Puerto Rican Voices
About the Project
Puerto Rican Voices Season 5 is an investigative documentary series produced by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO) at Hunter College. This five-part series delves into the ongoing effects of colonialism in Puerto Rico, exploring themes such as energy privatization, environmental degradation, community displacement, and economic precarity. Each episode spotlights grassroots resistance and resilience, offering a transnational perspective that bridges the diaspora and the archipelago.
As a post-production collaborator on Puerto Rican Voices Season 5, I contributed to all five episodes by inserting bilingual captions and creating the show’s credits. I also handled sound mixing for three episodes. Working closely with the creative team, I helped refine the visual narrative and maintain a cohesive tone and pacing across the series, bringing clarity and emotional depth to these powerful stories.
The series has been recognized for its impactful storytelling, winning four New York Emmy Awards (2023: Tito Matos ¡Ahora Sí! and Privatized Resilience. 2024: After the Boats Left and The Tax Paradise.)
You can view the full series and access discussion guides on CENTRO’s official website: Puerto Rican Voices.
Logline
A five-part documentary series exploring the intersections of resilience and resistance in Puerto Rico amid deepening colonial, economic, and environmental crises.
Project Synopsis
In the wake of Hurricane María, Puerto Rico has faced a growing set of crises — environmental, economic, and political — exposing long-standing colonial vulnerabilities. Season 5 of Puerto Rican Voices, titled Living Under Austerity, offers a close look at how privatization, displacement, pollution, and investor-driven tax policies are reshaping life across the island. Each episode focuses on a different facet of these intersecting crises, told through the lens of community leaders, organizers, and citizens taking action.
The series begins with Privatized Resilience, which explores the chaos and controversy surrounding the privatization of Puerto Rico’s energy grid. With LUMA Energy now in control, service has worsened, and hundreds of skilled workers have been laid off. Communities demand clean, reliable power — many turning to solar alternatives as both resistance and necessity.
Tito Matos: ¡Ahora Sí! shifts gears to celebrate the life of Tito Matos, an iconic Plena musician and cultural worker. His legacy, captured through rich archival footage, illustrates how music becomes a powerful tool of cultural resistance and mutual aid.
In After the Boats Left, we meet Elba Dávila, who mobilizes her Fajardo neighborhood after ferry service vital to local economies is diverted. Without the influx of visitors, the community struggles — but refuses to fade quietly, organizing for better services and respect.
Burning Ashes (El peso de las cenizas) uncovers a decades-long environmental injustice: toxic coal ash from the AES plant leaching into water and blowing into homes. Residents face rare illnesses and demand accountability for corporate and governmental neglect.
The series concludes with The Tax Paradise, examining how Act 60 has turned Puerto Rico into a haven for wealthy Americans looking to evade taxes. This final episode weaves together the season’s core questions — who benefits, who is harmed, and how do communities resist?
Through it all, Puerto Rican Voices foregrounds hope and struggle, painting a rich portrait of a people reclaiming power, community, and self-determination.
Project Description
Puerto Rican Voices is an investigative TV documentary series produced by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO) at Hunter College. Season 5, themed Living Under Austerity, examines the state of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane María. Amidst mounting debt, crumbling infrastructure, and an intensifying climate crisis, the government continues to promote a privatization agenda and incentivize outside investors, exacerbating social and environmental vulnerabilities.
This season interrogates colonial structures through five episodes that each spotlight community-led efforts to reclaim autonomy and resist systemic neglect. Through documentary storytelling, archival footage, and on-the-ground interviews, the series traces how privatization, displacement, pollution, and tax evasion intersect to define life on the island today.
Rather than portraying Puerto Ricans as passive victims, Puerto Rican Voices centers agency, highlighting grassroots activism, cultural legacy, and local resilience. From the struggles of displaced workers to the fight against toxic coal ash and exploitative tax laws, the series offers a nuanced map of resistance grounded in lived experience. Its investigative lens is rooted in academic research, community partnerships, and a diasporic consciousness that bridges Puerto Rico and its global diaspora.
Recognized for its editorial strength and cultural impact, the series has earned four New York Emmy Awards over the past two years. It continues to serve as a vital resource for education, advocacy, and transnational solidarity.
This project is part of an ongoing effort to document and uplift Puerto Rican voices in the face of systemic injustice. Explore the full series and join the dialogue by visiting the official site.
