History of Hispaniola

Participants dance along Sixth Ave. during the Dominican Day Parade Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015, in New York.

When we think of Black people in America, our first thought is of African-Americans in the United States. But, the first Black people on this continent were brought to the island of Hispaniola in the early 1500s. Lissette Acosta Corniel, assistant professor in the Department of Race and Ethnic Studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, discusses the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute's research on los primeros negros or 'first blacks,' who became the ancestors of Black Dominicans.