African American - Latino World

The New York King of Latin Soul

2012-01-22T12:18:00.000-08:00

JOE BATAAN

 My all-time favorite: “Ordinary Guy”

Of all the time I lived in New York City, less than one-half mile from Spanish Harlem, I listened to Joe Bataan over WBAI Radio and bought his recordings. I never knew that Joe Bataan was dubbed as New York’s original King of Latin Soul. He was born Peter Nitollano in 1942 to an African-American father and a Filipino mother in Spanish Harlem, NYC. During his teen years, he was a leader of a local Puerto Rican street gang, the Dragons, which eventually led to his musical career. As a young teen, he hung out with older kids on street corners drinking wine. Eventually, he ended up doing five years in a correctional facility where he took an interest in music and theory. When he returned home, he started a band, and his life progressively changed.

One of my favorite songs in Spanish: Aguanta La Lengua (Watch Your Mouth)

He was heavily influenced by the Latin Boogaloo of the 1960s as well as African-American Doo Wop that he picked up during his gang-running days. His first band was Joe Bataan & the Latin Swingers. By the year 1966, he and the Latin Swingers were the youngest band to sign on with the prominent Fania Records. After six months of rehearsing every day and learning the music business through trial and error, he and the Latin Swingers finally started to make records. Their first hit was the Latin version of Curtis Mayfield's ‘Gypsy Woman.’. The fact that Joe and his band had achieved such stardom, this became a big deal in his barrio/hood because it all happened within six months.

A Marvin Gaye tune: “If This World Were Mine”

With eight albums under his belt, he went on to record for Fania Records energetic, dance tunes with Latin beats along with slower soul ballads sung in English with regular appearances on R&B charts. In 1973, he helped to coin the phrase ‘Salsoul (Salsa Soul)’ by making it the title of his first album after leaving Fania Records. He used funk and soulful Latin influences during the disco era of the 1970s. Eventually, SalSoul became a record company that he co-founded, which today is still regarded by many as the greatest disco label ever.

My favorite love song in Spanish: Mujer Mía (My Woman)

Maintaining his street connections, Joe also picked up on the New York hip hop culture very early in the game with his 1979 single ‘Rap-O Clap-O.’ In 1981, after releasing three albums on Salsoul, Bataan retired from the music business to spend more time with his family, and ended up working as a youth counselor at one of the reformatories where he himself spent time as a teenager. In 2005, Joe made a comeback with the release of ‘Call My Name,’ a well-received album recorded for Spain’s VampiSoul label.

Today, I marvel at how Salsa music has grown to be appreciated worldwide. As a native New Yorker, I've always thought Salsa was just a New York barrio thing. Those days are over. The music of which Joe Bataan was involved as the New York King of Latin Soul since the very beginning, is now accepted as mainstream everywhere.

Understanding Spanish!

2012-01-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

Because of my longing to perfect my Spanish, I have a lot of empathy, admiration, and respect for people trying to perfect their English because we are all facing similar issues.

As my Spanish develops through interactions with native speakers here in the US and through Latin-American travels, I am developing appreciation and respect for foreigners who come to this country and learn to speak English, regardless of their level of fluency. I can testify that learning a new language is not an easy task. One of the things I really admire, even among limited English-speakers, who come to the US is their ability to understand Americans from varying backgrounds and levels of education.

In the English language, needless to say, we have a lot of different accents, not to mention the fact that many of us slur our words, chop our words, mumble, and speak very rapidly. Then we have others who do not speak English properly. All of these things can confuse and throw off those who are learning to speak our language. Well I'm learning, particularly through my travels, that Spanish-speakers offer the same challenges for people like me who are learning to speak Spanish.

Throughout my travels, and even my interactions with Spanish speakers here in the U.S., I've found some Spanish-speakers easier to understand than others. For example, Mexican people seem to speak at a nice even pace, pronouncing every word fully, where as in Lima and in Southern Perú, where I go every year, people mumble rapidly and chop their words. Even though I grew up around Nuyoricans (New York Puerto Ricans), and even though many Spanish-speakers tell me that I sound Puerto Rican, I don't find them very easy to understand either. I shouldn't feel so bad because I've heard Spanish speakers from other countries say the same thing about Puerto Ricans as well as Cubans.

When I was in Cuba, I too, found it challenging to understand what people were saying, but I got by. In fact, I understand Cubans better than I understand Peruvians and Venezuelans. In Venezuela, on more than one occasion, I had to tell people to slow down; Spanish is not my first language! This was particularly acute when I went into a store run by Chinese immigrants speaking Spanish with a heavy accent. It seems to me that the more educated the speaker, the easier it is for me to understand, regardless of where they are from. It's the everyday, common people who speak their language the way we everyday, common Americans speak ours with all of our slang, Ebonics, colloquialisms, accents, and other speaking styles.

Below is a list of Latin-American nationalities whom I've encountered where, #1 being the easiest to understand, and #13 the least.

Mexicans
Ecuadorians
Spanish (Spain)
Hondurans (Catrachos)
El Salvadoreans
Costa Ricans
Colombians
Mexican-Americans
Cubans
Puerto Ricans (Boricuas)
Peruvians
New York Puerto Ricans (Nuyoricans)
Venezuelans

Fond Memories of Venezuelan Women

2011-12-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

The friendly, pleasant demeanor of Venezuelan women was one of the most memorable parts of my trip.

It was Thursday, December 1, 2011, when I stepped off the plane in Caracas, Venezuela; got cleared by security and immigration, and made it onto the main floor of the Maiquetia International Airport. It was so refreshing to notice how friendly and relaxed the women are. Mind you, there is not a city in the United States that comes close to the crime statistics of Caracas, and that includes Detroit, St. Louis, and Oakland. In fact, I have a co-worker from Caracas who feels “safe” walking the streets of Oakland.

As I passed through the airport, I noticed a black Venezuelan woman looking at me intently. I simply gave her a joyful smile, not out of flirtation, but out of happiness to see a sistah (a soul sister). I didn't have time to stop and chat because I was looking for someone who was supposed to be picking me up.

While I was riding the metro train, a white Venezuelan woman overheard me speaking English with my friend and guide, María, and I couldn't help noticing this woman watching me with a delightful smile. I immediately greeted her in Spanish and made lightweight conversation of which she seemed very pleased. “Buenas días, buenas tardes, buenas noches,” I would say to various women in my presence, and they would all respond with genuine warmth; not lust, not romantic interest, simply warmth. Almost every time I'd smile at a woman, she'd give me a happy smile in return; not in a come-on kind of way, but out of friendly enthusiasm. The last time I smiled at a woman in San Francisco, CA, where I work, she rapidly picked up the pace of her stride, and created as much distance from me as possible.

In the predominately black Region of Barlovento, one woman referred to me as primo when I greeted her on the street. Primo literally mean cousin, but in Venezuela, it is a colloquial expression for addressing a good friend. In Venezuela, I encountered no negative attitudes, defensiveness, nor the paranoia that I'm so accustomed to experiencing in the United States of America. The friendly, pleasant demeanor of Venezuelan women was one of the most memorable parts of my trip.

Black Venezuelan War Hero

2011-12-14T12:26:00.000-08:00

PEDRO CAMEJO
Simón Bolívar's famous Lieutenant

Black Venezuelans played a decisive role in their country's War of Independence. South American liberator Simón Bolívar thoroughly understood the strategic importance of black soldiers and abolished slavery in 1812 and again in 1816. Bolívar being a slave master himself freed 1,000 of his own slaves, and recruited 5,000 slaves into his army.

One of Bolivar's most famous lieutenants, Pedro Camejo, is known in Venezuela's history books as "El Negro Primero (The First Black)," because he was always the first to ride into battle.

The only statue commemorating a black person in Venezuela is that of Pedro Camejo, better known as “El Negro Primero” (the First Black) one of Simón Bolívar's famous Lieutenants. A statue of El Negro Primero today stands in the Plaza Carabobo in Caracas—the only statue commemorating a Black person in all Venezuela.

Pedro Camejo's picture also appears on Venezuelan's currency

A Black (and Brown) Ghetto in Venezuela

2011-12-11T06:50:00.001-08:00

During my trip to Venezuela, I had two caring Couchsufing hosts. One picked me up at the airport and we hung out all over Caracas before going to his home where I met his family and his girlfriend. He hooked me up with an exchange rate of eight Bolívares to a US dollar. The next day, after lunch, he passed me on to my other couchsurfing host who had me sleeping on a “real” couch (no problem at all). She then woke me up at 6am and accompanied me on a two-hour bus ride to Higuerote in Venezuela's Region of Barlovento where her family lives.

The Region of Barlovento is west of Caracas, the nation's capital, in the state of Miranda going towards the Caribbean Sea. It is famous for its cacao and is considered to be among the best in the world. During the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Spanish imported slaves from Africa to work on cacao plantations, from which cocoa, cocoa butter, and chocolate are made and exported to Europe creating wealth for the slave masters. Barlovento eventually became one of the many runaway-slave settlements called cimarrónes. By the time slavery was abolished in the 1820s, a significant number of free black folks were settled in Barlovento. Most of these ex-slaves and descendants of these ex-slaves continued the legacy of cacao production in the region.

This was my primary purpose of visiting Venezuela and I wanted to spend most of my time in Barlovento. As a hobby, I explore black cultures in Latin American countries and I wanted exposure to Afro-Venezuelan culture. It is of my understanding that Jesus “Chucho” Garcia, author of Africa in Venezuela, grew up in Barlovento and started an Afro-Venezuelan Network in this town of Higuerote.

Higuerote, from my two-day observation is like any hood in the US, primarily black, brown, and poor. Only the poverty is much worse in Higuerote. The most outstanding difference between Higuerote and the hoods in the US is that they speak Spanish Ebonics and listen to Latin music. I say Spanish Ebonics because in every community where there is a history of the African slave trade, be it in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, or Dutch, you can hear a certain dialect, an accent that is different from white or mestizo society. Other than that, the energy was the same; poverty, oppression, attitudes, and survival with Chinese and Arab store owners.

My friend, María, who accompanied me to Higuerote from Caracas kept warning me to be careful. She cautioned me not to hang out at the beach at night and to keep my eyes open to what is going on around me. María went on to explain that even thought I may look like I'm part of the community in terms of skin color, my accent and my mannerisms are a dead giveaway that I'm a foreigner, and people might try to take advantage of me or even rob me.

In all fairness, I have to say that I was only in Barlovento a couple of days. I didn't get a chance to see the Afro-Venezuelan Network, tambor performances, or cacao plantations like I had planned. I had to get back to the airport to catch my flight to Miami.

NEGRO: Docu-Series on Latino Identity

2011-12-09T06:26:00.001-08:00

Part I

by Britni Danielle

The African diaspora is vast. Because of the slave trade and natural migration, African-descended people can be found living in and influencing cultures all over the world. A new series, ‘Negro,’ takes a look at another part of the diaspora and explores issues of culture, ethnicity, colorism and the media’s portrayal of Latinos.If we used the media as a guide, we’d think that all Latinos were the same: Fair-skinned, stereotypically “hot blooded,” catholic, and tending to come from a particular region. But the truth is far deeper.

Latinos are incredibly diverse, live all over the globe, and have a range of experiences that have yet to be shown in the mainstream media. Because of this, journalist and filmmaker Dash Harris has set out to tell her story, and those of other Latinos.Born to Panamanian parents, Harris says she wanted to make this documentary to show the world that Latinos are not a monolith. “We have a complex history that shows we come in all colors and hues and the denial of that history really upset me growing up,” Dash explained.In ‘Negro,’ Harris travels around the world chronicling the Latino experience and its historical roots.

Although the documentary takes a look at the ways in which African-descended people have influenced Latino culture (and how some Latinos self-identify), Harris finds the term “Afro-Latino” redundant. “I do not identify as ‘Afro-Latino’ because to me, it’s redundant,” Dash explained to me. “The definition of ‘Latino’ is African, indigenous and European. So to me it’s just repeating what we already are. I am Latina and I am a Black woman.”So far, Harris has traveled to the Dominican Republic and Colombia to interview people on the Latino experience, and she’s hoping to raise $5000 to visit Salvador, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Cuba to continue to tell the story.Whether you can or cannot relate to Harris’ background and experience, encouraging (and supporting) her to tell her life story helps other women do the same.

Watch the first part of Harris’ docu-series, ‘Negro’ and check out her GoFundMe page to learn how you can donate for future episodes.

by Dash Harris

InADash Media

Photos of Afro-Peruvian Dancing

2011-11-23T15:19:00.001-08:00

While staying with Perú´s famous Ballumbrosio family in
El Carmen (Chincha), Perú, I was treated to live Afro-Peruvian
performances under my own vacation rooftop.

The late, great maestro Amador Ballumbrosio,

master of Afro-Peruvian music and dance.

Afro-Peruvian tap dancing known as “Zapateo”

Mamá Adelina, wife of Amador Ballumbrosio on her birthday

Ronal Ylleacas

The Ballumbrosio Home in El Carmen de Chincha Perú

The jawbone of a donkey is standard
in Afro-Peruvian Percussion

DANCING the ZAPATEO

L-R:

Roberto Ballumbrosio

César Ballumbrosio,

unknown

Ronal Yllescas

Camilo Ballumbrosio

Where My Birthmark Dances

2011-11-23T14:50:00.001-08:00

*The following is a guest post by writer Octavia McBride-Ahebee, whosepoetry collection, Where My Birthmark Dances,was recently published by Finishing Line Press. http://omcbride-ahebee.blogspot.com/

Sculpture by the African-Puerto Rican artist SamuelLind http://samuellind.com/

I always thank my C-shaped spine for alerting me early to the fact that black folk existed in otherparts of the world other than just Philadelphia and that they had other narratives,told in other languages of what we share and how we are distinct. The idea, the possibility, the fact that wewere everywhere, opened me to the whole of the world.

As a child, I hadscoliosis –curvature of the spine-and I received, for many years, medicaltreatment in the form of braces and physical therapy and finally a spinalfusion at Shriners’ Hospital for Children. Children from all over the world came to that strip of Roosevelt Blvd, in Northeast Philly, to be treated and I was fortunate to have thefoundations of my little girl worldviewshaken at its core while having my spine stretched and supported. During the decade of the 1970s, when I wasboth an outpatient and inpatient at Shriners, I was one of very fewAfrican-Americans who received care there. Seeing another kid of color was always a pleasure for me. On one visit,when I about 10, I was startled to see, what I thought to be, a US African-Americangirl. She was younger than I, perhaps 5or 6 years old, and she was unusually small and unable to walk. She was in a mobile crib-likecontraption. She appeared to be withouther parents and a nurse was escorting her to radiology, where we both were tohave x-rays taken. She must have felt very alone, because she started to cryand then to babble. But quickly, my earswere able to discern that there was a method and a purpose and lyricism to heroutburst. It was almost poetic. Myfather, who had accompanied me that day to the hospital, said the girl wasspeaking Spanish. WOW, I thought, a black person, a child, speaking anotherlanguage.

I remember the care and precision with which my fatherproceeded to enumerate the seemingly endless possibilities of where thatbeautiful, black girl –immobile and all alone-might be from in the world-NorthPhilly, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Spain, Peru, Dominican Republic, EquatorialGuinea…. She and her Spanish-speaking-self, though seemingly caged, unleashedmy sense of wonder about the world. Shemarked the beginning of my wanderlust. That propitious meeting happened almost 40 years ago. In honor of that girl and her lastingimpression on me, I share with you the following African singers whose tell theirstories in Spanish: Concha Buika fromEquatorial Guinea/Spain, Choc Quib Townfrom Colombia and Susana Baca from Peru.

1. Concha Buika

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icd1c3FpnC4&feature=related

2. ChocQuib Town

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMS4J6Gp6e4

3. Susana Baca

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNDXciX9p-g

My First Couchsurfing Exerience While Traveling

2011-11-22T15:14:00.001-08:00

In the Barlovento Region of Venezuela

CouchSurfing International, today, has millions of members in over 230 countries and territories around the world. I myself joined Couchsurfing back in March 2010 while planning my vacation to five Latin-American countries. Before I could join, however, Couchsurfing conducted an identity and residence check: a standard practice to help ensure everyones safety.

Rosa, my Lima, Peru couchsurfing host
1

I found the Couchsurfing.com website to be so vast and overwhelming that, at first, I was not sure how to go about finding places to stay in the countries I was going to visit. Slowly, I began to explore and learn to navigate my way around the site, but not in time to meet the needs of my 2010 vacation. I decided when I get back, that I was going to commit to learning and getting more involved with Couchsurfing.com. My first task was to make Couchsurfing friends and get references. Good references play a vital role in your ability to find people who are willing to host you, a total stranger, in their homes during your vacations, especially if those references are people you hosted in your home, or people who hosted you in their home.

My next move was to get involved with group discussions or message boards. I joined groups pertaining to my 2011 trip to Lima, Perú, and Caracas, Venezuela. This way, I can make myself known and make people feel more comfortable hosting me. It worked. Even if I didn't find a place; even if I was satisfied paying $400 per night at the Hilton Hotel, Couchsurfing.com is a great site to get inside information on any place from the people who actually live there. For example, I've been to Lima, Perú six times already, but I never been to Lima's Chinatown. I posted a message on the Lima board asking for Chinese restaurant recommedations, and the uninamous choice was Wah Lok.

Felix, my Caracas, Venezuela couchsurfing host

When I arrived in Lima, my couchsurfing host, Rosa, gave me my own bedroom, a kitchen, and a computer in her home in the ritzy part of town. Free. Couchsurfing International prohibits hosts from charging surfers, and I was told that offering money to hosts can be insulting. There are other ways to compensate hosts like helping to buy groceries and household goods, or even taking them out to dinner. Rosa herself was excited about going to the Wah Lok restaurant in Chinatown.

When I got to Caracas, Venezuela, Felix, who also has been observing my posts on the Caracas group granted me a bed in his cramped family home in the hood (or the barrio). He was good enough to not only pick me up at the airport, but show me the city as we came across a band playing live Venezuelan music. Many of you know how much I love salsa, but I was definitely feeling these genres of music; tambor, parranda, and gaita. Like in every country, Venezuelan music is diverse.

