Publications by William Garcia-Medina
ProQuest, 2022
“Making Black public humanities in South Florida: Fugitive Pedagogies, Self-Making, and Memory Wo... more “Making Black public humanities in South Florida: Fugitive Pedagogies, Self-Making, and Memory Work” seeks to make a contribution to the field of Black public humanities by examining the history and achievements of the African American Research Library and Cultural Center (AARLCC) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I argue that a project like this could serve as a preliminary litmus test by Black public humanities educators and administrators to determine the extent to which their centers are exemplary and inclusive. Although the field of public humanities has been extensively discussed in museum studies, there is little scholarship that examines how Black public humanities initiatives can be exemplary and academically useful to the field of public humanities, museum, and library studies as a whole. My study of the AARLCC through observation, participation, archival research and interviews has revealed that we have to pay attention to what these institutions are doing to maintain a public-facing and publicly-engaged humanities initiative. Their ability to create programming and events that center the general public has generated more public engagement and unity amongst its Black diverse community. Furthermore, they lead by example by creating multimodal events that use social media, virtual tours, and other platforms to achieve a higher public participation. In other words, they are a grassroots-created institution and a public-facing and public-centered one in its praxis.
The Horn Book, 2021
While working as a young adult information assistant at the Countee Cullen Library, located behin... more While working as a young adult information assistant at the Countee Cullen Library, located behind the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City, I visited the James Weldon Johnson Reference Collection, on the children’s floor. The collection consists of an impressive array of Black children’s books, which I would peruse during my break. At one point I was looking for books by and/or about AfroLatin@s for children. I thought I’d find Veronica Chambers’s Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa, about the famous AfroCuban singer. Or Junot Díaz’s Islandborn, about a Black Caribbean girl who migrates to the United States but can’t remember the island she came from. Or Edwidge Danticat’s Eight Days: A Story of Haiti. Stories such as these, which touch on Black lives and Black migration, were missing — and yet these stories are vital to the body of work that encompasses AfroLatin@ literature in the United States.
Scattered Musics, 2021
The 2014 musical hit “Bailando,” performed by the Afro-Cuban duo Gente de Zona and the Spanish si... more The 2014 musical hit “Bailando,” performed by the Afro-Cuban duo Gente de Zona and the Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias took the Latin music industry by surprise with the song’s timba-reggaetón fusion. When reggaetón music was beginning to rise on the Billboard charts during the early 2000s, several artists in Latin American countries began searching for success by creating innovative songs capable of reaching a mainstream audience. Despite reggaetón’s notoriety—with dances replicating sexual intercourse and lyrics about material capitalism—“Bailando,” by contrast, elicited emotions of love, friendship and passion, ushering in new possibilities for marketing Cuban music.
Eric Velasquez: An Afro Puerto Rican Illustrator of Our Times , 2020
Writers and illustrators like Afro-Puerto Rican Eric Velasquez are changing the landscape for our... more Writers and illustrators like Afro-Puerto Rican Eric Velasquez are changing the landscape for our Afro-Latino children and youth. Velasquez is considered one of the most successful and distinguished Afro-Latino book illustrators. In making the decision to write and illustrate, he explains that he wanted to see himself and other children of African descent represented.
