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Study Guide for Memoir o f a Vis ionary : Antonia Panto ja Hostos Book-of-the-Semester Project Fall 2011

Study Guide for Memoir o f a Vis ionary : Antonia Panto ja

Prepared by Robert F. Cohen, Ph.D.

Hostos Book-of-the-Semester Project

Fall 2011


I. Pre-reading Activities

The material in this Study Guide is based on Memoir of a Visionary: Antonia Pantoja. Houston, Texas: Arte Público Press, 2002.

A. Considering the Book’s Title

The title of the book is Memoir of a Visionary: Antonia Pantoja.

What do you expect to learn about Antonia Pantoja as you read her memoir, the story of her life? What does the word visionary “say” to you?

Write down your thoughts here and remember to return to them to respond to this question after you finish reading the book: Did the journey you took with Antonia Pantoja provide you appropriate examples for your definition of visionary? If so, how? If not, why not?



B. Foreword (ix – x)

Comprehension and Discussion Questions

1. What three “side projects” did the writing of Antonia Pantoja’s memoir give birth to?

a.

b.

c

2. In the Foreword, Antonia Pantoja explains why she decided to write her autobiography.

The young Aspirante (a member of ASPIRA) who had been visiting her said, “One day you will die and no one will know how important your life has been for other Puerto Ricans in the city and for the city’s development” ( ix). After she told him that she had thought about writing a book about ASPIRA, the work that she believed represented her greatest achievement, the young man told her that she “had to write [her] entire life story, starting from [her] very humble origins up to receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1996. [Her] life, [the young man] said, was important because it provided an example for many young Puerto Rican New Yorkers who had very few mentors, heroes, and important figures to emulate.”

a. Why may it have been significant that the impetus towards writing her memoir came from a frank discussion about life one day between a young man and a much older woman on the beach in Puerto Rico? In what ways might the dynamics of this conversation have had a greater effect on her than a conversation that could have taken place between her and another person her own age?

b. Why does a complete story of a person’s childhood and origins give us a better appreciation of the achievements for which he or she is recognized by society than just a story of the achievements themselves?



B. Foreword (ix – x) (cont.)

c. Why do all young people have to have “mentors, heroes and important figures to emulate”?

3. Antonia Pantoja writes:

I believe that I have accomplished so much because I have guarded my integrity and my connections to my community. I have never accepted gifts and promotions that I felt I had not earned and deserved. If I had not guided my life by these principles of integrity and honesty, I believe that I might have lived a life of self-serving mockery.

I complete this work feeling proud and satisfied with what these memoirs will say about me. (pp. x)

a. Why are integrity and honesty such important values, especially for a public figure?

b. How do integrity and honesty help to build community?

c. Why is it difficult to take pride in one’s accomplishments if they have been achieved without any sign of personal integrity?



C. Editor’s Note (xi – xiv)


1. How does Henry A. J. Ramos, Executive Editor of the Hispanic Civil Rights Series, situate Antonia Pantoja in the American civil rights movement? In what civil rights categories has she laid a foundation for future generations?

2. How did Antonia Pantoja evaluate the progress that she and her fellow Puerto Ricans made in fifty-five years, from 1945 to 2000?

3. Pantoja’s book belongs to the Hispanic Civil Rights series, which “will seek especially to educate younger readers, many of whom are being exposed to this history for the first time” (xiv). Why is it particularly important for young people to become aware of the history that came before them? How does it give them an appreciation of their current status in time?



D. Introduction (xv – xvii)


1. How did Antonia Pantoja’s perception of the sea as the “promise” of the “world that lay beyond” (xv) give her great inspiration at the very beginning of her life journey? How was she able to convert the “insurmountable obstacle” of the sea, “when viewed as part of [her] constantly changing reality,” into an “enhancing and transporting experience”?

2. The author writes this way about the “black children from the nearby slum, playing in the water”:

These are the children, descendants of sad Yoruba princesses and furious Cafre fishermen, who never had the knowledge of why they were kidnapped and enslaved on the other side of the sea. These children will never know that their present lives are a reflection of that captivity – an enslavement that resulted in their present subordination. (pp. xvi)

Why is it sometimes the responsibility of those with knowledge to raise other people’s consciousness of their station in life?



D. Introduction (xv – xvii) (cont.)

3. Take notes on Antonia Pantoja’s beliefs and personal values and her goals in life.

Beliefs and Personal Values Goals in Life 1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

5. 5.

3. Explain the clear connection that exists between the author’s beliefs and her goals in life.

4. Pantoja writes: “I consider myself an educator, a teacher. However, by teacher, I mean one who engages with the learner and becomes a teacher/learner” (xvii).

Explain Pantoja’s concept of a teacher. Do you agree with her definition? Why or why not? Write your own definition of a teacher.

