"Our Fight is Here:" Coalition Networking and the Puerto Rican Anti-War Movement, 1940-1970

Abstract

This dissertation examines how Puerto Ricans developed anti-war strategies that rejected the notion of military service as a method to attain social and economic equality during the second half of the 20th century. Central to this fight were the alliances formed between Puerto Rican and U.S. activists within religious and civil rights spaces to argue against Puerto Rico’s colonial status and forced military service for men over the age of eighteen. In an era of hyper-patriotism that demanded military participation as a mark of civic duty, U.S. religious and political dissenters shaped their resistance as an interrogation of U.S. society’s contradictory messages of freedom and liberty. Through this analysis, I argue that the anti-war coalition networks concerted their interests toward a shared commitment to defend war resisters while also opening a space for Puerto Rican draft resisters to voice their specific grievances.

Vital to this challenge was the development of networks that came together for a shared objective against obligatory military service. Connecting through shared allies in New York and Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican activists expressed their opposition to military service and everyday concerns of the Puerto Rican community through religious coalitions, multiracial political coalitions, and public demonstrations. This research joins extensive scholarship on Latinx social movements through the lens of anti-war movements and the role of religion in solidarity efforts. Despite historical monographs highlighting social activism, attention to twentieth century Latina/o war resistance remains understudied. Additionally, 20th century Latinx social movement history initially placed social activism and religion as separate entities without acknowledging the religious foundations of individual activists or the role of church spaces in organizing. My dissertation intersects these scholarships to highlight how organizers created political, social, and religious solidarity networks to demand attention given toward militarization shifted to address societal issues on the home front. The struggles mentioned in this dissertation mirror the debates we see today regarding social and religious organizations attempting to achieve the goal of addressing equity and social justice.