Annual Arturo Schomburg Symposium - Opening Reception & Meet the Author

The Annual Arturo Schomburg Symposium, held at Taller Puertorriqueño honors and celebrates the life of this outstanding Puerto Rican Bibliophile, Community builder, and Scholar. The Symposium follows in his footsteps, as it seeks to share and disseminate the contributions of Africa and the African Diaspora to the world. Each year, scholars, activists, artists, professionals, and general audiences gather the last Saturday of February (during Black History Month), around a theme, to discuss, learn, share, reflect, grow, and heal from the afterlives of slavery, racism, colorism, and all forms of discrimination and exclusion. This year, in conversation with the 4th International Cumbre Afrodescendiente, which takes place at the University of Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras), we are celebrating Schomburg’s vision, his Marron, relentless research commitment, and activism, and the ways his work has impacted Pan-Africanism, Black, African Diaspora, and Africana Studies.

Since 1997, The Annual Arturo A. Schomburg Symposium has taken on a different yearly theme exploring various aspects of the intricate and complex relationship of the African Diaspora influences within Latin American culture abroad and in the US. Through formal presentations and Q&A’s, audience members engage in dialogues that promote increased understanding of our shared traditions and influences.