Critical walking (work)shops of Old San juan and its sites of memory

(De)tour is a public history research project that interrogates colonial legacies embedded in Puerto Rican heritage through nuanced (de)colonial, (anti)racist, and (dia)logical perspectives. (de)tour promotes critical appreciations of history, identity, and tourism. Instead of focusing solely on the political aspects of colonialism in Puerto Rico, we navigate and interrupt the coloniality of the city and the hierarchies of race, class, gender, sexuality, spirituality, species, and citizenship that emanate from its urban landscape. Read More.

San Juan Anticolonial: A solidarity building detour
Visitor economy (Tourism), Anti-racism, Eurocentrism, English attack of 1797, Conquest and colonization Guest User Visitor economy (Tourism), Anti-racism, Eurocentrism, English attack of 1797, Conquest and colonization Guest User

San Juan Anticolonial: A solidarity building detour

Imperialism and resistance in the world’s oldest colony

Cruise ships arrive almost daily to the colonial city of Old San Juan to consume its historic Spanish colonial heritage. San Juan (Anti)colonial refuses these appetites, and puts the visitor face-to-face with the implications and legacies of colonial rule. This walking (de)tour doesn’t shy away from Empire; it politicizes the cobblestoned streets and colonial histories of the tropi(fis)cal paradise that attracts visitors, and potential settlers, to the world’s oldest colony.

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San Juan Abolicionista :</span>
Visitor economy (Tourism), Anti-racism, Eurocentrism, English attack of 1797, Conquest and colonization Guest User Visitor economy (Tourism), Anti-racism, Eurocentrism, English attack of 1797, Conquest and colonization Guest User

San Juan Abolicionista :

“El Majesty” (1859), urban slavery, and freedom in Old San Juan

Behind the cobblestones, elegant balconies, and colonial forts, lies a history of racial violence. This detour explores the history of slavery in Old San Juan. It delves into the story of the last known enslavement ship to have arrived in Puerto RIco, the Majesty, and attempts to repair the archival silences that continue to dehumanize the congolese men and women who were forced to make Puerto Rico their home.

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San Juan (De</span>)colonial:
Democracy and the right to protest, Visitor economy (Tourism), The summer protests of 2019, The toppling of Juan Ponce de León’s statue, Short-term rentals (Airbnb) and displacement, Law 60 (Law 22) and tax havens, Royal Decree of Graces of 1815, The abolition of slavery and reparations, Anti-racism, Eurocentrism, The Catholic Church and evangelization, “Mestizaje” in Puerto Rico: Indigenism, Afro-descendants, and Hispanophilia, Juan Ponce de León, Guanina, Alonso Manso, Ramón Power, José Campeche, Miguel Enríquez, among others., English attack of 1797, The encomienda system and African slavery, Conquest and colonization Guest User Democracy and the right to protest, Visitor economy (Tourism), The summer protests of 2019, The toppling of Juan Ponce de León’s statue, Short-term rentals (Airbnb) and displacement, Law 60 (Law 22) and tax havens, Royal Decree of Graces of 1815, The abolition of slavery and reparations, Anti-racism, Eurocentrism, The Catholic Church and evangelization, “Mestizaje” in Puerto Rico: Indigenism, Afro-descendants, and Hispanophilia, Juan Ponce de León, Guanina, Alonso Manso, Ramón Power, José Campeche, Miguel Enríquez, among others., English attack of 1797, The encomienda system and African slavery, Conquest and colonization Guest User

San Juan (De)colonial:

Interrogating monuments, heritage, and nation-building myths in the colonial city

This detour explores the colonial history of Puerto Rico, past and present. It traverses the city's most visited spaces and provides critical interventions of its monuments and sites of heritage. The prupose is to interrupt colonial narratives through a decolonial and antiracist lens.

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San Juan (Extra</span>)muros:
Puerto Rican bomba music, Urban horticulture, Afro-descendance and ancestry, Gender roles, Militarization (Spanish and American), Spanish-American War (1898), Bourbon reforms, Indigenous history, Working-class women’s history, Free, enslaved, and maroon black men and women, Heritage sites and National Park Service, Historical and contemporary displacement, Cartography and maps Guest User Puerto Rican bomba music, Urban horticulture, Afro-descendance and ancestry, Gender roles, Militarization (Spanish and American), Spanish-American War (1898), Bourbon reforms, Indigenous history, Working-class women’s history, Free, enslaved, and maroon black men and women, Heritage sites and National Park Service, Historical and contemporary displacement, Cartography and maps Guest User

San Juan (Extra)muros:

San Juan Extramuros: Cartographies of gender and (dis)placement along the walls of the city

This detour explores the legacies of displacement, militarization, and tourism in the defunct community of Ballajá in Old San Juan. We accompany visitors throughout the area to discuss the ways colonialism have shaped the history of this barrio, connecting past and present, and unearthing the story of a community that faced the brunt of Empire.

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