COLECTIVO ILÉ:
Black Youth Define Their Well-Being

Photo: Miriam Franyé Morales Suárez (she/they), researcher at Colectivo Ilé

Colectivo Ilé is a group with over 30 years of experience doing antiracist and decolonial work, grounded in community-based, anti-oppressive organizing and committed to developing leadership in Puerto Rico and in Latin American communities across the United States and the Caribbean. 

At Ilé, we work toward creating systematic, institutional, and cultural change that leads to the eradication of racism and all forms of oppression, including sexism, patriarchy, classism, xenophobia, that impact our lives. Our mission is to develop community-based leadership and support organizations that share our commitment to fighting oppression. 

In collaboration with the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research, we are conducting a study titled “Exploring Perceptions of Well-Being and the Impact of Racism on the Well-Being of Black and Afro-descendant Young Adults in Puerto Rico.” The research aims to investigate how Black and Afro-descendant young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 define well-being for themselves, and which aspects of well-being they prioritize in their lives. 

Over the years, Ilé has developed several community-based processes that have paved the way for us to create the decolonial methodologies we are using in this research. Some of these include:

• Proceso África en mi piel, which aims to acknowledge our history and provide an ancestral perspective on the experiences we live as Black people, while also recognizing racism at the individual, interpersonal, and institutional levels. 
• Rompiendo esquemas raciales, which has helped various organizations in Puerto Rico implement institutional change, both within and beyond government agencies.
• Caldero de ideas, which is a kind of incubator where we collectively analyze key aspects of our reality and generate alternatives that impact community organizing, civic action, and the strategic direction of our struggle toward comprehensive transformation that brings our demands directly to government authorities. 
• AfroJuventudes, which is an initiative in collaboration with Revista étnica and supported by the Maria Fund. This series of training sessions focused on political and antiracist education for 50 young adults from Vieques, Humacao, Guayama, Ponce, Mayagüez, Aguada, Orocovis, Caguas, San Juan, Carolina, Loíza, and other municipalities throughout 2021.

At Colectivo Ilé we promote community organizing through processes that foster self-determination, well-being, and holistic development of all those who make up our social fabric. 

Looking ahead, our focus is not only on influencing public policy, but also on ensuring that organizations can use these findings and collaborate in generating additional data. Currently, the research is in its initial phase: gathering information through collective dialogue and an online questionnaire 

As stated by Miriam Franyé, researcher and community social psychologist, “In the long run, our goal is to generate information that allows us to identify statistical data and, at the same time, develop questions and measures that help us document the realities facing Black youth in Puerto Rico.”

Some of the questions being explored in this ongoing study include: How do Black youth prioritize and define what well-being means to them? What are the indicators of well-being? How do racism and racial discrimination affect the well-being of Black and Afro-descendant young adults between the ages of 18 and 24, particularly in relation to their access to education, employment, housing, health services, and overall health? What forms of social and cultural support do Black and Afrodescendant young adults experience across the archipelago? And, what aspects of culture and spirituality also contribute to their well-being?

We believe that this study will support and strengthen community-based work and the development of diverse strategies to advance social transformation in support of the well-being of Black and Afrodescendant communities across the archipelago. 

Presentation of the Study during our 2025 Assembly

Miriam Franyé Morales Suárez’s presentation begins at minute 28:39. The video has English subtitles.

The Fundación de Mujeres en Puerto Rico supported Colectivo Ilé in their research to promote public policy for Black and Afrodescendant young adults. Through our Gender and Racial Justice Fund, we support organizations that address the intersectional inequalities of gender, race, and class, promoting communities free from violence, with meaningful access to power, healing, and justice.

These efforts simply cannot happen without supporters like you. Each donation reinforces our partnerships with organizations advancing equity and helps sustain the vital work of the Fundación de Mujeres en Puerto Rico.