Introduction: The Vieques Story and the Critical Task of a Puerto Rican Decolonial Theology

Abstract

The story of Vieques, a small territory off the east coast of Puerto Rico, ecologically abused for years by US naval presence, illustrates the oppression Puerto Ricans experience and the hope that comes through the process of resistance by “speaking truth to power.” This chapter situates the reader within the current socio-economic and political climate of the Puerto Rican community in the United States (island and Diaspora) which calls for a theological response to the loss of identity, overwhelming presence of suffering, and forfeiture of hope. Employing interdisciplinary methodology, the author demonstrates how Puerto Rican literature and Puerto Rican theology are prophetic voices calling out for the liberation of a suffering people, using personal Puerto Rican family/community stories as an authoritative contextual reference point.

Topics:

• The death of David Sanes Rodriguez and US naval presence in Puerto Rico.

• Social movement for justice in Puerto Rico with Vieques as a catalyst.

• Divide between island and diaspora Puerto Ricans has led to silence.

• Literature/theology dialogue as an authentic and consistent decolonial methodology.