Spiral and the Comegente: Shape-Shifting and Recurrence in Anti-Black Narratives in the Caribbean

This talk revisits the opening chapter of Spirals in the Caribbean (2024), focusing on El Comegente, a recurring figure of racialized monstrosity that emerged in 1791 Santo Domingo amid local Black rebellions and neighboring French Saint-Domingue insurrections. Initially mobilized to justify repression, El Comegente later became a folk figure, recycled in late 19th- and 20th-century Dominican fiction and national narratives, and haunting today’s collective memories.

"O Navio Negreiro" Poetry Reading

Join the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Department of History, and the Africana Studies Program for the annual Tulane University poetry reading of “O Navio Negreiro” (“The Slave Ship”).   

“O Navio Negreiro” is a classic piece by Brazilian abolitionist Castro Alves describing the middle passage. The reading will be done in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole. All attendees are welcome to sign up to read in the language of their choice.  

 

South-to-North Solidarity in Practice: Building Cross-Border Abortion Accompaniment Networks

Verónica Cruz Sánchez, a renowned Mexican human rights defender and founder of the feminist organization Las Libres, will deliver a public lecture and Q&A via Zoom on March 3rd from 3:30-4:45 PM. She has spent more than two decades advancing reproductive autonomy, challenging the criminalization of abortion and miscarriage, and organizing legal and community-based strategies to support predominantly poor, Indigenous, and rural women in Mexico.

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