Summary
Over the past few years, Dr. Ralph Cintron has been exploring climate change while traveling between Puerto Rico and Humboldt Park, a key place for the Puerto Rican community in Chicago. In April 2024, he met Dr. Rafael Méndez Tejeda, a climate scientist who described the Caribbean islands as a connected chain facing similar climate challenges. This idea of a connected Caribbean has been expanded by thinkers like Martinique’s Édouard Glissant, who introduced “archipelagic thinking,” emphasizing the unity in diversity of these islands. In Humboldt Park, discussions about Caribbean thought are vibrant, especially within institutions like the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture. These organizations focus on cultural and economic issues affecting the Puerto Rican diaspora and Puerto Rico’s political status. They even influenced the inclusion of a diaspora representative in the most progressive party’s platform for the upcoming Puerto Rican elections. Climate change became a top priority for Humboldt Park’s leaders after Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. They were quick to provide aid, house refugees, and support rebuilding efforts in Puerto Rico. They have also been involved in securing federal grants for Puerto Rico’s ecological improvements. In collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory, they secured a $25 million grant from the Department of Energy for the CROCUS (“Community Research on Climate & Urban Science”) project. This project studies how cities like Chicago affect and are affected by climate change, focusing on under-resourced areas like Humboldt Park. As an ethnographer and leader in Humboldt Park, Dr. Cintron has been documenting the work of over 100 scientists involved in CROCUS, the interactions between scientists and the community, and the early findings on atmospheric data. He is also analyzing climate data for Puerto Rico provided by Argonne. This website will share brief reflections on what he has learned over the years.
Research Topics
1. Link between Humboldt Park and Puerto Rico: Desplazmiento as Condition
The link between Humboldt Park and Puerto Rico is deeply rooted in a shared history of struggle and self-determination. During the 1970s, the Puerto Rican independence movement found a strong foothold in the diaspora, particularly in Chicago. Leaders of this movement argued that the challenges faced by Puerto Ricans in the diaspora, such as gentrification and educational and political marginalization, were extensions of the centuries-old anti-colonial struggle in Puerto Rico. The displacement (desplazamiento) of working-class Puerto Ricans, whether within the city or from the island to the mainland, became a cornerstone for organizing a unified political ideology centered on self-determination. The arrest of some Chicago leaders for alleged terrorist acts solidified their status as political prisoners, a designation recognized by the Latin American radical left. In the 1990s, the remaining activists from this history formed the Puerto Rican Agenda, which has since become influential in island politics. Thus, Humboldt Park’s claim to being part of the Puerto Rican archipelago is both metaphorical and real, reflecting a deep connection through shared political struggles and cultural ties. This bond is evident in Humboldt Park’s ongoing involvement in Puerto Rican political and social issues, reinforcing its role as an integral part of the broader Puerto Rican community.
2. Ontological and Epistemological Cracks between People and Scientists
Ontological and Epistemological Cracks:
Ontological cracks are the gaps in how scientists and community members perceive the nature of reality. Epistemological cracks are the differences in how they gather and understand knowledge. For example, scientists often approach the world through measurable data and specific phenomena. They might analyze how different parts of a city have varying levels of pollutants or how surfaces like green roofs versus concrete affect heat absorption. They collect this data using advanced sensors and then create complex computer models to predict different future scenarios. This approach relies heavily on mathematics and technical analysis. In contrast, community members experience their environment through their senses—what they see, smell, and feel every day. Their understanding of climate and weather is often more holistic and intuitive. They notice the heat of concrete in the summer, the coolness under tree shade, or the smell of pollution without needing detailed measurements. This type of knowledge is based on direct experience rather than abstract data. During discussions like those in the CROCUS project, scientists sometimes find it challenging to explain their technical and mathematical findings to community members. For instance, scientists can measure and predict increased rainfall and its potential to cause more flooding. However, the CROCUS project focuses mainly on collecting scientific data, not on addressing the infrastructure issues that contribute to flooding. Solving these problems often involves political decisions and budget considerations, which are priorities for communities. In summary, while scientists work with detailed data and models, community members rely on their everyday experiences. Understanding this difference can help bridge the gap between scientific research and community needs.
Bridging the Cracks:
The original goal of the CROCUS project was to transform traditional scientific practices. As the head of CROCUS highlighted in a meeting with community representatives on August 22, 2024, “This grant is trying to do science in ways that it has never been done before.” Historically, Western science has contributed to creating hierarchies and divisions. Concepts like “universal natural laws,” “inert matter,” and “the mastery of Nature” helped establish a divide between what is considered “modern science” and “premodern superstitions.” This separation has roots in colonialism and has played a role in widening the gap between the global elite and poorer communities. While science has made significant strides in health and other areas, it has not always been equitable. CROCUS, with backing from the US Department of Energy, aims to address these issues by pursuing two main goals. First, it seeks to understand the city not as a single, uniform entity affected by climate change, but as a collection of distinct areas. These areas vary based on infrastructure investments, leading to issues like heat islands and flooding that are often more severe in lower-income neighborhoods. Second, CROCUS aims to ensure that scientific research is driven by the needs and priorities of marginalized communities, rather than just for the sake of science itself. The project hopes to focus on environmental issues identified by these communities, providing data that they can use to develop practical solutions. Despite these ambitious goals, putting them into practice is challenging, but it represents a significant effort to make science more inclusive and responsive to the needs of those most affected by environmental problems.
Examples of Bridging the Cracks:
1. CROCUS Weather Balloon Launches
For more information on the balloon launch & understanding balloon launch data collection/analysis
2. Puerto Rican Agenda Meeting
3. The Data for Puerto Rico
To access the full report from Argonne National Laboratory, please click here.
4. The Data for Humboldt Park
5. What is Intellectual Humility?
At a recent CROCUS meeting, where climate scientists and community members gathered, one of the leading scientists remarked, “It’s time to find intellectual humility.” He was calling on his colleagues to recognize that one way of doing science had run its course and that a new approach was needed. Not long after, another well-known member of the CROCUS team, a climate modeler, added, “Science without action is useless.”
What do these statements mean? For centuries, science has focused on uncovering universal natural laws, dismissing people’s opinions and experiences as too inconsistent to rely on. While nature’s rules, uncovered through precise math and observation, seemed steady, human behavior looked too messy to fit in. Historically, scientists even sought to categorize or control this “unruliness,” seeing it as a way to extend a rational grip over everything—living or non-living. This drive for mastery spread across the world alongside colonial powers, while the knowledge and traditions of other cultures were often dismissed as mere myths or superstitions.
That era, though, is ending. Many may not agree, but more and more scientists are beginning to see how their fields have often created a hierarchy of knowledge, elevating “civilized” ways of understanding the world over those of other cultures. CROCUS is just one small step in a larger shift. And while it’s not perfect, the work it’s trying to do is important. Climate change doesn’t discriminate—it affects the whole planet. But it’s often the most vulnerable communities who face the harshest consequences. So what do these communities already know about resilience and survival? What knowledge do they want to add? How have they navigated similar challenges in the past? How can scientists make complex ideas understandable, bringing them into meaningful, real-world conversations that lead to shared decision-making? And how can humility—on both sides—start to close the gap created by these long-standing divides?
This is the true work of CROCUS: bridging the worlds of science and everyday life. We hope this approach becomes more common across the globe because, as they said, “science without action is useless.
People
Professor Emeritus in English and Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago
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