II. Reading Activities


First Part: Toward a Clear Identity (1922 – 1944) [pp. 1 –49]

A. General Understanding: True or False? (pp. 1 –4)

Working with a partner, decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). If they are false, rewrite them so that they become true.

___1. Antonia Pantoja was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President William Jefferson Clinton when she was 75 years old.

___2. She did not believe she deserved the award.

___3. When she was a small schoolgirl, she found answering questions about her parents’ names easy.

___4. When she was eight years old, she changed her official birthdate, which made her officially the daughter of Conrado Pantoja and Luisa Acosta Rivera.

___5. Her mother’s real name was not on her birth certificate.

___6. Her family was embarrassed about the story of her birth.

___7. Thanks to the indirectness of Puerto Rican culture, she never really learned who her real father was.

___8. Her grandmother boosted her self-esteem by telling her that she was “a person with a special destiny.”

___9. In her grandmother’s mind, Antonia’s natural curiosity, intelligence, and sensitivity proved that she had a “special destiny”

___10. The various people who had an influence on her during her childhood made Antonia realize that she would have to be the creator of her own destiny.




B. Note-Taking: Scanning (pp. 4 – 49)

Take notes as you read. Use the keywords in each section as guides for your note-taking activity. Write notes that explain the significance of the cues given.

1. Grandfather

the sindicatos

The American Tobacco Company

dapper dresser

power dynamics of male-female relationships

Toñita

death

2. Grandmother

cantankerous, critical, not loving

challenge

picture

religion: Juan Ojai, séances

Aunt Magui

Mamá

toys and dog

a story

flag of Puerto Rico

Ponce Massacre, Urbano

Sunday mornings, Paquita, “La Bombonera”, “ready”

3. Aunt Magui

peanuts


Otelo



B. Note-Taking: Scanning (pp. 4 – 49) (cont.)

sense of well-being

school in living room

Johnny

laundering

tuberculosis, diabetes

4. Other Family Members

Aunt Juanita

Uncle Conradito

Martín Ortiz-Padilla, Enrico Caruso, theater, Cataño

5. My Mother and the Unknown Father

Grandfather

house

spanking

Simón Cruz, foundry

Godmother, Olivares

Blanca

Haydée and “the baby”

6. Growing Up Poor in Barrio Obrero

rent

breadfruit tree

sense of community, mixed races

new house


Grandmother and the garden



B. Note-Taking: Scanning (pp. 4 – 49) (cont.)

school, asthma, garlic cloves

“the duchess”

movies and the United States

Mother and Parque Muñoz Rivera in Puerta de Tierra

Héctor Miranda, desire for a middle class life

Grandfather and the rules of etiquette at the dinner table

self-respect

Central High School, poverty, sanatorium, Carmen Laguna and Alice González (“secret society”)

7. Vacations in an Enchanted Different World: Another Culture, Another Race

summer trips to Loíza, stepfather Francisco López

discipline, rules of behavior, la hija de Alejandrina

Taíno

público driver

Loíza Festival

8. Establishing a Home and Becoming a Teacher

Aunt Juanita

Calle Lipit, Caserío Las Casas

tuition for University of Puerto Rico, Mother and a sociedad, Luis Felipe Olmos

University of Puerto Rico, normal school diploma

new low-income housing project, conflict with Mother and Francisco (“the man of the house”)

teaching job in the country: Cuchilla

La Segunda Unidad de Padilla, an innovative school

9. The War Years in Puerto Rico – 1942 -1944


Puerto Rico, a colony

United Service Organizations

Ismael Zayas

10. Teaching and My Departure from Puerto Rico

From Padilla to new school, in Toa Alta

Reverend Falcón




C. Role Plays

Working with a partner, choose one of these scenarios and bring it to life in a well-designed dialogue.

1. Antonia and her Mother

One student is Antonia and the other one is Antonia’s mother. Antonia speaks to her mother for the first time about why she “abandoned” her. Her sister Haydée has just told her the story as she knew it. Consider how Antonia will speak to her mother: Will it be in a tone of resentment or one reflecting her compassion and understanding, or both? Also consider how her mother will respond to her: Will she be surprised that Antonia knows the truth and ask her for her forgiveness? What will be the outcome of this conversation? Will the conversation between adults be less accusatory in tone than a conversation between “adult” and “child” (i.e. when Antonia was much younger) would be?

2. Antonia and Aunt Magui

One student is Antonia and the other one is Aunt Magui. Antonia has just returned to Puerto Rico to be with Aunt Magui on her last days of life. Antonia tells her aunt why she means so much to her. Aunt Magui tells Antonia why she has always been like a daughter to her. Each speaker gives examples of the ways in which their eternal bond was created.

