has established itself, and even today, remains the definitive book on that Caribbean island. Lewis treats the subject historically and descriptively; on the one hand, it is an account of Puerto Rico as a colony, first under Spain and after 1898, under the United States. On the other hand, it is a systematic analysis of contemporary Puerto Rican life, including its politics, economic organisation and socio-political make-up, which is as relevant for this new edition as it was forty years ago. The book is also an in-depth attempt to show the political, social, cultural and even the psychological dimensions of American imperialism, rather than a mere case study of US Federalism or as a so-called 'showcase of democracy'."--BOOK JACKET.

"Weaving together historical and ethnographic research, Catalina M. de Onâis challenges the master narratives of Puerto Rico as a tourist destination and site of 'natural' disasters. She demonstrates how fossil-fuel economies are inextricably entwined with colonial practices and policies and how local community groups in Puerto Rico have struggled against energy coloniality and energy privilege to mobilize and transform power from the ground up. This work decenters continental contexts and deconstructs damaging hierarchies that devalue and exploit disenfranchised rural, coastal communities"--

Fearless necessary reporting . . . Klein exposes the ‘battle of utopias’ that is currently unfolding in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico” (Junot Díaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) “We are in a fight for our lives. Hurricanes Irma and María unmasked the colonialism we face in Puerto Rico, and the inequality it fosters, creating a fierce humanitarian crisis. Now we must find a path forward to equality and sustainability, a path driven by communities, not investors. And this book explains, with careful and unbiased reporting, only the efforts of our community activists can answer the paramount question: What type of society do we want to become and who is Puerto Rico for?” —Carmen Yulín Cruz, Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich “Puertopians” are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island. In this vital and startling investigation, bestselling author and activist Naomi Klein uncovers how the forces of shock politics and disaster capitalism seek to undermine the nation’s radical, resilient vision for a “just recovery.” All royalties from the sale of this book in English and Spanish go directly to JunteGente, a gathering of Puerto Rican organizations resisting disaster capitalism and advancing a fair and healthy recovery for their island. “Klein chronicles the extraordinary grassroots resistance by the Puerto Rican people against neoliberal privatization and Wall Street greed in the aftermath of the island’s financial meltdown, of hurricane devastation, and of Washington’s imposition of an outside control board over the most important U.S. colony.” —Juan González, cohost of Democracy Now! and author of Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America

"Weaving together historical and ethnographic research, Catalina M. de Onâis challenges the master narratives of Puerto Rico as a tourist destination and site of 'natural' disasters. She demonstrates how fossil-fuel economies are inextricably entwined with colonial practices and policies and how local community groups in Puerto Rico have struggled against energy coloniality and energy privilege to mobilize and transform power from the ground up. This work decenters continental contexts and deconstructs damaging hierarchies that devalue and exploit disenfranchised rural, coastal communities"--

La Borinqueña is a patriotic symbol presented in a classic superhero story. Her powers are drawn from elements and mysticism found on the island of Puerto Rico. The fictional character, Marisol Rios De La Luz, is a Columbia University Earth and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate student living with her parents Flor De La Luz Rojas and Oscar 'Chango' Rios Velez in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She takes a semester of study abroad in collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico. There she explores the caves of Puerto Rico: Ventana, La Cueva del Indio, Las Cuevas de Camuy, La Cueva del Viento and the caves at the Julio Enrique Monagas National Park. At each of these caves she finds five similar sized crystals. Atabex, the Taino mother goddess, appears before Marisol once the crystals are united and summons her sons Yúcahu and Juracan. Yúcahu, God of the seas and the mountains gives Marisol her superhuman strength. Juracan, god of the hurricanes gives her the power of flight and control of the wind.