Multicultural Review: Voices from Puerto Rico and Cuba

There’s no denying that the large Hispanic population in America is growing larger.  This is reflected in the increasing number of debates about immigration law and making English the official language of the United States.  While I am not particularly versed about the arguments either for or against these causes, the fact remains that America is browning and one is almost as likely to run into somebody who speaks only Spanish on the street as they are to run into somebody who speaks only English.  That’s the reality we live in.  Looking at a lot of the news stories and considering what people are focusing on, it would appear that everybody in the United States who speak Spanish are all from Mexico.  However, there are sizeable populations who have immigrated from other countries.  The books reviewed in this collection are all memoirs.  One auther immigrated from Puerto Rico and one auther was the child of Puerto Rican immigrants.  The other three authers all immigrated from Cuba, two shortly after the Cuban Revolution and one during the Mariel boatlift.

The reason I chose these two countries is because of the unique relationship that the United States has with them.  Puerto Rico has been a commonwealth of the United States since the Spanish American War.  This is ideal for the United States because they are able to keep a military base there.  What’s uncertain is whether it’s ideal for the people of Puerto Rico.  The United States has maintained an embargo against Cuba since shortly after the Cuban Revolution.  With a few exceptions, the United States and Cuba do not have a diplomatic relationship.  Despite this, Cubans have come to the United States in several waves since the revolution which results in many broken families in that many Miami Cubans still have family on the island. 

In short, while it is true that Mexico has had a huge impact nearly all aspects of American life, it is not the only Hispanic population that has changed the fabric of the United States.  Mexicans aren’t the only people who have come to the United States in pursuit of the American Dream.  These books, while discussed in no particular order, are all the voices of Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans.  These voices are powerful and should be heard.

Santiago, E. (1993). When I Was Puerto Rican. New York, Vintage Books.

This book is a coming of age story about Esmeralda “Negi” Santiago.  Born in Puerto Rico, Negi moved with her family from the country to the city and back again several times before finally moving to New York City with her mother and several of her younger siblings at the age of thirteen.  At the start of her story she is the eldest of three.  By the time that she graduates high school, Negi is the eldest of eleven children.  After moving to New York, she auditioned and was accepted to New York City’s Performing Arts High School.  Eventually, Negi attended Harvard University on full scholarship.  When I Was Puerto Rican is her first book.

This rich, autobiographical book begins when Negi and her family first move to Macún when she was four years old.  The memories recounted, even those from such a young age, are visceral and real.  When she first moved to Macún Negi touched one of the metal rectangular sheets that were the walls of her house and burned her hand.  She remembers her hand was red for the rest of the day and she was unable to suck her thumb that night.

She recounts when she first encountered Americans in her town.  Experts from the United States and San Juan gathered the town together to teach the people of her barrio proper nutrition and hygiene.  She remembers asking her Papi what a gringo was and being chastised for using that word.  She remembers the colorful food pyramid that showed what foods should be consumed and that none of those foods were readily available in Puerto Rico.  She remembers going to the centro comunal before school after this meeting to eat breakfast, which was often the tasteless huevos Americanos that “smelled like the cardboard covers of our primers, salty, dry, fibrous, but not as satisfyingly chewy” (76). 

At the age of thirteen, Negi, her mother and three of her younger siblings all moved to Brooklyn.  When she moved there, it was common for students from Puerto Rico to start one grade lower than they were at their home school because they often didn’t speak English.  In her broken English she talked them into letting her stay in eighth grade instead of downgrading her to seventh grade.  She did this only to find out she was put in the special education class at the eighth grade level.  The end of this memoir is when Negi meets with her mentor from her years at New York City’s Performing Arts High School as she is about to graduate from Harvard.

This memoir is rich with details and shows with startling clarity what it is like to grow up in a small island town only to move to one of the largest cities in the world.  The details about going to school in New York, translating for her mother, and several other women, at the welfare office are stark.  It is a fresh perspective on what it is like to come of age in a country that isn’t your own and speaking a language that isn’t your own.

Thomas, P. (1967). Down These Mean Streets. New York, Vintage Books.

