Conclusion

The histories, struggles, music, dance, carnivals, and an endless number of embodied performances connect St. Croix and Vieques. Performances, whether it be protest, calypso, carnival, or USVI-PR Friendship Day, demonstrate solidarity through embodied acts that transmit the joyous and, at times, painful pasts and presents that inform Crucian and Viequense futures.

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands more broadly share histories that demonstrate the many aspects of empire in the Caribbean. This project has foregrounded the connections and solidarities embodied between the two. Yet, it should not be forgotten that racism and coloniality still create division between both territories. The proximity to whiteness Hispanic characterizations of P.R. afford often make the USVI seem it is worlds away when a mere 40 miles separate both territories. Interrogating coloniality, empire, colonialism, and their ensuing -isms and -phobias (e.g. racism, sexism, queerphobia, etc.) is crucial to liberation.

While colonialism, coloniality, and enduring struggle continues to define much of the present, I have highlighted how a pan-Caribbean understanding can acknowledge both our differences and shared experiences to foment a rigorous solidarity that understands that which is incommensurable and that which is common.

The Caribbean contains multitudes. St. Croix and Vieques, two tiny islands, contain a universe. And performance is one way of exploring all the galaxies within them.

For more information, please refer to the Bibliography tab.