From Toussaint Louverture to Celia Cruz, from the Haitian revolution to Peru’s recognition of Afro-latinx officially, Afro-Latinx have been the backbone of Latin American liberation and the dominating force in Latin American culture. Yet in American culture, it may seem like recognition begins and ends with Afro-Latina Cardi B’s chart topping hit, “Bodak Yellow”. A great deal of this is due to the homogenous representation of Latinx people in media, which is very anti-black, and the lack of knowledge of Latin American culture in general. A key point to understanding who we are and our history is that being Latinx and/or Hispanic is simply an ethnicity composed of people of many races. The Latin American region is the South-Western Hemisphere of countries formerly colonized by the Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
When Toussaint Louverture and the enslaved people of Haiti raised their fists against the tyranny of the French colonizers, they blazed with the strength of Ogun and swpt control of one-third of the island. By 1804, Haiti had been not only the first successful slave-led rebellion and Black nation, but the first Latin American country.
Following the success of the Haitian Revolution, the enslaved indigenous and black people of South America rose up against the Spanish, Haiti sent aid, logistics, and supported the liberation of but not limited to; Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. That’s right, our champion Simon Bolivar had gone to Haiti to rally support and aid for the South American peoples liberation. Haiti’s efforts and contributions to Latin America before there even was a Latin America go largely unappreciated by many of us Central and South Americans.
Despite the narrative that Western Africans forced into slavery were bound to the North American colonies on the East Coast, only 23% of them ended up there while 77% of them went to Latin America. (Blacks in Latin America 1) The Yoruba people were predominantly found in the Caribbean. Like many indigenous cultures, they had their own practices in spirituality and own set of gods before the white colonizer forced Christianity onto them to obliterate their sense of individualism and justify their crimes against humanity. Yet Yoruban culture prevailed against white supremacy as people in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic still believe in the Orishas.
While African Americans created Rock ‘n Roll, Hip Hop, Jazz, and other prominent styles of music, just to the south Afro-Latinx people were creating merengue, samba, rumba, salsa, festejo, and bachata and incorporating traditional Afro-indigenous dances. La marinera is a popular coastal Peruvian dance that fuses indigenous and African dances like zamacueca with Spanish fandango. (Marinera Dance 1)
Due to the consequences of colonization, white supremacy runs as rampant in Latin America as it does in the rest of the globe. White latinx, people with mostly Spanish blood, take up the most representation and positions and use it to oppress and gaslight Black and Brown latinx. Subsequently, mestizo and cholo, indigenous people with some spanish blood, attempt to appeal to White latinx by also gaslighting and perpetuating racist rhetoric, policies, and culture to Black latinx. It’s quite the parallel to North America. White and Brown Latinx attempt to gaslight us when we speak on our oppression by using the tired phrase “We are all Latino, we must be united in our society” but don’t police their fellow white and brown latinx when were are met with discrimination at their hands. Because of our position in a white supremacist-dominated world, Black people all over the globe have been the leading advocate for all liberation movements crossing over many intersections like feminism and LGBTQ+ rights. Afro-Latinx people were the backbone of the socialist and communist revolutions in Venezuela and Cuba because it is essential to our survival. Additionally, not all latinx people are mixed with white, indigenous and African blood though some may be. It is important to note this because we are not all the same, we are not a homogenous race of people. Latinx people come in races and speak different languages, our African ancestry and our Latinidad are both valid.
When Toussaint Louverture and the enslaved people of Haiti raised their fists against the tyranny of the French colonizers, they blazed with the strength of Ogun and swpt control of one-third of the island. By 1804, Haiti had been not only the first successful slave-led rebellion and Black nation, but the first Latin American country.
Following the success of the Haitian Revolution, the enslaved indigenous and black people of South America rose up against the Spanish, Haiti sent aid, logistics, and supported the liberation of but not limited to; Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. That’s right, our champion Simon Bolivar had gone to Haiti to rally support and aid for the South American peoples liberation. Haiti’s efforts and contributions to Latin America before there even was a Latin America go largely unappreciated by many of us Central and South Americans.
Despite the narrative that Western Africans forced into slavery were bound to the North American colonies on the East Coast, only 23% of them ended up there while 77% of them went to Latin America. (Blacks in Latin America 1) The Yoruba people were predominantly found in the Caribbean. Like many indigenous cultures, they had their own practices in spirituality and own set of gods before the white colonizer forced Christianity onto them to obliterate their sense of individualism and justify their crimes against humanity. Yet Yoruban culture prevailed against white supremacy as people in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic still believe in the Orishas.
While African Americans created Rock ‘n Roll, Hip Hop, Jazz, and other prominent styles of music, just to the south Afro-Latinx people were creating merengue, samba, rumba, salsa, festejo, and bachata and incorporating traditional Afro-indigenous dances. La marinera is a popular coastal Peruvian dance that fuses indigenous and African dances like zamacueca with Spanish fandango. (Marinera Dance 1)
Due to the consequences of colonization, white supremacy runs as rampant in Latin America as it does in the rest of the globe. White latinx, people with mostly Spanish blood, take up the most representation and positions and use it to oppress and gaslight Black and Brown latinx. Subsequently, mestizo and cholo, indigenous people with some spanish blood, attempt to appeal to White latinx by also gaslighting and perpetuating racist rhetoric, policies, and culture to Black latinx. It’s quite the parallel to North America. White and Brown Latinx attempt to gaslight us when we speak on our oppression by using the tired phrase “We are all Latino, we must be united in our society” but don’t police their fellow white and brown latinx when were are met with discrimination at their hands. Because of our position in a white supremacist-dominated world, Black people all over the globe have been the leading advocate for all liberation movements crossing over many intersections like feminism and LGBTQ+ rights. Afro-Latinx people were the backbone of the socialist and communist revolutions in Venezuela and Cuba because it is essential to our survival. Additionally, not all latinx people are mixed with white, indigenous and African blood though some may be. It is important to note this because we are not all the same, we are not a homogenous race of people. Latinx people come in races and speak different languages, our African ancestry and our Latinidad are both valid.
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If you wanna argue about communism, im not interested.