Getting through the week reading pieces of my history
I attended a sustainable fair in Puerto Rico in early August when I found The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History being sold for $5. As an old book collector, I didn't think twice when I handed him the cash. The book, released in 2013, is a collection of anecdotes written by journalists, historians, and even the colonizers who invaded the Caribbean island in 1493. It is meant to create a timeline of the people there and the issues they experienced.
Judging by my knowledge of Puerto Rican history, especially a decade after the book was available, I knew it was scarring and gritty. I began reading this book daily for hours at first, as I thought it was incredible how they included diary entries from the Spaniards when they conquered in the late 1400s. Later on, as the fall semester began, the book collected dust atop my desk.
This data project worked perfectly. It gave me an excuse to schedule time to wind down and read this book I meant to get to for a while.
However, my time working and doing homework got the best of me, and I did not devote as much time to reading as I expected. Before I started this project, I was 16 percent in. As the progress dial above shows, I am now 39 percent deep into the book.
The first data visualization might look complicated, but allow me to explain. What represents the 39 percent is the chapters, or points in Puerto Rican history I read throughout the week, as the Amapola flower. The dark green leaves are the contents of the chapter. On the other side of the dial is a sandy beach with four footprints representing the remaining chapters. The blue dots (meant to be shells) are the contents.
Additionally, I drew the pointer as a machete, a symbol of independence on the island.
I traversed through the origins of Boriquén, to the Spanish-American War, and landed on how Puerto Ricans were dealing with its haunting outcome. More specifically, in February 1917… When Puerto Ricans officially became American citizens with the Jones Bill.
Below, you will find my daily results.
I did not know how to approach the second visualization when I found out that the average time people spend reading is 15 minutes. That helped me visualize what I could produce, and the results tell me there are no excuses to sneak in some reading time.
If that’s the case, I surpassed that number on days one, two, three, and seven. On day one, I read for 37 minutes; for day two, it was an astounding 42 minutes; for day three, 30 minutes; and, for day seven, 36 minutes.
But I, unfortunately, didn’t read anything for three days straight. Let me explain.
I attended an important concert on Sept. 6 at the Hard Rock Live, and my whole day consisted of attending my psychiatrist appointment in the afternoon, attending class in the evening, then getting dressed and partying as my life depended on it.
The other days were spent recovering. And, quite frankly, the content within the book isn’t something I’d like to relax to after a night out.
I appreciate this book and how it shines a light on the reality of my history. One we still suffer from to this day. If you look closer to the second visualization, you’ll notice text of my favorite excerpts in the book. For a better reading experience, here are two of them below.
By Juan Antonio Corretjer, a journalist and activist, who wrote an essay commemorating the Lares pro-independence insurrection of 1868.
“The Grito de Lares brought Puerto Rico to its definition of a nation.”
And, in the early 1900s, a newspaper editorial would write:
Yes, we are becoming Americanized… But not by the Constitution that is so wise, nor through freedom that is so great, not through the law that is so magnificent. We are becoming Americanized through privilege, through monopoly, through injustice, through despotism.
I have a long way to go to finish the book. But diving into what relates to me as Puerto Rican will help me better understand and respect my culture. I’m glad this project pushed me to set some time to read, although I didn’t read every single day, because I’m one step closer to familiarizing myself with the story.