Then there was María who saw my post on the Venezuelan national board about my desire to visit the Region of Barlovento, the hub of Afro-Venezuelan culture. She took it upon herself to accompany me on a two-hour bus ride from Caracas to the Region of Barlovento, where I spent the rest of my South American vacation.

Maria, my Caracas and Higuerote, Venezuela couchsurfing host

As a couchsurfing rookie, I was deeply touched by what I experienced from Rosa, Felix, and María. I felt inspired to follow their examples in carrying out the mission of Couchsurfing International, which is not all about getting your personal needs met during your vacations. When a savvy couchsurfing host looks at your profile to screen you, a total stranger, as a potential couchsurfer in their home, they want to see that you too are doing your part to help fulfill Couchsurfing Internationsl's mission by building meaningful connections across cultures by either hosting or showing visitors around your town. If enough of us have these kinds of experiences, we begin to see a world where people feel a greater sense of connection with each other, in spite of differences. CouchSurfing International's goal is for the people of the world to respond to diversity with curiosity, appreciation, and respect while creating a global community one couch at a time.

See my Couchsurfing profile by clicking here Bill Smith Jr

What I Like About Miami

2011-11-16T19:05:00.001-08:00

The Spanish-speaking Mecca of the U.S.

The first time I was visiting Miami, more than eight years ago, an Afro-Puerto Rican friend showed me around Little Havana, then showed me Little Haiti and Overton, a historic African-American community. This time, as I passed through Miami before flying out to San José, Costa Rica, I lost my friends contact information after being out of communication for so many years, thus, I was on my own.

When I address people in Spanish, without hesitation, they respond in kind, unlike the Spanish speakers I meet in New York, San Francisco, and other parts of the country.

The major thing that stood out for me about Miami is the feeling that I was already in a Latin-American country where people are very comfortable with their language and their cultural heritage. Spanish seems to be the predominate language of the city. Of course, with my constant work on developing Spanish fluency, I felt very much at home. When I address people in Spanish, without hesitation, they respond in kind, unlike the Spanish speakers I meet in New York, San Francisco, and other parts of the country. Elena, a former co-worker, from Nicaraugua was telling me that in Los Angeles, Latinos would often say to her, “I´m an American--I don´t speak Spanish.” What is so wrong with an American speaking Spanish or four or five other languages, for that matter? Who says it´s un-American to speak more than one language? Elena would have never experienced this in Miami where Latinos, mainly Cubans, are in your face proud of who they are.

I felt good about another opportunity to practice my Spanish as if I already were in a Spanish-speaking country.

I myself decided to walk into a Cuban-run cafeteria, and the cashier immediately asked me in in broken English if she could help me. Sensing her struggle with the English language, I told her (in Spanish) that she is welcome to speak to me in Spanish like everyone else in the restaurant. This made her, her co-workers, and even customer feel good about my presence, and I felt good about another opportunity to practice my Spanish as if I already were in a Spanish-speaking country.

Afro-Peruvian Salsa Music Star--Antonio Cartagena

2011-11-10T00:39:00.000-08:00

I first learned about Antonio Cartagena when his hit song Niña aired on KIQI Radio in San Francisco. What I didn't know was that he was a black man from Perú until I saw his picture posted on a billboard advertising his local performance. After his show, he stopped by the Salsa club 650 Howard (Boppers), where I used to hang out, to relax with members of his entourage. Being the Afrocentric Latin music lover that I am (see my post My Top 10 “Black” Latin Music Stars), I had to go over and shake his hand. Unlike most artists who make it big, he was very personable with the fans who took the time to greet him. At that time, my Spanish was not at the level it is now, so the producer, Pepe, who happened to be standing by was serving as our interpreter. There were other Afro-Peruvian members of his band who were curiously watching me dancing salsa and merengue and I only wished that my Spanish was better so I could engage them.

Antonio Cartagena was born in a poor Afro-Peruvian family in Callao, Perú and having attended the Peruvian National Police Academy and the University of San Martín (a school named in honor of an Afro-Peruvian priest canonized as a Saint by the Catholic Church, before focusing on his music and producing his first hit song "Sin Ti"

His romantic-style salsa hits, some of which were mixed with traditional Peruvian-style music, resulted his being contracted for tours in South America, North America, and Europ.before being signed onto a prestigious record label RMM headed by Ralph Mercado, one of the world's greatest salsa producers where he recorded his first international CD Díme Que Sí.

A Black Gringo in Latin America

2011-10-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

What makes my travel experience so different from your average tourist, especially to a Latin American country, is my preference to be with local people, and as far away from other gringos as possible. This way, I can be totally immersed in the Spanish language as I seek to explore the Latin American black experience, history, and cultures.

Marion, a member of my Toastmasters club, asked me how do the blacks in Latin America view me, considering that I'm black like they. My response was that I'm seen as a Gringo first, with a pocket full of money, and as a fellow black person second. The fact that I'm black seems to make them feel that I would be an easier and more sympathetic mark. This is not to take away from the good relationships with many of the black people I meet, like Gloria, a friend I met in Ecuador who treated me like a long, lost brother and made my visit a rewarding one. Overall, I have been embraced and made to feel at home without expecting even a ten-cent tip.

Street hustlers, known in Cuba as jineteros, got frustrated trying to set me up when a lady friend got my attention and lured me away from them.

On the other hand, however, I'm often seen as a quick hustle, a glorified ATM machine. For example, there was Javier, a black Peruvian whom I befriended and who eventually got around to making it a habit of asking me for money. To this day, he sends repeated e-mail requests, which now goes directly to my spam folder. In Colombia, a black cabbie wanted to charge me extra for a fair that I knew cost considerably less. Street hustlers, known in Cuba as jineteros, got frustrated trying to set me up when a lady friend got my attention and lured me away from them. They weren't going to rob me or anything, just wanted to entice me to spend money so they, and supposedly I, could have a good time. On Facebook, I met a man from Venezuela, where I'm planning my next trip, who immediately tried to lure me into reserving an expensive tourist hotel with a kitchen so he can get a kickback from the hotel manager.

Gloria, a lifetime friend, I met in Ecuador treated me like a long lost brother and made my visit a rewarding one.

Then you have the gold diggers, the women (men too) who think every American is in the same income bracket as Bill Gates or Donald Trump. They would woo gringos into marrying them so they can come to live in the USA legally. I mysellf have been to 13 different countries, and have been approached by women from nine wanting to marry me for this reason and this reason only.

All in all, I'm very much in tune with my own travel purposes; language and cultural immersion, and to explore the black experience. If this means giving to the needy (and not the greedy) along the way, I'm more than happy to do that as long as I'm not being hustled. In fact, the money that I do circulate, for noble and empathetic causes, are of far greater value to me than the money I could be spending on myself in a fancy, resort hotel or on expensive tour guides.

Learning Spanish in an Immersion School

2011-10-23T13:05:00.001-07:00

The University of Havana in Cuba had a special
Spanish language immersion program for foreigners.

I've had formal Spanish classes in school, and have literally taught myself to speak Spanish out of books. But I've found the most efficient way of learning to speak Spanish, or any new language, is by total immersion.

In July of 1998, I was on a two week vacation in Havana, Cuba to study Spanish at the University of Havana. I was able to get into Cuba legally through the Global Exchange organization based in San Francisco, CA. Through this partnership with Global Exchange and the University of Havana, I got to stay with a family who speaks no English, took a class from a Cuban instructor who speaks no English, and was assigned tutors who speak no English. They don't call this an immersion program for nothing. The whole idea is to be so immersed that you cannot fall back on your English and have no other choice but to speak Spanish. In about a week, I started having dreams in Spanish, and still do to this day from time to time.

I spent my weekends with an Afro-Peruvian

family while studying Spanish in Lima, Perú.

In October, 2005, I went to an immersion school for the second time in Lima, Perú at the El Sol Spanish school, where only Spanish was spoken. What I had going in my favor, in both Havana and Lima, was that I was already self-taught to the level where I could converse socially and professionally on the job. However, my Spanish still has a lot of room for improvement. Speaking of which, I would not recommend an immersion school for anyone who has not had a least an equivalent of one year of Spanish language learning whether self-taught or in a formal classroom setting. I just think you'd get more bang for your buck with a solid foundation on the fundamentals.

Receiving my Advanced Spanish certificate
from El Sol Spanish School in Lima.

The advantage I had over many other of my immersion school classmates is that I was able to get more Spanish speaking experience by going out into the community to either sink or swim in the Spanish language. I went on dates, went to parties, and even spent weekends with families. When I'm here in the U.S, my level of Spanish fluency, on a scale of one-10, is a “six.” When I'm in a Spanish-speaking country, my level of fluency (by default) goes up to an eight because I have no other choice but to speak Spanish. I was so pleasantly surprised to see how easy it was for me to converse and interact with so many people, unless I ran into someone who's English is better than my Spanish, and that was rare.

Gift Giving While Traveling

2011-10-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

El Carmen, Perú

They say be aware of strangers bearing gifts. What about strangers being aware of to whom they give gifts?

It was October 2005, when I made my first trip to Perú. I was staying in an impoverished, but tranquil, District of El Carmen, a predominately black community to immerse myself in the language and the culture. As in most of my travels, I brought gifts, such as pens, writing tablets, clothing, post cards, and electronic gadgets that I didn't need.

The first weird gift-giving experience occurred when I stopped by the home of a family where I already established rapport. I brought them electronic gadgets and some stationary supplies for the children who were asleep at the time. When I told the children the next morning, they told me that they “never” received the gifts, and they reminded me repeatedly about those gifts. I was not in the mood to confront the mother; I just felt she would get around to giving it to them eventually. I also gave away a Luther Vandross and Tupac Shakur t-shirt to some friends I met, and those items, too, disappeared.

When I returned home to the U.S., I discussed my gift-giving escapades with Joe, a Peruvian-American who laughed hysterically and told me that in impoverished areas like that those items I gave as gifts were most likely sold. ”They are about the benjamins, moron!” Joe concluded. Although, I took his words with a grain of salt, they remained in the back of my mind during future trips, such as the time I taught a young girl to tell time, then bought her a clock. That clock, too, disappeared. Although Joe's words resurfaced in my mind about the possibility of it being sold, I let it go.

However, on my last trip, I bought this little girl, per her request, a brand new bicycle of which she seemed to enjoy.. Joe's words crept back into my mind about the possibility of being sold. Sure enough, when I returned to Perú the following year, the bicycle was no where around. When I asked about it, I heard a lot of vague reasons. The final last straw was when I bought fresh fish for several families. The next day, I saw one woman walking down the street with the fish chopped in pieces trying to sell it. Finally, lesson learned

I still love El Carmen, Perú. I get free rent where I stay and am treated like family. The experience helps my Spanish and helps me relate to Spanish-speaking clients at work. Overall, the money that I spend is relatively a cheap, inexpensive, and fun way to get the language and cultural immersion that I need to help me professionally, and perhaps, end up with an even better job in the future because of this ezperience..

Was He Mexico's Barak Obama?

2011-10-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña
Mexico's First Black President

President Vicente Guerrero of Mexico (1829) and President Barack Obama (2008-present) have some things in common as well as differences. Both are of African heritage; Obama on his father's side, and Guerrero on his mother's side. Like Barack Obama, Vicente Guerrero tried too damn hard to please the very people who disliked him as he received stubborn, heated political opposition because of his African ancestry. When Obama was elected, my hope was that he watch his back, and not surprisingly, Obama receives considerably more death threats than any other president in the history of this country. Guerrero's term, on the other hand, didn't even last a year before conservatives threw him out of office, convicted him of treason, and put him to death.

Vicente Guerrero immediately set out to improve the conditions of Afro-Mexicans and indigenous people.

Guerrero, like Obama, had a thorough understanding of the Constitution of the United States. Guerrero was inspired by the Constitution to order the immediate release of every slave in Mexico, be they black or indigenous. Unlike Obama, who is getting heat from blacks, like the Congressional Black Caucus for overlooking the needs of the black community, Vicente Guerrero immediately set out to improve the conditions of Afro-Mexicans and indigenous people.

Mexico does not have a one-drop rule.

Vicente Guerrero, like Barack Obama, was inexperienced when it came to political leadership. Obama, at least, served as a senator before being formally elected president. Guerrero, on the other hand, with the aid of a general and a politician, bullied his way into the presidency by staging a coup d'etat years after he freed Mexico from Spanish rule on the battlefield. Obama, unlike Guerrero, is Harvard University educated. Guerrero did not have a formal education or the social grace of Barack Obama.

Mexico, historically, does not keep statistics on race. According to my understanding, Vicente Guerrero was responsible for this policy because he wanted all of Mexico united regardless of race, economic standard of living, or class. Whereas, the U.S. not only kept racial statistics, the one-drop rule was included where once drop of black blood makes you black. Mexico does not have a one-drop rule.

Barack Obama
United States of America's First Black President

Related Post
The “Soul” of Mexican Independence
Mayate

Shame and the Spanish Language

2011-10-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Camilo, a friendly, outgoing security officer in the office building where I work, is a Spanish-speaking immigrant from Costa Rica. Although, he has a fairly good command of the English language, he constantly seeks to improve it by speaking as much English as possible. Because of my ability to speak Spanish, Camilo and I greet and converse in English and Spanish. However, this past Friday I passed his desk and he refused to say anything to me because a non-Spanish speaker was present. This isn't the first time I noticed such reluctance under the same scenario, giving me the impression that he doesn't want to be heard speaking Spanish in front of English-only speakers. Why can't he get a clue that, in a city like San Francisco, over 100 languages are spoken? Why is he so ashamed of his?

Why can't he get a clue that, in a city like San Francisco, over 100 languages are spoken? Why is he so ashamed of his?

When I was in Ecuador, I was laughed at by some Afro-Ecuadorians because they heard me speaking English with a bilingual mestizo. They were so freaked out you'd think they had never heard a black man speak English before. Does this give me a complex about speaking English in a Spanish-speaking country? No! What it does mean is that those people who laughed so hard, reminded me of so many Americans who have a narrow view of the world and don't get much exposure outside of their own communities. Some people may argue, and I heard this from Spanish-speakers, that English is considered higher class. Bull! Who is feeding people this and why are they buying into it? The Spanish language is no less inferior or any more superior than English, Arabic, Mandarin, or Swahili.

Meanwhile, it will be English only with Camilo from now on.

Related Blog Posts: Is It Shameful to be Latino?

Latino and Proud

Maria Chiquinquira of Ecuador

2011-09-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Maria Chiquinquira Díaz, was an Afro-Ecuadorian woman enslaved in Guayaquil, Ecuador in the 1700’s and was the first slave in Ecuador to win her freedom. She was enslaved by Presbyter Afonso Cepeda de Arizcum Elizondo. Maria Chiquinquira “entered a legal battle” for her and her daughter’s freedom in May 1794 and changed the course of her history and for thousands of black women in Ecuador.
Although she was a slave, she was aware of some of her rights and fought for her freedom based on that information. Maria (along with other female slaves in Latin America) won her freedom by accusing their masters of dishonorable acts including, siring children with slave women, requiring work on Sundays, withholding time for mass, and failing to provide instruction in the faith. Her portrait hangs in the Museum of Nahim Isaias in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

National Afro-Ecuadorian People's Day

2011-09-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

In the combative spirit of María Chiquinquirá, we advance together in the struggle for our rights. --Luzmila Bolaños

Today, the first Sunday in October, Black Ecuadorians honor their ancestors by celebrating the National Day of Afro-Ecuadorian People. The festivities include athletic competitions, concerts and an Afrocentric religious services. This day was established by Ecuador's National Congress for the purpose of improving human rights conditions of Afro-Ecuadorians. Various civil rights organizations, such as Corporación de Desarrollo Afroecuatoriano (Corporation of Afroecuatoriano Development) sprung up to preserve Afro-Ecuadorian culture and to pursue equal rights as members of Ecuadorian society.

Afro-Ecuadorians in Valle de Chota (Chota Valley) of the Andes Mountains are descendants of emancipated slaves, unlike those in the western Province of Esmeraldas.

When 23 African men and women aboard a wrecked Spanish slave ship headed for Perú liberated themselves and created a free Black community, in October 1553, they set a standard of resistance and empowerment that would in spire their descendants hundreds of years later. Traditionally, as a country colonized by Spain, blacks were victims of racist conduct, social insults, and considered inferior. Today, employers advertise for job applicants with a "good appearance," a code-word for White or European characteristics. Landlords openly reject applications from Blacks looking for housing in middle-class areas. It wasn't until 1998 until Ecuador's constitution acknowledged Afro-Ecuadorians as a distinct group.

Most of Ecuador's blacks, descendants of runaways from an abandoned slave ship bound for Perú, live in the province of Esmeraldas on Ecuador's Pacific Coast.

Yet, Afro-Ecuadorians have many examples of the rich cultural heritage of black people that has been shown in all scopes of society, such as politics, sports, literature, music, etc. Their ancestors arrived from Africa and its contribution in music with traditional instruments like the marimba; colorful attires, their prolific dancers, their history, traditions, and their own customs. Government statistics say that the black population in the country constitutes on three percent, but in reality, more like nine percent. In Ecuador, there are black communities in provinces of Imbabura, Carchi, Loja, and Esmeraldas. Social activists say the stereotypes and lack of opportunity are slowly changing as the numbers of Afro-Ecuadorians finishing high school and going on to college have increased over the past decade.

Down These Mean Streets

2011-09-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

by Piri Thomas
1928 – 2011
===========An Autobiography
of a Black Puerto Rican
from Spanish Harlem

“You are a goddamn Negro! You think being Puerto Rican lets you off the hook? That's the trouble. Too many of you damn black Puerto Ricans got your eyes closed. Too many goddamn Negroes all over this goddamn world feel like you do. Just because you can rattle off a different language doesn't change your skin one bit. Man, if there are any black people up on the moon talking that moon talk, they are still Negroes. Get it? Negroes!”

This paraphrased excerpt came from Piri Thomas' best-selling auto-biography Down These Mean Streets published in 1967. Piri was born in Harlem Hospital as Juan Pedro Tomás (before adopting the Anglicized version of his last name) to a dark-skinned Afro-Cuban father and a light-skinned Puerto Rican mother. He talks about his life of poverty, street gangs, drugs, crime, and racism that plagued him while growing up in Spanish Harlem in New York City.