Piri Thomas grew up on the mean streets of El Barrio, or Spanish Harlem, during the Great Depression.  A son of Puerto Rican immigrants, he had a difficult time adjusting himself to the black and white America where everybody is either black or white.  The fact that he’s Puerto Rican makes no difference in the minds of those he meets, the fact that his skin is black is what counts.  As far as the larger society is concerned he is African American, not Latino.  His struggle for survival and, more importantly, identity is one that resounds with many people.

The streets of Spanish Harlem are, as the title of this books suggests, not kind.  Piri lived the life of the streets.  At a young age he learned that to survive one had to fight.  So he fought, and eventually fought his way into a gang.  He did drugs and he solved any problems he encountered with his fists.

This reliance on violence eventually cost Piri his freedom, and nearly his life.  During his early twenties Piri participated in an armed robbery during which he got injured.  After spending some time in Belleview Hospital he was transferred to Sing Sing prison to serve out his sentence for the armed robbery. 

While in prison, somebody suggested to him that he should write.  Piri didn’t take that suggestion to heart for several years, but he did eventually.  He also earned his high school diploma and converted to Islam.  While he didn’t stay a muslim after getting released from prison, many of the lessons stayed with him throughout his life.

This memoir is about the struggle that Piri, and many other people, went through in order to survive.  By no means are Piri’s experiences as an adolescent unique.  Through his eyes, the rest of the world can see, feel, and live what it feels like to grow up Afro-Latino in a tough neighborhood.  Through his eyes, people can see how difficult it really is to reconcile conflicting identities and still survive.

Veciana-Suarez, A. (2000). Birthday Parties in Heaven: Thoughts on Love, Life, Grief, and Other Matters of the Heart.  New York, Penguin Group.

Ana Veciana-Suarez is a Cuban immigrant who immigrated with her parents and younger siblings in 1962, only four years after the Cuban revolution.  This book is a collection of essays about her experience as a mother, daughter, wife and widow.  Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes humorous, all these essays are startlingly honest and convey a message about the human heart.

Like many people, Ana has a complicated relationship with her mother.  Her mother was the disciplinarian, the one who kept her and her sisters in line.  Sometimes her mother hit them to punish them.  Some things that she said, particularly about their looks, were more painful than being hit and the wounds lasted longer.  But her mother also sat up with her all night when she was sick.  Her mother insisted that Veciana-Suarez could do anything.  So she wonders, how does one reconcile a woman who in one breath is criticizing her daughter’s choice of hairstyle and in next is swearing her daughter can accomplish anything? 

In one essay, she discusses the debilitating grief she felt when her husband died suddenly of a heart attack.  She described the days, weeks, months, seasons and years of grief, of crying.  She described the jealousy she felt for their five children, who cruelly had their father taken away.  But then she described how she realized that she was starting to live again.  She described walking in the grocery store and noticing the foods and snacks that her husband preferred, but no longer reaching for them.  She has lived being compared, either by herself or by her children, to Saint Dad.

The first essay describes her family’s search for a home after leaving Cuba.  At first her parents wanted to return.  Her father was an activist constantly working to overthrow Fidel Castro.  She remembers her first Christmas tree, and realizing that they didn’t have one earlier not due to the lack of money, but because her parents still hoped to return to the island.  So a question that Veciana-Suarez asked was “when did exile become home?” (7).  This is a question that still has no definitive answer.

In these startling honest reflections on life and family are the experiences that everybody can have, regardless of skin color, ethnic background and religion.  These are the experiences that make a life and they are told in a way that is intuitive and real. 

Anders, G. (2007). Men May Come and Men May Go But I’ve Still Got My Little Pink Raincoat: Life and Love In and Out of my Wardrobe. New York, HarperCollins.

Gigi Anders is a Jewish-Cuban immigrant who came to the United States shortly after the Cuban Revolution.  This book is about her trials and tribulations while dating and shopping.  She has a knack for picking out the right clothing and accessories, but the wrong men.  She has tried to win men over with a fabulous new pink raincoat, or a gorgeous new pair of earrings, but to no avail.  Essentially, Gigi Anders is the Latina Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City.

