Puerto Rican madrinas from Los Sures in 1980s Williamsburg were the thread weaving their community together. While many lived in poverty, up against the patriarchy and rampant discrimination, these caretakers were a lifeline, a sense of place, to newcomers and longtime residents alike. 

The neighborhood was the focus of Los Sures, director Diego Echeverria’s 1984 documentary. The 40-year-old film followed five people in the once-impoverished but vibrant Southside community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, then mostly inhabited by Puerto Ricans and a few Dominican families. Three of the interviewees were women—Marta Aviles, Ana Maria Soto, and Evelyn Borges—all single mothers; but they had dreams and ideas of life that at the time weren’t fully appreciated. Yet, they lived on, a stronghold in communities deeply committed to religion and each other.

by Damaly Gonzalez

Read more at Intervenxions.