Center for Puerto Rican Studies-Centro

Puerto Rico.
U.S. Virgin Islands.
Guam.
Northern Mariana Islands.
American Samoa.

The U.S. Territories are more than shores at the service of the American Empire. For decades, millions who call them home have fostered connections across oceans and resisted colonial governance while preserving indigenous traditions and more.

Day two of our symposium, A Sea of Islands: U.S. Territories in Relation, opens with a plenary featuring researchers and activists from Vieques, South Korea, Palau, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, who will explore militarization, resistance, and community resistance across island territories.

Afternoon sessions will examine Indigenous and insular sovereignty, archival self-determination, decolonial approaches to education, and community-led responses to the climate crisis. We will close the gathering with a screening of “HOMEGROWN: A Part Of/Apart From,” followed by a reception celebrating connection and collective action.

https://ow.ly/6MHa50Z6P1a

Puerto Rico.
U.S. Virgin Islands.
Guam.
Northern Mariana Islands.
American Samoa.

The U.S. Territories are more than shores at the service of the American Empire. For decades, millions who call them home have fostered connections across oceans and resisted colonial governance while preserving indigenous traditions and more.

Join us for two days of critical conversations and collective visioning as scholars, artists, and advocates from across the U.S. territories gather to explore shared histories, challenges, and possibilities for solidarity.

Day One begins with a powerful opening ceremony led by Agua, Sol y Sereno, followed by a plenary examining colonial law and governance. Throughout the day, participants will engage in conversations on art and curatorial practice, Black data stewardship and data justice, archipelagic feminisms, and environmental justice movements, connecting communities across territories.

This is an opportunity to connect and imagine new futures together.

Click here to RSVP! → https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/event/a-sea-of-islands-u-s-territories-in-relation/

Call for Papers 📣

"In Motion: Shifting Geographies of Puerto Rico and the Black Caribbean”

CENTRO Journal invites scholarly and creative contributions for a special issue exploring the cultural, political, and spiritual connections between Puerto Rico and the greater Black Caribbean. We welcome articles, creative pieces, short essays, poetry, and art. This issue takes up themes of solidarity, migration, music, foodways, spiritual traditions, and more.

Submissions accepted in English and Spanish.
Abstract Deadline: August 14, 2026

Click here to learn more and apply! → https://ow.ly/OC9g50Z5iNo

, May 27, 1901, the U.S. The Supreme Court issued a series of decisions collectively known as the Insular Cases, which determined that the U.S. Constitution did not fully apply to U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. This legal framework was based on a novel legal doctrine, without precedent in U.S. jurisprudence, which established a distinction between "incorporated" and "unincorporated" territories.

The six cases that were decided on May 27 were:�
🏛️ DeLima v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 1 (1901)
🏛️ Goetze v. United States, 182 U.S. 221 (1901)
🏛️ Dooley v. United States, 182 U.S. 222 (1901)
🏛️ Armstrong v. United States, 182 U.S. 243 (1901)
🏛️ Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244 (1901)
🏛️ Huus v. New York and Porto Rico Steamship Co., 182 U.S. 392 (1901)�

These Supreme Court rulings addressed the constitutional status of territories acquired by the United States after the Spanish-American War in 1898. One of the key decisions—“Downes v. Bidwell” (182 U.S. 244)—concluded that the Constitution did not automatically apply to U.S. territories. This allowed Congress to legislate for these territories without extending full constitutional protections. Another important case—“De Lima v. Bidwell” (182 U.S. 1)—ruled that Puerto Rico belonged to but was not considered part of the U.S. for tariff purposes, meaning goods entering Puerto Rico from the U.S. were subject to tariffs. This interpretation was encapsulated in the statement “foreign in a domestic sense.”

The rulings created a legal distinction between "incorporated" territories, which were considered part of the U.S. and ultimately slated to become states of the Union on equal footing, and "unincorporated" territories, which were not. This distinction allowed the U.S. government to exert control over unincorporated territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines without extending full constitutional rights to their residents. These decisions have been widely criticized, including by justices of the current Supreme Court, for their racist and imperialist basis, as they justified colonial rule over these territories due to U.S. policymakers’ perception that inhabitants of those colonial possessions were incapable of “republican self-government”.

The Insular Cases continue to spark debate and have negative consequences for residents of Puerto Rico, with many advocating for their reversal and for greater self-determination for the residents of unincorporated territories.�

The legal legacy of the Insular Cases is at the center of our upcoming symposium, “A Sea of Islands: U.S. Territories in Relation” a 2-day gathering of scholars, artists and activists from the inhabited U.S. territories and their diasporas. Click here to RSVP! https://ow.ly/4aWu50Z4RZ4

📸 U.S. Reports: Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244 (1901).
Library of Congress

Reminder!
Deadline next week

Call for Submissions: “Aquí y allá: Puerto Rican Education across the Archipelago and the Diaspora”

CENTRO Journal invites submissions for a special issue titled “Aquí y allá: Puerto Rican Education across the Archipelago and the Diaspora”, guest edited by Daicy Diaz-Granados and Nichole Margarita Garcia.

This issue seeks scholarship and creative work that examines Puerto Rican educational experiences across the archipelago and the diaspora. Submissions may explore topics such as colonialism and educational policy, migration and displacement, language and identity, community knowledge systems and liberatory or futures-oriented educational frameworks.

We welcome a range of formats, including:
- Articles (up to 12,000 words)
- Short essays or interviews (2,000 words)
- Poems (1–3 poems)
- Art or photography (1 piece with brief explanation)

Important deadlines:
Abstract submission: June 4, 2026
Abstract decision: July 8, 2026
Final manuscript submission: October 26, 2026
The special issue will be published in CENTRO Journal (Vol. 39, No. 3) in January 2028.

Click here to learn more → https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/about/opportunities/

Justo Ambrosio Martí was a Cuban photographer who documented the everyday lives of Puerto Rican and Latino communities in New York City between 1940 and 1984. His lens captured the working class during the decades of Puerto Rican mass migration to the city. In 1985, Martí donated his collection to CENTRO , approximately 6,000 photographs, 38,330 negatives, correspondence and personal documents. The Justo Martí Collection remains one of the most significant visual records of Puerto Rican and Latino life in mid-twentieth century New York City.

Click here to explore his collection! →
https://ow.ly/xkOO50Z3nzA

, May 24, 1987, marked the first Loisaida Festival, an event that has since become a cornerstone of our community. For over three decades, the festival has honored the history of the neighborhood, offering a platform to celebrate arts, culture, music, dance, cuisine, and other cultural expressions.

Make sure to stop by Loisaida today! CENTRO’s team will be tabling with free resources and merch available for purchase from La Bodega!

📸 Marlis Momber