Organizing, Educating, and Advocating for Health and Human Rights in Vieques, Puerto Rico

I briefly review the process of community organization, education, and advocacy activities that ended the harmful military practices in the island-municipality of Vieques, Puerto Rico, while drawing attention to the intersection of human rights and social justice in the context of local and global implications. The Viequense experience was one of building an organization based on people’s experiences and strengths, educating people to increase individual and collective efficacy and power, and advocating for policy change with an assertive cohesive action. Public health practitioners must continue supporting community-led interventions in the restoration of the island’s environment and other resources vital for people’s health and well-being

Social Capital Accumulation among Puerto Rican Mothers in Urban Neighborhoods

Social capital provides access to material and personal resources through participation in social networks and other social structures. Social capital may not function equally for all populations, especially those living in residentially segregated urban neighborhoods with increased levels of poverty. This is because inequalities exist in social capital accumulation and are found where disadvantaged socioeconomic groups cluster. Using probabilistic household survey data consisting of 205 Puerto Rican mothers in Springfield, Massachusetts in 2013, this research tests hypotheses regarding the association of social capital accumulation with Puerto Rican mothers’ individual, neighborhood, and social network characteristics. Logistic regression results suggested that Puerto Rican mothers who were employed and lived in neighborhoods with other Latinos were more likely to accumulate social capital. In addition, mothers who participated in activities of their children also had increased social capital accumulation. This neighborhood effect on social capital accumulation may promote bonding social capital but not bridging social capital among these Puerto Rican mothers