Forthcoming Book:

The Politics of Care Work: Puerto Rican Women Organizing for Social Justice

forthcoming with Duke University Press, May 2025

This book tells a story about care work as a space of politics—a story that maps an intergenerational legacy of Puerto Rican political activism demanding dignity for Puerto Ricans on the archipelago and in the diaspora. The book is organized chronologically and thematically, focusing on the care work and political activism of Puerto Rican social workers and working-class women between 1917 and the 1970s. Each of the chapters considers Puerto Rican histories on the archipelago and the United States, following protagonists on the move, and emphasizing the impact of displacement and migration on Puerto Rican communities.

Current Research Projects

Bright Futures: Antonia Pantoja and the Practice of Ethnic Studies

This biography of Afro-Puerto Rican civil rights activist Antonia Pantoja will introduce readers to Pantoja’s life and examine her political work and contributions to the history of education and the formation of “Ethnic Studies” in the United States.

Community Work: Puerto Rican Women Activists in the United States

This long-term book project explores the history of Puerto Rican women as community organizers and welfare rights activists in the United States from 1950 to 2000.