Presented by Laura J. Torres-Rodríguez

This presentation develops a typology of popular, artistic, and critical representations of disability in Puerto Rican history to contextualize an analysis of Cortijo y su Combo’s well-known song “Perico.” Motivated by Torres-Rodriguez's personal experience listening to the song in the 1980s, she analyzes “Perico” as a form of popular memory that examines how colonial infrastructures have shaped conceptions of racialized disability. By centering on reinterpretations of the song that emphasize sensory and perceptual differences, the analysis positions the Puerto Rican cultural debate about the song as a challenge to dominant frameworks linking ableism, anti-Blackness, and sovereignty in the Puerto Rican context.