CENTRO Journal seeks contributors exploring Puerto Rico’s ties to the Black Caribbean

The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College has opened a call for contributors to a special issue of CENTRO Journal titled “In Motion: Shifting Geographies of Puerto Rico and the Black Caribbean,” scheduled for publication in May 2028.

The issue will be guest edited by Vanessa K. Valdés of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Tami Navarro of Drew University, and Mariana Past of Dickinson College.

According to the call, Puerto Rico’s political, socioeconomic, cultural, and spiritual relations with populations in the surrounding Caribbean islands outside of the former Spanish Empire remain among the least explored areas of research within Puerto Rican studies. The call cites the founding populations of San Mateo de Cangrejos, who included people who had self-emancipated by fleeing to Puerto Rico from Sint Eustatius, Curaçao, St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, as one historical example of these connections. It also points to Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances’ 1868 conceptualization of the Confederación Antillana, which included Haiti, where Betances lived in exile from 1870 to 1875.

The call also notes that doctors from the US Virgin Islands and Haiti were among the medical teams supporting Puerto Rico after Hurricane María, building on a formal relationship between Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands that dates to the 1964 establishment of Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Friendship Day.

Taking Valdés’ 2020 volume “Racialized Visions: Haiti and the Hispanic Caribbean” as a starting point, the special issue seeks to recognize and amplify voices, histories, and cultural and spiritual practices connecting Puerto Rico, the Black Caribbean, and the diaspora. The call states that organizers are interested in patterns of movement, forms of solidarity, and instances of self-expression by peoples of African descent that emerge from and flow between the islands through foodways, performances, music, artistic works, and political alliances.

Suggested topics include Puerto Rico’s shared history with the US Virgin Islands, its relationship with Vieques and Culebra, connections between Puerto Rico and Haiti, Black Puerto Rican movements, intra-island migration, solidarity efforts across the islands, Creole languages, spiritual traditions, Carnival, and Bad Bunny’s role in what the call describes as “this pan-American moment.”

Contributors may submit articles of up to 12,000 words, creative or archive pieces of up to 8,000 words, short essays or interviews of up to 2,000 words, poems, or art and photography submissions. Both scholarly and creative approaches are welcome, including from contributors outside academia.

Abstracts of 250 words, along with a 50-word biography, are due by August 14, 2026. Notification of abstract approval is expected by September 17, 2026, with final manuscripts due January 14, 2027. The special issue, volume 40, number 1, is scheduled for publication in May 2028. Submissions will be accepted in English and Spanish.