Jon Marcantoni

I just don’t know if I can trust Biden to not go ahead with a statehood initiative.

Puerto Rican Nocturne investigates the nature of power, the limits of ideology, and the search for autonomy and peace in a colonized society.

Una conversación con el autor de su novela, las actualidades en Puerto Rico y la literatura latinoamericana

Constant criticism from native Spanish speakers discourages non-speaking Latinos from learning the language

The author talks about her play and the diversity problem perpetuated even within the Latino community

An interview with the ILBA and Academy of American Poet’s Prize-Winning author Chris Campanioni

An interview with award-winning author Dania Ramos

Puerto Rican neo-fiction seeks to address the social and psychological problems that afflict modern Puerto Rico, whether in regard to ‘self-racism,’ neo-colonialism, foreign influence, identity crisis and the effects of issues that have afflicted the island for the last two hundred years. The genre would not be bound by single traditional genres such as horror […]

—Pues primo, titi’s behavior is what happens in colonial societies. You don’t learn to value yourself let alone other people. Your mom is an empty shell full of rah-rah American bullshit fed to young Puerto Ricans that tells them they can never be satisfied unless they chase the American dream and leave the island behind. […]

In Latino literature and film, a common narrative is assimilation, where the protagonist wrestles with preserving the “traditional value” of the old world while embracing the “progress and enlightenment” of the new. By the end, even as the protagonist learns to appreciate and respect the values of their elders, what they really embrace and love are […]

When I was an undergrad at the University of Tampa, one of my Latin American History professors made the point that the wars of independence in the 19th century were not so much popular rebellions as they were one social class (the Criollos, or direct Spanish descendants born and raised in the Americas) fighting another (the […]

Tonight, I received an email from my friend Katherinne Balboa Oviedo, a Chilean educator currently living in Colorado. She wrote me asking to contribute to a project to show solidarity with Chilean teachers currently on strike. The conditions facing Chilean professors is horrendous, yet frighteningly comparable to those faced by adjunct professors in the United […]

“Latino writer” is a label whose purpose is to make you feel like you are a part of something big, important and ultimately has nothing to do with you as an individual. “Latino writer” does not denote quality or innovation, it is not a movement nor does it embody a single worldview, but what it […]

Cristela, the little show that could, just ended its first season. However, it is not certain if the recent season finale will in fact be a series finale, and I was inspired to write this article after reading creator and star Cristela Alonzo’s heartbreaking, thoughtful and important blog post about her show and what it […]

A few weeks ago, I was turned on to poetry collection Detrás del Acero (Editorial Trance 2015) by Joseph Carvalko. His book examines life in 20th century America, placing special emphasis on the working class and the evolving relationship racial minorities have had with the greater society over that time. The book is both socially […]

A week after I completed AIT (job-training school you go to after Basic Training), I found myself on a bus listening to three senior NCOs, each one close to retirement, having what seemed to me at the time to be a peculiar and surprising conversation: “I hate when people say we fight for freedom. I […]

Editor’s Note: You can read Part I here and Part II here. JM: What are your thoughts on the immigration issue in the United States and how it pertains to Latinos? ND: The immigration debate is important, and it must be continued until everyone —Latinos and other groups— receive the same consideration that was extended […]

Editor’s Note: You can read Part I of the intreview with Nelson Denis here. Part III is here. JM: Do you feel the close ties between the Puerto Rican independence movement and Castro has hurt the cause? ND: Anything that enabled J. Edgar Hoover and Gov. Muñoz Marín to characterize the Nationalist movement as part of […]

Recently, I had the great pleasure of speaking with Nelson Denis, author of War Against All Puerto Ricans. I have long had an interest in the subject of Puerto Rico’s 1950 Revolution and whether you are familiar with this largely suppressed moment in our history or not, Denis offers sharp and exciting insights on mid-century […]

Health and wellness is a touchy subject, and so before I dive into it, I want to make a couple of things clear: This article is meant to analyze how media representation can affect people of different cultures and is my attempt at understanding how those representations embolden misconceptions about healthy living. People who are […]

EDITOR’S NOTE, February 12, 2015: When Awards Daily was made aware of this story, they let us know that their group felt a bit blindsided about the fact that the author of this piece shared an email conversation with our group. To clarify: the author of this piece approached us after receiving a response from […]