Piri Thomas was born
in Harlem Hospital
as Juan Pedro Tomás

As a Harlem raised kid myself, where my father taught school (P.S. 170 Manhattan) just blocks away from where Piri lived and roamed the streets, I can understand why my father did his best to shelter my brother and me from the mean streets that hooked Piri Thomas.

Despite Piri's Cuban and Puerto Rican heritage, he was often viewed as African-American and not Afro-Latino. His father, an Afro-Cuban, hated his own black skin as well as others with black skin. Other members of his family disowned the African aspect of his culture and bloodline, causing Piri to spend much of his childhood and early adult life confused about his true racial and ethnic identity.

Finally, at the age of 17, as he was about to leave home for the Merchant Marines, he experienced a very painful revelation that he was not only Puerto Rican... he is “black.” He learned to embrace both his color and his culture, and became a successful writer and poet. When I finally met Piri Thomas for the first time, he was living in Berkeley, CA with his wife and did a presentation at the César Chávez Public Library in Oakland, CA. I felt honored to receive an autographed copy of his book so many years after reading his book as a sailor in the U.S. Navy.

Click here for the Official Piri Thomas web site

Racial Prejudice of a Latino-American Immigrant

2011-09-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me how people of color can consistently exhibit the same racial prejudice that has been historically practiced against themselves by non people of color. I have to admit, I've observed the same stupidity among some African-Americans. However, Emilio, a co-worker of dark-brown complexion from the South American country of Ecuador is obviously not too fond of African-Americans, despite the good working relationship he has with three of us in our office. It took an out-of-office company activity for his prejudice to show.

One Friday morning, he and I were sharing a ride with Samantha, a white-American co-worker driving to a company-sponsored event. We were riding through an African-American community in what is known as Deep East Oakland. This is when Emilio began making snide remarks about “the ghetto.“ Although, I felt uncomfortable with his racially charged comments, I kept quiet because I've heard similar sentiments from professional and working class African-Americans. Emilio even expressed surprise to see a public library--a library that I myself once patronized. Then as we passed another library, inside of a beautiful building, Emilio asked why this community has so many libraries when “these people don't read!”

Emilio asked why does this community have so many libraries when “these people don't read!”

Now, it was my time to vent, considering that I grew up in a black ghetto and spent more than my share of time in libraries; libraries filled with black patrons, I might add. I explained to him that not everyone in the black community are gangsters. It's the people who patronize libraries, especially as children, who generally end up leading productive lives; regardless of color.

I myself grew up in “the ghetto” and spent more than my share of time in libraries filled with black patrons.

I believe that Emilio felt because I speak some Spanish, travel to Latin-American countries, and like Latin music that, perhaps, I'm not black enough to be offended by his culturally insensitive remarks. Samantha, the white driver, immediately changed the subject to keep the discussion from escalating into heated argument. Although, I have no intentions of going into the black militant tirade that Samantha may have feared, I reported the incident to the management of our company under the conviction that, considering the communities our company serves, that sensitivity to race, culture, gender, or sexual orientation is paramount. In addition to reporting the incident, i suggested that we should all take sensitivity training to heighten our awareness.

He came into my office offering an apology, but could not explain why he would make the statements we made. Personally, I think he was just afraid for his job. Being that we both like our jobs, and management wanted to overlook the issue, I considered our discussion to be a truce, letting him know that I see him as prejudiced against African-Americans.

How I Got Hooked On Salsa Growing Up in the Hood

2011-09-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

The album that pushed me over the edge to be a salsa music lover

After all these years of listening to the late, great maestro Ray Barretto, I finally get to meet him personally when he visited the Caribbee Dance Center in Oakland, CA where I used to hang out and dance salsa. I had to walk over and shake his hand. I tried to tell him (before he brushed me off) that his album, La Moderna Llegó, pushed me over the edge to be a salsa music lover. Little did I know that he was literally sick of salsa. He even hated the name--calling it the “S-word.” In fact, some one quoted him as saying, I don't play salsa, I play son. Son is Cuban music that gave birth to what we know today as salsa. It's the “S” word that helped him to earned the millions of dollars over the years, not jazz--his true love.

Little did I know that Ray Barretto was so sick of salsa that he called it the “S-word.”

Barretto was born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents who moved to New York looking for a better life. Being raised in Spanish Harlem, he was influenced at a young age by his mother's love of music and by the jazz music of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. At the age of 17, Ray joined the Army, and while stationed in Germany, he got into jam sessions with African-American soldiers. Then he heard Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca" with Afro-Cuban conga player, Chano Pozo, that was when he realized his true calling in life.

In 1961, Barretto recorded his first hit, "El Watusi.” Not only did this song hit number one on New York City African-American radio station WWRL but was the first Latin song to enter in April 1963 the Billboard charts.

After Ray Barretto returned home from the Army, he started to visit clubs and participated in jam sessions, where he perfected his own conga playing. On one occasion Charlie Parker heard Barretto play and invited him to play in his band, as well as Tito Puente, for whom he played for four years. Barretto developed a unique style of conga playing and soon was sought by other jazz band leaders. Barretto also played in recording sessions for the Rolling Stones and the Bee Gees. In 1975 he was nominated for a Grammy Award for the song "Barretto." In 1990, Barretto finally won a Grammy for the album Ritmo en el Corazon ("Rhythm in the Heart") featuring the vocals of Celia Cruz.

<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/font&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Of all the songs Ray Barretto produced, this is my all-time favorite&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;In 1960, Barretto was a house musician for the Prestige, Blue Note, and Riverside labels. He also recorded on Columbia Records with Jazz flautist Herbie Mann. In 1961, Barretto recorded his first hit, "El Watusi.” Not only did this song hit number one on New York City African-American radio station WWRL but was the first Latin song to enter in April 1963 the Billboard charts. He was quite successful with the song and the genre, to the point of being type-casted; something that he disliked, which could somewhat explain his attitude when finally I met him at the Caribee Dance Center in Oakland.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;font style="font-weight: bold;" size="4"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
In my opinion, Guararé was the best song he produced; way better than the original Cuban version.
I heard him in an interview on KPFA Radio in Berkeley when he said it was time for him to move on. He made his money in salsa, now he wants to pursue his real love--jazz. On Febrary 17, 2006, Barreto passed away at New Jersey's Hackensack University Hospital of heart failure and multiple health complications. His body was flown to Puerto Rico, where Barretto was given formal honors by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture; his remains were eventually cremated.

My other top Ray Barretto tunes:

Canto Abacua Indestructible (featuring Tito Allen) El Chisme (featuring Celia Cruz)

Black, Proud, and Beautiful Colombian Activist

2011-09-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

During my last trip to Colombia, I would have loved to have met, or at least, kissed the hand of Colombia's most prominent, political figures Piedad Esneda Córdoba Ruiz in a formal greeting, and chatted in a coffee shop; such wishful thinking! This gorgeous woman has a busy life filled with community and political and goals and some serious drama.

During my early research years of the Afro-Latino experience, I was pleased to learn that Colombia had a black female senator, but was also appalled to learn that she was caught up in all the kidnappings that were prevalent in Colombia during those years. After several weeks she was freed and exiled with her family in Canada. Then after a little more than one year in exile,, she started receiving reports that Colombian security had improved. She, therefore,returned to resume her political duties. She has since been victim of two assassination attempts.

As senator, Pieadad Cordoba has been a strong legislative advocate against discrimination based on race, gender, and sexual orientation.

This outspoken liberal, who served four terms as a Colombian senator, was born January 25, 1955, in Medellín, Colombia to an Afro-Colombian father and a white Colombian mother. She is better known by her nom de guerre Teodora de Bolívar or Gaitán. Cordoba has a labor law degree from a major university in Medellín, and a degree in Public Opinion and Political Marketing at a major university in Bogotá, the nation's capital.

As senator, Pieadad Cordoba has been a strong legislative advocate against discrimination based on race, gender, and sexual orientation. Córdoba evolved into one of the most notorious figures of the Latin American feminist movement in Colombia. Through congress Córdoba gained national notoriiety for taking controversial radical and radical positions, as she promoted debates focused on minorities and communitarian mothers groups, as well as the resolution of the Colombian armed conflict through peaceful negotiations.

She was finally elected to the Senate for the 1994-1998 period receiving most of her votes from the Departments of Antioquia and Chocó, a predominately black province in Colombia.

Cordoba began her political carrier in Medellín working as a community leader in many neighborhoods before being appointed to her first public office job, working as a municipal sub-controller. Then successfully ran for Deputy to the Antioquia Assembly, and finally elected to the Senate for the 1994-1998 period receiving most of her votes from the Departments of Antioquia and Chocó, a predominately black province in Colombia. As part of two separate and distinct investigations, she was striped from her seat in Congress in 2005 and again in 2006.However, not only did she regain her seat in the Colombian Congress, she continued to be re-elected.

My Trips to Lima, Perú

2011-09-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

Since it's your first trip, here is a little advice. The locals are very welcoming of gringos. Just beware of the gringo tax, where you'll be charged higher prices for cab fares and other things because you don't know better. When catching a cab, bargain hard before you get in. In fact, it's a good idea to ask a locals for the normal price of anything and seek to pay what they pay. Forgive me if you heard all of this before. Wow, I can tell you stories about my first arrival at the airport and how cabbies did some far out things to try to hustle me. I guess now they can sense I'm a seasoned veteran so they don't bother me anymore.

My primary reason for traveling is to be immersed in the Spanish language. My second reason is the music. I like what they call in Perú música criolla, a mixture of Spanish, indigenous, and African music. I don't know if you've heard of the Peruvian singer who travels the world, Susana Baca, but she sings música criolla. If you take the private lessons at the Spanish school you choose, you can use those sessions to talk about the things of interest, such as the libraries, theaters, and other things that local people do.

In terms of where to stay, I liked the District of Barranco because it's so artsy, especially around the Plaza De Armas (the main square). But I've also stayed in Central Lima and in La Victoria (rough area but I know people). However, one thing I liked about El Sol is that before your arrival, the school will gauge your interests and objectives and put you with a family who lives in a neighborhood that best matches your interests and objectives. El Sol put me in Barranco because of my love for salsa and música criolla.

How I feel my experience is different from a white person? First of all, once I started roaming about town, I was generally not perceived as an American. Many think I'm Afro-Peruvian until they hear my Spanish, then they think I might be from Cuba, Panamá or Brazil. They learn that I'm an American only after some conversation. The reason it might not be polite to ask about race relations is because many Peruvians really believe that there is no racism in Perú. However when I travel about and see a lack of black, Asian, and indigenous faces working in government and commerce, I get a completely different picture. You walk into a bank and all the employees are as close to white as possible. Even in an area heavily populated by blacks and browns.

In order to get to Chincha, you will have to take the Soyuz bus or the Ormeño bus. Let me know if you want to visit; I can hook you up with a family.

It's a Latin American custom that whoever invites pays! By the way, expect people to think that you are in the same income bracket as Bill Gates. Your money will go a long way in Perú. I've lived on as little as $10 per day, minus the splurging and souvenirs. Once I took 15 people out for chicken and fries and the bill was $45. That was a joy of my own doing. I was not coerced. LOL. However, you will have to put your foot down and do what you can afford.

In terms of friendships with the opposite sex, you can expect to find people who will want to hook up with you hoping you will take them home. This is not all people, but it happens more often than not. I've been asked by woman from nine different countries to marry them, and when I tell them I only marry for love, they back off. Just keep talking about your boyfriend and the future you two have. LOL.

So Few Latinos of Color on Spanish TV

2011-09-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

When I first made up my mind to develop my Spanish as a second language, I knew I had my work cut out for me, especially if I was going to teach myself in lieu of formal classroom training. I did pretty good over the years, considering I've had jobs demanding the use of Spanish, and even received bilingual pay.

A black Cuban friend bluntly confirmed what my conscience has been telling me for months; racism among Latinos.

Although I'm not fluent, I have proven myself on to be very productive in working with monolingual Spanish speakers; even serving as an interpreter. One of the methods I used in teaching myself Spanish was television, mainly Univisión and Telemundo. I used to spend 30 minutes to an hour daily either watching telenovelas and their advertisements just to train my ears in Spanish communication.

What I found very disappointing was the fact that all of the actors, newscasters, and performers are white, and there was a blatant absence of darker-skinned Latinos, especially black Latinos. Spanish TV, to me, does not reflect the real world of Latinos that I've seen from my Latin-American travels and from living in living in New York and California.

I've been told by many Latinos that they are all one, regardless of color. You would never know it from watching Spanish TV.

From my personal exposure to the Latino community, I've met people of European, indigenous, African, Asian, and Middle Eastern ancestry, not to mention many of those who are of mixed races. The best Chinese food I ever had was in Lima, Perú. If I didn't speak Spanish (or Cantonese), I would have not been fed.

However, despite the obvious discrimination I see on Spanish TV, I had an individual purpose. I casually brought up my newly found hobby to a black Cuban friend of mine who bluntly confirmed what my conscience has been telling me for months; racial discrimination. Thus, he does not watch Spanish TV. That's when I myself stopped watching Spanish television and started watching Spanish videos with some black representation.

Spanish TV, to me, does not reflect the real world of Latinos that I've seen from my Latin-American travels , and from living in New York and California.

As of this writing, it dawned on me to ask some Afro-Latinos if they watch Spanish-TV. And if they do, has anything changed in terms of racial diversity. The responses I received were a bunch of expletives, especially against Univisión and Telemundo. One person did acknowledge that Univision has a one black newscaster, an Afro-Colombian named Ilia Calderon.

You who are reading this blog post, and are fans of Spanish-TV, how do you justify such discrimination? I've been told by many Latinos that they are all one, regardless of color. You would never know it from watching Spanish TV. If it's anything other than racism within the Latino community, I'm open to reading your comments in the section below.

Look Who's Teaching Me Spanish

2011-09-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

At the dinner table with my goddaughter Daniela (left, in pink) with some family members in Chincha, Perú.

One of the reasons I was hired on my current job is because of my ability to speak Spanish. I've been teaching myself for a number years without the aid of schools or CDs like Rosetta Stone. That is with few exceptions like the University of Havana in Cuba and El Sol-Escuela de Español in Perú where I took classes and private instructions while on vacation under non-English-speaking instructors.

Local teens at a popular mom and pop hangout in El Carmen, Perú

As I'm constantly working to improve my Spanish, I find that the children are more patient in their interactions with with me, and in exchange, I give them fun treats like ice cream, candies, dinners, trips to amusement parks and the beach.

Yomira, cousin of my my goddaughter Daniela

In Perú's District of El Carmen, I interacted with local teens, playing scrabble in Spanish and buying them ice cream and sodas. There were times I had to put my foot down because people, including children, think because I'm from the USA, I can afford to buy up the whole store for them. However, upon my return, I plan on spending more time with them. I'm going to be straight up this time and let them know that I'm trying to improve my Spanish and ask them to help me out. In this quiet community, they find me to be a fresh new experience as well.

AFRICANDO ALL STARS

2011-08-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

Bringing Salsa Music Back to Its African Roots

Featuring Great Voices
of Africa

The very first time, I logged onto the Internet in January of 1996. I had to choose a screen name for my brand new Internet account. Being that I was a diehard salsa dancer and salsa music lover who recognized its African roots, I chose the name Africando, not knowing that they would be as big and famous around the world as they are today. I was first introduced to this African salsa group by a DJ at a local night club. As I was looking over their CD's liner notes, I saw their mission statement, which read, our mission is to bring salsa music back to its African roots.

“Africando,” mixes “Africa” and the Senegalese-Wolof phrase “ando,” meaning "advancing together."

Africando, under the musical direction of the Cuban trained maestro Boncana Maïga, of Mali, West Africa, and Ibrahim Sylla from the Ivory Coast, was formed in 1990 as an intercultural merger between Senegalese vocalist and the most prominent salsa musicians from the salsa capital New York City. “Africando,” which mixes “Africa” and the Senegalese Wolof phrase “ando,” meaning "advancing together." As musicians from other African countries were later included, the name changed to Africando All Stars, as they feature some of the greatest voices on the African continent.

An intercultural merger between Senegalese vocalist and prominent salsa musicians from New York City.

Latin music has been very popular in Central and West African countries since the 1940s as Africando set out to connect the musical dots between the African continent and Cuba to the delight of music and dance lovers of the throughout the continent of Africa singing Latin-merican classics in their native tongue Wolof and Spanish, and progressing into singing popular African popular classics with a Latin-American beat. sung in a mixture of Spanish and the Senegalese language of Wolof. The Senegalese musicians call it Wolof-spañol.

Deadly Destruction in Latino and African-American Communities

2011-08-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

How many more innocent children, men, and women must die senselessly before members of our communities wake up saying enough is enough?

What African-Americans and Latinos Have In Common

Despite the cultural differences, and in many cases, animosity between African-American and Latino communities, we have quite a bit in common. It's bad enough that both communities suffer prejudice, bigotry, police abuse, and discrimination from outside of our communities, but are also plagued by destructive and deadly elements from within our communities with gang violence, and other crimes. Yet, the minute a white person, such as a police officer, harms someone in the African-American or Latino community, there is an uproar from the citizens. When Latinos and African-American miscreants harm decent citizens of their own respective communities, people whine and mumble about how unsafe the streets are. No one wants to speak out and stand up against these terrorists.

There Is Strength in Numbers

Latino and African-American prison gangs are in frequent conflict with each other, but ironically, most are locked up primarily for the harm they did to members of their own ethnic groups. During the 1960s, the Black Panthers (African-Americans), the Brown Berets (Mexicans), and the Young Lords (Puerto Ricans) were standing up in unison against an oppressive American system. Isn't about time that we all stand up to an oppressive, criminal element in our own communities. There is strength in numbers!

