Before the arrival of Colombus and the Spanish, Puerto Rico was peopled by the Taino tribe.  They’d called it home – and paradise – for over 1,000 years, having come either from the Amazon river basin, or maybe from the Colombian Andes before they arrived on the island.  In our March episode, we talked about the Jones Act – a law made during the Wilson presidency.  The chief goal of that act was to help the U.S. shipping industry recover after World War I.  It also annexed Puerto Rico, and gave citizenship to everyone living there.

U.S. citizenship started major migration to the U.S. mainland.  At first, Puerto Ricans settled into East Coast cities like New York and later Miami where mostly they were stuck in the bottom end of the labor market, working as domestic workers, in manufacturing jobs (back in the old days when we still had those in America, and maintenance industries.

Puerto Rican Americans, on both sides of the US coast, have contributed beautiful music to the American Song jukebox.  These songs echo the rich cultures that became Puerto Rico, their love for their island home, their struggles in the United States and their determination to succeed, despite the hardships.

Today's episode builds on what I began in March, adding more current sounds to the mix.  I think you'll find it equal parts fascinating, and entertaining!

In This Episode:

Bomba street musicians in Old San Juan Puerto Rico
Fiel a La Vega
Field Recording of La Tierruca (old Puerto Rican woman)
Haciendo Punto en Otro Son
Hector Carrasquillo Sr.
Original Cast from West Side Story
Pablo Milanés
Piri Thomas
Ricky Martin
Roy Brown
Steven Colbert
Taina Asli