The word palante (a colloquial abbreviated version of the Spanish phrase para adelante, meaning moving forward) was a call to revolutionary action an… - Edna Acosta-Belén

When referring to the masses, must men always be reminded that women represent slightly more than half of the world's population?

The Palante documentary is now regarded as a classic source for learning about the sparsely recognized participation of Puerto Ricans in the US civil rights movement, and a staple of many classrooms in secondary schools and colleges (including my own). In sum, ¡Palante, Siempre Palante! opened the door to understanding the linkages between Puerto Rican migration and the dynamics of a long-standing US colonial domination over Puerto Rico, its control of the island's economy, and the oppressive nature of the internal colonialism Puerto Ricans face in US society. Developing consciousness about pervading class, racial, and gender inequalities inevitably leads to envisioning ways in which effective grassroots collective organizing and political engagement can bring about significant social transformations at the local and national levels, and also reaffirm the histories of oppression and resistance of marginalized peoples.

How the past is unveiled and represented by an oppressed group or community is an essential component of constructing a collective historical memory that inspires their present and future spheres of activism and resistance. Building a historical memory, however, is always a rugged and convoluted terrain of contesting claims, but moreso for those populations that have endured the coloniality of being silenced and are seeking to voice their untold stories and, in this way, contribute to the production of new decolonial knowledge.