Latin Music: Bolivia

2011-08-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

Afro-Bolivian, Black Bolivian

Africa in Bolivian Music

When people talk about Latin music, they are generally talking about salsa, Afro-Cuban, merengue and other forms of music from the Latin tropics, which are generally African-inspired. Almost every Latin-American country has it's share of African-inspired music, such as Rumba in Cuba, Jarocho in Mexico, and Punta in Honduras. The African inspired music in Bolivia is La Saya. Although it's growing in popularity in Bolivia, the music itself is still misunderstood. In fact, it has been said that the only people who do understand La Saya and can interpret it, naturally, are the Afro-Bolivians themselves. The music involves Andean instruments of the native Aymara people, such as gourds, shakers, and bells along with African percussion, like the drum passed down from their African ancestors.

Afro-Bolivians wear Aymara style clothing when performing La Saya music and dance. You will see women wearing bright-colored blouses of many colors with ribbons and a pollera (a multi-colored skirt) with a manta (back cover) in their hand and a bowler hat. The men wear hats, feast shirts, and Aymara style slashes around the waist, and bayetas (pants make of thick woolen cloth, and sandals).

The saya rhythm starts with bells jingling by the Caporal (leader/foreman) who leads the dance. The Caporal leads with the whip (cudgel) in their hand wearing decorated pants and bells near his ankles. The women dancers have a guide of their own as they move their hips, shake their hands, and converse with men playing the bass drum called a coancha

Semantics Between Black and Latino

2011-08-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

This former slave plantation in Perú's District of El Carmen had a Nat Turner type uprising in 1879. Today, the bulk of Peru's black population reside in El Carmen.

Black and Latino Are Not Mutually Exclusive

An African-American female was in my office going over her job search plan. Our conversation somehow led to the discussion of my African-American heritage. In astonishment she said, so you 'are' black. I said, yes, the last time I looked in the mirror I was black. What color did you think I am? Her response was, I would have never known with all that Latin sh...(expletive) on your wall. I then pointed to pictures of Muhammad Ali, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis. They were on my wall too. However, she asserted how those pictures were overshadowed by my travel pictures to Perú, Cuba, and several other Latin American countries. She made a good point. What I had trouble sinking into her head was that you don't have to be African-American to be black. In each of those Latin-American countries, with the exception of El Salvador, I saw black people who speak Spanish as a first language.

Actress Omarosa is black, but her ethnicity is African-American

On another occasion, a Mexican-American woman told me that her boyfriend is black. Immediately, I stopped her and asked for clarification. I wanted to know if her black boyfriend is Jamaican, Nigerian, Cuban, or what? Oh, you know what I mean, she said. No, I don't know what you mean, I insisted. She finally broke it down to me that her boyfriend is African-American. In such a diverse, multiracial, multicultural society that we live in, it is imperative that we be more specific when it comes to identifying race and ethnicity. There is a distinct difference between the two. For example, in Oakland, where I live, there are black communities that are not African-American. There are Continental Africans, Caribbean Islanders, South Asians, Afro-Latinos, as well as African-Americans.

Actress Zoe Saldaña is black, but her nationality is Puerto Rican and Dominican

A black Puerto Rican woman got irritated with me saying, what you have to understand, Bill, is that when people say 'black,' they are referring to African-Americans. I'm thinking, how ludicrous. If this Puerto Rican woman knew anything about her history, a significant number of 'blacks' were brought to Puerto Rico as slaves. In fact, only 10% of all black slaves came to the US. I never understood why so many people use the phrase' black and Latino' to describe African-American and Latino communities when thre are more blacks among the Latin-American population than African-Americans, and this is without counting the one-drop rule.

It is imperative that we be more specific when it comes to identifying race and ethnicity. There is a distinct difference between the two.

Bottom line, black people come in many different cultures and speak many different languages. Latinos come in many different colors reflecting their indigenous, African European, Asian, and Middle Eastern ancestries.

The Spanish-English Game

2011-08-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

Learning Spanish, Speaking Spanish Practicing Spanish, Spanish

It's almost like a game to see if their English is better than my Spanish or if my Spanish is better than their English

While in transit from Havana, Cuba back to Oakland, CA where I live, I had a short layover at the Benito Juarez Airport in Mexico City. Trying to get directions, I stopped an airport employee and started to ask my question in Spanish. Sensing that I'm not a native Spanish speaker, he snapped, SPEAK TO ME IN ENGLISH! That's when I realized his English is better than my Spanish.

On my second trip to Perú, I met Patricia through her sister, a Facebook friend living in Toronto. She told me in English that her English is better than my Spanish. I accepted that and resigned myself to speak English. However, as we continued to talk, we both agreed (LOL) that we should speak Spanish. As it turned out, my Spanish is better than her English.

I felt that he was assuming that I'm just another gringo who can't speak Spanish and I decided to teach his ass a lesson

Now, back in Cuba; I was riding my bicycle along the Malecón (waterfront) with a group of American visitors. A Cuban bicyclist came up beside me and started a conversation in English. I started getting an attitude. I felt that he was assuming that I'm just another gringo who can't speak Spanish and I decided to teach his ass a lesson. For everything he said to me in English, I responded in Spanish hoping he would get the message. Instead, he himself copped an attitude and demanded that I stopped answering him in Spanish because he was trying to practice his English. That's when I began to sympathize with him and comply with his wishes because I was treated the same way when I approached bilingual Latin Americans in the United States when I would speak Spanish to them.

Just as many Spanish speakers who speak English feel insulted when people assume they are Spanish only; I too feel insulted when people look at me and assume that I'm English only.

In many cases, however, here and abroad, I get in Spanish/English conversations with native Spanish-speakers, and it's almost like a game to see if their English is better than my Spanish or if my Spanish is better than their English, and which ever one dominates, that is the language we speak. Just as many Spanish speakers who speak English feel insulted when people assume they are Spanish only; I too feel insulted when people look at me and assume that I'm English only, and that is here and abroad.

Afro-Peruvian Slave Revolt

2011-08-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

Hacienda San José
(San Jose Slave Plantation)

Hacienda San José, a sugar plantation, was built in 1868 in El Carmen, Perú and lasted until a rebellion of more than 300 African slaves took place in 1879 . The slave owner was hacked down like sugar cane by machete wielding slaves on the principal stair entrance. Descendants of these slaves still populate the area.

Today, this plantation (or hacienda) has been converted into a tourist attraction where people spend the night. Guided tours are in Spanish packed with 300 years’ history. They serve an extraordinary Sunday lunch buffet featuring full range comida criolla, tamales, aji de gallina, and put on an Afro-Peruvian show. Unfortunately, the Hacienda San José was damaged by the 2007 earthquake and is still closed.

I stopped by the Hacienda in November 2010 and in November 2011, and each time, was told by the security officer that it will open next year.

Tribute to a Black Puerto Rican Activist, Poet, and Journalist

2011-08-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

Felipe Luciano, Emmy-Award Winning Journalist

Afro-Puerto Rican Black Puerto Rican

The lone Afro-Latino member of the Last Poets, a renown group of black revolutionaries mentored by poet, author, and university professor Amiri Baraka, was Felipe Luciano. He was born in Spanish Harlem, New York City and raised by a single Puerto Rican mother. It was his black and proud grandmother who instilled in him a positive view of his Afro-Puerto Rican roots, which he grew to appreciate more as he approached maturity.

Felipe Luciano was a member of the original Last Poets

As a youth, Luciano did prison time for manslaughter while living in Brooklyn. After getting out early for good behavior, he enrolled in Queens College of the City University of New York and immediately became an social activist and a member of the Last Poets, which many say is the precursor to hip-hop. Because of his increasing popularity as an artist and activist, a group of young Puerto Ricans approached Felipe about coming together to fight poverty and oppression in the Puerto Rican community; the New York branch of the Chicago-based Young Lords Party, and ally of the Black Panther Party was established (see blog post: Puerto Rican Allies of the Black Panther Party. Felipe Luciano was elected chairman and distinguished himself in articulating barrio grievances and bonding with his Puerto Rican community.

Luciano as chairman of the Young Lords Party (YLP)

After leaving the YLP, Luciano got his break into the media producing popular New York radio shows on WRVR, and black-owned WBLS and WLIB becoming an ACE Award recipient. As his media career progressed, Felipe became WNBC-TV anchor winning two Emmy Awards.

Empowering Perú's Black Communities

2011-08-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

Monica “Oru” Carrillo

Empowering Perú's black communities against racial discrimination and sexism.

As a Peruvian black woman, Monica Carrillo who herself faces racism and sexual discrimination, has become a role model and an advocate working to empower the Afro Peruvian community, particularly the young. She wants Peru’s rich African heritage to be included as part of the Peruvian national identity. Her work with impoverished black youth has given her international recognition.

The name, LUNDU, originates from a traditional African dance in The Kongo region of Western Africa, it means “successor.”

In addition, she is a hip-hop artist, writer, poet, singer, musician, journalist, and educator. Monica, or Oru, as she is called, mixes poetry, Afro-beat, soul, hip-hop and Afro Peruvian music to highlight contributions made by black Peruvians to combat racism and sexism. Her music has been featured internationally, particularly on MTV Europe, addressing how discrimination, sexism effects young black Peruvian women.

“The other day I left my house...and counted the number of insults I received in 20 minutes: 12. People say these things and they don’t run away, because they feel they’re in the right.”

--Monica “Oru” Carrillo

Oru founded LUNDU, the Center for Afro Peruvian Studies and Advancement (see Black Peruvian Rights Struggle), which strives to improve conditions for blacks who represent between seven and 10 percent of Perú's population. She and her organization LUNDU received threats because of their successful campaign to remove a racist television program from the airwaves (see Perú's Racist Propaganda).

LUNDU helps young Afro-Peruvians overcome discrimination using the arts, advocacy, education, civic engagement, and economic and educational opportunities. LUNDU’s outreach to black youth involves life skills, sexual education, black pride workshops, and empowerment against violence, abuse, and forced sex, and unwanted pregnancies. Oru has been quoted as saying, our girls believe their lives are worth something.

Mexico's Third Root

2011-07-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

The Presence of Afro-Mexicans

Blacks in Mexico

Contrary to common knowledge, particularly among Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, is that Mexico, like other Latin-American nations, have African blood as well as indigenous and Spanish. Mexican people of indigenous ancestry, to this day, play ancient instruments, such as African hand pianos (or marimbas) in songs and dances of African influence (corridos), which tell stories of slave revolts and ancestral tributes.

Spanish forces were unable to defeat these “uppity negroes,” and a free black town called Yanga was established.

A Mexican-American woman asked me during a discussion as to where I am getting my information. Although there are many books on this topic, I told her to check out one by Mexico's renown, late anthropologist and professor at the University of Vera Cruz. His name is Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán. The book is entitled, La Población Negra de México (The Black Population of Mexico), where he talks about more than 500,000 African slaves being brought in through Mexico's Port of Vera Cruz between the Cortez invasion in 1519 and Mexican independence in 1810.

Africans made up 71% of the non-indigenous population in Mexico during the early colonial periods.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Mexico enslaved more Africans than any other country in the Western Hemisphere. African slaves worked in silver mines, on sugar plantations, in textile factories, and in households. Others worked in skilled trade or on cattle ranches. In addition, Afro-Mexican people made significant contributions in folktales, religion, medicinal practices, and of course, music and dance; the most notable example is the hit song La Bamba, first popularized by rock-n-roll star Richie Valens out of Pacoima, CA. This song was sung and danced to by black Mexican slaves as early as 1683. See more about this in... La Bamba: The Soul of Black Mexican Folks.

Mexico's first root is the native population before the Spanish invasion.

About one-tenth of Mexico's slaves escaped to remote, armed runaway settlements called palenques and were a total menace to slave holders. In Mexico's state of Vera Cruz, Spanish forces were unable to defeat these “uppity negros,” and a free black town called Yanga was established. See... African History in Vera Cruz, Mexico. Slavery in Mexico was finally abolished in 1829 by Mexico's Afro-Mexican president Vicente Guerrero. See... The Soul of Mexican Independence.

The Spanish represents Mexico's second root, who brought in African slaves making up Mexico's third root.

Beltrán further points out in his 1946 published work that Africans made up 71% of the non-indigenous population in Mexico during the early colonial periods, and the Spanish made up the remainder. After more than 500 years of interracial marriages and offspring, the African presence is no longer noticeable, except in Mexico's states of Veracruz, Guerrero, and Oaxaca.. Yet, Africans in Mexico left their cultural and genetic imprint everywhere they lived.

After more than 500 years of interracial marriages and offspring, the African presence is no longer noticeable.

I would be remiss not to point out that Mexican history also includes 19th century African-American slaves and Seminole people (so-called Indians) who fled what is now known as the State of Florida to the Mexican border state of Coahuila where their descendants live there to this day.

Mexico's Dark Secret: The Black La Raza
La Bamba: The Soul of Black Mexican Folks

What is Sammy Sosa's Problem?

2011-07-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

Bleaching ones skin is nothing more than internalized racism.

“It appears that Sosa is guilty of having a "colonial mentality.”

--Fela Kuti , Late Nigerian activist and musician

A Black Dominican Dilemma

Many have been flabbergasted to see black Dominican retired major league baseball star Sammy Sosa with green contact lenses and bleached skin. It is so unfortunate that all over the African Diaspora, people have been so emotionally scarred by racism that they have learned to internalize it. Many of us bleach our skin, straighten our hair, and even deny our African ancestry. There was a time in the U.S. when we African-Americans would feel insulted to the point of physical combat to be referred to as African or black. Although, this attitude changed to a degree by the black-is-beautiful movement of the 1960s, many of us still have never recovered.

I'm not “black,” I'm “Do-min-i-CAN,” said actor/comedian Doug E Doug in the film “Hanging with the Homeboys.”

I have to respect the fact that people in Latin-American countries see themselves by their nationalities first and their race second. Marcus Garvey, whose United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) included branches in Latin-America, was told by a Cuban delegation that they were Cubans first and blacks second. Does this sense of staunch patriotism stop racial discrimination in these respective countries? Obviously not. From my personal travels to Cuba and other Latin-American countries, I've noticed a blatant absence of blacks, Asians, and indigenous people working in shops, as police officers, and in transportation, let alone those working in office and corporate settings. Just pick up a newspaper and you can count the people of color, if any, who are featured unless they are criminals, athletes, or entertainers.

The old adage, “if you are white--you're all right, if you're brown--stick around, if you're black--stay back certainly applies in Latin America, particularly the Dominican Republic.

In Sammy Sosa's home country, 90 percent of the people have African ancestry. Yet only 11 percent identify themselves as black. Despite this denial, black Dominicans, Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian ancestry still face discrimination, poverty, and lower education and health standards. Under the Dominican government's Hispanidad movement, white, Spanish, Catholic heritage was stressed, and the African and indigenous portion of the culture was neglected. I even heard a rumor that Sammy Sosa had Taino Indian on his passport to indicate his race. Many black Dominicans never realized they were black of African heritage until they came to the United States.

Many black Dominicans never realized they were black of African heritage until they came to the United States.

Afrocentric citizens of the Dominican Republic tried to start a movement similar to the black is beautiful movement in the U.S. to embrace the African heritage prevalent throughout their country and found it to be a lost cause due to lack of interest.

Therefore, black Dominicans most often identify themselves as Indian, burned Indian, dirty Indian, washed Indian, dark Indian, cinnamon, moreno (colored/dark), or mulatto.

Sammy Sosa's problem is that he is just another victim of his upbringing and culture where looking pretty means looking as less black as possible. The one-drop rule works opposite of what is practiced in the United States; with one drop of non-black blood, you are considered a member of a race other than black. Therefore, black Dominicans most often identify themselves as Indian, burned Indian, dirty Indian, washed Indian, dark Indian, cinnamon, moreno (colored/dark), or mulatto. The old adage, “if you are white--you're all right, if you're brown--stick around, if you're black--stay back certainly applies in Latin America, particularly in the Dominican Republic. Black Dominican feminist Sergia Galván points out that black is associated with dark, illegal, ugly, and clandestine.

Black Bolivia

2011-07-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

Julio Bonifaz Pinedo was crowned the first Afro-Bolivian king

I plan my vacation to two or more Latin-American countries every year, and have been thinking about Bolivia. Since Perú, is always my main stop, I thought it might be a good idea to stop in neighboring Bolivia on my way home for a few days and explore its African heritage. Afro-Bolivans are found in all of Bolivia's major cities. In La Paz, the nation's capital, black Bolivians live on the outskirts of town. After some research, however, I learned that Bolivia is one of the few countries that require US citizens to get a visa. the cost is more than 100 dollars along with another fee adding up to a total of almost 200 dollars. This would not be worth the money if I'm only going to be staying a few days. All I can do is research now and visit later.

Gustavo Pinedo, Afro-Bolivian soccer player

The history of Blacks in Bolivia dates to the 1600s, when Africans slaves were brought in to work in the silver mines, and under horrific and toxic conditions. Such conditions killed as many as eight million Africans and Natives (the Aymara people). Africans were also brought in to work coca-leaf plantations. The slaves were emancipated by legislation in 1827, but due to political debates, the emancipation was not enforced until more than 20 years later.

The African legacy in Bolivian culture is Saya music, which is gaining in popularity even though the music is very misunderstood. Only the black Bolivians can understand and explain the message in Saya music. It involves instruments of the Aymara people along with African percussion instruments. A very important aspect of Afro-Bolvian life is social activities, which involves music. Saya is the traditional music, which serves to maintain and communicate black Bolivian oral history. The greatest part of Afro-Bolivian music is singing.

Jorge Medina broadcasts Afro-Bolivian issues on his radio show

Because Bolivian census figures do not include race, the exact black Bolivian population is debatable. For example, some sources argue that the Afro-Bolivians population is as low as 6,000, and if you count the one-drop rule, the population can be as high as 158,000 or better. Although black Bolivians speak mostly Spanish, the Spanish spoken by those living in rural areas are includes a small vocabulary of African languages. Blacks in Bolivia take such pride in their history and culture that they are take extensive measures to preserve it.

Black Bolivia

Where Are the Black People?

2011-07-24T17:12:00.000-07:00

The African Diaspora consists of peoples of African origin living outside the continent of Africa, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality.

Why aren't more African-Americans showing up at events dealing with the African diaspora?

