This Transmedia Project
is a Migration story experience that documents and traces the colonization and exodus of the people of Puerto Rico throughout the United States.
An exploration of how a people’s identity has been systematically dispersed throughout it’s history with America’s colonization and the voyage in finding our way home.
“Diaspo Rico” is what I would like to call the aggregation of the Boricua migration and repatriation story.
Puerto Rico became “the site of one of the most massive emigration flows of this century.”
- Franciso L. Rivera-Batíz and Carlos E. Santiago, Island Paradox: Puerto Rico in the 1990s
The dispersion of Boricuas was exponential from the 1920s to 1970s. The lack of immigration barriers, political persecution, workers displacement and the concentration of wealth being geared toward US corporations in Puerto Rico created an influx of Puerto Rican immigrants to the United States. Puerto Rico communities expanded and a whole culture of people was redesigned and adapted to assimilate to American culture and communities.
Utilizing audio recordings, video documentation and photo portraiture, the transmedia project builds an archive of migration stories told through the latest generation of “Diasporicans”. Unpacking our lost history from generational trauma, displacement, cultural assimilation, the Diaspo Rico project will serve as multi-platform delivery of the nuanced diasporic history that amplifies the different identities of Puerto Rican people and the impact of a severance from aspirations of a sovereign country.
Diaspo Rico explores the resurgence of repatriation for a new generation and the best practices and ethical approach to returning to an unknown “home”. Answering the questions ‘What is the common wealth for people with identity in two lands and how does the sharing of these stories help a people find place and see themselves in each other?
The project aims to highlight Puerto Rico’s current social and political climate of a debt crisis, political corruption, racism, gender violence as components in the reestablishing of our identity. Acknowledging the shadows of new forms of gentrification that has economically forced native Puerto Ricans to leave in mass numbers not seen since the great migration of the 1950s.
The Diaspo Rico project explores, documents and expands the story of Boricua displacement and the cultural survival of a colonized people. Giving acknowledgement to the vast contributions of Puerto Rican people to the melting pot of American Culture. Our common wealth is found in the knowledge of our history and storytelling, it is transformative in finding a place and/or coming home.
About the creator.
As a transmedia storyteller and creative agitator, Mikey Cordero gets to the heart of the matter by chronicling the narratives of struggle and triumph through a variety of formats and platforms. To reach a wide audience in an effective and honest manner, Mikey combines the impact of digital media with the art of storytelling. A 2nd generation Nuyorican and Brooklyn Native, Mikey has dedicated himself to preserving and celebrating urban life culture. Through his work, he aims to encourage the conversation of hope and resistance.
As Co-creator on the Defend Puerto Rico Transmedia Project, Mikey narrates the story of Puerto Rican resilience and resistance through a multimedia movement sparking action and awareness. He also served as Producer and Editor on East WillyB- a satirical take on a Brooklyn community going head to head with gentrification and cultural ramification. In 2007, Mikey also co-founded FRESTHETIC, a boutique gallery and streetwear shop in Los Sures, Brooklyn. After 11 years of being a space to showcase and highlight fresh artists, designers and the sub-cultures of New York City, FRESTHETIC closed its doors in 2018.
Driven by the need for cultural resilience and inspired by the youth’s creativity and passion, Mikey co-founded Scope of Work (S.O.W) with two of his partners. S.O.W creates a creative space for young talent in NY to thrive in by providing resources, real world experience, and mentor relationships. He’s coordinated several youth programs and has had award-winning work featured in film festivals. Mikey has also launched several successful arts, community and media, based businesses.
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