Refashioning Blackness, Refashioning Our Histories

Refashioning Blackness, Refashioning Our Histories by O W % ) $ & Z%W()% Conference keynote speakers Ta-Nehisi Coates and Minister Luiza Bairros. W WHAT DOES IT MEAN toremodelorrefash ionhowwethinkaboutblackness?Whatdoes itlookliketotalkabouttheAfricandiaspora, butwithoutfocusingthediscussiononAfrica? The2013LozanoLongConference,Refashioning Blackness:ContestingRacismintheAfroAmericas,broughttogether scholars,activists,educators,andpolicymakerstorevisithowwethink about blackness in the Americas, but more speciÀcally, to think about theexperienceofAfrodescendantsinLatinAmerica,theCaribbean, andthosewhohavemigratedtotheUnitedStates.Understanding theAfricandiasporaintheAmericasistoconveyhowblacknessas aracialexperiencecanvarydependingonthelocation. AsBlackStudiesscholarBrentHayesEdwardssuggests,diaspora hasitsmomentswithwhichpeopleidentify,ornot,andrecognize similarities as well as diŲerences. When we understand that the African diaspora is composed of similarities and diŲerences, we are also acknowledging that blackness is Áuid. Withthisacknowledgment,wechallengethetraditionalconcep tionsofblacknesstorecognizeotherAfrodescendantswhosehis torytracesbacktothemiddlepassage,suchasAfroLatinos.“Afro Latinos”asdiscussedinTheAfroLatin@Reader(p.1)“arepeople ofAfricandescentinMexico,CentralandSouthAmerica,andthe Spanishspeaking Caribbean, and by extension those of African descent in the United States whose origins are in Latin America and the Caribbean.” In other words, it recognizes racial diŲerences found within Latinidad and acknowledges the African presence heretoo.Thisyear’sconferencecreatedaspacetounderstand“how theAmericasexperienceusandhowweexperiencetheAmericas” asstatedbyAfroLatinascholarMiriamJiménezRomán.Moreover, Afro-Latinos’ identity can be Áuid as they experience moving be tween geographical spaces and the connections between gender, sexuality, and race. However, because they are people who have beenconstantlydisplaced,someofthe(his)storiesremainuntold orunwritten. AfroLatino Studies takes on the task of revisiting blackness in diŲerent contexts of the Americas and recovering a history that haderasedandmadeinvisiblethecontributionsandexperiencesof AfroLatinos.Afro–PuertoRicanbibliophileArturoAlfonsoSchom burg is one of the Àrst Afro-Latinos in the United States to recover that history. His contribution to this recovery helped to form the currentSchomburgCenterforResearchinBlackCulturelocatedin New York City. These recovered histories are in direct confrontation withracismanddiscoursesthateraseblackbodies.Asanemerg ing scholarly Àeld, Afro-Latino Studies has taken on a transna tionalandtransdisciplinaryapproachsincethestoriesarerevealed through diŲerent means, moments, places, and people. ##$#%&'()*%# !" The early sixteenth century marks the beginningofAfricanpeoplesbeingbrought to the Americas. The story begins in the Caribbeanwiththeriseofsugarcaneplan tationsasaplaceofmajorimportancefor labor, but also the Àrst formations of Afri can diasporic communities. The displace mentandconditionsofslaverydevelopeda diasporicidentitythroughoutmuchofthe Antilles.However,thetraditionalhistoryof Afro-descendants in Cuba, Dominican Re public, and Puerto Rico has limited itself to slavery, abolition, and the inÁuences of Africanfoodsandrhythmsinthenowna tionalculturaltraditions. AnthropologygraduatestudentBarbara AbadíaRexach highlighted in her presen tation how blackness becomes limited to folkloreduringPuertoRicanholidays,but oncetheholidaysareover,soisthehom agetoAfricanancestry.Theholidaymusic celebratestheAfricanheritageofthepast, but AbadíaRexach pushes her research furthertoexaminehowthemusicalsoin formsprocessesofracializationinpeople’s everydayliveswhentheyengagenotonly withthehistoricalpastofbomba,butalso withitspresent.Althoughthemusicisre ceivedas“folkloric,”byexploringAfrican basedrhythmssuchasbomba,thepeople come to know a diŲerent history that is not alwayspresentingradeschooltextbooks. To follow the past as well as the present ofAfrodescendantsintheCaribbeanisto createanalternativehistoryinwhichAfro Latinosrecognizethemselves. TherecoveredAfroCaribbeanhistorycan be a moving or Áuid bridge across which we