I just returned from the San Francisco Museum of the African Diaspora where I work as a volunteer, and I am always bewildered by a relatively small African-American crowd. It seems every time I attend any event that involves Afro-Latinos, Afro-Europeans, Afro-Asians, and continental African cultures, there is only a handful of African-Americans who attend. The room is filled with mostly whites, non-black Latinos, and even Asians who are not only interested in African diasporic cultures, but seem articulate and knowledgeable of them.

Most of the lecture series I attend are related to African-American and Afro-Latino cultures because they are close to my life experience, but I also take interest in the others for an all-round understanding of how my roots are being manifested throughout the world.

Afro-Colombian Salsa Music Master

2011-07-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Director, songwriter, producer, and musician

JAIRO VARELA

My Sentimental Favorite

As a salsa music lover raised on New York-style salsa, it took me a while to get used to Colombian-style salsa, but when I did, Grupo Niche, co-founded by Jairo Varela, turned out to be my favorite. Alexis Lozano, who co-founded the group with Varela, started another group, which also became famous called Orquesta Guayacan. Because Grupo Niche is so consistent with their vigorous, up-tempo dance music, I reached the point where I would buy Grupo Niche recordings cold without ever first hearing any track samples. Unlike most other recordings I would buy, I was never disappointed.

Alexis Lozano who co-founded Grupo Niche
with Jairo Varela.

From the time Varela was eight-years-old until he was twelve, he played with a band of children from his community in the Afro-Colombian Chocó state ( called a department in Colombia) on the Pacific coast. His group was called La Timba who raised funds for their pastimes playing African-based folk music on bongos, maracas, and guiros during festive events. At the age of 17, Jairo moved to the nation's capital of Bogota and continued his musical career. He started composing and, along with Alexis Lozano and formed Grupo Niche. Niche is a Colombian term that describes dark-skinned people. Because Bogota was not receptive to the African-oriented sounds he brought from Chocó, he move to Colombia's salsa music capital Cali, a city with a considerable Afro-Colombian population that gave Grupo Niche total support.

With the money Jairo made from his musical career, he ended up owning a modeling agency, a discotheque and a state-of-the-art recording console. He also gave generously to support aspiring Afro-Colombian politicians, something Varela thinks the powers that be did not like. Despite Jairo Varela's fame and fortune, he still found himself a victim of the same misfortune that put a disproportionate number of black men behind bars. He strongly feels that his wealth and influence caused resentment in a country he believes is not ready to accept a powerful black man.

Grupo Niche is based in Cali, the salsa music capital of Colombia.

Jairo Varela, was arrested and jailed for an alleged connection to a drug cartel for whom he and his band performed. It didn't matter that white musicians also performed on the same payroll. “Colombian racism was quite clear, “ he told the Miami Herald newspaper. However Jairo, the genius of a musician and businessman that he is continued to manage his band, compose and record during his three-year prison sentence and was released under the condition that he not travel outside of Colombia. Thus, Grupo Niche continued to tour the world and even recorded two albums under Varela's direction from back home. Jairo Varela still earned seven gold and four platinum records.

My Top 10 Favorites by Jairo Varela and Grupo Niche:

La Carcel
Micaela
Lo Bonito y Lo Feo
La Magia de Tus Besos
Las Tres Son Caribe
No Me Pides Perdon
Busco
Mechánico
Prueba de Fuego
Mujer de Novela

Working with the Spanish Language

2011-07-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

At a block party in (El Carmen) Chincha, Perú

Learning Spanish is a Lifetime Effort

For many years I've been using my Spanish on the job, and even received bilingual pay. Unlike your average bilingual person at work, I'm not a native Spanish-speaker, nor did I have years of classroom training. I am self-taught out of a book and flash cards. Today, as an educational-vocational specialist with a social service agency, I conduct counseling sessions in Spanish and even taught a couple of job search workshops.

I listen to a lot of Spanish music, mostly salsa and bachata, some Afro-Cuban, some Afro-Peruvian, and sing along when I can.

In prior job searches, I've been interviewed in both English and Spanish. I'll never forget the day, I was interviewed for a position with a prominent San Francisco vocational service. The department manager was impressed that my résumé mentioned my Spanish language experience. When I returned for a second interview, there were two (not one, but two) native Spanish-speakers waiting for me in the interview room. I told them, in Spanish, that I speak better Spanish with those who cannot speak English, and added that bilingual people make me so nervous to the point that I forget simple words. They were so pleased that my response had such a good accent with proper grammar that they let me off the hook and conducted the rest of the interview was in English.

When I returned for a second interview, there were two (not one, but two) native Spanish-speakers waiting for me in the interview room.

Each year, I spend my vacations (three weeks at a time) in one or more Latin-American countries; mostly in Perú, my home away from home. My primary reason for Latin-American travel, other than exposing myself to black culture, is to be totally immersed in the Spanish language so I can get better at it. Although I'm far from fluent. I'm still learning. In fact, the more Spanish I learn, the more I realize I don't know. I'm a subscriber to Transparent Language and Dictionary.com where I get daily e-mails containing the word-of-the-day and have found them very helpful. In addition, I listen to a lot of Spanish music, mostly salsa and bachata, some Afro-Cuban, some Afro-Peruvian, and sing along when I can.

My related posts...

Teaching Myself Spanish
English and Spanish and Stereotypes
My Story Behind African American-Latino World

Black Peruvian Rights Struggle

2011-07-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

Members of Afro-Peruvian civil rights group, LUNDU, received threats because they succeeded in removing a racist television program stereotyping blacks as lazy, slow, and crooked.

It never ceases to amaze me when I meet Peruvians who tell me that there is no racism (see Racism, Latin-American Style) in Perú. If that were the case, why do they have so many civil rights organizations? It can't be paranoia. I read somewhere that internationally acclaimed Afro-Peruvian singer Susana Baca donates money to Peruvian civil rights organizations. Because of my frequent trips to Perú, it has been a heartfelt pleasure for me to connect with members of the International Network of Young Afro-Peruvians, better known as ASHANTI, and Makungu Para El Desarrollo which unites Afro-Peruvians in the city of Lima. I'm also interested in another organization called LUNDU, which has a branch in my goddaughter's province of Chincha, Perú.

The International Network of Young Afro-Peruvians, otherwise known as ASHANTI-Perú, strive towards civil rights for Peruvians of African descent.

When visiting any Latin American country, I try to learn as much as I can about the country's black history and try to get as close to the black experience of that country as possible. On two occasions, I myself had some racist run-ins with Peruvian cops (see Traveling While Black). I was stopped thrice in one hour in the border town of Tumbes because they thought I was an illegal alien from Colombia or Ecuador. Another cop in Lima wanted to brush me off when I tried to ask for directions, only to have a change of heart when he heard my foreign accent and realized I was a harmless tourist, and not the feared Afro-Peruvian native.

Civil rights leader Monica Carrillo, founder of LUNDU

On each of my trips to Perú, I see the same thing; an under-representation of blacks, browns, indigenous, and Asians in mainstream business and industry. Even in the heavily black populated Province of Chincha, blacks and indigenous people are literally invisible in commercial areas. When I do my banking, I never see any people of color, with the possible exception of the security guards.

I met Karen, a member of ASHANTI,
at a dance performance in Lima.

Civil rights leader Monica Carrillo, founder of LUNDU, emphatically points out that she does not want another generation to go by with the kind of racism that has been historically practiced against Afro-Peruvians. From my personal observations, it is also practiced against Asians and indigenous people. Mónica Gisella Carrillo, a graduate of the University of San Marcos and Oxford University in London is also a poet, and singer. Lundu works with youth of Afro-Peruvian descent to help them overcome discrimination through arts, advocacy, education, civic engagement, and economic and educational opportunities. Grants have supported Lundu’s outreach to Afro-Peruvian youth and offers workshops that strengthen leadership and life skills.

I'm hanging out with members of Makungu Para El Desarrollo,

Mariela (center) and Alberto (right) at Starbucks in Lima, Perú

Black Peruvians have preserved African music and other aspects of their heritage, and took a cue from the U.S. Civil rights movement and started movements of their own.

Traveling and Getting Close to Everyday People

2011-07-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

Traveling Among Black Latinos in Black Latin America

I am second from the left at a party
in the District of El Carmen, in Chincha, Perú.

As one who has traveled to more than 100 cities in 13 countries, I take pride in avoiding tourism and getting as close to the locals as possible. In my opinion, it is among the locals where you get a real sense of the country's culture. Juan, an Afro-Venezuelan friend said it so well, “the barrio is where the culture is.” However, I'm finding that Perú more than any other country I've visited, with the exception of the Philippines, there is a price to pay.

By living close to the locals, I endure a standard of living that will “annoy” the average tourist.

Although, I make only a modest income with a non-profit organization, people in many countries seem to feel that I'm in the same income bracket as Bill Gates or Donald Trump. As I get closer and more acquainted with the people, the more I find that I'm approached like an ATM machine. One lady with whom I have a very good rapport, showed me her gas and electric bill asking for help. Then came the big boo-boo, when as planned, I took a trip into neighboring Ecuador for six days and was telling everybody without taking into consideration that this type of travel is unheard of in this community. That really made me look wealthier than I really am and has caused some people to hustle me more.

I felt very much at home in Cartagena, Colombia

A dance instructor asked me about my motive for hanging out in a poor, non-tourist area when most visitors from Europe and North America stay in major hotels and go to popular tourist attractions. My response to him was that this is the way I practice my Spanish (by immersion), and at the same time, explore the black Latino experience. You don't get these things living in five-star hotels and hanging around expensive tour guides. Speaking of tour guides, I found it more more rewarding and more economical to hire a struggling citizen who can use some extra cash and bring me closer to the real people of the land.

Cops in the all black town of Juncal, Ecuador wanted to know
what I was doing so far off the beaten path.

To get around, I prefer as much as possible, to use the same type of public transportation as the locals. Of course, dressing down is important because you don't want to be marked as a tourist with fancy clothes and bling-bling; it invites robbers, cheats, and pickpockets. Most of my time was spent among the so-called lower class. On two occasions I ventured into one of Lima, Perú's roughest neighborhoods, La Victoria, where Perú's famous, historically black soccer team Alianza Lima have their stadium. I went into the area wearing an Alianza Lima team jersey. Thus instead of being harassed, I was cheered. People shook my hand. Others drove by honking their horns and giving me the thumbs up shouting "ALIANZA LIMA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A! I wonder if they thought I was one of the players. After all, I did fit the profile--black and athletic :-)

Dining with my Cuban dance partner in Havana

By living close to the locals, I endure a standard of living that will “annoy” the average tourist. As a result, I have more spending money to enjoy myself, and at the same time, help others who need the help in a way that I can afford. It was a total joy, a heartfelt pleasure, and worth every penny to see how they were enjoying my company and my treats as I achieved my goal of making lifetime friends, learning the cultures, but most importantly, improving my Spanish.

Puerto Rican Allies of the Black Panther Party

2011-07-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

Before Colombus, Puerto Rico was called Borinquen, and her inhabitants were called Boricuas, meaning Brave Lords. Young descendants of these Brave Lords living on the U.S. mainland came together to confront racist conditions in their communities. These young descendants of the Brave Lords became known as... The Young Lords!

Afro-Puerto Rican Felipe Luciano is co-founder of the Young Lords Party. Today, he is a TV journalist, public speaker, and poet.

The Young Lords Party, founded by José “Cha-Cha” Jimenez, began as a street gang in Chicago's Lincoln Park district back in the 1960s. As a group, they started to see the light regarding deplorable conditions in their community, and began restructuring themselves into a human rights organization seeing themselves as a People's Struggle. They established their headquarters in the Chicago People's Church. Jimenez later met Chicago Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton and modeled the Young Lords after the Panthers.
In 1969, the New York regional chapter of the Young Lords arty was formed in Spanish Harlem, led by Afro-Puerto Rican Felipe Luciano and quickly grew into national prominence making front page headlines. As the New York and Chicago chapters grew, new branches sprung up in other cities with large Puerto Rican populations.

Long before Geraldo Rivera became a journalist, he was a lawyer supporting the Young Lords.

The Young Lords Party (YLP) became one of the most influential Puerto Rican organizations of the 1960s. Like their Black Panther allies, the Young Lords organized community programs, but with Puerto Rican accents. There were children's breakfast programs, health clinics, TB testing, clothing drives, and cultural events. They even had classes on Puerto Rican history and culture, inspiring a Puerto Rican cultural renaissance. The song Que Bonita Bandera (What a Beautiful Flag) was written by Pepe y Flora in Puerto Rico and was adopted by Chicago's national office as the Young Lords anthem. Even Salsa music icons like Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barreto, and Willie Colón wrote and played songs related to the Puerto Rican experience. My favorite was “Justicia,” by Eddie Palmieri, which advocated Justicia pa' Boricuas y Niches (Justice for Puerto Ricans and African-Americans).
Like the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords were infiltrated by FBI's COINTELPRO, resulting in frame-ups, beatings, killings, jailing, smear campaigns, and other divide and conquer tactics.

In 1982, the Chicago Young Lords Party galvanized the Puerto Rican community to elect Chicago's first African American mayor, Harold Washington.

In Chicago, the Young Lords resurfaced after two and a half years of being forced underground by repression from the Gang Intelligence Unit, and COINTELPRO. In 1972, Jose“ Cha Cha” Jimenez had just finished running a Young Lords underground leadership training school when he turned himself in to the police and served a one year sentence. This was three years after the police murdered Fred Hampton and Mark Clark of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party while sleeping in their apartment.
In 1982, the Chicago Young Lords Party galvanized the Puerto Rican community to elect Chicago's first African American mayor, Harold Washington. Soon after the election, “Cha Cha” Jimenez introduced him to a crowd of 100,000 Puerto Ricans at an event sponsored by the Young Lords Party.

Mexican-American Allies of the Black Panther Party

2011-07-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

The Brown Berets

June 7, 1969: Black Panther Party newspaper announces Rainbow Coalition comprised of the Panthers, Chicago Young Lords (Puerto Ricans), Young Patriots (white Americans), and the Brown Berets (Mexican-Americans).

Carlos Montes, one of the co-founders of the Brown Berets.

The Brown Berets is a group of Mexican-American revolutionaries from the barrios of the Southwest, that emerged during the Chicano movement of the 1960s. The Chicano movement, or El Movimiento (Chicano Civil Rights Movement) was an extension of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement of the 1940s. Like the Black Panther Party, the Brown Berets were involved in community projects in their struggle foe self-determination and social justice.

Logo of the Brown Berets.
Their newspaper is called La Causa (the Cause).

In 1966, as part of the Annual Chicano Student Conference in Los Angeles County, a group of high school students discussed different issues affecting Mexican-Americans communities, and subsequently formed the Young Citizens for Community Action, and later named Young Chicanos for Community Action. The YCCA decided to wear brown berets to symbolize a united struggle against police harassment, inadequate public schools, poor job opportunities, inadequate political representation, and the Vietnam war. Thus, the name "Brown Berets." Their newspaper was La Causa (the Cause).

Brown Berets participated in the first Rainbow Coalition with the Black Panthers, Young Patriots, and the Young Lords.

The Brown Berets became a national organization having opened chapters in California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illiniois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, and Indiana. They also participated in organizing the first free medical clinics and free breakfast programs. They also came to be known for their direct action against police brutality, protesting murders and abuse by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. They supported the United Farm Workers movement and the Land Grant Movement in New Mexico, and even participated in the first Rainbow Coalition with the Black Panther Party, Young Patriots (white anti-racist organization), and the Young Lords (Puerto Ricans), and in the Poor Peoples Campaign.
As the story goes with the Black Panthers, the Brown Berets were weakened by internal conflicts, the police, and FBI infiltration (COINTELPRO).

Showdown between Black and Brown

2011-07-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

Divided and Conquered

With more black Latinos in the western world than black Americans, “Black” is a bad choice of a word to address conflicts with Latinos. It is better to say that African-Americans and Latinos are divided and conquered. Both communities suffer from discrimination, prejudice, and police brutality. Dolores Huerta, who with César Chávez co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, told a crowd at the La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, CA, that in Texas, Mexicans were also lynched; not just African-Americans.

Both communities have destructive elements that are destroying more lives than the KKK and the police have ever done.

There are people in very high places who have no love for African-Americans or Latinos. What need do these bigots have for the Ku Klux Klan when there are gangs, drug dealers, and other terrorists doing all of their their dirty work. Both Latino and African-American communities have destructive elements that are destroying more lives than the KKK and the police have ever done.

I grew up in New York City where blacks and Latinos, mostly Puerto Ricans, lived side by side. We partied together. Some of us dated each other, and in college, blacks and Latinos formed alliances. At the State University of New York at Albany where I went to school, our Black Student Alliance ended up changing its name because so many Latinos joined us. There was a time when the Black Panther Party, Young Lords Party (Puerto Rican), and Brown Berets (Mexican-American) stood for a common cause.

I wonder how many of these hateful gang bangers, like the Mexican Mafia, know that Mexico's liberator and second president Vicente Guerrero was half black.

Now, I'm confused. I realize that you will find ignorance in every ethnic group, including mine, but when I meet Latinos who are prejudiced against blacks I can't help but wonder if it is the ghetto trash that they don't like or is it the upstanding, productive black citizens that they don't like, or is it simply the color of black skin that they don't like? Recently, a Latin-American woman was in my office for employment consultation. Upon looking at the travel pictures hanging on my wall, she said to me that it is nice meeting an intelligent African-American. I'm thinking, what the hell--where has she been all of her life? If she were to hang out with me for one day or even visit my church, all she would see are intelligent, professional, business-oriented African-Americans.

When I used to work as a recruiter for a nation-wide job training program, a Spanish-speaking mother apparently thought I was different because I was able to communicate in Spanish. She asked me if a lot of blacks attended this institution because she was worried about her daughter. I discussed her concern with a Latino co-worker, and he confirmed that this is the reputation a lot of African-Americans have among Latinos.

Perhaps, this might explain why so many Latin-American immigrants are prejudiced against blacks in this country. They are prejudiced against blacks in their home countries.