The pink raincoat was to try to get her on again, off again boyfriend of four years to propose to her.  It was the perfect shade of pink, and basically the definition of fabulous.  Of course, every other women who saw it in the magazine that Anders did thought so as well.  Anders had to call all over the United States and eventually found one.  She wore it for the first time around the boyfriend, and found out that he was color blind and didn’t even notice it was pink.

The next article of clothing that was aiming to please was peach colored lingerie.  They were purchased for her by her dermatologist, who was in the process of seperating from his wife.  After their first date, during which he came to her place with dinner, he gave her the money to purchase the peach colored lingerie.  The next time she saw him she wore the lingerie, only to find out that he had been diagnosed with cancer and was going back to his wife.  She never wore it again.

Another failed relationship was with an Argentinian who her friend set her up with, claiming that he was oro puro, or pure gold.  It started out really well with him.  He was successful and thought that she was beautiful.  He took her on great dates where they both really enjoyed himself.  Then he confessed.  He was Latino, which he felt was difficult enough, but he was also gay.  He wanted to marry Anders so that he could get green card. 

Basically, as Anders herself says, she doesn’t understand men and the feeling is mutual.  However, they give her a lot of material and she breezes through the various outfits and men in her life with wit and a sense of humor that can and should inspire anybody. 

Ojito, M. (2005). Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus. New York, The Penguin Press.

On a morning in 1980 the Cuban police showed up at Mirta Ojito’s apartment and asked her mother if they were ready to abandon their country.  She was sixteen years old and had been waiting for this moment with her parents and younger sister for years.  They were given very little time to gather the family together and then they embarked on what was to become the Mariel boatlift.

The Mariel boatlift was several months in the making.  One of the events that led to Fidel Castro’s decision to allow the Cuban exodus to occur was when many people who had already emigrated from Cuba came back to visit family members.  They brought gifts and money and told stories of their lives abroad.  Another event was when a bus crashed into the Peruvian embassy in Havana and was then literally flooded with Cubans trying to seek asylum.  This created a public relations nightmare for Castro who eventually permitted any Cuban who meets specific criteria to leave.  Mirta and her family were able to leave because her uncle came and claimed them. 

While she didn’t always want to leave the country of her birth, Mirta grew up knowing that she would eventually leave it.  Her father always wanted to leave as he never supported the revolution or Fidel Castro.  She doesn’t know when she decided she wanted to leave.  Perhaps it was when she saw her school records and found out that the government knew more about her than she realized.  Perhaps it was when her teacher started making fun of her because she still went to church, which was not accepted in Cuba at the time.  Perhaps it was when she found out about all the politcial prisoners.  Regardless, by the time they were all able to leave, the desire to leave Cuba had become an obsession.

This memoir tells not only the personal story of Mirta and her family, but it also tells of some of the wider political events that occurred leading up to the Mariel boatlift.  She had interviewed people, usually getting more than one person to tell her how a particular event happened.  So interwoven between her own memories are the memories of Hectór Sanyustiz, Ernesto Pinto, Napoleón Vilaboa and Mike Howell, her real-life heroes.  Hectór Sanyustiz drove the bus through the gates of the Peruvian embassy in search of asylum.  Ernesto Pinto wouldn’t let the Cuban government just reclaim those that flooded the Peruvian embassy to send them to prison.  Napoleón Vilaboa was one of the first to go back to Cuba in order to bring more people to the United States, to unite more families.  Mike Howell was the captain of the boat, the Mañana, that took Mirta and her family from the Port of Mariel to Florida without asking for any compensation.  While these experiences are the experiences of Mirta, they are still part of her story.

This memoir brings the experience of living under a repressive regime to life in a unique way.  Through the experiences of sixteen year-old Mirta, the world is able to see that not everybody who came to the United States during this mass exodus were criminals and mentally ill people.  Some of them were people who were just looking for a better life, some of them were people very similar to caucasions who were born and raised in the United States.  Their past experiences were different, but their dreams were the same.  They wanted a better life for themselves and more opportunities for their children.

