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Author: Samantha Galarza

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these posts are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions, values, or perspectives of the ILI program.

This is a presentation slide with the title "Puerto Rico: La Operacion." There is a black and white image of a woman smiling while looking at a young child that she is holding. There is also the following text: "Young women were key to labor force — Problem was pregnancy. Result: massive sterilization program. Women coerced into sterilization without being told it was irreversible. By 1968, 1/3 of women childbearing age were sterilized. Emigration and sterilization resulted in population drop with no increase in standard of living."

Sterilization of Puerto Rican Women

In 1937, Puerto Rico enacted Law 116, the last eugenics sterilization law passed under United States territorial jurisdiction. Soon after, a program endorsed by the

A man sits with his arm around a women, and there are two children sitting next to her. They are on long red seat in what looks like a Ferris wheel car. They look happy together.

“I Like it Like That”

“I Like It Like That” is a 1994 American comedy-drama film about the trials and tribulations of a young Puerto Rican man and a half

Samantha Galarza is a bilingual (English/Spanish) SAG-AFTRA screen actress, writer, performance artist, educator, and podcaster. As an art-ivist, her work explores queer identity, femme-phobia, intergenerational trauma, migration, internalized