3. Antonia and Hector

One student is Antonia and the other one is Hector. Antonia tells Hector why eating dinners at his house was so important to her. She explains that it wasn’t only because of the abundance of food that was served but also because the whole family ate together. Hector is surprised when he learns that his friend who lives a few houses down the street lives in a house where family dinners are very rare, where everyone eats on the run. He commiserates with Antonia and gives her a chance to express herself about the difficult life she lives.

4. Antonia and the Reverend Falcón

One student is Antonia and the other one is the Reverend Falcón. Antonia tells the Reverend that she is afraid to leave her family and go to New York because she is worried that they will not know how to get along without her. The Reverend makes her see that no one is “indispensable” and that she needs to follow her dreams.




C. Role Plays (cont.)




D. Writing Incentive

Choose one of these writing topics.

1. Writing a Thank-you Letter

The rich lady who gave Antonia a scholarship check so that she could pay for the tuition at the University of Puerto Rico did not even look at Antonia when she interviewed her. Her condescending attitude offended Antonia.

Put yourself in Antonia’s shoes. Write a thank-you letter to the rich lady. Explain to her how her scholarship aid will be put to good use. Talk about the “dignity” of your pursuit of a good education and how you will honor the lady’s trust.

Start your letter this way: Dear Señora,

2. Writing an Opinion Paragraph about Respecting “The Man of the House”

Antonia resented Francisco, her mother’s husband, who didn’t do anything to contribute to the maintenance of the house. Yet, her mother demanded that “the man of the house” be treated “with respect,” and this request enraged Antonia.

Write a letter to Antonia showing your agreement or disagreement with her mother’s request.

3. Comparing and Contrasting Portraits

Using the notes that you took in sections 1 to 5, write in one paragraph a portrait of one of the author’s family members. At the same time, compare this person in another paragraph to the equivalent family member in your life (i.e. YOUR grandfather, grandmother, mother, aunt, or uncle). In what ways are the two individuals similar to one another and in what ways are they different from one another?

4. Writing a Summary and a Response

Using the notes that you took in sections 6 to 10, write in one paragraph a summary of the story that is told there and in another paragraph your reaction to this story and the context in which it takes place.

5. Writing about Adjusting to a New Culture

The author writes about her summer trips to Loiza, where she and her brother learned to live in a different culture and change their way of speaking Spanish in order to fit in.

Write about a time in your life when you had to make adjustments in your behavior and language in order to be accepted. Was the challenge worth it? What did you gain and what did you lose from this experience?




D. Writing Incentive (cont.)



Second Part: I Take a Leap over the Sea and I Land on My Feet (1944 – 1949) [pp. 50 – 71]

A. General Understanding: Writing a Summary

The Trip Across the Ocean into a Frightening World (pp. 50 – 55)

Using these words as cues, write a summary of Antonia Pantoja’s trip from Puerto Rico to New York.

Grandmother’s trunk

boat

New Orleans

Racism

English

Milk train

Statue of Liberty

Pennsylvania Station

Summary




B. Matching: Arriving in New York City/I Become a New Yorker/The Years of a Bohemian Life

Match the words on the left with the appropriate identifying information on the right.

__1. Rhapsody in Blue a. friends who introduced the art world to

Antonia

__2. lampshade factory b. where Antonia completed her four-year

college degree

__3. Bill Zahn c. made Antonia realize that she had fallen in

love with New York

__4. Apartment on the 5th Floor of a community house d. where Antonia worked after working at the

lampshade factory

__5. Reba Joseph and Helen Lehew e. father figure who put Antonia back on track

with her career

__6. 110th Street Community Center f. friends who were pacifists

__7. Hunter College g. where Antonia worked and also defended the

exploited workers

__8. Lennie Maher and Alex h. locale for weekend gatherings with many

different people




C. Writing Incentive: Working with Quotations

Choose one of these quotations and write a paragraph explaining its significance in these two contexts: Antonia’s life and your own life.

1. “I will learn the language, learn how to travel by myself, buy new clothing, and become a New Yorker! I know that I can, I must and I will” (57)!

2. “When I look back on these first years in the city, I realize that the distance traveled from Puerto Rico in 1944 to New York City was not only in miles, but in time and years. It was like traveling from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century. The distance was also traveling from one culture to a completely different one” (62).

3. “What does it mean that I became a New Yorker? Was it the rejection of who I was at that moment in time? Or was this a positive statement of my having adapted to a new pattern for living my life? Now, as I reflect on the choice, it was not a rejection of myself or my country; it was an affirmative statement of the person that I wanted to become. Being a New Yorker meant that I had a broad new world of behaviors, associations, identities, and activities that I could enjoy. I would leave behind my poverty, my family pressures, and the constraints that I felt from the cultural and social expectations in Puerto Rico” (62-63).



Third Part: A Builder of Institutions (1950 – 1960) [pp.72-89]

A. General Understanding

Working with a partner, write answers to these questions.

