Manifesto

together, we build bridges

We present this space from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. The team of CSN identifies with Latin American and Caribbean cultures, as for individual identities and academic interests. We are interested in researching and providing easy and interactive access to a variety of human resources and materials about the Hispanic Caribbean, where the impact of colonization and imperialism is still visible. Likewise, the most important feature of this digital platform is that it establishes a network of collaborators including (but not limited to) academic institutions, intellectuals, and community organizations that continue to feed our archive and lab for public benefit. We invite readers to contribute with information that showcases projects in and about the Caribbean! Our objective is to have resources available that represent the dynamic nature of the Hispanic Caribbean and the political, economic and social factors that define and transform the region. 

Our long term goal is to open the lens of our digital archive and lab to the continental Caribbean regions, Haiti and the West Indies and their migrations as a decolonizing and inclusive practice. Considering Walter Mignolo’s theories in Local Histories/Global Designs, excluding Caribbean nations for linguistic factors revalidates colonial structures. Theoretical studies on the Caribbean (beyond the Hispanic Caribbean) serve as important references for CSN. Among these is the work of Stuart Hall, Yolanda Martínez San Miguel, Jorge Duany, Silvio Torres Saillant, Aimeé Césaire, and many more. We prioritize Caribbean voices that trace their own history. In other words, our mission is to decolonize history, borders, and the elements of identity in the Hispanic Caribbean, provide a dynamic and interactive space that is updated with new knowledge, and challenge the existing definitions of the Caribbean and its social development.