African+Diaspora+in+Latin+America

=African Diaspora in Latin America = By: Zoe Wilson

Background:
The African Diaspora in Latin America was directly linked to colonization and imperialism. As Spanish colonizers, and Jesuit Missionaries invaded what is now Latin America they wiped out many of the indigenous populations. This left a lack of manpower that was essential in the progress of the colonization of that region. Between the sixteenth and nineteenth century eight to fifteen million Africans reached the Americas. The Caribbean regions were the first to be populated by African Immigrants. An overpowering percentage of the Africans that came to the Americas came so unwillingly as a part of the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Atlantic Slave Trade was the largest forced migration in the world.

It wasn't until the early 1800's that movements away from slavery began. Between 1810 and 1826 many independence movements of Spain colonies began. During that time Africans who fought as soldiers would be emancipated. In 1824 slave trade was made illegal. It was considered a form of piracy and those found participating in it would suffer the death sentence. Most count ries in Latin America finally abolished slavery in the late 1800s. Although slavery had been abolished, African decedents still made up a maj or part of the labor in Latin America. The construction of the Panama Canal was greatly dependent on the labor of decedents of slaves. In 1904 America took over its construction. Because of the dangerous nature of the work many Panamanians did not want to work for the contractors. This lead to the recruitment of workers from the Caribbean. Most of the workers recruited were African, and by 1907 20,000 African workers populated the canal. Racism was part of the existence of the Caribbean workforce. Many of the locals were hostile to them, and they felt discrimination from the American contractors. The African workers began trying to escape the poor working conditions, for the shadow of sla very was still cast over their treatment. But, unfortunately what the workers found was that no matter where they went they faced ill treatment and discrimination.

San Basilio de Palenque:


San Basilio de Palenque is a village in the Northern region of Columbia. It was first settled by a group of escaped African slaves. As of today about 3,500 people live there. Many of it's inhabitants are descendants of African slaves, and have preserved many of the traditions and practices of their African ancestors. The people of this region have shown a lot of resilience and have been able to maintain a unique culture. In 2005 San Basilio de Palenque was recognized as a [|"Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity"] by UNESCO. San Basilio de Palenque is considered the first free town in the Americas.

One of the manifestations of the integration of Spanish culture and African culture is in Afro-Columbian style music and dance. Since before the 1920s, the people of the poorest social strata and of African descent, have been called 'champetudo'. The economic elite used this designation as an attempt to devalue their vibrant culture. Chempeta is a word that is derived from that derogatory term that signifies a certain style of Afro-Columbian music. This music has aspects of the African folk songs and rhythms that had survived since the days of slavery. The use of African drums often accompanied by Spanish instruments. [|Chempeta] is thought of as a music of the streets. Traces of African influences can be seen in music from all over Latin America. The [|dance styles] of this region and group of people is also very representative of the two cultural forces.
 * Music and Dance:**

Palenquero:
=== Palenquero is a Spanish-based creole. It is spoken by about 3,000 people in San Basilio de Palenque. Palenquero originated from the mixture between the Spanish spoken by the Spanish colonizers and the African dialects spoken by the African slaves. Some of the African influences are from the Kongo, while Palenquero words like "ngombe", which means cattle, are found in several Bantu languages. In other regions of Latin America where there are two contact languages, other phenomenons have occurred, such as code switching or diglossia but this is one of very few pidgin languages that is seen as it's own language very separate from Spanish. ===

Modern Day Caribbean:


The African Diaspora sent a lot of African people to the Caribbean. In many Caribbean countries descendants of Africa are not the minority actually make up the majority of the people. Some countries can find that 90% of their population has African heritage. The history involving African Diaspora and the interaction between African culture and that of the native, as well as Spanish population is still remembered. However in most cases in the Caribbean a new identity and culture of being from the Caribbean has emerged. Now rather than being African-Jamacian or African-Haitain, the people who live there who have African heritage identify solely has Jamaican or Haitian. As time has gone on these Caribbean countries have found new cultural traditions and norms that have become part of their identity and national pride.

Demographic of Afro-descendants in Latin America:

 * ~ Continent / Country ||~ Country population ||~ Afro-descendants ||
 * < South America/Central America ||< 425,664,476 ||< 23.90% ||
 * < Belize ||< 301,270 ||< 31.00% ||
 * < Guatemala ||< 13,002,206 ||< 2.00% ||
 * < El Salvador ||< 7,066,403 ||< 0.01% ||
 * < Honduras ||< 7,639,327 ||< 2.00% ||
 * < Nicaragua ||< 5,785,846 ||< 9.00% ||
 * < Costa Rica ||< 4,195,914 ||< 3.00% ||
 * < Panama ||< 3,292,693 ||< 14.00% ||
 * < Colombia ||< 45,013,674 ||< 21.00% ||
 * < Venezuela ||< 26,414,815 ||< 10-26.5% ||
 * < Guyana ||< 770,794 ||< 36.00% ||
 * < Suriname ||< 475,996 ||< 47.00% ||
 * < French Guiana ||< 199,509 ||< 66.00% ||
 * < Brazil ||< 191,908,598 ||< 44.70% ||
 * < Ecuador ||< 13,927,650 ||< 3.00% ||
 * < Peru ||< 29,180,899 ||< 3.00% ||
 * < Bolivia ||< 9,247,816 ||< 1.10% ||
 * < Chile ||< 16,454,143 ||< 0.1% ||
 * < Paraguay ||< 6,831,306 ||< 0.1% ||
 * < Argentina ||< 40,677,348 ||< 0.1% ||
 * < Uruguay ||< 3,477,778 ||< 4.00% ||

References: [] [] [] []
 * ~ Continent / Country ||~ Country population ||~ Afro-descendants ||
 * < Caribbean ||< 39,148,115 ||< 73.20% ||
 * < Haiti ||< 8,924,553 ||< 97.50% ||
 * < Dominican Republic ||< 9,507,133 ||< 84.00% ||
 * < Cuba ||< 11,423,925 ||< 10% ||
 * < Jamaica ||< 2,804,332 ||< 97.40% ||
 * < Trinidad and Tobago ||< 1,047,366 ||< 58.00% ||
 * < Puerto Rico ||< 3,958,128 ||< 8.00% ||
 * < The Bahamas ||< 307,451 ||< 85.00% ||
 * < Barbados ||< 281,968 ||< 90.00% ||
 * < Netherlands Antilles ||< 225,369 ||< 85.00% ||
 * < Saint Lucia ||< 172,884 ||< 82.50% ||
 * < Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ||< 118,432 ||< 85.00% ||
 * < Virgin Islands ||< 108,210 ||< 79.70% ||
 * < Grenada ||< 90,343 ||< 95.00% ||
 * < Antigua and Barbuda ||< 78,000 ||< 94.90% ||
 * < Bermuda ||< 66,536 ||< 61.20% ||
 * < Saint Kitts and Nevis ||< 39,619 ||< 98.00% ||
 * < Cayman Islands ||< 47,862 ||< 60.00% ||
 * < British Virgin Islands ||< 24,004 ||< 83.00% ||
 * < Turks and Caicos islands ||< 26,000 ||< 34.00% ||