Thoughts started coming to me about how these prejudiced Latinos might feel about their fellow Latinos of African heritage. “Oh they're different,” I've been told. They are not like us African-Americans. Then, there are other Latinos who say to me, “don't divide us--we are all Latinos and we are one.” But when I look at Spanish TV, I see hardly any black Latinos. When I pick up a Spanish newspaper, I hardly see any black Latinos unless they are criminals, athletes, or entertainers. When I travel to Latin-American countries with sizable black populations, the blacks are grossly underrepresented in government, business, and industry. Perhaps, this might explain why so many Latin-American immigrants are prejudiced against blacks in this country. They are prejudiced against blacks in their home countries.

I was appalled during the Rodney King riots when African-American thugs attacked Latinos who also get roughed up by the police.

However, none of this justifies the prejudice some African-Americans have towards Latinos. I was appalled during the Rodney King riots when African-American thugs attacked Latinos. What for? They didn't beat up Rodney King; in fact, many Latinos get roughed up by the police too. I'm not sure how or when this African American-Latino conflict started, but I see it as utter stupidity on both sides. Some say this conflict started with the prison gangs such as the Mexican Mafia, and spilled on into the streets among gang-bangers, especially in Los Angeles. I wonder how many of these hateful Mexicans realize the Mexico's second president Vicente Guerrero was half black, and the state of Guerrero where you will find the city of Acapulco was named in his honor.

Note: As of today, November 27, 2011, I've visited Perú, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, and can´t help but notice how blacks and browns live together, get along, and even intermarry. I've seen more than my share of black people with brown babies and brown people with black babies. Although, I have a preference for dark women, more brown women took an interest in me.

Black Conquistador--16th Century

2011-07-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

ESTEVÁNICO

The first black man
in North America?

As a black American exploring black Latino cultures, I'm not at all proud of this man's role in American history. He was an oppressed person of color who represented a government oppressing other people of color. He was known as Estevánico the Moor, or Esteban, Little Steven, or Stephen the Black. He was born a Muslim in Morocco around the year 1500, and is said to be the first black man in North America.

While a teenager he was enslaved by the Portuguese and was later sold to a Spanish nobleman, and the two became close. They went on an expedition to colonize what the Spaniards referred to as the New World. Intending to check out the northern and western shores of the Gulf of Mexico, their ship was blown off course and landed in what is now known as Florida. They then traveled on to a territory that eventually became known as Texas.

“He is a large and powerful man,
blessed with a shrewd and quick mind”

--- Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca

Because Estevánico was a talented man who learned five Native American languages and sign language, and because he is a self-made medicine man, the Spaniards used him as a scout and mediator with the natives. In March of 1539 Estevanico and a group of Spaniards went looking for the mythic Golden City and traveled on to what is now Arizona. He came upon the Zuni settlement where the people suspected that Estevánico was “Five-0”--a spy for the Spaniards, and killed him to protect their location. To prove that he was not the god many natives thought he was, they skinned him.

Representin'

2011-06-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

Black American Traveling
to Black Latino America

During my first trips to Perú, Ecuador, Panamá and Colombia, and as I was passing through El Salvador and Mexico, I wanted to show off my ethnic pride and immediately be marked by the people around me as a black-American. In each Latin-American country I visit, I try to seek out black communities so I can get a taste of black Latino cultures. I wore t-shirts with pictures and names of Muhammed Ali, Tupac Shakur, Luther Vandross, and Barack Obama, all of which collected quite a bit of attention. Before leaving to return to Oakland, CA, where I have been living throughout my adult life, I cleaned and gave all of those t-shirts to anyone who wanted a souvenir from an African-American traveler.

Wearing my Barack Obama shirt while visiting Ecuador
and buying my first my first panama hat.

Upon my return to Oakland from places like Perú, Ecuador, Colombia, and even Cuba, from years back, I wanted to show off my language and cultural exposure by wearing t-shirts of one of Perú's largest black communities, Chincha; my sentimental favorite international (predominately black) soccer team Ecuador, and the t-shirt representing the University of Havana where I spent an early summer studying Spanish. I even wear clothes that were handwoven in Ecuador, like my panama hats and alpaca knit sweaters. When my Peruvian-American friend María told me that I come across as a foreign black person, I took it as a compliment.

Sporting a t-shirt representing a large,
culturally rich, Afro-Peruvian community.

Each of those shirts, worn here and abroad, served as conversation pieces. In Latin-America, I easily attracted curious new friends. Here in the states, I not only get curious looks from American citizens, but I attract curious new friends from the countries I represent with what I'm wearing.

Black Baseball Player Calls Afro-Latino Players Imposters

2011-06-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

According to a USA today article, black Latinos now make up 38% of Major League Baseball players vs only 8% of African-American baseball players.

African-American center fielder, Torii Hunter made a comment during a USA Today's round table on the state of baseball, that MLB uses dark-skinned players (he won't even refer to them as black) from countries like the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela to give an appearance that it has more African-Americans playing the game than it really does. He refers to these black Latino ball players as impostors.

To make black Latinos scapegoats as part of a big conspiracy is not the answer to the problem of getting more African-Americans back into the sport of baseball.

Torii's Hunter's exact words were: As African-American players, we have a theory that baseball can go get an imitator and pass them off as us. It's like they had to get some kind of dark faces, so they can get them cheaper. It's like, 'Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when I can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips?' ... I'm telling you, it's sad.

Just because a black person speaks another language and comes from another country doesn't disqualify him as a member of the African diaspora.

What's sad is not the theory of why MLB would want to pay less for an Afro-Latino player than a home-grown African-American player; I think he is making a good point here. What is sad is his obvious lack of knowledge of black history. The black race does not start and end in the United States. Just because a black person speaks another language and comes from another country doesn't disqualify him as a member of the African diaspora.

What is sad is his obvious lack of knowledge of black history. The black race does not start and end in the United States.

I certainly agree and respect Hunter's advocacy of an increased number of African-American participation in baseball, but let's call a spade a spade (no pun intended). I agree with Tori Hunter's critics that this was a terrible and illogical way to advance that struggle. To make black Latinos scapegoats as part of a big conspiracy is not the answer to the problem of getting more African-Americans back into the sport of baseball.

She Is So Special

2011-06-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

My Afro-Peruvian Godchild

Daniela and I at the main square in Chincha, Perú.

It was during my first trip to the District of El Carmen in Chincha, Perú, the hub of black Peruvian culture, when one evening, while sitting alone working on my laptop, a toddler wandered in from next door; a common practice in this community. I gave her a piece of candy that I brought from the U.S. As she struggled to open the wrapper, I felt a very strong connection; it was as though she was a long-lost loved one from a past life. Later that evening, she returned and I asked her name. She sweetly told me Daniela. I picked her up, hugged her, and gave her another piece of candy.

Daniela, her family, neighbors and I getting ready

to chow down on some grilled chicken.

Those feelings of closeness to Daniela stuck with me for four years before I saw her again. In the meantime, I used to call on occasions just to say hello and to hear her voice. Each time she would ask, ¿Cuándo viene (when are you coming)? One time she asked if she could be my daughter. Her mother happened to be standing right there. Obviously embarrassed, she had Daniela say cuídate (take care) before hanging up the phone. I don't know where her real father is, but I felt really good inside to learn that Daniela felt this way about me. From that point on, I started addressing her as mija (my daughter) or mi niña (my little girl).

I promised Daniela a brand new bicycle
if she does well in school.

When I finally returned to Chincha, Perú members of the Ballumbrosio family who hosted my stay, sat me down to chat when suddenly, I hopped up out of my chair saying that I wanted to see my daughter. Everyone knew I was referring to Daniela for I have no children of my own. I went next door, and was greeted by Daniela and her family with hugs, and I showered Daniela with gifts that I brought from the U.S.

Daniela, second from the left is performing an Afro-Peruvian dance on a popular TV show Corazón Perú.

Later that evening, I met Daniela's mother Karina for the first time in person. She asked me if I had any children. No just Daniela, was my response as Daniela gave me a very pleased look. Karina was so surprised and touched as Daniela and I gave each other a nice, big hug after I read her a story out of one of the many story books I brought from the U.S.

After spending an afternoon at the beach
we all had dinner on me (Daniela, far right).

During my second trip to Perú, I took full advantage of the time for Daniela and I to bond. I took her to church, walked her to school, and even took her, her friends, and family out to playgrounds, the beach, and had dinner at local restaurants; all on me. We also played games together. The day before I left Perú, Daniela and her Afro-Peruvian dance class rode a chartered bus to Lima, the nation's capital for their performance in a popular TV show Corazón Perú ( Peruvian Heart).

Daniela and I hanging out in the main square in
the District of El Carmen in Chincha, Perú.

Even between my trips to Perú, I call Daniela and her family to say hello and wire money like I did for Father's Day. Daniela is not my natural daughter but she is so special.

Fathers Day, June 19, 2010

Blacks Stereotyping Blacks

2011-06-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

Black Americans Who Are Oblivious
to Black Latinos (Afro-Latinos)

In other parts of this blog, I talked about the ignorance of many Latinos who feel that only brown or olive skinned people can speak Spanish and enjoy Latin music and are totally oblivious to the black Latinos/Afro-Latinos in their own communities. This post is addressing the ignorance of many African-Americans who feel that black people are only limited to English, Ebonics, and hip hop. It's bad enough when Latinos stereotype blacks; it's appalling when blacks stereotype blacks.

When I was working as a security officer in a downtown-Oakland office building, I had to laugh when I learned that my African-American co-workers were clowning me behind my back as they stamped their feet, snapped their fingers in the air making the sound of castanets, and referring to me as Merengue Man. It was hell-a-funny in one sense and hell-a-sad in another.

A question an African-American supervisor asked my co-workers, referring to me was, “does he know he's black?”

My co-workers often heard me speaking Spanish on the job and listening to salsa music while on break. A question an African-American supervisor asked my co-workers, referring to me was, does he know he's black? On another occasion, some African-American youth referred their classmate, a black, Spanish-speaking girl from Panamá, as a confused niggah. That says a lot about their knowledge of black history. More slave ships went to Spanish-speaking countries than those that came to the U.S. Furthermore, when the Spanish conquistadors, like Cortez and Pizzaro, first invaded what we today know of as Latin-America, there were black slaves marching in their ranks. Spain had African slaves more than 100 years before the before the U.S.

What is it about so many black Americans who think we are the only legitimate blacks on the planet?

I always get a thrill and a chuckle when an African-American (and members of other ethnic groups, as well) react in shock when they hear me speaking Spanish. What is it about so many black Americans who think we are the only legitimate blacks on the planet? I've often heard black Americans infer that blacks of other cultures were non-black. In fact, I've been asked myself if I were black. Black people come in many nationalities and cultures, and speak many different languages.

Some African-American youth referred to their classmate, a black, Spanish-speaking girl from Panamá, as a confused niggah.

Yes, I know that I'm black. I'm also proud and knowledgeable of black history; not just in the United States, but around the world. In addition to Latin music, I like R&B, jazz, classical, new age, and world beat. Spanish is my second language, but I also know a tiny bit of Russian, Amharic, Tigrinya, Arabic, and Mandarin, and my skin color will never, ever change because of it.

Black Cuban Revolutionary General

2011-06-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

General Antonio Maceo, Cuba

June 14, 1845 – December 7, 1896

José Antonio Maceo y Grajales was born in Santiago de Cuba, the son of an Afro-Cuban woman and a Venezuelan father. His father taught him how to use weapons, manage small properties, and develop leadership qualities. His mother instilled in him order and organizational skills, all of which contributed to his prowess as a military leader and a decorated general. When Maceo, the oldest of the children turned 16, he began working for his father as a delivery boy.

Due to his physical strength and repeated successes in recovering from more than 25 battle wounds in about 500 battles, he became known as the Bronze Titan.

In 1868, a revolt against Spain known as El Grito de Yara (The Cry of Yara) erupted and Antonio Maceo, along with his father and brother, joined the revolution. Antonio, who enlisted as a private, quickly rose through the ranks as a Major, then Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, and Brigadier General all because of his bravery and skill in military tactics against the Spanish Army. Because of class and racism, Maceo was forced to wait longer than he should have to be promoted to Major General.Author and historian Philip Foner had this to say in his book about the Bronze Titan Antonio Maceo, who was known by the Spanish press as the Lion: Maceo delighted in outsmarting the Spanish generals; again and again, he decoyed them into situations that were disastrous.

Antonio, who enlisted as a private, quickly rose through the ranks as a Major, then Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, and Brigadier General.

Due to his physical strength and his repeated successes in recovering from more than 25 battle wounds in about 500 battles, he became known as the Bronze Titan.

Maceo, a mason, was also an influential political strategist as well as a military planner. José Martí, the father of Cuba was among the Cuban leaders who were inspired by Maceo and who was quoted as having his primary duties to his country and to his own political convictions as above all human effort. He was determined to reach the pedestal of freedom or die fighting. José Martí says that Antonio Maceo has as much strength in his mind as in his arm.

Like his father and brothers, Maceo died fighting for Cuban independence. His final moment came in the battle of Punta Brava, in Western Cuba where he and his men were outnumbered by Spanish troops. Maceo was hit by two bullets, one in the chest and another in his skull.

Today, there is a municipality named after Antonio Maceo y Grajales in Santiago de Cuba. The airport in Santiago de Cuba is named after Antonio Maceo y Grajales, and a monument in Santiago de Cuba was built in his honor.

A Naive Trip to Havana

2011-06-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this trip was to immerse myself in the Spanish language and to familiarize myself with the black Cuban/Afro-Cuban experience.

When my plane touched ground in Havana, Cuba my whole body was filled with joy as I had a few things in mind... language and cultural immersion and salsa dancing. I met a fine woman named Luisa who begged me to bring her back to the US. I told Luisa that I'd rather stay in Cuba and support the revolution. I repeated those exact words to another Cuban family and they chuckled as if to say, dude, if you only knew! Luisa was not chuckling. She was crushed by my naiveté. People like Luisa and her two children, are hungry in an economy where there is simply not enough basic necessities to go around. Everything is rationed. My primary reason for approaching Luisa in the first place was to practice my Spanish and be immersed into the culture by interacting with her family, friends, and members of her community.

In order for decent people to make ends meet, many hustled tourists on the side serving as private guides, as entertainers, or as prostitutes.

I also met Denalys, whom I felt could help me to improve my salsa dancing skills. After having dinner at a nice Italian restaurant, she and I went dancing at El Palacio de la Salsa (The Salsa Palace) in Havana's famous Hotel Riviera. Denalys was someone I would have been proud to bring home to mom and pop. She is highly intelligent and is made of sweet, dark chocolate. I seriously thought about it.

When I came back to Oakland, I just couldn't stop talking about my Cuban experience because I felt so uplifted and refreshed. My Spanish zoomed to a higher level and there was a marked improvement in my salsa dancing skills.

If I wanted to pay for sex, I would have stayed in Oakland and saved myself the airfare.

As I kept talking about my trip, I inadvertently came upon many Cuban refugees in the US who were very upset with me. First of all, they thought that I was supporting a regime that is oppressing their loved ones on the island. They also thought I was going for sexual tourism. Little did I know that Cuba was a sex-haven for tourist. I had blinders on looking to dive into salsa, son-montuno, charanga, danzón, and timba music. Hell if I wanted to pay for sex, I could have stayed in Oakland and saved myself the airfare. I later learned that the economy in Cuba is so bad that in order for many decent people with good hearts to make ends meet, they have to hustle tourists on the side serving as guides, entertainers, or as prostitutes.

One evening, I was invited to a party where there were a large number of folks, like me, who are foreigners. Feeling the music, I asked a young Cuban woman to dance, and she quickly glanced over toward a male on the other side of the room, standing against the wall. She was seeking his approval. He shook head to indicate no, not me. That was her pimp and they were not there to party. To them, I appeared “too Cuban,” i.e., not foreign or wealthy enough to meet their needs. In fact, almost every Cuban stranger I met took it for granted that I too was Cuban until my accent inevitably revealed otherwise. For me to even try to fake a Cuban accent was way over my head.

I had blinders on looking to dive into salsa, son-montuno, charanga, danzón and timba music.

Many of these resentful Cuban refugees simply didn't understood my true motive for going to Cuba. They did not believe I went for language and cultural immersion because they've seen too many North Americans, Europeans, and Australians traveling to their homeland for sexual pleasures.

And Fidel, oh how I admired Fidel Castro because he is the only Latin-American leader who vehemently spoke out and took action against racism in his country. Since he took office there has been a surge of black engineers, black neurosurgeons, and other black professionals. Many Americans think the first black astronaut is Guion Stewart Bluford from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. No. The first black astronaut is Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez of Guantánamo, Cuba who went into space with the Russians three years before Bluford. Castro also developed what is boasted as a 100% literacy rate in Cuba, and free health care for all Cubanos (Cuban citizens).

No wonder people chuckled when I said I wanted to stay support the revolution.

Today, the racism that Castro tried to stamp out has resurfaced with a vengeance. As we speak, an Afro-Cuban civil rights leader is serving a 25-year sentence for doing the work of Martin Luther King, a violation of Cuba's revolutionary policies. Why isn't sexual tourism, which infiltrated the island, a violation of Cuba's revolutionary policies? No wonder people chuckled when I said I wanted to stay and support the revolution. No wonder Luisa looked at me with sad eyes when I told her that I wanted to stay and support the revolution. A young Marielito, one of the many Cubans who flocked to the U.S. in the 1980s, someone who was fed this revolutionary doctrine since the day he was born, asked me, what revolution? As he grew up he only saw things get progressively worse with nothing to show from this revolution of which the Castro government claims is eternal. Of course, the U.S. trade embargo that has been going on for more than 50 years against Cuba is also hurting innocent people, including children. I saw this with my own eyes.

Yes, I had a fun trip to Havana. I had a culturally rewarding trip to Havana, but it was a naive trip to Havana.

Is It Shameful to be Latino?

2011-06-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

Why do so many “Americans” downplay
their cultural heritage?