North Atlantic Perspectives A Forum on Stuart Halls The Fateful Triangle Race Ethnicity Nation Part I, 2019
Stuart Hall, a founding scholar in the Birmingham School of cultural studies and eminent theorist... more Stuart Hall, a founding scholar in the Birmingham School of cultural studies and eminent theorist of ethnicity, identity and difference in the African diaspora, as well as a leading analyst of the cultural politics of the Thatcher and post-Thatcher years, delivered the W. E. B. Du Bois Lectures at Harvard University in 1994. In the lectures, published after a nearly quarter-century delay as The Fateful Triangle: Race, Ethnicity, Nation (2017), Hall advances the argument that race, at least in North Atlantic contexts, operates as a 'sliding signifier, ' such that, even after the notion of a biological essence to race has been widely discredited, race-thinking nonetheless renews itself by essentializ-ing other characteristics such as cultural difference. Substituting Michel Foucault's famous power knowledge dyad with power-knowledge-difference, Hall argues that thinking through the fateful triangle of race, ethnicity and nation shows us how discursive systems attempt to deal with human difference. Part I of the forum critically examines the promise and potential problems of Hall's work from the context of North America and western Europe in the wake of #BlackLivesMatter and Brex-it. Donna Jones suggests that, although the Birmingham School's core contributions shattered all certainties about class identity, Hall's Du Bois Lectures may be inadequate to a moment when white racist and ethno-nationalist appeals are ascendant in the USA and Europe and that, therefore, his and Paul Gilroy's earlier work on race and class deserve our renewed attention. Kevin Bruyneel examines Hall's work on race in relation to three analytics that foreground racism's material practices: intersectionality, racial capitalism and settler colonialism. William Garcia in the final contribution asks us to think about the anti-immigrant black nativisms condoned and even encouraged by discourses of African-American identity and by unmarked references to blackness in the US context. In 'Fateful Triangles in Brazil, ' Part II of Contexto Internacional's forum on The Fateful Triangle, three scholars work with and against Hall's arguments from the standpoint of racial politics in Brazil.
As a teenager, I recall routinely sitting in the group home living room. I was constantly surroun... more As a teenager, I recall routinely sitting in the group home living room. I was constantly surrounded by other black teenage residents who took pride in showing off their loose durags, fresh Jordans and fresh white tee's, while ecstatically watching hip-hop videos on the BET channel. In a day's time, this would go on for hours. That TV box which transmitted hip-hop sounds with moving images were venerated the same way religious relics were praised by priests, while dealing with the harsh reality of growing up without parents. For the same reason, not once did we question the messages in those hip-hop videos nor did we believe music corporations created these videos for our consumption in order to increase their profit. In school, the word " hip-hop " was never uttered by teachers and seemed dichotomous with the standardized exams we had to pass to graduate high school. Furthermore, it was through those hip-hop videos that Black identities were manifested and oftentimes made contradictory to other people of color equating hip-hop with being solely an African American genre. The contradiction created a lot of tension in the group home and in the neighborhood through gang rivalries and fights in schools where African Americans, Latinos, and Asians all wanted to claim hip-hop. Asian, Latinos and African Americans were displayed as different groups who lacked any relational identities and integrated histories of social activism. I was oblivious to the connection between the Civil Rights Movement and hip-hop's origins, which began in the Bronx by marginalized people from the Caribbean alongside African Americans. Little did I know that hip-hop was a recurrence, due to the fact that many Caribbeans (including the Hispanic Caribbean) had traveled to Harlem almost half a century before during the Harlem Renaissance and had contributed to jazz, bebop, cubop, and soul along other Black 67
Talks /Lectures by William Garcia-Medina
In the following excerpt from AfrolatinTalks hosted by The Afrolatin@ Project (a series of schola... more In the following excerpt from AfrolatinTalks hosted by The Afrolatin@ Project (a series of scholarly, relaxed conversations held at Cubana Social during the second day of Afrolatino Festival NYC 2015), William Garcia responds to the question: How is blackness contextualized in Puerto Rico?
In partnership with Sub-Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination of the NGO Commit... more In partnership with Sub-Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination of the NGO Committee on Human Rights; Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues; The AfroAtlantic Theologies & Treaties Institute/ATI;
The Psychology Coalition of NGOs Accredited at the UN.
