Know Your Caribbean on Instagram: "Puerto Rico & African Americans: A History of Solidarity for centuries. 1848–1873 - United Against Slavery: Before slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico in 1873, free Black Puerto Ricans and enslaved Africans rebelled against Spanish rule. 1940s–1960s - Civil Rights in Solidarity As Puerto Ricans migrated to New York and Chicago, they joined the U.S. Civil Rights Movement alongside African Americans. Puerto Rican activists marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.