Unsilencing the Afro-Puerto Rican Voice

      Yesterday, I was able to attend an in-person activity after so long.  PROUD, at UPRH had coordinated a special conference with Dr. Ana Judith Roman, the first female neurosurgeon in Puerto Rico.  Her conference was epic and so important for us to have been witness to.  I will share this great experience in another post.     Today I want to write the beautiful artwork exhibited at UPRH lobby.  Art students represented our Afro-Puerto Rican heritage with extraordinary works.  The lobby lit up with hope in so many dimensions.  After so long due to the pandemic, university life is starting to flourish.  And our African heritage is embraced by more people than in past years.     These artwork whispered to the spectator the legacy many Afro-Puerto Rican women have left for us to remember and continue to walk in the path they paved for us.  We were able to admire the artistic representation of Celestina Cordero, a...

      As an Afro-Puerto Rican woman, I have undertaken a journey of discovery.  When I started my graduate studies at UPR-Rio Piedras to complete a doctorate degree, I did not imagine that more than a degree, these studies will make me question my identity and pursue a quest to encounter those ancestors whose lives have been silenced in history.     This academic journey also permitted me to explore my creativity through the writing of children's stories and later on a novel.  They are still mainly unpublished works but today as I write this first post of the blog,  I have made the compromise to myself to share them beyond the small circle of friends and collegues that have permitted me to express myself through the world of imagination interwoven with history and the challenges faced by those who no longer live among us.     I also had the opportunity in those years to be part of the wonderful team of Anansesem E-zine .  It first s...