Teaching Documents by William Garcia-Medina
All museums share responsibility for preserving and interpreting our cultural and natural heritag... more All museums share responsibility for preserving and interpreting our cultural and natural heritage for the benefit of the public and society. However, museums are more than the collections they house and the exhibits and programs they present. Each museum is a complex network of individuals whose common goal is to create knowledge and to share information and experiences with others. This introductory course will examine the history and development of Black/Latinx Museum studies from the second half of the twentieth century into the present. As museum studies is an ever-evolving interdisciplinary discipline consisting of various fields, many of the readings will be drawn from cultural studies, literature, Museum studies, public humanities, Black and Latinx studies, giving the course a strong interdisciplinary component. The material follows a thematic structure drive by critical issues, specific communities, and innovative perspectives in museum education. Many themes involve immigration, identity formation, community, marginalization. Race, gender, ethnicity, class, empire, environment are topics that are embedded over the mini course. After discussing what a museum is, the various types of museums and their roles in the community, we will introduce current and emerging issues in museums in a number of areas including governance, management of collections, fundraising, and museum jobs and responsibilities. Department Learning Goals 1. Be familiar with several of the disciplines that comprise the field of Latino and/or Caribbean studies, including but not limited to: anthropology, art history, cinema studies, education, geography, history, literature, media studies, music, philosophy, black studies, political science, sociology, and women's and gender studies. 2. Develop critical thinking skills and the ability to speak and write clearly and analytically. 3. Employ different research methodologies and interdisciplinary approaches in the humanities and/or social sciences, demonstrating proficiency in one or more of the following areas: historical, political, sociological, anthropological, environmental, philosophical, literary, visual, cinematic, musical, and/or performative analysis. COURSE DESCRIPTION
This Friday discussion section is a companion to the Monday-Wednesday lecture for American Studie... more This Friday discussion section is a companion to the Monday-Wednesday lecture for American Studies 110 / Sociology 110. Our goal is to discuss the assigned readings, lectures, classroom media, and the general themes of the course in a more in-depth manner than is possible during the bi-weekly lecture with Prof. Roediger. Your attendance and active participation in this discussion section, therefore, are an important part of your weekly responsibilities as a student enrolled in AMS 110 / SOC 110. Your work in this discussion section will comprise about 20 percent of your grade for the entire course. A good share of your overall grade for attendance, and most of your grade for classroom participation, will come from your performance in this discussion section.
Latino students now comprise one out of every four public school students. As this group becomes ... more Latino students now comprise one out of every four public school students. As this group becomes an increasingly larger proportion of the U.S. student population, understanding their position in the educational system and responding to their unique needs is not only important for other Latinos, but for the nation as a whole. This course is therefore designed for undergraduate students who are interested in doing direct practice or research with diverse populations, particularly Latinos in urban school contexts. Using perspectives from the Sociology of Education, History of Education, and Urban Education, we will explore how immigration status, assimilation and acculturation, language and gender, race/phenotype, and socio-economic background, all influence the experience of Latinos in the U.S. school system. This course will also closely explore themes of gender, race and ethnicity, class, migration, citizenship, amongst others.
Online Media Contributions by William Garcia-Medina
The Fire This Time: The Insurrection of American Public Education Is Being Fueled by Racism, 2023
In recent years, a disturbing trend has been emerging within American public education — a surge ... more In recent years, a disturbing trend has been emerging within American public education — a surge of racist ideologies and practices that undermine the goal of creating inclusive and equitable learning environments. From anti CRT bills to anti DEI legislation- this insurrection has rolled back years of progress. The insurrection of public education is fueled by racism within schools and has far-reaching consequences that perpetuate systemic racism and hinder the progress towards a truly just society. Several incidents and policy decisions across the country serve as evidence of this vitriol permeating our education system.
One Year After the Murder of George Floyd, Learning How U.S. Citizenship & Belonging Rely on Anti-Black Americanness, 2021
It was really hot when my partner and I left South Beach to meet up with a friend across the bay ... more It was really hot when my partner and I left South Beach to meet up with a friend across the bay in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District, so we were relieved when our Lyft driver picked us up and got us out of the sun. As soon as we got in the car, I noticed the driver spoke to us in Spanish, so I did the same, mentioning how hot it was and how much activity there was in South Beach. The driver, a White Cuban with light blue eyes, responded by saying:
“Look at these people making all this noise.”
