Some might recall several months ago that I posted an introductory video description and photographs concerning an interactive installation project as part of the 2025 International Gullah Geechee and African Diaspora (IGGAD) symposium. In recognition of the upcoming Juneteenth, and in helping to further acknowledge the global connections to the African diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean, allow me to share more information about how I structured the installation. I envisioned the project as a timeline displayed on four walls in a room, where the information and artifacts served to demonstrate the progress and obstacles that Afro-Puerto Ricans have encountered on and off the island since the abolition of enslavement in Puerto Rico officially became law in 1873: a process that proved slow and gradual. The installation also functioned as a critique concerning museum archiving and the dangers associated with selective historical and cultural memory. I originally wanted to include detailed descriptions for each wall, but I could not do so due to the limited space that I had available at the time. That was, until now.
I present the descriptions for each wall as I originally intended. For contextual purposes, I have reposted the visual introduction from the installation and have modified certain parts of the descriptions as clickable links to information and items that I had referred to in the project. I also include links to corresponding music playlists for the second through fourth walls of the installation, which I previously designated via QR codes. Unless otherwise indicated, the laws that I refer to in the descriptions for "Wall 1" and "Wall 4" in this post are available online in their original Puerto Rican Spanish language.
I present the descriptions for each wall as I originally intended. For contextual purposes, I have reposted the visual introduction from the installation and have modified certain parts of the descriptions as clickable links to information and items that I had referred to in the project. I also include links to corresponding music playlists for the second through fourth walls of the installation, which I previously designated via QR codes. Unless otherwise indicated, the laws that I refer to in the descriptions for "Wall 1" and "Wall 4" in this post are available online in their original Puerto Rican Spanish language.
Wall 1: “Abolition”- Description
Abolishing enslavement in Puerto Rico proved a crucial turning point in history for the Island in the Caribbean. That moment has also sparked current debates about what abolition truly accomplished for Afro-Puerto Ricans. The artifacts displayed on and around the wall demonstrate abolition laws and function as commentary on representing Afro-Latin identity through history and the arts. It features musical instruments linked to Afro-Puerto Rican culture, which often functioned as tools to communicate resistance to enslavement in the nineteenth century. The translated articles that I highlight from the 1870 Moret Law and 1873 Abolition of Slavery, as well as artistic interpretations of plantation life and history in Puerto Rico by the painter Francisco Oller (1833-1917) and abolitionist efforts from Spain, show the frequently overlooked legal and social obstacles that formerly enslaved Afro-Puerto Ricans still faced after obtaining their freedom. I also feature photographs and sketches of abolitionists and educators from Puerto Rico, Spain, and elsewhere who advocated ending enslavement and taught the Afro-Puerto Rican population. I do so to both demonstrate their significance as historical figures and illustrate that Afro-Puerto Ricans who also pushed for equality, like Rafael Cordero (1790-1868) and Celestina Cordero y Molina (1797-1862), deserve more attention.
Wall 2: “Racial Discrimination and Migration” – Description
How did Afro-Puerto Ricans adjust to life after abolition? They witnessed key events like the transition from Spanish to United States imperialist power after the Spanish American War (1898). Like the Gullah Geechee and other African diasporas, Afro-Puerto Ricans actively participated in “The Great Migration” (1910s-1970s) by moving from the island to metropolitan areas in the mainland U.S., like New York City. They also encountered (and rejected) racial discrimination on and off the island while seeking to understand and redefine Blackness and Afro-Latin identity through popular music and the arts.
This wall exhibit presents artifacts from Puerto Rico after 1898 through daily life photography and discusses how restrictions imposed by “Jim Crow” laws and nationalist policies impacted Afro-Puerto Ricans through attempts at cultural whitening. I illustrate that this problem has remained in contemporary times via an excerpt from the 2020 Census for Puerto Rico, which features questionable statistics. The exhibit also presents a November 1916 article from the NAACP magazine The Crisis, which demonstrates early perceptions from African American scholars who would view Puerto Rico as a racial utopia when compared to the “Jim Crow” southern U.S. I additionally include audio from Afro-Puerto Rican popular musicians, poets and composers from the 1940s to 1970s, choosing several works that candidly address Afro-Latin identity or criticize racial discrimination.
Music Playlist for Wall 2
Wall 3: “Resistance” - Description
Afro-Puerto Rican communities across generations continue to resist erasure and assimilation in the twenty-first century through activism, social protest, and awareness of diasporic connections. This wall exhibit begins with a quote from the 1925 essay "The Negro Digs Up His Past" by Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (1874-1938): an Afro-Puerto Rican historian who contributed to the Harlem Renaissance in helping to foster Black consciousness and fight against cultural invisibility. The handkerchiefs display and interactive block-stacking game serve educational purposes for the audience by teaching viewers to avoid racist language in everyday Puerto Rican Spanish and English speech and demonstrating the constant struggles to achieving and maintaining activism. The music featured in this wall exhibit contains three songs from 2000 to 2020 by Afro-Puerto Rican popular and folk musicians. They address Afro-Latin identity and discrimination through rap, resist political corruption in Puerto Rico (to protest former Governor of Puerto Rico Ricardo Rosselló in 2019) through plena drumming and song, and offer a stateside Puerto Rican response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020 through bomba drumming and song.