1. At Hunter College, Antonia started making new friends and created bonds that served as the foundation for her later work. What was the special “linguistic” characteristic of the majority of Puerto Ricans she was now meeting?

2. What philosophy about community development guided the establishment of the Puerto Rican Association of Community Affairs (PRACA)? That is, what was the difference between “community development” and “firefighting” (74)?

3. What position did Antonia serve in PRACA, and with what kind of recognition was she elected to this position?

4. What kind of work was done in the shelter for homeless men and in the voter registration office?

5. At the Puerto Rican high school conference, how was the “traditional format of adults talking to youths or about youths” (75) changed?

6. How was the ideology of PRACA different from that of the Office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico?

7. In her pursuit of the Master’s Degree at the Columbia University School of Social Work, how did Antonia resolve the conflict that she had with her advisor when selecting her concentration?




A. General Understanding (cont.)

8. What kind of discrimination did Antonia believe she was subject to at Columbia University? In what way was the Opportunity Fellowship awarded by the John Hay Whitney Foundation a “response” to this discrimination?

9. In the role she assumed as the director of the “Mayor’s Project on Puerto Ricans in Bridgeport,” what kind of community action project did Antonia orchestrate in order to make sure that Puerto Rican families would be able to get apartments in two housing projects?

10. Under Dr. Frank Horne, in the creation of the Commission for Intergroup Relations (1957-1958), what two objectives were “key to the success of the Commission’s work” (85)?

11. In the planning discussions of the Commission for Intergroup Relations, what did Antonia learn about the history of racism against people of other minority groups (e.g. African Americans, Jews, Native Americans)? How did these lessons permit her to understand her experiences in New Orleans when first arriving in the United States? How did she realize about her own status as “a black woman” (86) in Puerto Rico as a result of these discussions?




A. General Understanding (cont.) 12. With the creation of the “New Leaders in New York” project, within the jurisdiction of the Commission for Intergroup Relations, how was Antonia able to develop ways to strengthen the Puerto Rican community and give it a “voice” (88) in her role as head of the “intergroup relations and tension control department?” What roles did Dr. Frank Horne and Mr. Sol Markoff play in the fulfillment of her leadership role here?

13. How did Antonia’s work with the Commission on Intergroup Relations tell her that she had made a wise decision not to accept the Fulbright Scholarship after graduating from Columbia University?




B. Open for Discussion

Discuss these questions in small groups. Then take one question and write a summary of the opinions that were expressed in your group.

1. About her new leadership position as President of PRACA, Antonia Pantoja writes: “I developed practical guidelines for working with people, which included the development of skills, sharing leadership, accountability, and self and work evaluation. I used these principles for future institutions and efforts that I would undertake with others” (78-79).

Why are the “practical guidelines for working with people,” which Antonia Pantoja mentions here (“development of skills, sharing leadership, accountability, and self and work evaluation”) important guidelines for all people undertaking leadership positions? Why do all potential leaders need to learn “practical guidelines for working with people”?

2. Antonia’s advisor at the Columbia University School of Social Work wanted her to major in an aspect of the field that would assure her a job after graduation. However, Antonia found a way to follow her advisor’s advice and do what she wanted at the same time. Is it always important to consider job possibilities after graduation when pursuing a course of studies in school? Why or why not?

3. Antonia’s work in Bridgeport, Connecticut provided the necessary information for a written assignment that she had to complete for one of her classes the next semester at the Columbia University School of Social Work. It taught her that “in order to create change, one would have to know how to affect the policy formulation processes in the society” (83). What does this mean? Why is the knowledge of the “field of social and public policy and how these provide for, interfere with, or deny resources to provide people with healthy and productive lives” so important for potential leaders?



Fourth Part: The Puerto Rican Forum (1957 – 1964) [90-124]


1. Giving Reasons (pp. 90 –93)

Working with a partner, complete these sentences by giving the correct reasons.

1. Dr. Horne and Mr. Sol Markoff recommended that Antonia Pantoja and her colleagues move her “project” for the Puerto Rican community out of the Commission for Intergroup Relations because _________________________________________________________________________________.

2. Antonia Pantoja followed their advice and worked with her Puerto Rican colleagues on developing more than one institution because ______________________________________________________.

3. The original name of her group was the Puerto Rican-Hispanic Leadership Forum. They chose the words “forum” and “leadership” because ________________________________________________

________________________________________. They also included the word “Hispanic” because

_________________________________________________________________________________.

4. Later on, the words “leadership” and “Hispanic” were dropped from the name because _________________________________________________________________________________.

5. Antonia disagreed with two of her colleagues who wanted to add a non-Puerto Rican to their board because ___________________________________________________________________________.

