Elvys Ruiz will provide an in-depth analysis about what it means to be afro-latino in the United States and how afro-descendants in Latin America have different experiences in dealing with discrimination and racism. He will also address the socially construction of blackness manifested in the dire poverty of afro-descendent people. The talk will provide a panorama about why most Hispanic/Latinos do not identify as blacks, by looking at historical prejudice and racism, which translated into disadvantage and social exclusion of people of color. Elvys Ruiz is a Dominican writer, and Researcher on the African Presence in the Caribbean. Mr. Ruiz has published 3 books: “The Black Imaginary in the Dominican’s Collective Memory”, “Latin-American Theatre of the Diaspora” and “Coffee and Dominoes”, as well as numerous articles and cultural essays and is the publisher of Etnias MAGAZINE. He currently works for Rhode Island Department of Administration, as a Chief Program Development for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Opportunity, where he oversees the Supplier Diversity Office. He is also a board member of the World Affairs Council of Rhode Island.

About RI Black Heritage Society (RIBHS): The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society invites you explore American identity and Rhode Island history through a series of FREE lectures on the complex contributions, journeys, plights and experiences of African Heritage peoples. African American Heritage peoples have a rich and complicated history that mirrors the strength, resilience and forward leaning optimism that is the American core. Expand the horizons of what you think you know! The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the collection and preservation of African Heritage artifacts, writings and other historical materials pertaining to African Heritage peoples in the state of Rhode Island; encouraging and promoting the study of African, Afro-Carib, and Afro-Latin history and culture through lectures and educational programming; and publishing and diffusing information as to such history.