Josue Q. Estrada

I am currently working on my dissertation tentatively titled "We Can't Be Ignored Anymore: A History of the Latina/o Voting Rights Movement, 1960-1980," which examines the efforts by Puerto Ricans and Chicanos to secure voting rights. I seek to investigate how the Puerto Rican and Chicano voting rights movements coalesced to create an identifiable Latino voting bloc, and to explore the roots of the structural factors that continue to thwart the Latino vote, particularly at the local level. This investigation provides an alternative understanding of the voting rights movement that places Puerto Ricans, Chicanos, and African Americans at the center of study.

My research interests include voting rights, race, empire, migration, politics, and citizenship. I am also a collaborator for the digital history project called "Mapping American Social Movements" that explores how social movements have influenced American life and politics in the 20th century.