He was one of the first second generation Puerto Rican writers of the diaspora to publish an autobiographical novel about his experiences as a black Puerto Rican, born and raised in New York’s El Barrio (Spanish Harlem) during the years of the Great Depression.
The publication of her autobiographical memoir When I was Puerto Rican (1993) immediately gained Esmeralda Santiago critical attention as a talented and deliberate narrator of women’s oppressive experiences in a sexist cultural and social environment.
The edited and published book of memoirs of Puerto Rican tabaquero (cigar worker), Bernardo Vega, who migrated from Puerto Rico to New York in 1916, when he was 30 years of age, and who lived in the city for over three and a half decades, have unveiled an important period
Aurora Levins Morales’ writings are characterized by her commitment to give expression to the experiences of women, Puerto Ricans, and other populations of color.
One of the newest and talented prose fiction voices in U.S. Puerto Rican literature to emerge during the 1990s was Abraham Rodríguez (aka Abraham Rodriguez, Jr.).
The name of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (better known as Arthur A. Schomburg in the U.S.) is probably better known to the African American community than among Puerto Ricans.