The IFLA Multicultural Library Manifesto

“As libraries serve diverse interests and communities, they function as learning, cultural, and information centres. In addressing cultural and linguistic diversity, library services are driven by their commitment to the principles of fundamental freedoms and equity of access to information and knowledge for all, in the respect of cultural identity and values.” (1)

These words were written by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) for their Multicultural Library Manifesto.  In a world that is increasingly diversifying due to faster communication, ease of travel and other forces of this century it is becoming increasingly important be able to communicate with and respect people of other cultural backgrounds.  The Multicultural Library Manifesto accurately states that “cultural diversity or multiculturalism is the foundation of our collective strength in our local communities and in our global society (1).  Cultural and linguistic diversity can and does lead to a more learned society.  As diversity continues to increase tolerance and respect will be the only way that people of different cultures will be able to co-exist harmoniously together.  This starts at the library.  If a community library is intolerant of other cultures, if a community library doesn’t provide equal access to information and library services, the community that library is in will follow its lead. 

There are four principles that libraries should follow in addressing cultural diversity.  The first one is that libraries must serve all members of the community.  In other words, libraries should not discriminate against people because their culture and/or language is not the dominant one.  In addition to not discriminating, libraries should provide information and materials in languages appropriate to their community.  If there is a large Albanian population in the community then the local library should have some library materials in that language.  The third principle is that the library must have materials and services available to all that reflects the community and their needs.  The final principle is to have staff at that library that reflects the diversity of the community.  In the aforementioned Albanian community it would be ideal if an Albanian could be on staff, or at least somebody who can speak the language.  That person should also be trained to work with diverse communities.  If a community library, or any type of library, fails to follow these principles, that library is merely contributing to the structural discrimination and alienation of multicultural people.

There are also several missions of multicultural library service that should be kept in mind.  The successful multicultural library facilitates multilingualism and promotes multiple languages coexisting is harmony.  Another library mission is to promote linguistic diversity on the Internet and another one is to encourage equal access to the Internet for all.  An additional mission is to support the inclusion of people from all groups, regardless of their cultural and linguistic background.  These are just a few of the missions stated.  There are several more and all of them are related to literacy, information, culture and education.  The primary role of a library is to allow everybody to get access to information.  If some people have access to more information than others and that access is based on their cultural and linguistic background, the library isn’t performing its main function.  This is especially true of publically funded libraries.  If a publically funded library is discriminating against some of the people who are providing funding then they are doing a real disservice to their community.

Finally, there are several core actions that a multicultural library should take.  First, a multicultural library needs to develop collections and services that serve their diverse communities.  A community with a sizeable Albanian population will need to have services and collections that this group will want.  Additionally, the multicultural library should allocate some of their resources to preserve the cultural heritage of their communities.  As an integral part of their service the multicultural library should create programs to support information literacy skills, cultural heritage, newcomer resources and other such programs.  Finally, the multicultural library should not only provide access to their resources in the languages of the communities that they serve but they should develop marketing and outreach resources in those languages as well.  If the library provides outreach services and markets their library in the various languages of their community, that library will probably get many more patrons.  If the marketing of a library is in a language other than the dominant language, people will certainly be more willing to visit that library as it may have resources for them in their language.

There have been a lot of suggestions here for what the multicultural library should do and how it should do it.  But the main thing that should be remembered is that these points should be central to the library mission.  They should not be relegated as “separate” policies and procedures.  They should be THE policies and procedures.  If a library follows most of all of these principles, missions and core actions, that library will be fully adhering to its mission of providing information to all people.  That will go a long way towards breaking down some of the institutional barriers that many people face as a result of their cultural and linguistic background.

Sources:

International Federation of Library Associations. (2008). The IFLA Multicultural Library Manifesto. Accessed on October 28, 2010 from http://www.ifla.org/VII/s32/pub/MulticulturalLibraryManifesto.pdf

Diversity and Intercultural Issues in Library and Information Science (LIS) Education - Bonus Review

“The need for LIS education to improve their curriculum through inclusion of diverse issues is a key to developing a more responsive library professional that will serve their community better and at the same time attract students from different cultural backgrounds to library and information science profession.” (453)

It is well recognized that society is becoming more and more diverse.  However, that diversity isn’t being reflected in Library and Information Science education.  Ismail Abdullahi introduces four characteristics that a culturally responsive library and information science teacher will possess.  First, the culturally responsive LIS teacher recognizes that there is more than one way to perceive reality, there can and will be multiple viewpoints on a single circumstance or situation.  Second, this teacher sees diversity as a benefit; they don’t see differences as something that detracts or a problem that needs to be overcome.  Third, this teacher feels that not only are they capable of working towards making LIS education more culturally responsive, but that it is their responsibility to do so.  Finally, this teacher will be able to use their knowledge of their students’ lives in order to build on what the students already know and expand their horizons.