Ever since I was a child growing up near Spanish Harlem in New York City, I've met my share of Latinos who are in-your-face proud of their language and cultural heritage, but I've also met my share of Latinos who seemed ashamed. They avoid speaking Spanish, and get irritated when spoken to in Spanish. Recently, I read a blog by a Latina, fluent in English and Spanish, complaining because she receives business mail in Spanish. Here I am knocking myself out to increase my level of Spanish fluency and I meet native speakers who are ashamed. What the hell? I know people of Latin-American ancestry whose parents restricted them to English only. Now what is so wrong with speaking two, four, or six languages?

The Indigenous people are the only real Americans.
The rest of us are nothing but gringos.

Then I meet others who get annoyed when I pronounce their Spanish names “correctly” versus giving their names the “Anglo” sound. They've actually instructed me to mispronounce their names so it won't sound Spanish. Is something is wrong with the Spanish language and Latin-American culture that I need to know about? Why do so many “Americans” downplay their cultural heritage? The indigenous people are the only real Americans. The rest of us are nothing but gringos..

Here I am knocking myself out to increase my level of Spanish fluency and I meet native speakers who are ashamed. What the hell?

Then I've met other Latinos who are annoyed by my interest in Latino cultures, and even questioned my loyalty to being African-American. It's as if I should stick to fried chicken with collard greens and abstain from arroz con pollo. Why shouldn't I enjoy both? What these people don't realize is that the more black history I read, the more I learn about Latinos who share my African heritage. The more I travel, the more I meet Latinos who share my African heritage.

Then I've met other Latinos who are annoyed with my interest in Latino cultures, and even questioned my loyalty to being African-American.

With all this said, I love Latin-American music, especially those with African influence, like bachata from the Dominican Republic, zamacueca from Perú, son-montuno from Cuba, tambor from Venezuela, and some cumbia and vallenato from Colombia. And jarocho music from Mexico? WOW, I CAN FEEL IT!!!

Now, the million dollar question: If you are of Latin-American ancestry and are ashamed of it and want to camouflage it, why? Is it internalized racism, or what? Please use the comment section below and enlighten me.

Ecuador's Black Slave Revolutionary

2011-06-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

Black Ecuador

Alonso de Illescas (1528-1585)

In 1997, the National Congress of Ecuador declared October 2, the national day of Black Ecuadorians giving formal recognition to Alonso de Illescas (pronounced O-lone-zo Day EE-yes-cahs) born in Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of Senegal, West Africa. Around the age of 10, Illescas was captured by slave hunters and brought to Spain. He was then brought to Ecuador on a slave ship around the age of 25 and grew up to be a strategist skilled in guerrilla warfare. Behind a fortress built by by an alliance of escaped African slaves and Indigenous people, Illescas and his men fought and turned back many expeditions of Spanish forces.

Africa in Colombia

2011-06-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

Does This Village of Black Colombians
Have Money-Making Potential?

The people of this traditional Africa-like village, founded centuries ago by runaway slaves in the jungle of northern Colombia, about 40 kilometers south of Cartagena, live off the land, just like they did on the African continent. Their homes are made of straw, mud and cow dung. Electricity arrived in the 1970s as a government gift in recognition of the former world boxing champion Antonio Cervantes, better known as Kid Pambelé who was born here. Radio and television came soon after electricity. There is also a schoolhouse, named in honor of of the liberator of this village name Benko Biohó, which even has an Internet connection.

Benko Bioho Square, containing the statue of the legendary liberator Benko Bioho.

The village is called San Basilio de Palenque. Their ancestors survived capture in Africa, the passage by ship to Cartagena, and were strong enough to escape and live on their own for centuries. The Colombian government takes some pride in this village because the people here were the first to free themselves from Spanish rule long before the nation we now know as Colombia did. I say “some pride” because the Colombian government is not doing much else for this town.

The African village of San Basilio de Palenque lies about 40 kilometers south of Cartagena

I entered the village on the back of a motorbike and was dropped off at a restaurant across the street from Benko Bioho Square, containing the statue of the legendary liberator Benko Bioho. I had the traditional village meal of fish, rice, and plantains before my tour guide Carlos arrived . As Carlos escorted me around the village explaining its history and today's lifestyle, I kept wondering to myself, why don't these people capitalize on the growing interest in this village? The place is pretty, the weather is wonderful,and the village is peaceful with a lot to learn about the culture. I know, for myself, I would have loved to have taken home some souvenirs, like CDs of local artists, village post cards, or artifacts. I asked Carlos about this and he didn't give me much of an answer.

When I left the village and boarded a bus headed back to Cartagena, I saw two white women (I don't know if they were Americans or from another continent), hopping on the back of a motorbike, like I did, heading for San Basilio de Palenque. I was sure that this little African village in Colombia has money making potential to become a tourist attraction.

Chocó, in Western Colombia, holds the largest number of Afro-Colombians, which unlike San Basilio de Palenque are descendants of emancipated slaves.

No Racism in Venezuela?

2011-05-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

Black Venezuelans (or Afro-Venezuelans) must be functioning in all areas of Venezuelan society; big business and all... Nice!

As I'm planning my trip to Venezuela this year, 2011, I could not help but to get very sarcastic with a Venezuelan I met on Thorntree, a travel site put up by Lonely Planet Publishing Company. This individual told me that there is no racism in Venezuela. I was a little incensed because I hear that from almost every person who comes from a Latin-American country. So far, the countries I've visited (seven) with a significant number of blacks, indigenous, and Asians, I noticed that these minorities are not so visible in shops, at airports, in office buildings; and not even in public transportation.

Juan, the only black journalist in his graduating class, never received a job offer like all of his other classmates.

I remember a good friend Juan, an Afro-Venezuelan, whom I met in Berkeley, CA who shared with me how everyone in his journalism graduating class in Venezuela got jobs. Juan, the only black in this graduating class, never received a job interview, let alone a job offer.

I told this Thorntree gentleman how I pleased I am to hear that there is no racism in his country. When I arrive, I'll be looking forward to seeing blacks in businesses, law enforcement, civil service, and other industries where blacks, indigenous, and Asians in the Latin-American countries I've visited are severely under-represented. And when I do see black Venezuelans and other minorities in all areas of Venezuelan society, I'm going to write my US government officials and tell them what we can learn from Venezuela.

To date, I've never heard a response from the gentleman who said there is no racism in Venezuela. However, on December 2011, I made it to Venezuela and was glad to see a greater black presence in different jobs, especially those working in immigration when I arrived at the airport. I even saw black business owners. And like other Latin-American countries, I saw plenty of interracial marriages and interracial children, especially between the blacks and the browns. However, I didn't see anything worth writing about in terms of no racism. An Afro-Venezuelan friend who herself is doing quite well stated bluntly that there is still racial discrimination in Venezuela.

Related Post: Racism, Latin-American Style

Africa in Venezuela

2011-05-26T17:43:00.000-07:00

As I plan my trips to explore black heritage in Latin-America, I chose Venezuela as one of the main countries to visit. For years, I've always wanted to visit Venezuela because I used joke around with Latinos telling them that I'm Venezuelan. I did that to send a subtle message that not all blacks who speak Spanish are from Cuba or Puerto Rico. I've been asked more than once if I'm from either of those two countries, especially by Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. I am self-taught in Spanish, and am still learning, but obviously my Spanish is impressive enough for some people to think I'm a native speaker.

Barlovento eventually became one of the many runaway-slave settlements called a cimarrón.

Most of my time in Venezuela will be spent in the predominately black region of Barlovento. The Barlovento region is west of Caracas, the nation's capital, in the state of Miranda going towards the Caribbean Sea.
Barlovento is famous for its cacao and is considered to be among the best in the world. During the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Spanish imported slaves from Africa to work on cacao plantations, from which cocoa, cocoa butter, and chocolate are made and exported to Europe creating wealth for the slave masters. Barlovento eventually became one of the many runaway-slave settlements called a cimarrón. By the time slavery was abolished in the 1820s, a significant number of free black folks were settled in Barlovento. Most of these ex-slaves and descendants of these ex-slaves continued the legacy of cacao production in the region.

The Barlovento Region of Venezuela
Like Nat Turner in the U.S., Yanga in Mexico, Bioho in Colombia, and Illescas in Ecuador, rebel slave leaders rose in Venezuela as well. The most famous uprising occurred in 1552 when the rebellion was led by El Negro Miguel who raised a military force of 1,500 slaves to attack Spanish settlements. Rebel slave communities continued to grow throughout the 1600s, and by the year 1720, there were up to 30,000 cimarrones (escapred slaves) in Venezuela, compared to those 60,000 still serving their masters.

African slaves were imported to work on the cocoa plantations of Venezuela to produce all sorts of chocolate goodies.

Just as in other parts of the Americas, cimarrones (runaway slaves) were often assisted by indigenous peoples as they conducted raids on plantations, freeing the slaves and trading contraband. The town of Curiepe in Barlovento was the only legally established town of free Blacks. Curiepe was made up of former members of Caracas's Company of Free Blacks as well as escaped slaves from non-Spanish-speaking islands who were given their freedom in Venezuela, only under the condition that they get baptized.

Every year, June 24, Afro-Venezuelans Celebrate Día de San Juan (St, John's Day) with drumming and dance.

Black Venezuelans played a decisive role in their country's War of Independence. South American liberator Simón Bolívar thoroughly understood the strategic importance of black soldiers and abolished slavery in 1812 and again in 1816. Bolívar being a slave master himself freed 1,000 of his own slaves, and recruited 5,000 slaves into his army. One of Bolivar's most famous lieutenants, Pedro Camejo, is known in Venezuela's history books as "El Negro Primero (The First Black)," because he was always the first to ride into battle.

A statue of El Negro Primero today stands in the Plaza Carabobo in Caracas—the only statue commemorating a Black in all Venezuela. Throughout the War of Independence, Venezuela, slavery continued to decline. By 1821, a new law was on the books declaring all black newborns as free. And by 1854, slavery in Venezuela was completely abolished. Still blacks endured racial discrimination despite a government philosophy that all racial groups blend together. I've met non-black Venezuelans who believe that all Venezuelans are one and that there is no racism.

However every year, public festivals such as the Fiesta de San Juan (June 24) celebrate pride in Afro-Venezuelan culture making bold statements in their resistance to the dominant culture and consciousness of being a marginal community.

African Music in Venezuela

La Bamba: Souls of Black Mexican Folks

2011-05-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

RITCHIE VALENS
Famous for the top 40 hit song “La Bamba” 1958

Souls of Black Mexican Folks

In 1958, Mexican-American rock musician Ritchie Valens of Pacoima, CA released the famous tune “La Bamba” on Del-Fi Records. The single became a top-40 hit in the U.S., and was named number 345 in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. “La Bamba” is the only song on the list not sung in English. “La Bamba” is originally a traditional folksong and dance of the musical genre called Jarocho. It is well documented that Jarocho music is connected to the African continent. Bamba, or the Mbamba, is an ethnic group in the Bamba district along the Bamba River of the Congo and Angola, West Africa. La Bamba was first sung by slaves brought to Mexico by the Spanish as they worked in the fields and mines of Vera Cruz, Mexico as early as 1683.

Slaves in Mexico came primarily from the Congo/Angola regions of West Africa.

There have been no official figures on the numbers of Mexicans of African descent since 1810, when a census found that black people made up 10 per cent of the total population. Mexicans of African descent were vital to the early economic growth of Mexico, working in urban professions, developing and cultivating farmland, providing skilled labor in the silver mines, and working on cattle ranches and sugar plantations. African influence in Mexico can also be seen in the many cultural traditions of that country. However, after more than 500 years interracial marriages and relationships, the black population in Mexico has dwindled considerably.

After more than 500 years interracial marriages and relationships, the identifiable black population in Mexico has dwindled considerably.

Several organizations have also emerged to reclaim Afro-Mexican traditions, for example the annual Encounter of Black Populations, which started over ten years ago, and Black Mexico, an organization dedicated to fighting for the cultural and political rights of people of African descent in Mexico. These organizations have been in increased dialogue with other Afro-Latin Americans throughout the region. Since 2004, there have been a number of photography exhibits, film series and forums on Afro-Mexicans throughout the US. In Veracruz there has been a resurgence of African-influenced Son Jarocho music, which has also helped to bring visibility to these issues. Although in many parts of Mexico, many people of African ancestry still do not identify themselves as such, the increased migration of Afro-Mexicans to other parts of the country and to the US has significantly impacted on this population’s consciousness of its African roots.

La Bamba” and It's African Roots

Mexico's “Dark” Secret : The Black La Raza

The Soul of Mexican Independence

She Loves Me...

2011-05-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

She Loves Me Not!

I met Juana María (not her real name) on Facebook months before my 2010 trip to Perú. A separate Spanish-speaking Facebook account has already been opened in order to meet people in Latin-American countries that I planed to visit, preferably Afro-Latinos. A female is a plus. My primary motive for making Facebook friends in Latin-America is to have strong social connections to make my trips more personable and enjoyable. This worked nicely in Colombia, and very nicely in Perú and Ecuador. And to this day, this practice is still working for future trips.

I wonder if Juana would have had the same interest in me if I were from the community. Is she interested in me or where I'm from?

When Juana's name and photo came up on my Facebook page as a friend suggestion, I looked over the available information in her profile and saw that she is from Chincha, Perú; my home away from home where Ive been traveling since 2005 and established close ties. I immediately sent her a friendship request on Facebook. She responded with a personal e-mail in over-anxious attempt to get to know me.

We both learned that she and I knew the same people in and around Chincha. I asked my Peruvian contacts about Juana Mar¡a, one of whom, confirmed my suspicions. His exact words translated into English were, “she would love to have a wealthy, classy man like you (people in third-world countries think all Americans are in the same income bracket as Donald Trump).” A local doctor warned me that she likes to take advantage of foreigners. None of this surprised me, for with my travel experience and even here in the US, I've been approached by women from The Philippines, Cuba, India, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Ethiopia with only one thing in mind---obtaining a resident alien card to live in the US.

I've been approached by women from The Philippines, Cuba, India, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Ethiopia with only one thing in mind.

I took all of contacts comments with a grain of salt. After all, I was not in Perú to find a woman, I was there to immerse myself in the Spanish language and the culture, particularly black culture. I even took Juana and her 14-year-old son out to a popular Peruvian soul food restaurant called Mamainé. On another occasion, I rented a van and took her, her son, and 15 others to the beach, and after wards, to a restaurant for a roasted chicken dinner. Juana María stayed close by me throughout the day, and even seemed to show some interest. I continued to maintain the “friend-ship.” My heart was focused on everyone having a good time. I wonder if Juana would have had the same interest in me if I were from the community. Would she even notice the content of my character or would she even care? Is she interested in me or is she interested in where I'm from? Juana María is a good-looking woman, why hasn't she already found her prince?

As much as I like to travel, will I ever be open to bringing home a wife? Who knows! However, I see nothing wrong with finding someone where there is a mutual attraction, mutual interests, and complementary characters right here in the USA.

Other Related Posts

Marriage? I Don't “Think” So!

Luisa of Havana

Spanish-Speakers, What Do They Look Like?

2011-05-13T16:50:00.001-07:00

“After almost 400 visits to this site since May 2011, no one has been able to give an intelligent answer to this question!”

Alberto Fujimori, Former President of Perú: Japanese Ancestry

One morning, I stopped by a Walgreens store in San Francisco to buy a Latin-American phone-card. The woman at the checkout counter, without bothering to ask if I speak Spanish, suggested that I buy a calling card for English speakers. This is far from the first time someone assumed that I did not speak Spanish. Annoyed, I told her (in Spanish) that I have friends in Latin-America who speak Spanish only and I need this card! She acknowledged what I said by mumbling something about San Francisco is a multicultural city. Whatever!

Judge Alex Ferrer: Cuban ancestry

I pointed this experience out on my Facebook page and humbly asked for some enlightenment from my Facebook friends; how do you look at someone and determine what language they can or cannot speak? A former college classmate answered, just ignore them Bill. She was just plain stereotyping. I'm sure when you responded in Spanish she felt silly. Another friend, who unlike I, happens to be a black native Spanish-speaker (half Cuban and half Dominican) says she has pity on people like that; she slams them with her Spanish, and the near-look of cardiac arrest gives her great satisfaction.

Actress Rosie Perez: Puerto Rican ancestry

However, I was given a more humorous view of such a stereotype by a fellow Toastmaster who pointed out that when an Iranian friend first came to this country, he moved into a Latino neighborhood. People looked at him and assumed that he is native Spanish-speaker. He ended up learning Spanish before he learned English. Her comment reminded me of the evening when I was walking with a friend from India; a monolingual Spanish-speaker came along needing directions and got right in her face and asked, ¿Spanish? He was so shocked when I turned out to be the one giving him the directions he needed. LOL!

Former Miss Ecuador: Monica Chalá: African Ancestry

From my growing up near Spanish Harlem in New York City, and working in Latino communities in Oakland and San Francisco, I know plenty of people, white, brown, and black who are of Latin-American ancestry who know little or no Spanish at all. Yet, I've met people of Chinese, Lebanese, and Jewish ancestries who are “native Spanish-speakers.” The same paradox goes for other languages. When are people going to wake up and understand that you cannot simply look at people and discern their first, second, or third language?

PBS Series: Black in Latin-America

2011-05-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

I was just watching the TV series Black in Latin-America. Of all the things that were discussed in this series, I've been blogging about for more than one year. People are beginning to wake up to the fact that more blacks went to Latin-American countries, including Mexico, Argentina, and Perú than to the United States of America. What is even more pleasant is that more and more African-Americans are also waking up for too many of us seem to feel that we African-Americans are the only legitimate blacks in the African diaspora.

What surprises me more than anything is that so many Latinos I meet are unaware of the African presence in their own countries. The TV host, Professor Louis Henry Gates Jr., said it well, Latinos have an abuela (grandmother) in the closet.

On a couple of occasions, I had to explain to some young Mexican-Americans, who thought it was so humorous that a black person (referring to me) is speaking Spanish that there are over 150 million Spanish-speakers who are black, not to mention the millions of others who have African blood, like Fulgencio Batista, former president of Cuba, and Vicente Guerrero, Mexico's liberator and second president.

Personally, I celebrate Black Heritage in Latin American countries because I'm so moved by the variety of music where African people had an influence, music like cumbia (Colombia), salsa (New York City), merengue (Dominican Republic), bachata (Dominican Republic), fandango and jaraocho (Mexico), festejo, landó, and zamacueca, Perú, cueca (Chile), and son-montuno (Cuba).

