Colonial Echoes in the Psyche: Collective Trauma in Puerto Rico's Postcolonial Condition

In this article, I explore the psychological and social consequences of Puerto Rico's colonial status through the lens of psychoanalysis and those of liberation theology, such as Gustavo Gutierrez and James Cone. Drawing on the foundational work of Sigmund Freud and then others such as Frantz Fanon, Homi Bhabha, Ranjana Khanna, and Ignacio Martín-Baró, I examine how racial stratification, colonial violence, and national repression manifest in the unconscious defenses of Puerto Rican subjectivity. I give special attention to the 1950 Jayuya Uprising and the U.S. bombing of the town, which serve as emblematic events of colonial trauma and historical erasure. I conclude with recommendations for decolonial psychological practices and educational reforms to heal (therapeuo) collective trauma in Puerto Rico and other postcolonial societies. Furthermore, I document how I plan to bring psychoanalytic ideas to help people on the island of Puerto Rico and the motivation for this enterprise.