canviewtheAmericas.Thewaythatblack nesshasbeentreatedinLatinAmericahas variedfromColombiatotheSouthernCone. While the AfroCaribbean presence on the northerncoastsofLatinAmericacanbeeas ilyrecognized,itiskeptatageographical periphery. Afro–Latin Americans in places likeArgentina,Chile,andEcuadorstruggle forrecognitionfromthestate,butthemedia onlycontinuetorepresentthemasthean tithesisofcivilization.AsseeninmanyLatin American telenovelas, Afro–Latin American representationsinthenarrativearealmost alwaysintherolesofslave,maid,waiter, prostitute,orsomeotherblackstereotype. AsJasmineMitchellpointedoutinherpre sentationaboutamulattatelenovelaactress, thesecharactersneverreallyformpartofa nationalidentitythatspeaksoftheirownex periencesasblackactors. WhileraceinLatinAmericaisanongo ingdebate,thesedialogueshaveinformed some changes. Black social movements have been constantly Àghting against rac ism in Brazil and Colombia in a way that has just recently inÁuenced state politics. Among the everpresent violence that still aŰicts black communities in Latin America, opportunities like aűrmative action are be comingavailabletoyoungpeoplethatwere previouslyunavailable. While changes are happening in Latin America, AfroLatinos in the United States arealsocreatingchangeandcontinuetore cover their own history—not that history is limitedtodocumentssuchasarchives,but thatitalsoacknowledgespeopleasthetell ersandwritersoftheirownpersonalstories. The AfroLatino Forum organized by Juan FloresandMiriamJiménezRománhaspro ducedTheAfroLatin@Reader,ananthology thatgreatlycontributestothestudyofAfro LatinosintheUnitedStates.Thisdevelop ing scholarly work that includes emerging intellectualsandurbanworkingclasscom munitiesisallowingvoicestobeheardthat canpushbackagainstinvisibility,yetreveal the Áuidity of Afro-Latino identities. Although race is to some degree tak ingcenterstageinsomecountriesofLatin America, it seems that a “postracial” con cept has begun to prevail in the United States, so much so that for the 2020 U.S. Censusithasbeenproposedthat“Hispanic” belistedasarace.Theproblemhereliesin thelikelihoodthatthecategoryHispanicor Latino would erase diŲerences within Lati nidad,nottakingintoaccountblack,indig enous, and Asian selfidentifying peoples. The AfroLatino Forum is trying to combat this new “post-racial” notion and the eŲort to exclude race from Hispanic/Latino identity by creating public service announcements and opening dialogue through another forthcominganthologyandseriesofvideos. Ultimately,theworkofAfroLatinoschol ars and community members has focused on revisiting blackness and refashioning thearchivethattellsourstoriesinorderto recognize our presence and contributions. Thereisstillmoreworktobedoneandsto riesyettobetold.Forgenerationstocome ##$#%&'()*%# !Y our responsibility as a people is to share theknowledgeasawayofpayingrespect tothosewhocamebeforeus,andempow eringthosewhowillcomeafterus.Inthis waywewillmakeaplaceforourselvesin the world as we resist the attempts to si lenceus. ✹ Omaris Zamora is completing an MA in the Department of African and African Diaspora StudiesandisathirdyearPhDstudentinthe Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The UniversityofTexasatAustin. PHOTO EXHIBIT PART OF 2013 LOZANO LONG CONFERENCE Photographer Tony Gleaton was one of the featured speakers at the 2013 Lozano Long Conference, Refashioning Blackness: Contesting Racism in the Afro-Americas. An exhibit of Gleaton’s work, Africa’s Legacy in Mexico, Central America, and South America, organized by former LLILAS Community Engagement Director Natalie Arsenault and Benson Curator Julianne Gilland, opened February 20 at LLILAS Benson concurrently with the conference and featured compelling images of descendants of African slaves in the Americas. Based on Gleaton’s extensive travels through Mexico in the 1980s, the original project focused on the descendants of slaves brought to New Spain in the 1500–1700s, but following travels from 1992–1996, Gleaton expanded the project to include Central and South America. His original project was exhibited by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in the U.S. and toured in Mexico and Cuba through the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes.