Book presentation “White, Black, Brown Becoming Puerto Rican in Chicago”
By La Voz Staff
Photo of Puerto Rico book signing by Christian M Rosado
The University of North Carolina recently published White, Black, Brown: Becoming Puerto Rican in a Changing City by historian Dr. Michael Staudenmaier, which will be presented on June 12, 2026, sixty years to the date of the Puerto Rican uprising in Chicago, an event that marked a turning point for Puerto Rican social activism in the city.
Dr. Staudenmaier, who serves on the board of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School, has long been an ally of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community in its struggles. The book explores issues of identity and class while centering the Puerto Rican struggle for independence and human rights in the United States.
The book places special emphasis on the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, an institution whose mission is grounded in three foundational principles: self-determination, self-actualization, and self-reliance. Its work has been framed through the creation of parallel institutions designed to serve the socio-economic and cultural needs of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community.
The book examines the 1966 Puerto Rican rebellion — often referred to as the Humboldt Park riots — as a major turning point in both the Puerto Rican movement and the fight against gentrification in Chicago.
It further demonstrates how the organizing and activism born from that historic moment helped transform the Puerto Rican community in Humboldt Park from a marginalized and neglected neighborhood into a strong community rooted in organized economic and political empowerment. This legacy contributed to the creation of the state-designated cultural district, Puerto Rico Town / Barrio Borikén, guided by four central pillars: economic development, affordable housing, education, and health and wellness, all within the overarching framework of arts and culture as defining community values.
The event will consist of a Puerto Rican-style continental breakfast beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 12, 2026. The location will be announced at a later date, followed by a panel discussion by our very own distinguished scholars, Dr. Michael Rodríguez Muñiz, Dr. Margaret Power, and Dr. Michael Staudenmaier. This event is by invitation only.
