List of Afro-Puerto Ricans

List of Puerto Ricans of African descent
Notable Puerto Ricans of African Ancestry
First row Arturo Alfonso Schomburg • José Celso Barbosa • Pedro Albizu Campos Second row Juan Morel Campos • Juano Hernández

This is a list of notable Puerto Ricans of significant African ancestry, which represents a significant portion of the Puerto Rican population. It includes people born in or living in the mainland United States. This list contains the names of persons who meet the Notability criteria, even if the person does not have an article yet. Additions to the list must be listed in alphabetical order by surname.

Each addition to the list must also provide a reliable verifiable source which cites the person's notability and/or the person's link to Puerto Rico, otherwise the name will be removed. Note:

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

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• Randy Ariel Ortiz Acevedo - reggaeton artist, member of the duo 'Jowell y Randy'.
• David Luciano Acosta - reggaeton artist, known as 'Baby Ranks'.
• Angel Aguilar - rapper
• Tite Curet Alonso - composer, composer of over 2,000 salsa songs.
• Carmelo Anthony - professional basketball player, currently playing for the New York Knicks
• Alani "La La" Anthony - entertainer and actress, MTV V.J.
• Rick Aviles - actor and comedian
• Lloyd Banks - rapper
• Dr. Jose Celso Barbosa - was a medical physician, sociologist, and political leader of Puerto Rico, statehood advocate, first Puerto Rican with a U.S. medical degree.
• Dr. Pilar Barbosa - was an educator, historian and political activist.
• Pura Belpré - the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City.
• Dr. Yosef Alfredo Antonio Ben-Jochannan - also known as Dr. Ben, is a writer and historian
• Wilfred Benítez - boxer who won world championships in three separate weight divisions, and was the youngest world champion in boxing history.
• Ramon Emeterio Betances - leader of Puerto Rican Independence movement
• Angela Bofill - jazz and R&B singer
• Juan Boria - poet, writer of the Afro-Caribbean genre of poetry
• Víctor Cabrera - reggaeton artist and producer, member of duo 'Luny Tunes'.
• Iván M. Calderón - boxer
• Iván P. Calderón - Major League Baseball player
• Tego Calderón - reggaeton artist
• Jose Campeche - Puerto Rican rococo artists.
• Juan Morel Campos - composer of danza.
• Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos - lawyer, advocate of Puerto Rican independence from the United States, and president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death.
• Dr. José Ferrer Canales - educator, writer and a pro-independence political activist.
• Maidel Amador Canales - Spanish reggae artist, known as 'La Sista'.
• Bobby Capó - internationally known singer and songwriter.
• Irene Cara - singer and actress
• Orlando "Peruchin" Cepeda - baseball player, inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
• Pedro Cepeda—baseball player, father of Orlando, considered one of the greatest players of his generation.
• Rafael Cepeda - folk musician and composer, patriarch of the Cepeda family, Puerto Rican-African folk music, especially Bomba.
• Nero Chen - professional boxer.
• Roberto Clemente - baseball player, first Latin American to be selected and the only current Hall of Famer for whom the mandatory five-year waiting period was waived.
• Carlitos Colón, former WWE wrestler
• Carly Colón - WWE wrestler, son of Carlitos Colon.
• Jesús Colón - writer and politician known as the Father of the Nuyorican Movement.
• Celestina Cordero - educator, established the first school for girls in San Juan.
• Rafael Cordero - known as "The Father of Public Education in Puerto Rico", self-educated man who provided free schooling to children regardless of race.
• Ismael Cruz Córdova - actor, played Mando on Sesame Street.
• Maritza Correia - first Afro-Puerto Rican to be on the USA Olympic Swimming Team. She was the first Black US swimmer to set an American and World swimming record.
• Rafael Cortijo - percussionist, plena artist, composer
• Eva Cruz - volleyball player
• Victor Cruz - NFL wide receiver for New York Giants.
• Wilson Cruz - actor and advocate for gay youth of color
• Javier Culson - Track and field runner, Olympic bronze medalist who specializes in the 400 metre hurdles
• Eddie Dee - reggaeton artist
• Carlos Delgado - baseball player, a Major League Baseball first baseman.
• Rubén Díaz, Jr. - politician, current NYC borough president for the Bronx
• Carmen Delia Dipini - singer
• Thomas Dulorme - professional boxer
• Miguel Enríquez - 18th-century privateer
• Nino Escalera - baseball player, first Hispanic in the Reds franchise.
• Ángel Espada - boxer, was the WBA's world Welterweight champion in 1975-76
• Jaime Espinal - professional wrestler
• Lucy Fabery - jazz singer, known as "La Muñeca de Chocolate"
• Antonio Fargas - actor, known for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation movies.
• Jose "Cheo" Feliciano - New York-based composer and singer of salsa and bolero music.
• Ruth Fernández - singer and actress, the first Latina singer of romantic music to sing in the Scandinavian countries and the first Latina to record with a North American band.
