The year 2022 marks the centennial of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Balzac v. People of Porto Rico, one of the most consequential Supreme Court rulings that shaped the status of Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans within the US empire. Tune in for this Afternoon Tertulia as we unravel the latest CENTRO Journal, Back to … Continued
no existe un mundo poshuracán: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria is on display at the Whitney Museum of Art from November 23rd, 2022–April 23rd 2023. The exhibition explores how artists have responded to the transformative years since that event by bringing together more than fifty artworks made over the last five … Continued
This teach-in, the first in a series of public events organized by the Mellon funded Bridging the Divides Decolonization Study Group, asks our community to think about the lessons we have learned in the 5 years since Hurricane María made landfall in Puerto Rico and how those lessons can be applied in light of Hurricane … Continued
The rise of the digital era has allowed us to capture and share everything and anything in real time. But then, the unthinkable happens, your hard drive crashes, you lose your thumb drive, or you can't log into your Instagram account. Join this Library Lunch Hour and learn how to best preserve your photos, manuscripts, … Continued
Mariposa María Teresa Fernández is an award-winning Afro Puerto Rican poet, spoken word performance artist, visual artist, educator, activist, scholar and Bronx native. Join her and fellow Nuyorican Poet, Urayoan Noel, as they discuss Fernández' poetry and the themes of identity, belonging, decolonization, social justice, blackness and the Puerto Rican experience in Nueva York. Mariposa … Continued
Use code PRSA2022 for 20% off your purchase! Join CENTRO on October 26th at 3 PM for an Afternoon Tertulia on the new journal - Beyond Corruption: From Colonial Practices to Emancipatory Futures. This special issue opens a space for understanding and challenging corruption in Puerto Rico, but through an unconventional lens. One that asks … Continued
Join CENTRO Library Manager, Anibal Arocho in exploring new books that contribute to the richness of Puerto Rican studies. The books featured in this Library and Archives Lunch Hour offer a variety of topics including growing up in the 50s in El Barrio, colonialism in the wake of Hurricane Maria, biographies on revolutionary leaders, and … Continued
Puerto Rican Voices Season 5, produced by CENTRO, launches in November of this year! This season, which will be broadcasted on CUNY-TV, focuses on investigative storytelling, looking at the Puerto Rican experience through a transnational lens, building a bridge between the diaspora, and the archipelago. This season features five mini-documentaries focused on current issues in … Continued
Puerto Rican Voices Season 5, produced by CENTRO, launches in November of this year! This season, which will be broadcasted on CUNY-TV, focuses on investigative storytelling, looking at the Puerto Rican experience through a transnational lens and building a bridge between the diaspora and the archipelago. Join CENTRO Directora Yarimar Bonilla, filmmakers Juan C. Davila … Continued
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
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
Join our Directora, Yarimar Bonilla, for a conversation with two renowned activists and educators from the Puerto Rican Diaspora, Iris Morales and Dr. María Josefa Canino, to learn more about the rich history of Puerto Rican activism in New York City. We will screen clips from the documentary "Pa'lante, Siempre Pa'lante" as well as hear … Continued
Join CENTRO and Hostos Community College in celebrating the life and legacy of the great Puerto Rican musician, Tito Puente! April 20th, 2023 would have been Tito's birthday and we're celebrating in style as we dive into his impact on the American music scene and explore the variety of music he produced across genres. He … Continued
Poetry has always been a proud outlet for Nuyoricans, and before the famed cafe, there were poets like Victor Hernandez Cruz. Named one of the greatest American poets by Life Magazine in 1981, his work concerns “the history of immigration in a world-wide sense; the idea of civilization coming into other civilizations.” Join Victor and … Continued
CENTRO is a repository for the archives of many famous and influential Puerto Ricans. However, it has also been a place to keep our own history - CENTRO's history. Join his special Library & Archives Lunch Hour to explore the history of CENTRO as it's maintained in the archives. We'll dive into primary sources dating … Continued
CENTRO has launched a new in-person series in celebration of our 50th Anniversary! Join us on Tuesday, May 2nd at 4 PM ET 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 When Julia Danced Bomba by Dr. Raquel M. Ortiz, … Continued
Our new "Activism Across the Territories" Cafecito series is focused on highlighting the work of scholars and activists working in and with communities in the US territories. To kick off this series, we welcome Dr. Tiara Na'puti (Assistant Professor of Global and International Studies, University of California-Irvine) to speak with us about her work on … Continued
The latest Data Hub tool aims to visualize and discuss socio-economic data across the five inhabited U.S. Territories including educational attainment and language proficiency, income, employment, housing, health and much more. This discussion will be visualized through a dashboard showcasing such socio-economic data with graphics and charts. The tool both highlights available data as well … Continued
How has Puerto Rican migration influenced and impacted the development of Reggaetón music? This workshop focuses on the role that the Puerto Rican diaspora has played in the history of Reggaetón. Learn about the transcultural Caribbean roots of the genre, the urban realities and experiences of the diaspora, and why Reggaetón is culture. This workshop … Continued