The first characteristic, or theme, is that there is more than one way to perceive reality.  Everybody’s reality is different because reality is influenced by social class, race/ethnicity and language.  In other words, a migrant farm worker who speaks primarily Spanish is going see the world through a different lens than a white stockbroker who primarily speaks English.  Additionally, those two people are going to see the world differently than a white individual who works at McDonald’s.  Understanding that everybody has a slightly different reality based on their background is known as sociocultural consciousness.  A library professional that has sociocultural consciousness is better able to cross sociocultural boundaries and assist patrons from a variety of perspectives which is increasingly important in a quickly diversifying society.  In addition to recognizing and respecting that different people have different realities this teacher must also be aware that social location differences are anything but neutral.   Access to power is determined by largely somebody’s social class, race/ethnicity and language.  Why else would it take over two hundred years to elect a black individual to the highest office in the United States?  This access to power is institutionally limited in that the institutions of this country, including schools, the welfare system and, yes, libraries are structured to restrict the socioeconomic advancement of minorities in the name of meritocracy.  If there is a teacher in LIS education who teaches how institutions discriminate, the students of that educator are going to eventually change the policies and such in libraries that discriminate.  This is a completely positive goal to have because it will only be then when libraries are truly able to provide equal access to information for all.

A teacher in LIS education must also see students of theirs whom differ from the dominant culture as a positive thing.  These students are able to use their different experiences and knowledge to add to the learning experience of everybody else, including the teacher.  This implies that it is better to have a diverse classroom than it is to have a homogeneous one.   If there are a variety of backgrounds and experiences learning together there is far more that is learned, and not just about the subject material of the class.  This will inevitably produce better librarians, librarians who are better able to communicate and assist their patrons regardless of their particular experiences and background.

While discussed a little earlier, it’s important to reiterate the need for agents of change.  A LIS educator needs to help instill in students the drive and skills necessary to facilitate the advancement of libraries in a way that benefits all.  Currently libraries tend to reproduce inequalities.  But students who see that society and libraries are interconnected will be aware of that tendency in libraries and work to change it.  Institutional practices are built and sustained by people and therefore reflect the views and beliefs of people, particularly of the dominant group.  It is up to people to change these practices and that’s only going to happen when librarians and other information professionals recognize that libraries inherently are political institutions.  These librarians must see the library as a vehicle for change and a promoter of diversity.  These librarians must believe that that social transformation can happen at libraries and they need to know that while failures will occur, those failures shouldn’t stop the struggle.

Finally, LIS educators must use their students own experiences and knowledge as vehicles to further knowledge.  This teacher will create a classroom where all students are encouraged to learn, where all students are given a chance to construct knowledge that will help them to better understand the world.  Perhaps this will be done with candid classroom discussion, where all ideas and topics are welcome and discussed.  Perhaps this will be done with creating projects that have a personal significance to students.  Obviously, the role of the socioculturally conscious LIS educator is very complex.  However, without teachers such as that described in LIS education the library will likely continue to be a stagnant institution that promotes diversity on one hand but structurally hinders it on the other.

Sources:

Abdullahi, I. (2007). Diversity and intercultural issues in library and information science (LIS) education. New Library World, 108(9/10), 453-459.

The Bookmark: Asian Cultural Council

The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is an organization that supports cultural exchange between the countries within Asian and between the United States and Asia.  The organization’s headquarters is in New York City, but they also have offices in Hong Kong, Manila, Taipei and Tokyo.  Nearly 6000 artists from across Asia have been supported by the ACC since its creation in 1963.  The ACC supports projects across an extensive spectrum of performing and visual arts including, but not limited to, archeology, arts criticism, dance, music and theater.  In addition to supporting performing and visual arts, the ACC also supports educational and cultural institutions that are doing work that is considered particularly important to the cultural exchange between Asia and the United States.