• Pedro Flores - composer of ballads and boleros.
• Reagan Gomez-Preston - actress
• Rubén Gómez - was a Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who became the first Puerto Rican to pitch in a World Series game.
• Herbert Lewis Hardwick a.k.a. "Cocoa Kid", boxer who won the world colored welterweight and world colored middleweight championships and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2012
• Yvonne Harrison - Track and field runner
• Juano Hernandez - actor, the first Afro-Puerto Rican to become a major star in the US and among the "new style" black screen actors, who played straight dramatic roles.
• Aideliz Hidalgo - the first black woman to compete in Miss International beauty pageant as Miss Puerto Rico
• Rafael Ithier - salsa musician and the founder of the highly successful orchestra El Gran Combo
• Reggie Jackson - Hall of Fame baseball player, known as "Mr. October"
• Esteban De Jesús - boxer, first to defeat Roberto Durán.
• Rafael José - actor, singer, television host
• Erick Kolthoff - Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
• Benjamin LaGuer - US soldier and convicted criminal
• Tato Laviera - poet
• Alfred Lee - basketball player, first Puerto Rican to play in NBA and to win an NBA championship as a member of the 79-80 Los Angeles Lakers.
• Evelyn Lozada - actress, basketball wives
• Isabel la Negra - known as "la Negra", she was a madame of a brothel
• Felipe Luciano - poet and activist
• Eddie Manso - politician, current mayor of Loíza and member of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
• Sonia Manzano - actress
• Rafael Hernández Marín - musician and composer, who wrote Lamento Borincano.
• Alpo Martinez - convicted criminal, previously known as "Mayor of Harlem"
• Luis Palés Matos - poet
• Syesha Mercado - singer
• Rogelio Mills - television host
• Jerome Mincy - basketball player
• Pedro Rosa Nales - journalist, news anchor/ reporter; he has received over 200 awards.
• Emilio "Millito" Navarro - baseball player, the first Puerto Rican to play baseball in the Negro Leagues.
• Don Omar - reggaeton artist
• Fres Oquendo - professional heavyweight boxer
• Claudette Ortiz - model and R&B singer
• Victor Pellot - baseball player, the second black Puerto Rican to play in Major League Baseball, and the first Puerto Rican to play in the American League.
• Rosie Perez - actress, activist, and choreographer
• Pedro Pietri - Nuyorican movement poet
• Gabriel "Lennox" Pizarro - reggaeton artist, member of the duo 'Zion y Lennox'.
• Adolfo Quiñones - actor, dancer, and choreographer
• Ivy Queen - reggaeton artist
• Adolfo "OG Black" Ramírez - reggaeton artist, member of duo 'Master Joe & OG Black'.
• Ernesto Ramos Antonini - was the President of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico and co-founder of the "Partido Popular Democrático de Puerto Rico" (Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico).
• Gina Ravera - actress
• Carmen Belen Richardson - actress and comedian who was a pioneer of Puerto Rican television.
• Vanessa del Rio - adult film actress
• Ismael Rivera - salsa artist and singer
• Zuleyka Rivera - Miss Universe 2006 and actress.
• Efraín "Mon" Rivera - salsa and plena musician, credited for a fast humorous style and for introducing the sound of an all-trombone brass section to Afro-Rican orchestra music
• Zoe Saldana - actress
• O. J. Santiago - NFL football player, tight end
• Victor Santiago, Jr. - rapper, known by the stage name 'N.O.R.E.'
• Ruben Santiago-Hudson - born and residing in the US, noted actor and playwright
• Mayra Santos-Febres - writer, poet, essayist, screenwriter, and college professor.
• Arturo Alfonso Schomburg - historian, writer and activist in New York City, who researched and raised awareness of Afro-Latin American and African American history and contributions.
• Rafael "Lito" Sierra - reggaeton artist, member of duo 'Lito y Polaco'
• Pedro Telemaco, first black male leading man to star in a Puerto Rican telenovela
• Piri Thomas - writer, author of Down These Mean Streets
• Georgie Torres - basketball player, played for the BSN league of Puerto Rico. Holds scoring record
• José Torres - boxer, in the Boxing Hall of Fame
• Félix Trinidad - professional boxer, world boxing champion.
• Marcelo Trujillo - politician, current mayor of Humacao and member of the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
• Joseph Vásquez - independent filmmaker.
• Daniel "Divino" Velazquez - reggaeton artist
• Lauren Vélez - actress
• Loraine Vélez - actress
• Juan Evangelista Venegas - boxer, the first Puerto Rican to win an Olympic medal.
• Lisa Vidal - Actress
• Christina Vidal - Actress
• Tanya Vidal - Actress
• Sylvia del Villard - actress, dancer, choreographer and political activist.
• Otilio "Bizcocho" Warrington - comedian and actor, best known for his roles of "Bizcocho" and "Cuca Gomez".
• Bernie Williams - former Major League Baseball outfielder and a professional jazz musician.
• Marcos Xiorro - a slave who, in 1821, planned and conspired to lead a slave revolt against the sugar plantation owners and the Spanish Colonial government in Puerto Rico.
• Pedro "Peedi Crakk" Zayas - rapper