Six Afro-Latino/a/x Books Young Readers Should Add to Their Collection, 2021
For decades, Black and Latino history have been taught as two fairly separate experiences, and th... more For decades, Black and Latino history have been taught as two fairly separate experiences, and that's even evident in the way we break up commemorations of that history with Black History Month in February and Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month from mid-September to mid-October. But in reality, Afro-Latino communities have been living and thriving in the United States for more than a hundred years. It's time we make sure our children and youth expand their knowledge about other racialized experiences in Black and Latinx communities. This list features books about Afro-Latinos and their experiences, history, stories, and ancestral traditions. Bad Hair Does Not Exist/¡Pelo Malo No Existe! Bad Hair Does Not Exist/¡Pelo Malo No Existe! is a children's picture book written by Sulma Arzu-Brown and illustrated by Isidra Sabio. Written in English and Spanish side-by-side, this book is all about addressing prevalent anti-Black notion in communities of color that hair that is kinky, or has tight curls and coils is "pelo malo" or "bad hair." Arzu-Brown addresses this head on by teaching children that bad hair or "pelo malo" does not exist, asking children to embrace the beauty of their curls, coils, and afros. The beautiful illustrations by Isidra Sabio display a myriad of skin tones of young Black girls with various hair colors, textures, styles, and lengths. She also depicts young Black women with such hair styles and types who are ballerinas, astronauts, grandmothers, doctors, superheroes, athletes, scientists, among others. "This book is a tool of empowerment for all little girls who are Black, Afro-descendant, Afro-Latinas, and Garifuna. Raised in a predominantly Spanish community in the Bronx, New York, I encountered a series of events in which the term "pelo malo" (meaning bad hair) was used too closely and irresponsibly to describe the natural (not chemically) hair of black girls and girls of Afro-descent without thinking about the damage it inflicts on their self-esteem," writes Arzu-Brown in the book's introduction.
Uplifft, 2016
This piece attempts to respond to the publication of my first article “White Puerto Rican Migrati... more This piece attempts to respond to the publication of my first article “White Puerto Rican Migration and the Effacement of Blackness.” With the support of UPLIFTT the piece caused a pandemonium and resulted with a lot of hate comments full of consternation by mostly
frustrated Puerto Ricans because a transnational, Puerto Rico-born Afro-Nuyorican such as myself spoke against Puerto Rican racism, white consciousness, and the continuing disdain for stateside Puerto Ricans. Was it the word guaynabit@ or the term white Puerto Rican? Probably both. As a result, I was pretty shocked at the level of ignorant comments that ensued. However, many were happy to hear that somebody was able to point fingers at the people who ignore anything and everything black, diasporic, and contemporary.
Uplifft, 2014
It was August 2009 when I was admitted to the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras and that w... more It was August 2009 when I was admitted to the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras and that what was when I first saw the amalgamation of a new breed of Puerto Rican I had never encountered before in my life, the guaynabitos/blanquitos. Most impoverished and working-class people in Puerto Rico call them guaynabitos, guaynabichos and/or blanquitos; derivatives from the word blanquito, meaning white Puerto Ricans with money. I remembered that I heard those terms when I had been in the barrio of Sabana Seca in Toa Baja and somebody started saying “En poco le rompo la cara al guaynabito pendejo ese…” and I also heard, “Ese es un blanquito de la YUPI…” I wondered what could a guyanabito or a blanquito be? Most of the guaynabitos or blanquitos were dressed in different styles: some were dressed like hipsters; others dressed like yuppies, followed by west coast-looking surfers while others dressed in European fashions. Most of them were the whitest Puerto Ricans I had ever seen in all my life and had no problem in taking pride in their whiteness.
Cuando las vidas negras no importan: How Puerto Ricans Can Change Conversations on Race and Racism, 2020
In this essay, my aim is to highlight six fallacies on race. These fallacies are inspired by the ... more In this essay, my aim is to highlight six fallacies on race. These fallacies are inspired by the article titled “What Is Racial Domination” (2009), written by Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer. Many naysayers argue that race and racism operate “differently” in Puerto Rico than in the United States. I argue that, if race and racial domination are a systemic issue that began with European colonialism and transformed throughout centuries across the Americas, then it should not be surprising to find similarities and differences within social relations of domination, regardless of region. Although there may be more fallacies (I am sure there are), they can hopefully help serve as an analytical guide that will help people center an more appropriate conversation on race whenever someone (usually a White Latinx) attempts to reduce race to phenotype, ancestry, ethnicity, or metonymic nationalism.