The Bookmark: The Pew Hispanic Center

As the Hispanic population in the United States gets larger and larger, their impact on our way of life and our future as a nation will become more pronounced.  The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization, conducts research on a variety of topics related to the Hispanic populations including their demographics and their views on social policy.  Additionally, the Pew Hispanic Center studies changes in their socio-economic status and compares their educational background with other ethnic groups.  The Hispanic Center also studies the immigration patterns of Hispanic sub-groups and remittances that Hispanic Americans send home to their families.  Finally, in addition to all the research that this institution does, they publish their results in a way that is easily understood by most people. 

"The Case for Multiculturalism"

 “The challenge of cultural diversity is that in each generation we have to update our knowledge of the diversity within our society, incorporating the knowledge of what we find into collection development and service provision.” (9)

The makeup of the United States is ever changing.  At the time that DuMont, Buttlar and Caynon published their book Multiculturalism in Libraries in 1994, it was projected that minorities would make up 25 percent of the population by 2004.  According to the 2000 census, 75.1 percent of respondents said that they self-identify as white.  That means that almost 25 percent of Americans identified themselves as a different race (African American, Asian, Hispanic, etc) or as multiethnic.  The demographic population of the United States is rapidly changing and libraries must stay current with their communities.

In the past, libraries have to some extent tried to offer services to their communities to fit the demographic needs of that community.  Libraries often try to develop collections in the language of the community they serve (for example providing materials in Spanish in communities where Spanish is widely spoken).  One way in which public libraries everywhere excel is in regards to age-related subcultures.  Public libraries all recognize the different needs of children, youth and adults.  These efforts are to be applauded. 

One way that libraries are struggling with the increasing diversification of the United States and, consequently, their communities is in staffing.  Due to the highly interactive nature of librarianship and the constant communication between librarians and patrons, it is necessary that librarians are able to understand their patrons.  The first step of this is for librarians to be able to linguistically understand their patrons.  Even if a library serving a Hispanic community doesn’t have a native Spanish speaker, have somebody on staff be willing to learn some Spanish so that somebody there can better assist a patron who doesn’t necessarily speak English.  But this goes beyond linguistics.  People have different points of view that are often influenced by their socio-economic status in society, by their age, and by their race.  If a library is unable to understand these different points of view, that library is functionally unable to adequately serve their community.

Another way that libraries are struggling is in terms of services offered and service strategies.  Different populations have different information needs.  While a service that was provided for one population was really beneficial, that service provided to another population may not be useful at all.  There needs to be flexibility not only in the different services provided, but in how those services are provided over time as well.  It is vital that services and programs are regularly evaluated so that all populations in the community, even those who are not “traditional” users, benefit. 

In short, it is imperative that libraries recognize that their communities are culturally diverse and are proactive at adapting to that cultural diversity.  It must be recognized that while in the past society was viewed as homogonous and it was believed that there was a majority world view; it is no longer desirable or effective to continue to believe in those things.  The synergy approach recognizes that society has many facets, many population groups, and many different perspectives.  It recognizes that human diversity is a vital resource.  Diversity is not only important to the world at large, but it is important to library service as well.  An old adage says that “great minds think alike,” but it has been proven over and over again that great minds think very differently.  Society and libraries must not only accept cultural diversity, but they must value it and embrace it. 

Sources:

DuMont, R., Buttlar, L., & Caynon, W. (1994). Multiculturalism in libraries. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

U.S. Census Bureau (2000). Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000.  Retrieved from http://censtats.census.gov/data/US/01000.pdf

The Bookmark: National Multicultural Institute

The National Multicultural Institute is an organization that is dedicated to strengthening and empowering organizations and businesses by helping them to diversify.  They do this by assisting their clients in creating goals and then meeting those goals using what they call a Diversity Action Plan.  This organization work closely with specific companies and organizations, but they also hold workshops that anybody can attend.  Their next conference is called the Navigating Differences in a Changing World: Dialogues on Diversity, Culture and Identity.  Finally, this organization also organizes workshops that are relatively inexpensive that can address specific issues.  The upcoming workshop is about Human Trafficking.  In short, this organization is very involved in increasing awareness about issues concerning diversity in the workplace.