DEI Speaker Series: Colonialism, Resistance, and Liberation in Puerto Rican Communities
“Somos los versos qué no cantan en nuestro himno: Colonialism, Resistance, and Liberation in Puerto Rican Communities”
- Presenter: Cristalís Capielo Rosario, assistant professor, Arizona State University
- Date: Monday, Aug. 26
- Time: Noon-1 p.m.
- Location: Aderhold Hall Room 317
Emerging scholarship by Capielo Rosario shows that colonial mentality, a form of internalized oppression which manifests as the dignification of the colonizer and depreciation of the colonized, is a significant correlate of cultural stress and depression symptoms reported by Puerto Ricans living in the United States. In other studies, Capielo Rosario has observed that this colonial mentality-psychological distress association appears to be informed by discourses of cultural and societal separation Puerto Ricans in the U.S. engage in when they try to make sense of the oppression and marginalization Puerto Ricans face pre- and post-migration.
This presentation begins by familiarizing participants with historical and contemporary colonialism in Puerto Rico and will be followed by a discussion of how multilayered colonialism influences the psychological health and the pre- and post-migration experiences of Puerto Ricans. Using examples from the #RickyRenuncia protests, the presenter will illustrate how psychological work with Puerto Ricans anchored on concientización (awareness) about colonialism advances the process of psychological and political decolonization.
Cristalís Capielo Rosario, Ph.D., received her doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Georgia in 2016. She is currently a tenure-track assistant professor in counseling and counseling Psychology at Arizona State University. Capielo Rosario’s programmatic research centers on understanding sociopolitical and sociocultural determinants that explain health disparities among Latinx communities, particularly Puerto Ricans. Her latest scholarship discusses the role of multisystemic colonial oppression on the migratory experiences and psychological wellbeing of Puerto Ricans.
To RSVP for this event, please email the DEI Office.