6. The Puerto Rican Forum was established because the founders wanted to ______________________ and ________________________________________________________________________________.

7. The group agreed to become the first board of directors of ASPIRA, which would be an institution designed to develop leadership from among the youth, and gave it this name because ___________________________________________________________________________________.

8. Once ASPIRA became an accomplished and recognized institution, the Forum board decided to “let” ASPIRA “go” because ________________________________________________________________.

9. The Forum’s second project, the Puerto Rican Community Development Project in 1964, was a natural response to the city of New York’s “War on Poverty” because _________________________________.





2. Note-taking: ASPIRA, the Most Important Work of My Life (pp. 93 – 109)

Using the cues you have been given below, take notes on the history of the founding of ASPIRA.

1. Youths at conferences PRACA was holding complained how “________________ and _____________ they were made to feel by their classmates and teachers” (95). Their THREE FEARS were:

a. ___________________________________________

b. ___________________________________________

c. ___________________________________________

2. While the head of the Settlement House in the heart of El Barrio, Antonia met Eddie Gonzalez on her way to work. Gonzalez inspired her because __________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Gonzalez’s subsequent accomplishments after talking to Antonia:

_______________________________________________________________________________

Establishment of ASPIRA

a. Multiplicity of problems Joe Monserrat, the director of the Office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in New York City, had to deal with:

b. Reasons Antonia wanted to stop “firefighting” (98):

c. Antonia’s conclusion: ASPIRA became a “_______________” (98) to Monserrat.

d. Determination that ASPIRA should not become a “____________________,” but a “______________________” (99).

e. Meaning of ASPIRA:

f. Five funding sources for ASPIRA:

1. _____________________

2. _____________________

3. _____________________

4. _____________________


5. _____________________




2. Note-taking (cont.): ASPIRA, the Most Important Work of My Life (pp. 93 – 109)

g. Reason for Dr. Horne’s recommendation that Antonia resign from the New York City Settlement House job and become the executive director of ASPIRA:

h. areyto:

4. ASPIRA adopted three major objectives in working with youth (99):

a.

b.

c.

5. Examples of problems encountered at the very beginning (102):

a.

b.

c.

6. Confirmation of the thrust of the movement: Migdalia Torres de Jesús from a Brooklyn high school:

7. First cause requiring solidarity: Government Nelson Rockefeller and CUNY

8. Founding principles of ASPIRA (106 – 107)

a.

b.

c.

9. Bilingual education consent decree and the Young Lords Party (109):





3. Answering Questions: The Second Institution: The Puerto Rican Community Development Project (PRCDP) and the Study on the Poverty Conditions of Our Group/Learning the History of My Country While in Exile (pp. 109 – 124)

Working with a partner, answer the following questions.

1. Why was Antonia proud of the part she had played in the creation of the group called the “Young Turks” (109)?

2. In dealing with the juvenile delinquency problem, how did the Mobilization for Youth define “community” (111)? Why did Antonia object to this definition?

3. What kind of role did Antonia believe the New York office of the Department of Labor of Puerto Rico played? How did her perception here convince her that a new grass-roots movement to fight poverty was needed? How did her decision to act on her observations cause divisions between the traditional Puerto Rican government agencies and the ones that she and her fellow Nuyoricans were bound to create?

4. What were the six basic principles of the Puerto Rican Community Development Project?

5. Although some perceived the difficulties in achieving success with the PRCDP to be a reflection of an “ideological fight between a professionally-based movement and a grass-roots movement” (115), how did Antonia explain the conflict?

6. What were the successes of the PDCDP? What were the failures?


7. What caused the dissolution of the PDCDP? Why in retrospect many years later did Antonia think the action she and twenty-six of her colleagues took was “the best decision” (119) despite the immediate losses that were incurred?

8. What were the business and career components of the Agency for Business and Career Development (ABCD)? How did linguist Ana Zentella’s Basic Occupational Language Training (BOLT) help realize some of the career goals of the ABCD?

9. How did the assistance given to Johnny Torres through the business entrepreneurship component of the ABCD create a “major business incubator in the South Bronx” (120)?

10. How did Antonia finally learn the history of Puerto Rico? Which audience was given the most priority? How did this effort to familiarize Nuyoricans with their history and culture lead to the creation of a professional network of mentors for the youth in ASPIRA?




B. Writing Incentive

Choose one of these topics.

1. Defining “Community”

For Antonia Pantoja, the word “community” was understood to be “the group with its culture, its language, its patterns of behavior in the family” (111). In her opinion, the word “community” could not be restricted to “geographic” boundaries within one neighborhood because Puerto Ricans lived all over the city and in different parts of the United States.

How do you define “community?” Write a paragraph that goes from the definition itself to concrete examples that best demonstrate its meaning.

