On March 19 the Afro-Puerto Rican Testimonies collective was featured in the Caribbean Conference cycle hosted by the Institute of Caribbean Studies and the Regional Caribbean Library of the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras. Dr. Jocelyn A. Géliga Vargas and MAEE candidate Irmaris Rosas Nazario, along with UPRM alumnus Luis D. Cruz, community collaborators Alfredo González, Tania Delgado and Carlos Delgado, and Interamerican University professor Dr. Inés Canabal partook in the presentation titled “Porque tú puedes ser negra y tener el alma blanca”: identidades y memorias afropuertorriqueñas en el oeste de Puerto Rico. Dr. Isar Godreau, director of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research at UPR-Cayey, was the respondent to our presentation. Also featured in this semester’s Caribbean Conference cycle were Dr. Juan Flores (NYU/CUNY), Dr. Anthony Maingot (Florida International University), Dr. Jorge Duany (UPR-RP) and other national and international scholars.
On March 20 an interview with Dr. Géliga Vargas about Afro-Puerto Rican Testimonies aired in Radio Universidad (WRTU-89.7 FM).
On April 15 our collaborative team delivered a presentation titled “Historias y memorias afropuertorriqueñas” at the Interamerican University-San Germán, which focused exclusively on the oral histories of former residents and workers of the Central Azucarera Eureka in Hormigueros, many of whom were in the audience.
In June Dr. Géliga Vargas will present a paper titled “There Are Blacks Who Act Like Masters”: Testimonios of Racial Conflicts in Puerto Rico at the XXVIII International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.