The gripping history of Afro-Latino migrants who conspired to
overthrow a colonial monarchy, end slavery, and secure full citizenship
in their homelands
In the late nineteenth century, a small group of Cubans and Puerto
Ricans of African descent settled in the segregated tenements of New
York City. At an immigrant educational society in Greenwich Village,
these early Afro-Latino New Yorkers taught themselves to be poets,
journalists, and revolutionaries. At the same time, these
individuals-including Rafael Serra, a cigar maker, writer, and
politician; Sotero Figueroa, a typesetter, editor, and publisher; and
Gertrudis Heredia, one of the first women of African descent to study
midwifery at the University of Havana-built a political network and
articulated an ideal of revolutionary nationalism centered on the
projects of racial and social justice. These efforts were critical to
the poet and diplomat José Martí's writings about race and his bid for
leadership among Cuban exiles, and to the later struggle to create space
for black political participation in the Cuban Republic.
In Racial Migrations, Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof presents a vivid portrait
of these largely forgotten migrant revolutionaries, weaving together
their experiences of migrating while black, their relationships with
African American civil rights leaders, and their evolving participation
in nationalist political movements. By placing Afro-Latino New Yorkers
at the center of the story, Hoffnung-Garskof offers a new interpretation
of the revolutionary politics of the Spanish Caribbean, including the
idea that Cuba could become a nation without racial divisions.
A model of transnational and comparative research, Racial Migrations
reveals the complexities of race-making within migrant communities and
the power of small groups of immigrants to transform their home
societies.
