Afro-Latino History

By: Kayleigh Allen

Which countries are in Latin America?

 Antigua and Barbuda  Dominican Republic  Paraguay

 Argentina  Ecuador  Peru
 Bahamas  El Salvador  Saint Kitts and Nevis
 Barbados  Grenada  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
 Belize  Guatemala  Suriname
 Bolivia  Guyana  Trinidad and Tobago
 Brazil  Haiti  Uruguay
 Chile  Honduras  Venezuela
 Colombia  Jamaica  Saint Lucia
 Costa Rica  Mexico
 Cuba  Nicaragua
 Dominica  Panama
Between 1502 and 1866, of the 11.2 million Africans taken, only 388,000 arrived in North America,
while the rest went to Brazil, the European colonies in the Caribbean and Spanish territories in Central
and South America, in that order. These slaves were brought as early as the 16th and 17th centuries.
Slaves also worked in the production of tobacco, rice, cotton, fruit, corn and other commodities. The
majority of slaves brought to the Americas from Africa were men due to the fact plantation owners
needed brute strength for the physical labor that was done in the fields.
Cartagena was the first Spanish colony on the South American continent and the first
sanctuary for freed African slaves in the Americas. Evidence of Afro-Colombian history can
be discovered on a guided walking tour of the walled city with Nicomedes Vergara Melendez
from Sion Tours. During the Spanish colonial period Cartagena had a key role in
administration and expansion of the Spanish empire. It was a center of political, ecclesiastical,
and economic activity. In 1984, Cartagena's colonial walled city and fortress were designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
 Miriam Jiménez Román
• Miriam Jiménez Román (1951 – 2020) was a Puerto
Rican scholar, activist, and author on Afro-Latino
culture, whose work is described as "without a doubt
an enormous contribution to the theoretical discussion
surrounding Latinidad in the United States." Her work
on Afro-Latinidad was foundational to the field of
cultural studies in that she developed programming,
research, and spaces for the various Afro-Latino
communities in the United States. She authored
dozens of seminal works that promoted racial
democracy, Taíno revivalism, blanqueamiento, and the
US census, along with editing CENTRO: Journal of
Puerto Rican Studies (1998-2001), the premier organ
of the field.
Explain the African influence on music, art, and dance in Latin America.  Describe and give examples of each one by
describing a dance (include a video clip of the dance), music (you can talk about an Afro-Latino musician), and art
(mention an artist and upload works of art by the artist).

The African music they brought with them became perhaps the single most recognizable element of Latin
music. The African musical influence is considered most dominant in widely popular Latin genres like
samba, salsa, merengue, bachata, and timba. To understand the development of Afro-Latin music, it is very
important to have a good knowledge of history and how things came about in Latin America.