Vulnerable communities enact sovereignties that decenter the state while strengthening relationships on which survival depends. This panel will delve into such radical praxis through a closer look at archiving and the Archivo Histórico de Vieques. The AHV is a community archive born out of the struggle against the U.S. Navy’s occupation of Vieques, Puerto Rico (1940s-2003). In the early days, it aimed to give voice to Viequenses and to counter the silences imposed by colonialism.

Today, the AHV continues to cultivate community-centered stories. Moreover, it empowers community members to narrate history in their own terms and to, through such enactment of narrative sovereignty, chart out Viequense futures. This panel will accordingly address how archiving can be a praxis for narrative sovereignty that enables communities to reclaim their stories, counteract historical erasures and assert control over their collective memory. Panelists include historians and archivist from the Puerto Rican archipelago and diaspora.

This event is organized by NYU Gallatin and sponsored in part by The Latinx Project.