By W.N.Walker | Media King of PV | Editor-in-Chief, I AM Puerto Vallarta

November 10, 2026 · Community

Let’s get something straight about Puerto Vallarta.

The story of this city is bigger than the people who visit for a week and post ten photographs of the sunset.

There are people building lives here. Starting businesses. Creating art. Performing music. Raising families. Making friends. Learning Spanish, navigating bureaucracy, helping neighbors and discovering what it means to belong somewhere outside the place they were born.

And within that story is a conversation I want I AM Puerto Vallarta to make more visible: Black life in this city.

Not as a trend. Not as a novelty. And certainly not as an excuse to pretend that everybody’s experience is identical.

We deserve more than a passing mention

When people discuss Puerto Vallarta, they often reach for the easiest categories: beach destination, LGBTQ+ vacation spot, retirement community, nightlife capital.

Those categories tell a piece of the story. They do not tell the whole thing.

Black residents and visitors can experience this city through many different lenses. Some came for opportunity. Some came for love. Some came for work, music, a different pace of life or a second chapter they wanted to write on their own terms.

Some are permanent residents. Some split their time between countries. Some are newcomers still figuring it all out.

I am not interested in pretending those differences disappear because we happen to share a racial identity. I am interested in giving people space to speak about the lives they have built here, in their own words.

The people behind the businesses

One part of this series will focus on entrepreneurs. I want to hear from the people operating restaurants, providing services, producing events, building creative brands and finding ways to make a living in a city that can be both welcoming and complicated.

What made them start? What surprised them? What does support from the broader community actually look like? And what would they tell somebody considering the same leap?

I want practical answers, not polished slogans.

A successful business story is not just a photograph of a smiling owner next to a product. It includes the work, the setbacks, the decisions and the relationships that made the business possible.

The artists and performers

Music and performance are part of my own life, so I pay particular attention to the people bringing culture to the stage.

I want to know about the singers who choose Puerto Vallarta as a home base, the visual artists creating new work, the dancers, writers, designers and the performers whose talent deserves more attention than one weekend of applause.

There is an entire ecosystem behind a good show. Talent has to meet opportunity, rehearsal, promotion, venues and an audience willing to show up.

When artists are part of a community, their success can inspire another generation of people to create.

And let’s talk about belonging

This cannot be a serious series if we only talk about the beautiful parts.

There are questions worth exploring about access, community, culture, identity and what it feels like to live in a place where you may not see many people who look like you in every room.

I do not want to put words in anybody else’s mouth. I want interviews, honest experiences, different viewpoints and enough respect to let people describe their own lives.

That means acknowledging both joy and difficulty without turning either one into a performance for an audience.

What this series will be

This is an editorial invitation, not a report claiming I have already interviewed or verified a roster of people. The profiles will be built from actual conversations, permission to publish and original or properly licensed photographs.

If you are a Black entrepreneur, performer, creative or community organizer in Puerto Vallarta — or you know someone whose work deserves attention — I want to hear about it.

Send an introduction through IAmPuertoVallarta.com and tell us what you are doing and why it matters.

Because Puerto Vallarta’s identity is not something that exists only in postcards, travel guides or sponsored advertisements.

We live here. We create here. We contribute here. And our stories belong in the city’s story.

Sources & updates

Event times, access, conditions and schedules may change. Check the organizers or public agencies linked below for current details.

W.N.Walker
Media King of PV | Editor-in-Chief
I AM Puerto Vallarta Magazine
IAmPuertoVallarta.com