The Africas in the Americas: Afro-Cubans As Part of the Afro-Latino Family*
The CIR at the LASA conference, Washington, D.C., 2013 D.C., Washington, conference, The CIR at the LASA The Africas in the Americas: Afro-Cubans as Part of the Afro-Latino Family* Rafel Campoamor Founding president, NGO EmpoderaCuba Member, Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration (CIR) Cuban. Resident of the United States. Introduction those who were making the decisions justified our new status (Exodus 1; Leviticus 25, 44; Latin America might be the largest Afri- Ephesians 6.5). can country in the world. The most populous Our pagan peoples had their own lan- of African countries, Nigeria, has only 174 guages, cultures, customs, foods and gods. Yo- million inhabitants. The more than 200 mil- ruba, Lukumi, Wolof, Bamileke, Mandingo, lion Afro-descendants in the Americas consti- Bantu, Bambara, Peul, Swahili, Lingala and tute a “minority” that is often invisible, that surely other languages and dialects were spo- is often marginalized. Unfortunately, two ken on the slave ships we were forced to board. hundred years after the end of slavery, they Those who got on those ships were rich, poor, are still on the bottom of the social pyra- royalty, wise men, babalawos [priests], healers mid. Whether we are considering an African- and every other kind of person found in our American, Afro-Cuban, Garifuna or Afro- societies. The traffickers dispersed us all over Aymara, we Afro-descendants of the Americas the continent—and everything changed. This have a great deal in common but share very was all done so we would change, because little amongst ourselves. We all come from what was ours was no good; what we had was Africa, but there are various Africas in Africa.
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