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans
• Afro-Latin American - Central and South America
• Black Hispanic and Latino Americans - United States of America
• List of topics related to Black and African people

References

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Biography, Photos, Lyrics (SalsaClasica.com) Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Jose Celso Barbosa Alcala Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• "Remarks at a Ceremony Honoring Hispanic Excellence in Education September 14, 1984" Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Ian Palmer's Tigerboxing.com article on Benitez Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• El Nuevo Dia Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Campos composition, Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Garcia, Marvin, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, National Louis University, Retrieved Feb. 15, 2009
• Jose Ferrer Canales Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Bobby Capo Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• 2001 Ernie Banks Positive Image Lifetime Achievement Award. B.A.D. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2009
• Don Rafael Cepeda Atiles Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Biography of Jesus Colon Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• En busca del Maestro Rafael Cordero/In search of The Master Rafael Cordero; By Jack Delano; Publisher: La Editorial Universidad de Puerto Rico; 1 edition (May 1994); ISBN 0-8477-0080-1; ISBN 978-0-8477-0080-6
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• 'AmericanSalsa.com' Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Ruth Fernandez Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Peer Music biography Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Starpulse Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Professional boxing record for Esteban De Jesús from BoxRec
• Rafael Hernandez Puerto Rico's Soul Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Negro League Players Association Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Luis J. Ramos Antonini
• Carmen Belen Richardson at the Internet Movie Database Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• Interview with the Author Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009(Spanish)
• Robert Knight, "Arthur Alfonso 'Afroborinqueno' Schomburg", History Notes, Global African Community, accessed 2 Feb 2009
• La Olimpiadas
• N.Y. Encyclopedia of Famous Puerto Ricans, Retrieved Feb. 14, 2009
• 'Puerto Rico Popular Culture'
• Slave Revolts in Puerto Rico: Conspiracies and Uprisings, 1795-1873; by: Guillermo A. Baralt; Publisher Markus Wiener Publishers; ISBN 1-55876-463-1, ISBN 978-1-55876-463-7