The Vibrant Puerto Rican Community in East Harlem

Within the bustling heart of New York City pulsates the rich and colorful Puerto Rican culture depicted in "Dominoes," the very essence of the environment in which Agüeros was nurtured. East Harlem, or Spanish Harlem, unfurls from the verdant embrace of Central Park in the west to the bustling Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive in the east, and stretches its vibrant borders between East 97th Street and East 118th Street. It encompasses a section of Lexington Avenue, a place of significance in the story where Alma dreams of visiting the cinema. Notably, it was here on Lexington Avenue in 1941 that the Agüeros family made their home. Alma's beloved, PeeWee, resides amidst the lively streets of Spanish Harlem, on 112th Street near Third Avenue.

In the mid-20th century, a transformative wave swept East Harlem as scores of Puerto Ricans, alongside African Americans, migrated to this dynamic enclave. In 1930, New York City was home to 45,000 Puerto Ricans, but by 1950, this number had surged to 187,000, and by 1970, it had soared to an astonishing 800,000 in what became known as the "Great Migration."

Agüeros reflects in his poignant essay "Halfway to Dick and Jane" found in The Immigrant Experience, upon the immense strain that the post-World War II influx of Puerto Ricans placed on East Harlem's resources. Unemployment and poverty were rampant, and many Puerto Ricans, grappling with a language barrier, encountered prejudice and hostility. By the dawn of the new millennium, a staggering 40% of New York City's Puerto Rican population was living in poverty.

In the present day, East Harlem has seen many of its early immigrant communities journey elsewhere, leaving behind a neighborhood now largely inhabited by African Americans and Puerto Ricans. Yet, the Puerto Rican presence is dwindling, as new waves of Hispanic immigrants, including Mexicans and Dominicans, settle into the area.

The Emergence of "Nuyorican" Literature

Jesús Colón (1901–1974) stands as a trailblazer in Puerto Rican literature penned by authors residing on the United States mainland. Having made New York City his home in 1917, Colón unveiled his collection, A Puerto Rican in New York and Other Sketches, in 1961. Initially, Puerto Ricans involved in the "Great Migration" hesitated in cultivating their own literary landscape. This reticence was partly due to their general economic hardships and lack of educational opportunities, which left little room for literary pursuits.

However, a renaissance began to unfold in the 1950s and 1960s. Inspired by the American civil rights movement, Puerto Ricans began to assertively embrace and celebrate their cultural identity. A new cadre of writers, Agüeros among them, began to articulate the narrative of an oft-marginalized minority. These second-generation Puerto Rican storytellers, known as "Nuyoricans," found a sanctuary at the Nuyorican Poet’s Café—established in the 1960s by Miguel Algarin—which provided a platform for their voices. By the 1970s, a substantial corpus of Nuyorican literature had emerged, focusing heavily on the social and political struggles of the impoverished Puerto Rican community.

Despite this burgeoning literary movement, the broader American cultural milieu was slow to acknowledge the value of literature penned by Puerto Ricans in the U.S. For many years, these works languished in obscurity. A notable breakthrough came with the 1967 publication of Piri Thomas' Down These Mean Streets by a major New York publisher—a book that vividly chronicles his life in Spanish Harlem and became a bestseller.

In today's diverse cultural tapestry, the multiculturalism movement has fostered increased awareness of Puerto Rican literature. Major publishing houses are progressively more inclined to release such works; Growing Up Puerto Rican:...