The Salsa Turntable is for “Latinos Only!”

The Late Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuba

During my salsa dancing days, there were more than one occasion where I felt the need to approach a DJ and suggest some tunes that would make people want to jump out of their seats and onto the dance floor. I personally was just not feeling their music. Any experienced Salsero (Salsa dancer) knows that if you can feel the music, it will bring out your best as a dancer, and your dance partner may even want to hug you when the music stops. I know this from personal experience.

I have been listening to salsa music since my teenage years in New York City where Salsa music was born. When I finally got the hang of the dancing routines as an adult, I often thought to myself, that perhaps, I should be a DJ since I know and love the music. I felt that I could really show the people a good time. I had grown discouraged by the choice of music that many DJs here in the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area choose to play. Some songs are way too fast; great for listening but not for dancing. Still others songs were too long. When I go out dancing, I like to dance with a variety of women and not spend the whole evening dancing with one because the song is so damn long.

La Sonora Carruseles, Colombia

One thing that I notice about many Salsa DJs is that they themselves are not Salsa dancers. I believe that a Salsa music DJ who enjoys dancing can get a better feel for what would motivate a crowd to hit the dance floor. However, another thought popped loud and clear into my head; the Salsa music turntable is for Latinos only! I felt as though I might be invading the territory of a culture that is not my own as a Salsa music DJ. When I shared those thoughts with Marlon, a DJ from Nicaragua, he told me not to trip, it’s is all good! Personally, I thought Marlon was just being patronizing. Sure, I realize that were not for Africans being brought to Latin-America as slaves 100 years before they  were brought to the US that the music we know as Salsa would be a whole different genre of music, most likely with different name attached, and nothing like what the world enjoys today, but II myself am not Latino.

Antonio Cartagena, Perú

I knew two African Americans in the Bay Area who were highly successful as Salsa music DJs. One being Ann, aka Heba who worked at a major nightclub near Oakland, and the other, Larry-Larry, who worked at a dance venue of a resort hotel as well as a popular nightclub near San Francisco. Both Heba and Larry-Larry are also Salsa “dancers,” thus know the right music to play to keep the crowd going. I thoroughly enjoyed Larry-Larry’s music, and simply could not sit down when he was on the turntable. He always attracted a good turnout, and I truly believed that I could be just as good  or maybe better.

What made Larry-Larry’s music (and Heba) so special was that his music had a nice steady tempo where you had time to get all of your fancy moves in on the dance floor without having to rush and wear your dance partner out. I have had women say to me when I would ask them to dance, the next one please; I need to catch my breath! Still, I felt that with Heba and Larry-Larry alone that the Salsa DJ industry was already saturated with non-Latinos, so I backed off not wanting to raise any red flags. Geez! Maybe I was tripping and missed my calling as a DJ with the conviction that the Salsa music turntable is for Latinos only.

Black Communities of Central America

Garífuna in Peril

The Garifuna people (pronounced Gah-REE-fuh-ah), descendants of West Africans who intermarried with Indigenous people, namely the Caribs and Arawaks, primarily in Central America, along the Caribbean Coastal areas of Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras. According ton one genetic study, the ancestry of the Garífuna peopl on average is 76% Sub-Saharan African, 20% Arawak or Carib, and 4% European. A

Due to heavy migration, the United States has become the second largest hub of Garífuna people outside Central America. New York has the largest population, heavily dominated by Hondurans, Guatemalans and Belizeans. Los Angeles ranks second with Honduran Garifuna being the most populous, followed by Belizeans and Guatemalans. There is no information regarding Garifuna from Nicaragua having migrated to either the East or the West Coast of the United States. The Nicaraguan Garifuna population of today is quite small and community leaders are attempting to resurrect the Garifuna language and cultural traditions. 

Garífuna is music is quite different from the rest of Central America. The most famous form is punta, a musical style, which has the dancers move their hips in a circular motion. An evolved form of traditional music, still usually played using traditional instruments, punta has seen some modernization and electrification in the 1970s; this is called punta rock. Drums play a very important role in Garifuna music.

Their language is primarily derived from Arawak and Carib, with English, French, and Spanish to a lesser degree. Almost all Garifunas are bilingual or polylingual, speaking the official languages of the countries they inhabit such as Spanish and English, most commonly as a first language. In 2001 UNESCO proclaimed the language, dance, and music of the Garifuna as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Belize.

A Garifuna language teacher, Ricardo, struggles to preserve his endangered African-Amerindian culture by building a language school back in his home village in Honduras, Central America. A business venture with his brother designed to raise money for the school’s construction becomes complicated by the expansion plans of a nearby tourist resort into indigenous territory. Historical parallels are invoked as Ricardo’s son rehearses a stage play about the Garifuna people’s last stand against British colonialism over 200 years ago in their motherland, the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean. Naturalistically shot, with debut performances by nearly the entire cast, “Garifuna in Peril” makes its own history as the first feature film with the majority of dialogue in Garifuna, a language proclaimed by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. the Garifuna (pronounced Gah-REE- fu-nah) are descendants of Carib, Arawak, and West African people.