Music Playlist for Wall 3 (Explicit, Listener Discretion Advised)
Wall 4: “The Next Step” – Description
The previous three wall exhibits explored how Afro-Puerto Ricans have established a significant presence throughout history. This wall demonstrates the importance of keeping that history and cultural memory alive for future generations while also showing respect for cultural preservation. While I began this installation with legislation abolishing enslavement in Puerto Rico in the nineteenth century, I conclude the installation with newer and official legislation from the Puerto Rican government from 2021 to 2024 that openly affirms African identity in Puerto Rico. I additionally provide examples from current Afro-Puerto Rican musicians and groups who promote their music culture without trivializing or diminishing their history and identity. The installation ends with an interactive display of a bomba drum coupled with a looped video clip from my IGGAD 2024 bomba collaborative project with the Hispanic Heritage Dance Group and the Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters.
Music Playlist for Wall 4
Abolishing enslavement in Puerto Rico proved a crucial turning point in history for the Island in the Caribbean. That moment has also sparked current debates about what abolition truly accomplished for Afro-Puerto Ricans. The artifacts displayed on and around the wall demonstrate abolition laws and function as commentary on representing Afro-Latin identity through history and the arts. It features musical instruments linked to Afro-Puerto Rican culture, which often functioned as tools to communicate resistance to enslavement in the nineteenth century. The translated articles that I highlight from the 1870 Moret Law and 1873 Abolition of Slavery, as well as artistic interpretations of plantation life and history in Puerto Rico by the painter Francisco Oller (1833-1917) and abolitionist efforts from Spain, show the frequently overlooked legal and social obstacles that formerly enslaved Afro-Puerto Ricans still faced after obtaining their freedom. I also feature photographs and sketches of abolitionists and educators from Puerto Rico, Spain, and elsewhere who advocated ending enslavement and taught the Afro-Puerto Rican population. I do so to both demonstrate their significance as historical figures and illustrate that Afro-Puerto Ricans who also pushed for equality, like Rafael Cordero (1790-1868) and Celestina Cordero y Molina (1797-1862), deserve more attention.
Wall 2: “Racial Discrimination and Migration” – Description
How did Afro-Puerto Ricans adjust to life after abolition? They witnessed key events like the transition from Spanish to United States imperialist power after the Spanish American War (1898). Like the Gullah Geechee and other African diasporas, Afro-Puerto Ricans actively participated in “The Great Migration” (1910s-1970s) by moving from the island to metropolitan areas in the mainland U.S., like New York City. They also encountered (and rejected) racial discrimination on and off the island while seeking to understand and redefine Blackness and Afro-Latin identity through popular music and the arts.
This wall exhibit presents artifacts from Puerto Rico after 1898 through daily life photography and discusses how restrictions imposed by “Jim Crow” laws and nationalist policies impacted Afro-Puerto Ricans through attempts at cultural whitening. I illustrate that this problem has remained in contemporary times via an excerpt from the 2020 Census for Puerto Rico, which features questionable statistics. The exhibit also presents a November 1916 article from the NAACP magazine The Crisis, which demonstrates early perceptions from African American scholars who would view Puerto Rico as a racial utopia when compared to the “Jim Crow” southern U.S. I additionally include audio from Afro-Puerto Rican popular musicians, poets and composers from the 1940s to 1970s, choosing several works that candidly address Afro-Latin identity or criticize racial discrimination.
Music Playlist for Wall 2
Wall 3: “Resistance” - Description
Afro-Puerto Rican communities across generations continue to resist erasure and assimilation in the twenty-first century through activism, social protest, and awareness of diasporic connections. This wall exhibit begins with a quote from the 1925 essay "The Negro Digs Up His Past" by Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (1874-1938): an Afro-Puerto Rican historian who contributed to the Harlem Renaissance in helping to foster Black consciousness and fight against cultural invisibility. The handkerchiefs display and interactive block-stacking game serve educational purposes for the audience by teaching viewers to avoid racist language in everyday Puerto Rican Spanish and English speech and demonstrating the constant struggles to achieving and maintaining activism. The music featured in this wall exhibit contains three songs from 2000 to 2020 by Afro-Puerto Rican popular and folk musicians. They address Afro-Latin identity and discrimination through rap, resist political corruption in Puerto Rico (to protest former Governor of Puerto Rico Ricardo Rosselló in 2019) through plena drumming and song, and offer a stateside Puerto Rican response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020 through bomba drumming and song.
Music Playlist for Wall 3 (Explicit, Listener Discretion Advised)
Wall 4: “The Next Step” – Description
The previous three wall exhibits explored how Afro-Puerto Ricans have established a significant presence throughout history. This wall demonstrates the importance of keeping that history and cultural memory alive for future generations while also showing respect for cultural preservation. While I began this installation with legislation abolishing enslavement in Puerto Rico in the nineteenth century, I conclude the installation with newer and official legislation from the Puerto Rican government from 2021 to 2024 that openly affirms African identity in Puerto Rico. I additionally provide examples from current Afro-Puerto Rican musicians and groups who promote their music culture without trivializing or diminishing their history and identity. The installation ends with an interactive display of a bomba drum coupled with a looped video clip from my IGGAD 2024 bomba collaborative project with the Hispanic Heritage Dance Group and the Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters.
Music Playlist for Wall 4
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