My Summer with the Puerto Rican Cultural Center

As I look back on my time in Chicago, I find myself wistfully recounting my experiences with the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and in the Northwest Side in general. Not to be maudlin, but the portion of Carl Sandburg’s Chicago that reads “show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning” rings deeply tue to me. Evidenced by the Puerto Rican population of Humboldt Park, Chicagoans have a sense of civic pride that is somehow unmatched even by New Yorkers.

 

The “pride” exemplified by the Puerto Rican Cultural Center is of course unique in that it blends the fiery spirits of a proud people whose homeland is STILL under U.S. colonial rule, and one whose adopted homeland in Chicago is constantly threatened by the bulldozers of developers. This creates a fascinating and inspiring culture of resistance in the communities I worked with — one whose strength and courage I have never seen before.

I must also note how warmly I was accepted into the Humboldt Park community. In reading certain sociological inquiries into the community and the Puerto Rican Cultural Center prior to my trip, I was given the sense that I would be met with a certain degree of (arguably justified) hostility. Certain studies described an aversion to outsiders inside the Cultural Center, but I can honestly say that everyone I spoke to was as kind as they could possibly be to me. I will remember with the utmost fondness having long chats about postcolonial theory, gentrification, and Chicago with the various poets, activists, and small business owners that make up Paseo Boricua and the surrounding neighborhood.

 

In terms of “what didn’t work,” I’d argue that there could have been just a tad more formalized structure. I found the first several weeks in which I was working on scheduled assignments with the PRCC itself to be the most invigorating. As I began to have to create my own schedule with interviewing the various CPS principals, I found that I had little to no reason to be back at the PRCC office, thus keeping me out of its affairs. It’s a tricky line to walk, as I understand that a non-profit such as the PRCC is busy to the point that they cannot babysit an Urban Fellow throughout the summer. I do not blame them in the slightest for this lack of organization, but I do think that a more formalized structure would be advantageous to both parties.

 

I have ultimately been personally changed in many personal ways. I now know that I am comfortable being alone and in a new place and that I in fact love it. I am also more attuned now to the ins and outs of community organizations and the sheer effort and passion put into them. It was so motivating to see people throwing their time on the line at all costs, solely to protect their neighborhood and preserve its culture.

 

If anything, this fellowship has reinvigorated my passion for community activism, and makes me want to devote my life to creating equitable cities that thrive and flourish, but not at the expense of longtime residents. I hope to engage in pursuits that put the successful implementation of urban amenities like quality schools, parks, hospitals, roads, and cultural resources at the forefront of low and middle income communities without causing property tax hikes or displacement. Communities like Humboldt Park deserve everything that is granted to more affluent neighborhoods, but more importantly, they deserve to have these things while also not fearing the looming threat of gentrification.