Spain and the Latin-American Slave Trade

What a lot of Americans, particularly many African-Americans, do not know is that Spain started bringing Africans  across the Atlantic to countries, now known as Mexico and all the way down to Argentina, almost 200 years before the United States. In 1442, Pope Eugene IV gave the Portuguese sailors the right to explore the African continent,  and attempted to protect their findings from the Spanish, who were beginning to explore the continent as well. Spain was then occupied by a Muslim power and the Catholic Church felt threatened. Thus, in 1452, in an attempt to protect the church, Pope Nicholas V issued a Dum Diversas, giving the Spanish the right to enslave anyone not practicing Christianity. This bull, or ruling, was used by the Spanish and Portuguese Christians to enslave Africans.

Mexican of African descent working as a cobbler

In an attempt to settle disputes during the invasion of the western world, the Pope created the Treaty of Tordesillas and the line of demarcation, giving the Portuguese ownership of everything to the east of the line and the Spanish ownership of everything to the west, which is why Brazil today is a Portuguese speaking nation and other nations to the west of Brazil are Spanish speaking.. The line also gave the African continent to the Portuguese and stopped the Spanish slave trade in Africa, forcing them to find a new way to access slaves. 

The Spanish government then created the Asiento system, which functioned between 1543 and 1834. By the 16th century, the Asiento allowed other countries to sell people, mostly of African descent, to the Spanish as slaves. Thus, black African people have an ancient presence in both Spain and Portugal.

Women's History: African Flamenco Singer from Spain

Concha Buiki

Poet, Composer, Music Producer

Maria Concepción Balboa Buika, known by her stage name is “Buika” is famous for her flamenko singing mixed with jazz and funk. Concha (short for Concepción) was born in the Balearic Islands of Spain and is the daughter of political refugees from the only Spanish-speaking West African nation of Equatorial Guinea (formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea). Buika ‘s family was the only black family in the Spanish island of Mallorca where she grew up in a gypsy neighborhood. She started singing in a hotel bar as a teenager because the pay was good, and did a stint as a Tina Turner impersonator in Las Vegas, and was voted one of the World's Best 50 Voices by NPR wining a Latin Grammy in 2010.

It has been said that Buika combines all the musical styles along with her emotionally charged lyrics and such broken sensuality in her voice, making her an unparalleled artist. Her audience spans the world. Concha has never found language an obstacle, and has no limitations when interpreting the different genres of music in her collaborations with musicians and singers whether in Spanish, Catalán, English, French, or Portuguese. Buika has even collaborated on the sound tracks of several films.

In 2000, Buika began in the music industry with her first album Mestizuo, a presentation in the form of piano and vocals. Later, this was followed by Buika, and the trilogy produced by music producer Javier Limón, Mi niña Lola (My Baby Girl Lola), Niña de Fuego (Girl of Fire,), which included her first book of poems, and El Último Trago (The Last Drink).

Buika, who now lives in Miami, Florida, considers the role of "mother" her paramount priority. She credits nature and her life’s experiences for her most profound lessons.

This clip of Buika had over 5 million views

 

African Flamenco Singer of Spain

When I first began blogging about my exposure to the Latino world, particularly the Afro-Latino world, I didn't have Spain in mind because it had very little to do with Black Latinos; so I thought. Because of my musical appreciation for the Spanish guitar, I started taking a personal interest in flamenco, and even attended some flamenco shows and thoroughly, and I do mean thoroughly, enjoyed them. One of my blog readers turned me onto Concha Buika, a Black singer and a Spaniard.

Buika's family is originally from Equatorial Guinea, a West African country where Spanish is spoken. She was born and raised in Mallorca among Gitanos (or Gypsies) in Spain who heavily influenced her with traditional flamenco. Today, Buika is a singer who handles and fuses many musical styles with flamenco, such as copla (another form of popular music of Southern Spain), jazz, rumba, and R&B. Her album Niña de Fuego (little girl of fire),  was nominated for the 2008 Latin Grammy Award for Album-of-the-Year.

Back in 2000 and 2001, she sang at The Luxor, Harrah's, Gold Coast casinos in Las Vegas as a Tina Turner impersonator, and also performed as a guest singer in the Blue Note festival with Rachelle Ferrell. Today, she is noted as one of the most lively and spontaneous artists in the current Spanish musical scene. I was encourage by my blog reader to check her out when she makes her next US tour, and I will!