There will be screening the movie Garifuna in Peril in San Francisco at the AMC Theatre on Van Ness Avenue. This event is for one time only on Thursday, August 22, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at https://www.tugg.com/go/3znt9t .This event will not happen unless we reach a threshold of ticket sale

Once the Forgetful, Self-Centered, American Traveler

 

My heart sank into sadness when a Facebook friend from an Afro-Mexican town I want to visit told me how valuable the experience will be and how cordial and receptive the people are, but admonished me to make sure that they themselves see a benefit in my visit. Many visitors, she tells me, come and go, and the residents are hurt because they never hear back from those who enjoyed their stay. It’s been my own experience and observation that many of us Americans have a very bad habit of enjoying our travels, and coming back home forgetting the people who helped to make our stay so pleasant.

In my younger years, while on liberty from my US naval vessel, I was also that typical forgetful, self-centered American. A family in Singapore took me in, fed me, gave me a bed, entertained me, and introduced me to family and members of the community. This was a real cultural exchange experience for me. They also requested repeatedly that I stay in touch because I am like family to them. When my ship sailed away, I received letters from them and never bothered to write back because I was young, dumb, and filled with that stereotypical sailor mentality.

Today, my attitude changed completely and I look back with self-disgust when I think of my Singaporean experience. Once I connect with locals during my travels, I stay in touch throughoccasional phone calls, especially on birthdays; make connections on Facebook, and deem them as lifetime friends. Especially to those who took the time to show the hospitality and love similar to what I experienced in Singapore.

In my blog post, The Cool Versus the Ugly American, I talked about my return from Cuba and how I made it my business to write and send gifts to everyone who accommodated me socially. A Cuban woman told me that I am one of the few Americans who even bother to stay in touch. I also noticed how I exchanged contact information with a fellow traveler while in Cuba, and upon my return to the US, I sent that person a short e-mail and never received a response.

About two weeks after returning from my first trip to the predominately Black District of El Carmen in Perú, the family that accommodated me was exhilarated to hear my voice. I don’t think they realized how exhilarated that I myself felt to have experienced such great hospitality from them. I am now considered like a son. In my second visit I tried to pay the mother for the food and accommodations, and she brushed me off with a sarcastic laugh.

To illustrate how hurt people can feel when a visitor does not follow up was during my fourth trip to Perú when another family in the nation’s capital, Lima, whom I met through a Peruvian friend living in Toronto, visited me while spending six days in a Lima hospital. When I returned to Perú the following year, I spent so much of my time in El Carmen, three hours South of Lima, that the only time I passed through Lima was to get to the airport to catch my flight to Caracas, Venezuela. My friend in Toronto contacted, and asked why I did not visit her family; I realized, again, how I dropped the ball being that forgetful, self-centered, American traveler. On a positive note, however, I still maintained contact with this family while in the US, and plan to throw a little dinner party for them on my next trip to Perú.

Those recent words of my Afro-Mexican friend touched me more than ever, and I want to remember all of those with whom I made positive connections during my travels, which so far are in 15 countries. And even those people with whom I connected through social media who live in countries where I plan to visit, I want to always stay in touch.

My Interactions with Latin American Women

Above is Pieadad Cordoba, Colombia's first Black senator

Below id Cuban jazz singer Lucresia 

Being a single male, I always like the female energy around me, even if it is nothing more than a platonic friendship. In fact, throughout my life, an overwhelming majority of my closest friends have been females. As I interact with Spanish-speaking people through my work, social activities, and travel while using my Spanish, I get to meet many women. I generally find Latin American women, particularly those not born in the US, much friendlier and more approachable. Seldom do I encounter the paranoia and defensiveness that I encounter among so many US women, especially here in the Oakland, California area where I live. When I am speaking Spanish to monolingual Spanish-speakers, it is almost as if they consider me one of them, and they generally ask where I am from.

Although, I relate well to Latin American women of all colors, my greatest preference is for Afro-Latin Americans. I find it ironic, however, that it is usually the non-Black Latin Americans who show the most interest. I remember while in Mexico City, I was rushing to catch my next flight to Havana, and how a very attractive Mestizo women gave me the “the hottest” eye contact and smile I have seen in my entire life. Maybe she thought I was Denzel Washington—HA! Even on my Spanish-speaking Facebook account where all my friends are in Latin American countries, two Black women and four Mestizo women have been throwing cute lines at me, giving me the impression that they want more than just an online friendship. They could be attracted to me in particular or they could be attracted to the US and see me as a way in, or both; I do not know. What I do know is that when it comes to settling down, I would much more prefer to be with a woman who is already in the US (legally). My purpose for establishing a Spanish Facebook account in the first place was so I can have warm contacts in the event of my arrival in their respective countries. Latin American travel is a major hobby of mine right now.

While visiting Cuba, Ecuador, Perú, and Venezuela, I had good company and from sisters (Black women) who showed me around and went out of their way to make me feel at home. When I was in Venezuela, I found the women of all colors to be extremely warm and conversational. Almost every time I would smile at a woman she'd give me a warm, enthusiastic smile in return. My only problem with Venezolanas (Venezuelan women) is that had I stayed long enough, I would have defeated my whole purpose for being there. See my post Fond Memories of Venezuelan Women.

As in every Latin American country that I visit, my purpose is, 1) to improve my Spanish, 2) to explore and experience Black cultures, and 3) to have a fun and relaxing vacation. The folks I meet during my travels have become lifetime friends. You might ask, if I connect so well with Latin American women, why I am not married to one? The answer to that question is in another post: Why I’m Not With a Latina.