2. Evaluating a Philosophical Concept

Inherent in the philosophy that mobilized the Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited – Associated Community Teams (HARYOU – ACT) was the “key concept in any request for federal funds to address poverty,” the “idea of having the poor act for themselves” (112).

Do you agree with the practicality of this philosophy in its absolute state, which implies that the people of a disadvantaged group should act for themselves? If not, would the additional factor of a cadre of experienced professionals, employed to use their expertise to assist and get things going, bring more reality to this concept? Yes or no? Give concrete examples based on history or your personal experiences in support of your point of view.

3. Writing about the Creation of an Organization

In summarizing their efforts to create ASPIRA, Antonia Pantoja writes: “After months of work, our group had prepared a philosophy, a mission, objectives, and a work plan” (98 – 99).

Why is it important to have a philosophy, a mission, objectives, and a work plan if you are creating an organization? If you have ever been a member of a club, an organization, or a committee , write about the establishment of this “agency.” Describe its philosophy, mission, immediate objectives, and work plan. To what extent did its success or failure depend on the members’ preparation of a document including these four factors?



Fifth Part: Leadership in the Overall Society (1965 –1969) [125 --138]

A. General Understanding: True or False?

Working with a partner, decide if these statements are true (T) or false (F). If they are false, rewrite them to make them true.

__1. Throughout her first years in New York, Antonia never experienced the feeling of an inner void because of the many intimate relationships she had.

__2. Antonia was very happy that she had left ASPIRA in order to teach full-time at Columbia University.

__3. Antonia’s faculty position at Columbia University was ironically in the very same program – community organization – that her advisor had discouraged her from majoring in.

__4. Working with the other faculty members in community organization, Antonia and her colleagues articulated a new objective of the profession of social worker, that of pursuing social change.

__5. Teaching at Columbia University never brought Antonia any benefits in the outside world.

__6. Robert Kennedy told Antonia that she was selected to be a delegate-at-large at the New York State Constitutional Convention because both parties considered her to be the best representative of the Puerto Rican community.

__7. When working as a delegate-at-large, Antonia enjoyed participating in the political arena and accepted Robert Kennedy’s recommendation that she run for a reform Democrat position in the Upper West Side as a result.

__8. The Puerto Rican Institute for Political Participation (PRIPP), an organization that helped youth in college and high school to experience the political process, was established at the same time Antonia worked at the New York State Constitutional Convention.

__9. After her work at the Constitutional Convention, Antonia was nominated by Mayor John Lindsay to be on the Bundy Blue Ribbon Panel to design a process to centralize the New York City Board of Education.

__10. The combined income Antonia received from her teaching at Columbia University and the New School for Social Research and her work on the convention and the panel put her in a new tax bracket and enabled her to buy land in Puerto Rico.

__11. The work that Antonia did on the convention and the panel gave her the real-life experience of the education that she would have received if she had accepted the Fulbright Scholarship and had gone to Europe.

__12. Antonia became interested not only in improving the schools but also in revitalizing urban communities.

__13. In considering her achievements while writing her memoir, Antonia Pantoja expresses her disappointment at not being able to accomplish even more.



Fifth Part: Leadership in the Overall Society (1965 –1969) [125 --138

B. Writing Incentive: Working with Quotations

Choose one of these quotations and write a composition explaining its significance based on these two contexts: Antonia’s life and your own life experiences.

1. In my own understanding of things, through experiences, study, and professional development, I knew that the society in which we lived was wrong. Experiences in my own community had clearly and forcefully demonstrated to me that poor and excluded communities could pull themselves out of the condition of poverty if the institutions of the society offered them the services, resources, education, and skills to become productive members. I knew that the members of these communities were considered the problem and accused of creating the ills that they suffered; the society and its institutions absolved themselves of any responsibility for creating the problems. I know that because I am a member of one of these communities. (p. 127)

2. Many of the members of my group were critical of my decision [not to run for the position in the Upper West Side under the banner of the reform Democrats] and could not understand why I declined. Now, I can speak about what I never told them. The life of a political candidate is one of grave pressure under the attack of enemies whom one does not even know. I did not want my private life examined and exposed to public scrutiny. I did not know who my father was, and I feared that there might be public information that would hurt my mother. Also, I had never married. I had led a bohemian life in my early years, and since then I had had a number of female companions. I felt that all these things could have been the subject of personal attacks because I knew that political campaigns use low tactics. These are the reasons why I declined the offer to run for public office. (pp. 130 – 131)

3. I began to see the new professional leaders of our community, who had emerged from the convention, moving into newly accessible administrative positions in city agencies and the political party, but they had little or no understanding of the exclusion and disenfranchisement of nonwhite people in the society. They were new leaders who had not come by their positions through involvement with the Puerto Rican community, and therefore, they owed allegiance to the majority community and not to us. I continued to call for the development of a leadership of ethical commitment, but the response that I usually received was that I was a naïve social worker or educator who did not understand “how one gets to the top.” (p. 135)