Part of Legacies of San Juan Hill, an ongoing project that aims to uplift the history, communities, and cultural legacy of the Manhattan neighborhoods that existed in and around the area where Lincoln Center was built. Co-presented by the CENTRO and Lincoln Center Between the two World Wars, Puerto Ricans migrated to New York City in rapidly growing … Continued
Tití me preguntó: Are you going to the Bad Bunny Symposium? Join us for the “Thinking with Bad Bunny: Cultural Politics and the Future of Puerto Rico,” symposium on May 12th and 13th at the Silberman School for Social Work in El Barrio. Whether you’re a fan or not, it is undeniable that Bad Bunny … Continued
Join CENTRO and Arturo Castro Nogueras at the People's Church in East Harlem for a live musical performance! Arturo Castro Nogueras draws on a rich cultural background that spans his diverse heritage. The son of two pianists and of Cuban, Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, the guitarist has performed extensively across Europe, Africa and the … Continued
Join us for un Cafecito con... Cuatro Calles, a podcast on history, culture, and memory. Cuatro Calles host, Eric Quiñones is working on archiving the history of Puerto Ricans in New York with the goal of keeping the history and influence of Puerto Ricans in the mainstream in the face of changing demographics. He's joined … Continued
Art in El Barrio is not always accessible to all. However, artists Jorge Luis Rodriguez, Kevin Quiles Bonilla, and Zaq Landsberg have developed art installations that are viable and accessible to all at the Harlem Art Park. Rodriguez's Growth (1985), is a landmark that still stands over 30 years later; it became the first project … Continued
Jazz thrived over generations in San Juan Hill, a historic Manhattan neighborhood home to many iconic musicians, theaters, clubs, and dance halls in the first half of the twentieth century. Jazz musicians who lived and performed there fueled a vibrant creative community and evolved the genre through the stride piano, swing, and bebop eras. Notable … Continued
Over the last two decades, disability justice has become central to understanding the struggles and oppressions our communities face. According to Patty Berne, one of the originators of this concept: "Disability Justice was built because the Disability Rights Movement and Disability Studies do not inherently centralize the needs and experiences of folks experiencing intersectional oppression, … Continued
CENTRO and BAAD — The Bronx Academy of Art and Dance — hosts the New York premiere screening of Fenomenal, Rompeforma 1989 - 1996, a ground breaking documentary film celebrating and preserving the contributions of more than sixty Latinx artists in the experimental Latinx festival Rompeforma: Maratón de Baile. Both nights will feature critical commentary … Continued
CENTRO and BAAD — The Bronx Academy of Art and Dance — hosts the New York premiere screening of Fenomenal, Rompeforma 1989 - 1996, a ground breaking documentary film celebrating and preserving the contributions of more than sixty Latinx artists in the experimental Latinx festival Rompeforma: Maratón de Baile. Both nights will feature critical commentary … Continued
Join us on Saturday, June 10th at 10 AM EST for the 38th annual 116th Street Festival! This festival will take place on 116th Street and Third Avenue, and will feature live music performances, community art, and food influenced by Puerto Rican and Hispanic culture. The 116th Street Festival started in 1985 as ‘Abrazo Fraternal’ … Continued
Join CENTRO and the Latino Film Market for two nights of film screenings, Q&A sessions, and more! Opening Ceremony and Queer Short Film Screenings CENTRO and The Latino Film Market welcomes filmmakers, critics, film enthusiasts, and the general audience to join us for the opening night of the 6th annual Latino Film Market! The programming … Continued
The REFORMA Northeast Chapter advocates for the improvement of library & information services for Spanish speakers and people of Hispanic/ Latino origin in the north east. Be a part of the conversation at the 19th annual joint mini conference - Making a Difference: Engaging Communities of Color. Conference Program SUBJECT TO CHANGE 9:30 AM - … Continued
Join CENTRO and the Latino Film Market for two nights of film screenings, Q&A sessions, and more! Perfume de Gardenias CENTRO and The Latino Film Market welcomes filmmakers, critics, film enthusiasts, and the general audience to join us for a screening and Q&A of Perfume de Gardenias, directed by Macha Colón and created by a mostly … Continued
This summer, MAFIA All Stars presents, for the first time LIVE in New York, a night of hits and stars hosted by the iconic Caribbean pop star Ana Macho. The performance will include Puerto Rican lyricist and rapper, Vladi, with musical direction by El S Vidal Quintero and special guest El Hijo de Boriken.Presented by … Continued
July 20th, 2023 at 3:00 PM ET MAC en El Barrio and CENTRO Artist in Residency, Jacoub Reyes. Join CENTRO and el MAC (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico) for un Cafecito con... Mac en El Barrio: Jacoub Reyes. This virtual artist talk with CENTRO's Summer 2023 Artist in Residency, Jacoub Reyes, explores his … Continued
Tuesday, September 5, 2023 at 12 PM ET An iconic figure in the Puerto Rican Diaspora, Antonia Pantoja reigns as one of the leaders in community development and as a key figure in the founding of several seminal Puerto Rican institutions. Best known for the inception and creation of ASPIRA, Pantoja was dedicated to the … Continued
Thursday, September 7, 2023 at 6 PM ET Join CENTRO for un Cafecito con... Pepón Osorio featuring his latest exhibition, My Beating Heart/ Mi corazón latiente, on display at the New Museum. Known for his provocative, sweeping, multimedia installations, Osorio creates fantastical scenes inspired by everyday environments—from home interiors to barbershops to classrooms—that advance critical … Continued