Racial Migrations: New York City and the Revolutionary Politics of the Spanish Caribbean by Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof (review)

Histories of the late-nineteenth century struggle for Cuban independence typically highlight the actions and voices of white Cubans such as José Martí and Tomás Estrada Palma. Jesse E. Hoffnung-Garskof’s Racial Migrations: New York City and the Revolutionary Politics of the Spanish Caribbean, 1850–1902 details the story of the nineteenth-century Cuban revolution beyond these traditional narratives. It follows Rafael Serra, Sotero Figueroa, Gerónimo and Juan Bonilla, Gertrudis Heredia, and other Afro-Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban members of La Liga, an “educational and recreational society” that became a hub for the Cuban nationalist movement in the early 1890s, as they emerged as integral figures in the battle for Cuban independence. This trans-national microhistory spans across Cuba, Puerto Rico, Key West, and New York City, and uses a narrative-style to document the ways these Afro-Caribbean artisans organized themselves, navigated, and negotiated racialized spaces within the United States and Greater Caribbean. By employing a “‘migrants’ eye-view of the world,” Hoffnung-Garskof finds that notions of racial inclusion were intensely debated and molded by Puerto Rican and Cuban multiracial communities, publications, and institutions (12). Therefore, Martí’s memorialized declarations for racial inclusion and universal male suffrage were shaped by the ideas, efforts, and experiences of these Afro-Caribbean migrants. Yet, one of the unintended consequences of assisting Martí’s rise to prominence was that by doing so, these Afro-Caribbean migrants diminished their own contributions to the independence movement. As a result, they have largely been forgotten in histories of the period.

In Racial Migrations, Hoffnung-Garskof artfully weaves the story of this group of Puerto Rican and Cuban migrants from their birth, through their travels throughout the Caribbean and US, their convergence at La Liga in New York City, and concludes with the emergence of Tomás Estrada Palma as the new leader of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Chapter 1, “Beginnings,” provides a detailed account of their personal histories, or “self-making,” as Hoffnung-Garskof terms it (12). It describes the family histories of Rafael Serra, Gertrudis Heredia, Sotero Figueroa, Manuela Aguayo, Juan Gualberto, and José Martí, several of the main historical actors in the book. He traces the ancestry of their parents and situates their families within the social hierarchies of the time and their countries of origin. Using baptismal records, Hoffnung-Garskof draws attention to how racial distinction, determinations of legitimate and illegitimate births, as well as access to wealth and social status, all impacted how these actors were able to move across spaces. Information about the early years of schooling and work of the historical actors also provided a foundation for why these individuals intentionally sought to create an educational space like La Liga for men of the “class of color” and demonstrates how doing so was a political act. Chapter 2, “The Public Square,” contextualizes the development of La Liga within the history of previous efforts in both Puerto Rico and Cuba that combined politics of reform and revolution. Examining how the struggle for civil rights, suffrage, and revolution were all heavily divided by race, the chapter makes evident how race shaped how individuals like Serra and Figueroa were able to enter the public sphere and become prominent public figures. This chapter also introduces two new characters, the brothers Gerónimo and Juan Bonilla, both of Cuban descent and living in Key West, and who eventually worked with Serra in New York City in La Liga. Hoffnung-Garskof examines the spaces the actors navigated as members of the Cuban diaspora in Florida and recreates their racially and ethnically based communities and networks.

Chapter 3, “Community,” explores the racial and ethnic networks created by other Afro-Caribbean migrants when they first arrived in New York City and that helped them navigate the racially segregated US. Interested in the understanding the experiences of those...