Looking forward, working for change: Puerto Rican women and the quest for educational justice in Chicago

This article examines the role of Puerto Rican women in post-war Chicago. Puerto Rican women in Chicago were in many ways at the forefront of discussions on the needs of Puerto Rican migrants in the city. For Puerto Ricans, despite their desires to “claim or create a sentimental sense of belonging” within the city, they quickly learned how to claim their rights, not only as American citizens but also as Chicago residents, in developing an understanding of the resources available to them within the city. This article contextualizes the importance of Puerto Rican women in a larger reading of Puerto Rican history; I focus on the role of three women in Chicago who confronted the ways in which their community’s survival depended on restructuring the power relations present within city schools.