Join us for the latest event in our yearlong Belonging series. Jada Benn Torres, Associate Professor of Anthropology and the director for the Laboratory of Genetic Anthropology and Biocultural Studies at Vanderbilt University, and Gabriel Torres Colón, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University, will lead a discussion centered on genetic ancestry, “mangrove politics,” and birthing Afro-Puerto Rican futures.
Nestled in the northeastern coastline of Puerto Rico and within one of the most extensive mangrove forests in the Caribbean, most of the people of Piñones—or, piñoneros—are descendants of both formerly enslaved and self-liberated African peoples. Since 2017, the “Genetic Ancestry and Cultural Identity” project in Puerto Rico has yielded a collaborative effort utilizing genetic technology and ethnographic research to buttress the foundation for Afro-Puerto Rican recognition, autonomy, and political action.
In this presentation, Dr. Benn Torres and Dr. Torres Colon will first relate a story of how community-based research shaped the scientific agenda and design for their genetic and cultural ancestry project. They’ll share genetic ancestry results that illustrate a unique complexity of the genetic legacies of African and Indigenous peoples within contemporary piñoneros. Then, the focus of the discussion will shift to “mangrove politics,” or how genetic ancestry has been repurposed as a tool for building diaspora and environmental autonomy. Finally, Dr. Ben Torres and Dr. Torres Colon will discuss how the ways in which Afro-Puerto Ricans experience race, practice environmental conservation of their ancestral mangrove forest, and seek to effect change in governmental politics are tools for not only resisting structural racism but for imagining a future where they can flourish as equal members of society.
This event is free and open to all; register here.