In honor of Black History Month, I felt compelled to highlight Black Puerto Ricans. Anti-blackness not only exists within White communities, but is pervasive and prevalent in Puerto Rican and other Latinx cultures.
To eliminate anti-blackness in any culture, it is necessary to highlight the brave and honorable people whose actions are well documented but rarely spoken about. Isolated because of the color of their skin, these people promoted equity for all.
Unfortunately, I did not learn about these people in the classroom or from anyone in my family. I had to seek out this information after having conversations with colleagues about Puerto Rico and Black History Month. This led me to the question: Are there ethnic studies programs or classes in other disciplines that specifically cover the historical and contemporary contributions of Afro-Latinx people? Here are three Black Puerto Ricans I chose to highlight:.
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg
One of the more popular Afro-Latinx figures in history, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (also known as Arthur Schomburg) was born Jan. 24, 1874 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. His mother was a freeborn midwife from St. Croix and his dad was a German merchant in Puerto Rico. According to NPR, his mission to learn and uncover the contributions of Afro-Latin Americans and Afro-Americans emerged in grade school when he was told by a teacher that Blacks had no heroes or contributions to history.
He went on to study Negro Literature at St. Thomas College in the Virgin Islands when it was ruled by Denmark. After college, Arturo immigrated to Harlem, where he continued to study African history in the Americas. Experiencing racism and discrimination in the United States, he began to identify as Afroborinqueño to claim his Black Puerto Rican identity. He was involved in the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico to advocate for the island’s independence from Spain.
Schomburg held different jobs while in New York to support his family, but he always remained dedicated to spreading the contributions of Black culture. He taught Spanish, was a messenger and clerk at a law firm and worked at a bank all while researching a writing about Caribbean and African-American history.