4. When I completed this work, and returned to consulting for the Puerto Rican Forum, I successfully used the knowledge that I had learned about coalition-building to establish an economic development program that had linkages with the Jewish and black communities. These new programs pooled resources, shared information and knowledge, and ultimately helped to open doors that we Puerto Ricans could not have entered alone. The institutions were the banks, universities, and high-level consultant groups. (pp. 135 – 136)



Sixth Part: Return to Puerto Rico and Return to New York (1969 – 1983) [139 –179]

A. General Understanding: True or False?

Working with a partner, decide if these statements are true (T) or false (F). If they are false, rewrite them to make them true.

__1. Antonia never let her health problems determine where she lived or what she did.

__2. Antonia always found it easy to get jobs in her native Puerto Rico.

__3. Antonia sometimes abandoned projects that she had begun.

__4. A key principle Antonia learned is that attaining power is essential to any attempt to effectuate social change.

__5. Antonia never showed any interest in seeking independence for Puerto Rico.




B. Note-taking: Reviewing and Compiling Information

Working with a partner, complete this chart as you review the many important projects and business initiatives Antonia embarked upon between 1969 and 1983.

Project/Business Initiative

Location/Time Period Mission Goals Accomplishments

1. Adelante Boricuas (Forward Boricua) to Office of Education in Washington, D.C.

San Juan, Puerto Rico/1969 organize youth clubs, study problems of neighborhood, prepare a plan to solve problems

ASPIRA of Puerto Rico was formed.

2. Casa del Sol

3. Faculty position at Puerto Rico School of Social Work

4. Pantoja Associates

5. Puerto Rican Research and Resources Center

6. Project Demonstrating Excellence (PDE) – Union Graduate School

bibliography of books, research studies, art work about Puerto Rico/create program of 8 fellowships/study reasons for dropouts/create a bilingual college

Boricua College


Project/Business Initiative

Location/Time Period Mission Goals Accomplishments

7. Study Commission on Undergraduate Education and the Education of Teachers (SCUEET)

8. Committee on Cultural Pluralism

9. Teaching position at San Diego School of Social Work [member of Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE)]

10. Graduate School for Urban Resources and Social Policy (Graduate School for Community Development)

teach people from communities of color who wanted to address problems in their communities that caused harm to their peoples/create a model for community-based education

11. Multicultural Art Institute




C. Writing Incentive


1. Writing about Cultural Differences

At her first faculty meeting of the University of Puerto Rico, Antonia demonstrated that she did not “know [her] place” (144): Not only did she speak at this first meeting, but she called the director by her first name, and she openly disagreed with the director. Evidently, because of her “American” education, she forgot how she was supposed to behave as a Puerto Rican.

Has your experience in the United States changed the way in which you behave in social situations in your country of birth? Do you sometimes feel like “an outsider” (146), as Antonia did, when you return to your native country? In the process of becoming an American, have you “forgotten” who you once were? Explain the kind of cultural evolution you have undergone in adapting to American life and discuss whether you regard the changes you have perceived within yourself as good or bad.

2. Working with Quotations: Writing about the Purpose of an Education

First, we [i.e. Mina Perry and I] changed the philosophy, teaching approach, and readings of the social policy courses. We taught students to analyze the society in which they lived and to identify policies and how these policies affected their lives and the lives of their family, friends, and community.

… There was a lot of discussion of our capacity to think – analyze, synthesize, integrate, remember – and the fact that in order to be responsible citizens and to make decisions that affect our well-being, these functions and capacities of the brain had to be used consciously to affect the kind of world we want to live in. (p. 161)

Explain the goals of an educator, according to Antonia Pantoja. Do you agree with her that students, “in order to be responsible citizens,” have to have their brains trained to “analyze, synthesize, integrate, [and] remember” so that they can build “the kind of world [they] want to live in?” Why or why not?

3. Writing an Opinion Paragraph: Should the Standards for Minority Students be Lowered?

At the Graduate School for Urban Resources and Social Policy, Antonia was approached by a group of minority students who asked for a lowering of the criteria that had been established: “They complained that if ours was a minority institution, why should we demand as much as other institutions” (170)?


Do you think these students were correct to request what they did? If minority students are seeking a sense of empowerment and a place of power in the mainstream society, is it a good idea for them to try to attain this goal in an educational institution that expects less of them than other institutions expect of their students? Why or why not?



Seventh Part: I Return to Puerto Rico to Retire (1984 – 1998) [180 –193]

A. General Understanding: Giving Reasons

Working with a partner, complete these sentences by giving the correct reasons.

1. Antonia returned to Puerto Rico in 1984 because _________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________.

