Community Comes First: Recognizing the Past and Reimagining the Future After Hurricane María in Barrio Mariana

Abstract

In the aftermath of Hurricane María in 2017, Puerto Ricans experienced far more than the physical damage from the storm. The effects from destroyed infrastructure were compounded by the slow state and federal response to restore clean water and power to local municipalities. One community that was seriously impacted by Hurricane María is Barrio Mariana, located in the hills above Humacao, Puerto Rico where residents waited nine months for their power to be restored. In the time since Hurricane María the Asociación Recreativa y Educativa Comunal del Barrio Mariana has transformed their community through comprehensive services and alternative infrastructures. As a nonprofit, ARECMA has made visible the failures of the state and revealed the colonial condition of Puerto Rico in the present day. This thesis explores the way that through concerted efforts to remember the past ARECMA has cast light upon the subjugation that Puerto Rico has endured since it was acquired as a “possession” of the United States in 1898. ARECMA’s solar power, small farming initiatives, and community programming have now become tools to reimagine their future.