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
Gather around with us for a Centro Town Hall event on Tuesday, March 28th, 2023 at 2 PM EST. Centro’s Mellon grant coordinator, Cristel Jusino Díaz, and the Co-conveners of Centro’s new Decolonization Study Group for a brief discussion of Centro’s new program “Bridging the Divides” funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Andrew … Continued
What would be the implications of Puerto Rico shifting its status from an unincorporated territory to a state? As part of the Bridging the Divides Decolonization study group, CENTRO Directora will have a conversation with Prof. Christina D. Ponsa Kraus and Rep. José Bernardo Márquez. This event is part of a series including discussions of … Continued
Join CENTRO and Hunter East Harlem Gallery for the opening night of “Ida y Vuelta: Experiencias de la migración en el arte puertorriqueño contemporáneo” at the Hunter College East Harlem Gallery on March 30th. The exhibit, whose name translates to “Arrivals and Departures: Migration Experiences in Contemporary Puerto Rican Art,” is curated by Dr. Laura … Continued
Join Anaida Hernández as she explores her work, La rueda de la fortuna - el sueño americano (1999), on display as part of the exhibition, Ida y Vuelta: Experiencias de la migración en el arte puertorriqueño contemporáneo at the Hunter College East Harlem Gallery. La rueda de la fortuna was part of Hernández solo exhibition … Continued
How can painting, and art more broadly, be a method for resisting imperialism and colonization? In this conversation, artists Armig Santos, Danielle De Jesus, Gamaliel Rodríguez, Rogelio Báez Vega, and Miguel Luciano discuss their individual practices and collectively explore painting’s possibilities as a medium of opposition to and critique of Puerto Rico’s colonial condition. The … Continued
The U.S. Census Bureau has collected data on race since the first census in 1790 and on Hispanic or Latino origin since the 1970 Census. How these topics are measured, and statistics on them are collected and coded, has changed nearly every decade throughout the history of the census, reflecting social, political and economic factors. … Continued
Join CENTRO and the UPR - Ponce Campus Choir at the People's Church in East Harlem for a live musical performance! The University of Puerto Rico in Ponce concert choir is a non-profit organization that works as a creative space of excellence, where students of different specialties with economic needs come together to perform traditional … Continued
Looking for a new book to read? Look no further! Join us for another Library & Archives Lunch Hour on new books in Puerto Rican Studies. The field of Puerto Rican studies is rich and diverse in both its subject matter and those who write about it, and there's something for everyone this lunch hour. … Continued