November 2022 marks the 90th anniversary of the first bilingual book published in the country, Pura Belpre’s “Perez y Martina”! This Puerto Rican folktale regales the adventures of Martina, a Spanish cockroach of high degree, and her many suitors. Join William Walker of SUNY Oneonta, Paloma Celis Carbajal of the New York Public Library, and … Continued
Bianca Graulau is a Puerto Rican independent journalist who has worked with a variety of media outlets, reporting on Puerto Rico's political climate. After working as a local TV reporter in the states, she moved back to Puerto Rico to care for her family and produce independent media. Her work on austerity measures, colonialism, and … Continued
Join CENTRO & The Whitney for a FREE community viewing of the exhibition, "no existe un mundo poshuracan": Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria, on February 2nd from 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM. The exhibition, on display at the Whitney Museum of Art from November 23rd, 2022 – April 23rd 2023, explores … Continued
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library dedicated to the collection and preservation of Black life in America and a partner of CENTRO. It's founder, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, was an Afro-Puerto Rican determined to uplift our stories. Nearly 100 years later, we have the Schomburg and CENTRO, whose collections ensure … Continued
A new in-person series in celebration of our 50th Anniversary! Join us once a month on Saturday afternoons at our Evelina Antonetty Reading Room in the CENTRO Library & Archives for La Meriendita, a story hour dedicated to children's books. This month's story hour book is Vicki and a Summer of Change! (¡Vicki y un … Continued
Drops of Inclusivity examines race and racism on the island of Puerto Rico by combining a wide-angle historical narrative with the individual stories of Black Puerto Ricans. While some of these Afro-Boricuas, such as Roberto Clemente and Ruth Fernández, are well known, others, such as Cecilia Orta and Juan Falú Zarzuela, have been largely forgotten, … Continued
Join Centro's Project Archivist, Herbert Duran, for a virtual tour and presentation of Centro's archive, focusing on Puerto Rican migration to Hawai'i. Spurred by depressed economic conditions and a hurricane that devastated the island in 1899, between 1900 and 1902 over 5,000 Puerto Ricans left their home island and traveled to the islands of Hawai'i … Continued
Dr. Caraballo Cueto’s latest research evaluates some of the macroeconomic prospects that Puerto Rico could expect after a change in its political status. This shift would probably result in considerable changes in education, health, transportation, environment, housing, and other aspects of life quality. However, this research is only concerned with the economic consequences of changing … Continued
Puerto Rico’s natural environment and political landscape are fertile terrain for many artists in no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria; their works explore how the archipelago’s ecology and infrastructure are entwined. In this panel moderated by Yarimar Bonilla, Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at … Continued
Join Yarimar Bonilla, Director of CENTRO, in kicking off CENTRO’s 50th Anniversary Symposium by reflecting on the last few years in the Diaspora and at CENTRO. Dr. Arcadio Diaz-Quiñones and Dr. Yomaira C. Figueroa-Vásquez will provide valuable insight on the institution's emergence during the civil rights movement; the birth of “Aprender a Luchar, Luchar es … Continued
CENTRO turns 50 this year! We're kicking off our 50th Anniversary with a symposium aimed at reflecting on our vibrant history as a hub for activism, academic research, and community-based leadership.
Edith Diaz, Miriam Colon, and Tina Ramirez, amongst others, are all Puerto Rican actresses and performers for whom the concept of working twice as hard for half as much is not foreign. Despite being critically acclaimed and leaving a lasting impact in the world of performing arts within the U.S, they all faced an uphill … Continued
Can grief and mourning be catalysts for political change? This conversation with artists Garvin Sierra Vega, Gabriella N. Báez, Sofia Córdova, Awilda Sterling-Duprey, Elle Pérez, Lulu Varona, and Edra Soto considers aspects of loss, whether personal or societal, and the inextricable relationship between art and politics in Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria. The discussion is moderated … Continued
Known as the island donde hasta la piedras cantan – “where even the rocks sing” – Puerto Rico is home to a dizzying breadth of musical expression. From the lyrical boleristas of the 1930s, to the electric salseros of the ’70s, to the reggaetoneros of today who have taken music from the margins and made … Continued
Despite Puerto Rico’s fertile land and year-round tropical climate, the archipelago has poor conditions for farming. Beginning with the displacement of farmers and destruction of farmland to make way for a wave of industrialization coupled with natural disasters that are growing in intensity as a result of climate change, it’s easy to see how we’ve … Continued
CENTRO has launched a new in-person series in celebration of our 50th Anniversary! Join us once a month on Saturday afternoons at the Silberman School of Social Work for La Meriendita, a story hour dedicated to children's books. This month's story hour book is The Journey of Pura Belpre's Tales by Manuel Morán, a story … Continued