Missing Blanca Canales: A Methodological Reflection on Continuing Freedom Struggles

• In Event: Tracing Our Lineage of Struggle Through Hidden, Quiet Work

Abstract

On October 30, 1950, Blanca Canales of Puerto Rico’s Nationalist Party declared “Viva Puerto Rico Libre / Long Live Free Puerto Rico,” demanding an end to United States colonialism in the archipelago. The struggle she was part of and her belief that “we must continue even if it takes us 100 years” has been largely overlooked. As a researcher, I, too, missed seeing her despite her memory being in front of my eyes. In this paper, as a woman from what remains a colony, I address such oversight by considering methodological pauses and continuations framed through Canales’ ideas and freedom struggles.

Presenter

• Lisa Ortiz, University of Pittsburgh