Quién es Boricua? Senior thesis explores Puerto Rican identity, nationalism

Who can be considered Puerto Rican? Do you need to be born or live on the island and speak its Spanish dialect fluently? Or is there a cultural bond that spans miles and generations?

Those are questions that Melanie Valentin wrestled with in her senior thesis, titled “Formation of Identity in Diasporic Puerto Rican Communities through the Nationalist Movement of the late 20th Century.” The questions hold particular weight for the Bronx native, a double major in history and sociology with a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Area Studies (LACAS).

“I want to dive into how the nationalist movement forms Puerto Rican identity and new versions of Puerto Rican identity among newer generations within New York City,” she explained. “I decided to do this thesis based on my own experience as a Puerto Rican individual.”

Valentin, who received the Bernardo Award for Excellence in the Humanities from Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, presented her research at a LACAS student research panel on April 17. Her advisor on the project was Sociology Professor Kelvin Santiago-Valles.

Valentin twice won the National Puerto Rican Parade Day Scholarship, which led her to consider the Puerto Rican experience more deeply. She didn’t realize her own mixed identity until the third grade; her father didn’t closely align with his own identity as a second-generation Puerto Rican in New York City and labeled himself a “Nuyorican,” she said.

Her research centers on the movement for Puerto Rican sovereignty, which aims to establish the island as an independent nation; Puerto Rico has been a U.S. territory since 1898, following the Spanish-American War. The independence movement has taken multiple forms since the 19th century under the aegis of different political organizations and leaders.

The movement helped set the standard for Puerto Rican identity, broadening it to include a wider range of potential supporters. This expanded identity isn’t limited to the island, those who speak Puerto Rican Spanish or have Taino ancestry, but includes multi-generational diaspora communities throughout the U.S. mainland.

“It’s challenging the idea of what a nation is,” Valentin explained. “Basically, Puerto Rico as a nation is defined by the people, the culture and the ethnicity. Even though I wasn’t born in Puerto Rico and my father wasn’t born in Puerto Rico, I still consider myself to be Puerto Rican because I have that lineage and that proximity to the culture.”

Her research, which spanned two semesters, took her to the archives at Hunter College’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies. Although challenging and time-consuming, the effort was worth it, she said.

“It gave me the freedom and creative liberty to pursue what interested me, as well as research experience beyond what I’ve experienced in my classes. It’s also helped me connect to my professors in a different way,” she said of the thesis experience. “I think this is something that can definitely carry over into my professional career.”

After Commencement, Valentin hopes to become a paralegal in a civil rights law firm while preparing for law school. In the long term, she plans to become a civil rights attorney and give back to her Bronx community.

“Melanie’s outstanding honors thesis was a historical summary of the 1960s-1970s heyday of Puerto Rican anti-colonial activism and community organizing in the U.S., but as seen through the personal/auto-ethnographic lens of someone from a much younger generation, trying to re-define the meanings and lived experience of Puerto Rican national identity,” Santiago-Valles said. “This bodes well for her forthcoming graduate work and socially committed professional career.”