My Reflection Matters, 2017
Modern board games are highly educational and create plenty of opportunities for learning, social... more Modern board games are highly educational and create plenty of opportunities for learning, social interaction, critical thinking skills, and of course, fun! However, why is it that we have been socialized to believe that these “educational” hobbies are only for White folks? While it is true, that the board game community is predominantly White and male, it has been a long time overdue for us to create our own communities of gamers of color. My purpose here is to offer an alternative to youth’s screen addiction by highlighting the ways that board gaming can increase our sense of community with young people through creating time and space for developing social, cultural, historical, and critical thinking skills.
If Black Puerto Ricans can’t even recognize racism coming from Puerto Ricans, how are they going ... more If Black Puerto Ricans can’t even recognize racism coming from Puerto Ricans, how are they going to survive in a racist country like the United Sates? Are they going to say something like: “Black Lives Matter ain’t got nothing to do with me?” If Black Puerto Ricans aren’t calling out racism, it makes it seem like they love white supremacy or are content with it and ultimately have no issues with it.
Even if you’re not a Black Puerto Rican, you should be worried about decolonizing Puerto Rico from its history of white supremacy. If you care about independence, you should worry about the fact that Black Puerto Ricans can’t even pick up on racism.
Despite Puerto Ricans’ refusal to acknowledge race, the truth of the matter is that there is a difference between the success of Mónica Puig and Jaime Espinal, the same way there is a difference between the success of Gigi Fernández and Javier Culson.
On March 1st 2016, the towering presence of Eric Velasquez changed the social landscape of Teache... more On March 1st 2016, the towering presence of Eric Velasquez changed the social landscape of Teachers College at Columbia University. Velasquez, an Afro-Puerto Rican author and illustrator of children’s literature, highlights the need to further discuss Afro-Latino narratives. On the one hand, books revolving around black children often refer to African American or African narratives that leave out the experiences of black children who come from Latin America.
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Publications by William Garcia-Medina
Talks /Lectures by William Garcia-Medina
The Psychology Coalition of NGOs Accredited at the UN.
Teaching Documents by William Garcia-Medina
Online Media Contributions by William Garcia-Medina
“Look at these people making all this noise.”
frustrated Puerto Ricans because a transnational, Puerto Rico-born Afro-Nuyorican such as myself spoke against Puerto Rican racism, white consciousness, and the continuing disdain for stateside Puerto Ricans. Was it the word guaynabit@ or the term white Puerto Rican? Probably both. As a result, I was pretty shocked at the level of ignorant comments that ensued. However, many were happy to hear that somebody was able to point fingers at the people who ignore anything and everything black, diasporic, and contemporary.
Even if you’re not a Black Puerto Rican, you should be worried about decolonizing Puerto Rico from its history of white supremacy. If you care about independence, you should worry about the fact that Black Puerto Ricans can’t even pick up on racism.
Despite Puerto Ricans’ refusal to acknowledge race, the truth of the matter is that there is a difference between the success of Mónica Puig and Jaime Espinal, the same way there is a difference between the success of Gigi Fernández and Javier Culson.
The Psychology Coalition of NGOs Accredited at the UN.
“Look at these people making all this noise.”
frustrated Puerto Ricans because a transnational, Puerto Rico-born Afro-Nuyorican such as myself spoke against Puerto Rican racism, white consciousness, and the continuing disdain for stateside Puerto Ricans. Was it the word guaynabit@ or the term white Puerto Rican? Probably both. As a result, I was pretty shocked at the level of ignorant comments that ensued. However, many were happy to hear that somebody was able to point fingers at the people who ignore anything and everything black, diasporic, and contemporary.
Even if you’re not a Black Puerto Rican, you should be worried about decolonizing Puerto Rico from its history of white supremacy. If you care about independence, you should worry about the fact that Black Puerto Ricans can’t even pick up on racism.
Despite Puerto Ricans’ refusal to acknowledge race, the truth of the matter is that there is a difference between the success of Mónica Puig and Jaime Espinal, the same way there is a difference between the success of Gigi Fernández and Javier Culson.
We need educators to get involved with Afro-Latino students, our history and the way we occupy space in the Americas in order to address this gap in education.