What if one of the earliest documented Black Africans in Puerto Rico did not arrive as an enslaved man?

His name was Juan Garrido—an African-born Black man who lived as a free man and participated in Spanish exploration and conquest during the early 1500s.

And Puerto Rico was part of his remarkable story.

In this episode of Puerto Rico: Open Your Eyes, Edwin Ortiz examines the documented history of Juan Garrido and a chapter of the African experience in the Spanish Americas that many people have never been taught.

Garrido participated in the early Spanish conquest of Puerto Rico associated with Juan Ponce de León. Decades later, in 1538, Garrido submitted a probanza to the Spanish Crown documenting his years of service—including h ...