Peruvians in the Hood

2011-05-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

My First Encounter with the Black Peruvian Population

When I used to think of the hood, I used to think of poor or working class black (and brown) communities around the United States, like Harlem in New York City, East Oakland, or the Fifth Ward in Houston. No longer do I restrict this perception to the United States of America. There are hoods in Paris, London, and Mexico (yes, Mexico; see my post entitled Mexico's Dark Secret). One of the most enjoyed hoods I've ever visited is El Carmen in Chincha, Perú.

Unlike your average hood in the USA, crime is next to zero in El Carmen despite the poverty. Well, at least according to my perception. Almost everyone is mellow in their relationship with each other and with visitors. I've exchanged many greetings with total strangers as we passed each other on the street. During my visits to El Carmen over the last five years, I've never seen or heard any conflicts among the residents, or observed any drama. When they party, they party hearty without trouble makers spoiling the fun.

A block party in El Carmen, Perú

I first came in contact with this community in the Spring of 2005, thanks to Moons Travel Guide, which contained the address and phone number of the late Amador Ballumbrosio who played a large role in reviving and popularizing Afro-Peruvian music and dance. Almost everyone in his family are either dancers, musicians, or both. With my wanting to be totally immersed in the Spanish language and wanting to explore black cultures in Latin-American countries, I called the home of the Ballumbrosio family. The woman who answered the phone was Maribel, Amador's daughter. Her demeanor over the phone was one of a long, lost relative inviting me home. We agreed on a very inexpensive price of my stay, plus meals.

Every February, in El Carmen, Perú there is
a Black Heritage celebration with music and dance

I arrived in El Carmen at 4:00 AM, not realizing that the family left their door unlocked for me. My cab driver then took me to the local police station where an arrangement was made for me to spend a night at the local hotel for one-half price (13 nueva soles, approximately $4.00 USD). At the station, there seemed to be only one police officer on duty, and he was wrapped in a blanket trying to stay awake for he had nothing to do. The town of El Carmen is that cool; tranquilo, as people call it.

When I arrived at the Ballumbrosio home at 10 AM the next morning, I was greeted with hugs. What I enjoyed most about this community is that it is off the beaten path--no tourists. The few tourists who do come never stay long. There is very little here to offer tourists except music and dance performances in the living room of the Ballumbrosio home, and of course, during the month of February when they celebrate black heritage with music and dance. People from all over Perú, and different parts of the world converge on El Carmen with the slogan, “Vamos Pa' Chincha, Familia, meaning Let's Go To Chincha, Brothers and Sisters (El Carmen is in the province of Chincha).

Entering the District of El Carmen in Chincha, Perú

Because I do not care for crowds and constant noise, I avoid going to Perú in the month of February. In fact, all of my travels is during the “slow season.” I enjoy the tranquility of El Carmen outside the month of February. During my first trip, I was always invited to some party or a social event on the weekends. I never had to go anywhere for entertainment. Everything was right there in the hood. Unfortunately, a major earthquake came along in 2007, destroying much of El Carmen's infrastructure. Today, it's just not the same. Many of the people I met left. But I still love the people, the energy, and the environment. It's my home away from home.

Racism in Cuba Bounces Back

2011-05-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

...or Did It Ever Go Away?

In my 1998 trip to Cuba, I had on language and cultural blinders; unable to see the real Cuba that has been driving so many citizens away since Castro took office. An overwhelming majority of these citizens were white. By the time I arrived in Cuba, more black Cubans were fleeing the island, like my personal friend, Vladimir, who risked his life on a raft made of inner-tubes. I was only interested in improving my Spanish, developing my salsa dancing skills, and learning about Afro-Cuban history and culture.

I felt very much at home with the black presence almost everywhere; on campus, in shops, at the airport, in taxis, not to mention the black doctors and engineers. In fact the first black astronaut in the world is Afro-Cuban. However, my time spent in Cuba was not enough time to experience the racial frustrations of Afro-Cubans. People were generally nice to me, primarily because I'm a gringo, who perceptibly had a lot of money to circulate in their economy.

Cuban civil-rights leader Oscar Biscet is serving a 25-year sentence in a maximum security prison for trying to follow the path of Martin Luther King.

When Fidel Castro took office in 1959, he issued anti-discrimination laws and declared the end of racism and discrimination. I was always wondering why an overwhelming number of white Cubans were fleeing the Castro regime during the 1960s and 1970s, and not too many of the blacks. Perhaps, this had a lot to do with opportunities being opened to black Cubans that were not open to them before. Even though black Cubans have made great advances under the Fidel Castro's regime (blacks in no other Latin American country comes close), many young Cubans contend that a form of structural racism exists, and that it is getting worse. In the tourist industry, which is growing by leaps and bounds while the rest of the Cuban economy languishes, blacks are underrepresented in the big new five-star hotels and the ancillary services springing up, such as waitresses, doormen, tour guides and cab drivers. Organizations like the NAACP are not allowed in Cuba. Dr. Oscar E. Biscet, President of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, attempted to follow the path of Martin Luther King and is currently serving a 25-year sentence at a maximum security prison.

In the film Inventos, black Cuban hip-hop artists speak out against racism and unemployment.

In music, young Cuban songwriters slip in sly lyrics about skin color, unemployment and racism. At a recent performance by the popular group NG La Banda, for example, the singer added a line about a black man being stopped by police on the street. That is the one concrete, on-the-ground issue that almost all black Cuban men, especially young men, can relate to: being halted by police and made to produce their documents. There was a case of a black man who went to a party where there were a number of black couples. When he told his story of being stopped in Havana while an identically dressed white man was allowed to breeze by, and how he demanded to know why he was singled out, the cop said police were looking for someone with physical characteristics like his. Everyone laughed because four or five black men there had experienced the same thing, and were also told, “we are looking for someone with physical characteristics like yours.” The black man who told the story went on to add that if the cops are going to lie, they should at least be original!

Black People in El Salvador?

2011-04-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

I was amused by the looks I was getting from the store clerks;
it's like they never seen a black person before.

I had a seven-hour layover in El Salvador before my next flight to Lima, Perú. I took advantage of those seven hours by getting a tourist card ($10.00) and leaving the airport to explore the surrounding areas. I hired a taxi at $60.00 for three hours and headed for La Costa del Sol (Sun Coast) to have lunch. We then visited a couple of beaches and towns. When I travel, I prefer to see the "real" country and its people versus highly populated (and expensive) tourists areas. This is how you learn the true culture of the country, and in my case, develop fluency in the language. I always pick a slow season of the year to travel to avoid crowds. We had a great meal as he was filling me in on the people and culture of the area. We stopped in a grocery store to get some inexpensive goodies. Perhaps, something I could take on my flight to Lima, Perú. I was amused by the looks I was getting from the store clerks; it's like they never seen a black person before.

When the Indigenous population was almost exterminated, the Spanish brought in slaves from Africa to work on the haciendas (slave plantations) and in the mines of El Salvador.

Speaking of black people, I was wondering if El Salvador once had an African presence like the rest of Latin America due to the slave trade. So many people I saw were quite dark. I asked this of the cab driver, but he denied that El Salvador ever had a black presence. Then I reckoned that all these dark El Salvadoreans I saw were only spending too much time working in the sun. After all, this area is called La Costa del Sol (the Sun Coast). However, just recently, I was introduced to a web site giving the facts on El Salvador and her black history: African Heritage of Central America. The historical black presence has never been officially acknowledged in a society that does not recognize ethnic diversity. General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez instituted race laws in 1930 that prohibited blacks, Gypsies, Asians, and Arabos from entering the country. This law was removed during the 1980s.

General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez instituted race laws in 1930 that prohibited Blacks, Gypsies, Asians, and Arabs from entering the country. This law was removed during the 1980s.

Like the rest of Latin America, indigenous societies of El Salvador existed were enslaved after the Spanish invasion in the 16th century when thousands of people were killed from overwork and disease and the Indigenous population was almost exterminated. The Spanish brought in slaves from Africa to work on the haciendas (slave plantations) and in the mines. Several other towns also had African communities, such as Zacatecoluca, Chinameca, and Ahuachapan and Sonsonate. With the mixing of Spanish, African and Indigenous, the visible African population disappeared over time. Today there are really only various “shades of brown with few extremes in color variation.

Related post: Passing through El Salvador

Ecuadorians in the Hood

2011-04-29T15:29:00.001-07:00

Soccer stars such as Agustin Delgado put his small black community of Valle de Chota on the map.

My First Encounter with the Black Ecuadorian Population

It took longer than expected for me to arrive in Quito, Ecuador from Lima, Perú by bus. As a traveler who enjoy exploring black cultures and the black experience in Latin-American countries, I only had limited time (approximately six days) and a choice between two areas. I could visit Esmeraldas, Ecuador, which is a predominately black province where the people are descendants of ex-slaves who successfully revolted against the Spanish to earn their freedom, or I could go up into the Andes Mountains and visit a little town called Valle de Chota, where this all-black town are descendants of emancipated slaves. This the town also produce many of Ecuador's soccer stars.

I had a nice little cultural exchange with local youth who gave me the rundown on their community and asked about my community in the U.S.

A funny thing happened while riding the bus from Quito to Valle de Chota, a black community in the Andes. As I went towards the back to use the restroom, I struck up a conversation with one of the many black passengers. They all noticed my non-Ecuadorian accent and began to pay close attention. When I "busted" some English, they all fell out laughing in astonishment as though they never heard a black person speak English before.

Future world class soccer stars involved in a pick-up game.

My reception by the people of Valle de Chota was mixed. The fact that I was a total stranger entering the area cold and speaking Spanish with a funny accent made some people nervous. One lady went to get the police at the station right next door to her shop. I wished I could have taken her picture the way she wagged her finger and shook her head as if to say, “don’t bring your touristy ass up in here!” Instead, I ended up taking pictures of the police officers at the station as I explained why I was in their town. The officers thoroughly understood. I gave them each a Barack Obama post card and an Oakland, CA post card. I found this gesture to be very much appreciated throughout my travels in Latin America.

People were suspicious of me until we began to chat

As I walked around, I can see the looks I was getting from people as though they were wondering if I were Five-0 (an undercover cop checking them out). Then, of course, there were others who felt better about my presence once we began to chat. When I left Chota later in the afternoon, I felt so exhilarated to have to met and chatted with friendly men, women, and children as they gave me information about their community, and especially about their star soccer players. I was told about some venues where I could party that evening in Valle de Chota, and get a better feel for their culture; unfortunately, I already made a commitment to be back Quito with my friend Gloria who was giving a going-away party for her son headed for school in the Netherlands.

Valle de Chota Cops wanted to know what I was doing in their hood.

I got the impression that blacks in Valle de Chota were more in touch with their heritage than those in Quito. I remember asking blacks in Quito about the location of the Afro-Ecuadorian Museum, and they would immediately turn to a non-black Ecuadorian and ask about its location as though they themselves were oblivious to their own heritage.

Team Ecuador--Whipping Poland in 2006 World Cup

Salseras and Snobs

2011-04-28T11:07:00.001-07:00

My definition of a salsera is a female who loves to dance to salsa music (a salsero is a male salsa dancer).

I've been a salsa music lover since I was a teen growing up in New York City, the birthplace of salsa music. This was long before these salseras who show off on the dance floor and turn their noses up at those whom they perceive to not have the salsa dancing skills were born.

I really get a kick out of salseras who look at me and assume because I am a brother that I can't dance. People have such short memories. Were it not for men and women of African heritage, the music we know as salsa would be a totally different genre of music, minus the hot rhythm section and the call-and-response vocals.

When I, like a gentleman, would extend my hand and ask a woman to dance, she would sometimes look me right in the eyes for about 30 seconds to before shaking her head in refusal. Others would simply say no in such a mean-spirited way and having no sense of remorse.

I'll never forget one woman whom I asked to dance and how she looked at me with suspicion before declining. After moving on and enjoying myself with another dance partner, I noticed her watching me flow through fancy-fun dance patterns, only to appear sorry that she was so judgmental. I hope she learned her lesson, but I'll never know. My policy at the dance-club is to ask only once. If a woman turns me down and has a change-of-heart later, the burden will be on her to ask me to dance (not vice-versa). There are just too many down-to-earth woman who simply wanted to dance with a gentleman for me to worry about the snobs.

I noticed her watching me flow through fancy and fun dance patterns, only to appear sorry that she was so judgmental.

Speaking of snobs, many men (salseros) are just as snobbish with those who's dancing skills are not at a level that they would deem worthwhile. I was deeply touched when heard about a woman crying in the bathroom because men were not asking her to dance. I was so touched by the news that I made a commitment to ask any woman who seemed eager to dance regardless of looks. People forget that we are at the salsa club to have fun. If a dance partner is not on your level, what is so wrong with helping that partner out? For me, if a woman can count to three with her feet, she has enough rhythm by which she can follow and learn. By being open to all types of women on the dance floor, I've established solid friendships with those with sincere hearts of gold, and to me, they are more worth my while than hot, saucy dancers with an attitude. Snobs can certainly spoil the fun---if you let them.

Afro Latinos

2011-04-24T22:33:00.000-07:00

If Barack Obama is President of the United States, why shouldn't an Afro Latino be in parliament here in Bolivia?

---Jorge Medina, The first Afro-Bolivian elected official

Black Latino Communities in the Western World

One day on BART, a commuter train in San Francisco, I was in a conversation with two black guys; one from Cuba and the other from Colombia. Because the Colombian speaks limited English, the three of us carried on our conversation in Spanish. I got a real thrill from watching the reactions of Whites, Asians, African-Americans, and Latinos reacting in astonishment because three "brothas," LOL, were conversing in Spanish. I just love seeing stereotypes being smashed :-) As I began to improve my Spanish and increase my knowledge of Latin American history culture, I was even more pleased to learn that there are more than 150 million people of African ancestry living in countries from Mexico all the way down to Argentina.

However, When I'm around Afro-Latinos, I seldom bring up the subject of race until I learn their individual level of racial pride. Instead I may bring up race indirectly by talking about heavily populated Afro-Latino areas such as La Costa Chica in Mexico, Bluefields in Nicaragua, or Arica in Chile. This is because I learned that many Afro-Latinos, not all, but many were programmed by their respective societies to believe that they are not black. I was teaching Goddaughter Daniela, of Perú, a game of chess. I told her that I would take the black pieces because I myself am black. She immediately tapped her arm and said she is black too. I felt proud that she recognized her identify even though she is the only black in her family.

My goddaughter Daniela of Chincha, Peru,

is the only black in her family.

In the Dominican Republic, dictator Rafael Trujillo who ruled from 1931 until his assassination in 1960, told his black population that if they have one drop of white or Indian blood, they are not black. I had a good laugh at Burger King when I was told by Spanish-speaking employees that their manager, an Afro-Mexican, was not black. Mind you, I already had a conversation with this woman looking right at her. I'm not colorblind, you know; LOL. A young Puerto Rican woman out of Chicago told me that the term "black" only refers to African-Americans. I asked her if she has been to the Puerto Rican towns of Loiza or Catalina where there are still cultural and linguistic ties to Western Africa. She responded with a tirade about my being a self-loathing African-American. I had no clue as to what that comment was about. What I tried to remind her, assuming she is as educated as she says, was that there are black people of many different cultures who speak many different languages. In fact, in the Western Hemisphere, there are more blacks who speak Spanish than English.

Colombian salsa music megastar Jairo Varela, leader of Grupo Niche, insists on being called “negro (black),¨ and not the polite Latin American term “moreno (dark, colored).”

After my visits to several Latin American countries and from interacting closely with Afro Latinos; observing how blacks and browns mix freely with one another, including marriage, I can understand why so many black Latinos are confused about their race. It is common for blacks to have non-black relatives and vice versa. In nations, where racism is swept under the rug, and interracial marriages were never outlawed but encouraged, Afro Latinos embrace their nationality and culture first, and their race second, if at all. My goddaughter Daniela of Perú is the only black in her family as a result or her mother´s relationship with a black Peruvian man. It would be a culture shock for her to come to the US where race is clearly defined and be forced to take sides by putting her color over her nationality, culture, and most importantly, her loving family..

Yet, there are Afro-Latinos who do celebrate racial and cultural pride such as the late authors/poets Nicolás Guillen of Cuba, and Nelson Estumpiñan Bass of Ecuador. Renown singer Susana Baca, Perú's Minister of Culture. Jaero Varela of Colombia, leader of the hot salsa band Grupo Niche, expressed black pride in his music. With the election of President Barack Obama, even more Afro Latinos have been embracing their black heritage.

Black Latinos, Stand Up by Nadra Kareem

Cultural Exploration

2011-04-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

Exploring Black Latino
(Afro-Latino) Cultures

It was a well-rewarding 25-day vacation through El Salvador, Perú, and Ecuador, and am already planning my next trip, which will include Colombia and/or Chile later this year. I'm in love with the Spanish language and various Latin-American cultures, specifically those with African roots.

A few African-Americans and Latinos, including those in the Spanish-speaking countries that I've visited, assume I'm Latino. When they hear me speak, they think I may be Cuban or Puerto Rican. The Cubans will beg to differ, but I've been influenced from an early age by New York's Puerto Rican community. I've been criticized openly by a few African-Americans for being a sell-out to my own race, and by a few Latinos as being self-loathing wanna-be bored with my own culture. Of course, I know better than this because I spent most of my high school and college years reading up on black history, which made me proud of my heritage.

I've been criticized for being a sell-out to my own race and a self-loathing, wanna-be bored with my own culture.

One Latino told me that he feels sorry for me. My question was why? Because he couldn't give me an intelligent answer, I reckoned, perhaps, he was bored with his own culture and could not understand why anyone else would enjoy it as much as I. In truth, I'm no different from the Xicano (Mexican-American) who embraces hip-hop culture, or the Boricua (Puerto Rican) who communicates in a soulful African-American lingo, or the Quisqueya (Dominican) who enjoys the African-American theater like I do. The one thing that we are all have in common is that we are expanding our horizons and experiencing other cultures as well as our own.