article

'We're not here just to plant. We have culture.': an ethnography of the South Bronx Casita Rincón Criollo

New York folklore20 (3-4)Published In 1996 • Pages: 19-41

By: Sciorra, Joseph.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is an account of an indigenous urban renewal project in New York City's South Bronx. In the late 1970s a group of neighborhood people came together to reclaim a garbage-filled crater in an abandoned city-owned lot. They removed all the refuse and built a two-room, single-story, wood building typical of the Caribbean, called a CASITA. The site became known as 'Rincón Criollo' (Creole Corner) and served as an informal social club and culture center, where people gathered to talk, play music, tend gardens, read poetry, cook, share meals, and dance. Rincón Criollo is a Caribbean oasis in a poor, neglected urban environment. It is a place where respect and reciprocity are honored, and the poor can find food, clothing, and shelter. Sciorra also discusses the status of women in Rincón Criollo.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Dwellings
Housing
Music
Community structure
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Puerto Ricans (Mainland)
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2002
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Sociologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard;2000
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1988-1990
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1970-1990
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
South Bronx, New York, N.Y., United States
NotesAdditional notes
Joseph Sciorra
Includes bibliographical references
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
75649891
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Puerto Ricans--United States