The Vieques struggle for a just recovery after multiple disasters is an unfinished task. I hope that this film will inspire people from around the world to collaborate with Viequenses in their quest for a better future.
Vieques: A Living Archive serves the interest of the people of Vieques in various ways. As a historical document, it offers a chronicle of the Vieques struggle over the past twenty years through community testimonies that articulate an impressive collection of wisdom and knowledge about the impact of militarization and demilitarization on underserved Latino communities. The film will serve as a brainstorming tool for communities in Vieques, in Puerto Rico, in the United States, and around de world seeking innovative solutions to overcome the social (access to health services and healthy food), economic (unemployment, gentrification, and the negative impact of tourism) and environmental (high levels of chemical pollutants) challenges faced by demilitarized small islands. Through screenings and other events, Vieques community organizations would have the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with new audiences, among them, other community organizers, college and K-12 educators and students, government officers, industry partners, STEM professionals (in health services and environmental policy).
Screenings will be complemented by a film webpage (whose link will be included at the end of the film) with more information about the Vieques movement, its protagonists, and links to educational resources. As a multi-platform set of activities, Vieques: A Living Archive will serve to generate public discussions and educational projects (discussion guides, course modules, syllabi, public talks with Vieques’s leaders at schools and universities) about sustainable development in small islands facing the challenges of climate change: what sustainability means in the context of Vieques, how to implement it, and how it could be achieved through partnerships.
We hope that the film will generate new opportunities for partnerships that would mutually benefit the people of Vieques and their collaborators in different sectors, and, in turn, will contribute as a public platform to explore solutions to some of the most pressing problems affecting Viequenses today, such as lack of efficient maritime transportation, limited access to health services and affordable housing, and high risk of cancer due to environmental degradation.
This film will attract audiences interested in human rights and social justice, and in representations of history and memory, or war and demilitarization. My goal is that it will motivate discussions on health inequalities and environmental challenges and will serve as a tool to organize communities facing similar issues.