There are/were three (3) community forums between April 10-13, 2019, organized by the VI Studies Collective (VISCO) which aimed to present some of the ways Virgin Islanders are trying to address questions of identity, education and preservation as well as engage with others who have been or are interested in thinking about and answering these questions.
On St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix, members of the community explored a set of important questions:
1. What does it mean to be a Virgin Islander?
2. What makes the Virgin Islands unique?
3. How can the Virgin Islands community, on island and in the VI diaspora, help create a vibrant and engaged future for the Virgin Islands?
4. How can we work collaboratively to envision and create the future of VI Studies?
In the video below, I spoke with with Hadiya Sewer about the VI Studies Collective Community Forums which started on April 10th at the St. John Community Forum at Bajo el Sol Gallery in Mongoose Junction.
The second event took place on St. Thomas, Thursday, April 11, 4-6pm on St. Thomas at Sabroso (on the Waterfront, next to the USO Bldg, between Windward Passage and Spenceley Bldg). About fifty attendees including students from the University of the Virgin Islands, elders and peers of the presenters attended, engaged in group dialogue and presented their perspectives on a variety of matters. Group topics, summarized afterward, included arts and culture, environment, preservation and more.
The third event will be held Saturday, April 13, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on St. Croix at the University of the Virgin Islands Albert A. Sheen campus in The Great Hall.
The VI Studies Collective (VISCO) is a working group of academics, artists, and activists who are committed to centering the Virgin Islands as a site of inquiry and theorization. Members of the group include LaVaughn Belle, Tami Navarro, Hadiya Sewer, and Tiphanie Yanique. According to their news release, “We, the V.I. Studies Collective (VISCO) are centrally concerned about the erasure of the Virgin Islands from larger discourses and the lack of resources to attend to our community’s needs, most notably the silences surrounding the territory’s continuous colonial subjugation, the lack of cultural institutions to preserve Virgin Islands history, and the ecological precarity demonstrated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.”
According to their Facebook page, they aim to introduce the collective to the community and encourage dialogue that addresses a set of important questions surrounding VI Studies. Join the Facebook events for each island to remain updated:
St. John
St. Thomas
St. Croix
