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Passing down Puerto Rican history and culture to the next generation

FILE: Attending her first Three Kings Day celebration Marlene Marquez waits in a toy distribution line with her infant daughter Isabela. The 2026 parade was sponsored by the Spanish American Merchants Association (SAMA) and the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Hartford January 06, 2026.
Mark Mirko
/
Connecticut Public
FILE: Attending her first Three Kings Day celebration Marlene Marquez waits in a toy distribution line with her infant daughter Isabela. The 2026 parade was sponsored by the Spanish American Merchants Association (SAMA) and the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Hartford January 06, 2026.

Nearly 300,000 Connecticut residents are of Puerto Rican heritage. That’s according to Census Bureau data.

Today, we take a look at what’s being done to raise the next generation of Puerto Ricans here in the diaspora.

From getting children books on Puerto Rican history, to celebrating holidays like Dia de los Reyes, there are many ways to celebrate Puerto Rican culture and history.

GUESTS:

  • Charles Venator Santiago: associate professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Political Science and El Instituto, the Institute for Latino, Caribbean and Latin American Studies.
  • Lisa Moser: bookseller at Julia de Burgos Bookstore, a bilingual bookstore centering Puerto Rican and Latine authors and artists in Philadelphia.
  • Marilisa Jiménez García: associate Professor of Childhood Studies teaching courses in Children’s and Young Adult Literary Cultures at Rutgers University
  • Jaquira Díaz: author of “This Is the Only Kingdom”

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Tess is a senior producer for Connecticut Public news-talk show Where We Live. She enjoys hiking Connecticut's many trails and little peaks, knitting, gardening and writing in her journal.
Rachel Iacovone (ee-AH-koh-VOAN-ay) is a proud puertorriqueña, who joined Connecticut Public to report on her community in the Constitution State. Her work is in collaboration with Somos CT, a Connecticut Public initiative to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities, and with GFR in Puerto Rico.
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