2. Antonia was excited about living in the rain forest in the mountains in Cubuy because ____________

____________________________________________________________________________________.

3. The delivery of Antonia and Mina’s belongings to their house in Cubuy became very complicated because ______________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________.

4. A sense of “community” developed during the delivery of their belongings because ______________

____________________________________________________________________________________.

5. The NEA grant to develop a comprehensive art program in Carolina, which Mina and Antonia wanted to work on as a way of contributing to the city of Carolina’s redevelopment plan, was not approved because _____________________________________________________________________________.

6. The residents of Cubuy believed that Antonia and Mina had come there to open a school because

____________________________________________________________________________________.

7. The Saturday morning sessions with John Luis and others about the universe, the world, the United States, and Puerto Rico started because _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

8. PRODUCIR came into being because ___________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________.

9. PRODUCIR had the potential to validate Antonia’s philosophy and previous work as a community organizer because ______________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________.

10. PRODUCIR has been somewhat of a success because ______________________________________


____________________________________________________________________________________.

11. Antonia returned to New York with Mina in 1998 because ______________________________________________________________________________________________


Seventh Part: I Return to Puerto Rico to Retire (1984 – 1998) [180 –193]

B. Writing Incentive: Working with Quotations


1. Preparing a Community for Self-Empowerment

“I had learned one thing in all the years of institution building: If the people who will benefit from the institution do not participate in the work needed to establish the institution, they will never act as if the institution belongs to them. They will expect you to administer it for them” (181).

Write a composition in which you show how Antonia’s experiences with the people of Cubuy and Lomas confirmed this belief of hers in community organization. Supplement your narrative with your own “experiences” with institution-building, drawing on situations encountered in your own life or those studied in courses you may have taken in political science, history, public administration or sociology.

2. Considering a Definition of “Produc i r”

According to Antonia Pantoja, Ramón Emeterio Betances, the great Puerto Rican leader, said: “Trabajar es producir y producir es servir a la humanidad (to work is to produce and to produce is to serve humanity)”

Do you agree? Why or why not?



Epilogue: Reflections and Ruminations [194 –197]

Open for Discussion: Working with Quotations

Read these quotations from the Epilogue of Memoir of a Visionary. Discuss the questions that follow each quotation in small groups. Select a representative who will be prepared to share a summary of your group’s discussion with the rest of the class.

1. Writing as an Integrating Activity

In the Epilogue, Antonia notes the following about the process of writing her memoir:

Writing these memoirs has been an integrating activity. As I come to the end of this adventure that I started two years ago, I contemplate the road traveled and find myself at peace, because of various reasons. First, the reflection and writing have allowed me to integrate many pieces of myself that had been disconnected. I have been able to resolve many old issues. I understand and accept how I have felt about my mother and how she has felt about me. …

Another very important piece of the integrating process has been my ability to accept who I am, with my shortcomings and faults. I know that my faults and shortcomings have been carefully tied to my strengths. (p. 194)

Why can writing be an “integrating activity,” one that lets individuals connect many pieces of themselves that have seemed “disconnected”? Have the various pieces really been disconnected, or have they always been part of a pattern that has come to define their lives? How can a person like Antonia find peace in the recognition of her strengths and weaknesses by embarking upon a two-year memoir-writing project?




Open for Discussion: Working with Quotations (cont.)

2. Defining a Word: “A Visionary”

Many people have called me a visionary. I never liked this characterization because I considered my ideas and projects practical answers to the resolution of problems. Now, I accept that I am a visionary, if being a visionary means that I have tried to transform reality. (p. 197)

Why did Antonia first have reservations about being called a visionary? How did her first definition connect more with abstract, poetic visions? Consider how having a vision to “transform reality” can be somewhat poetic as well.

In addition, go back to the first question you answered about the word visionary in the Pre-reading Activities (A. Considering the Book’s Title), and respond to the “post-reading” question.





3. Coming to Terms with One’s Identity

I am at peace with who I am . . . with my achievements and with the manner in which I have handled and corrected my mistakes. I have come to realize that, in a great measure, one becomes who one wishes to make oneself. I have created my own definition of myself to avoid having others define me. (p. 197)

In considering Antonia’s definition of self, how would you characterize her as a person? Weak? Strong? Honest? Selfish? Etc.





4. Finding One’s “Home”

The most important achievement in the process of integration has been finding the answer that I have carried within me for many years and over many spans of geography: “Where is my home?” I now know that home is New York City. I have returned and resumed my work in my community with old friends and new friends. I am a Nuyorican! (p. 197)

Why does it seem appropriate for Antonia to consider New York City her home? How do you define “home,” and what factors have helped you to determine “where” your “home” is?

Memoir o f a Vis ionary : Anton ia Panto ja

S tudy Guide/Rober t F. Cohen/2011

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