The Afro- Colombian Village of San Basilio de Palenque: Indigenous Ancestry
In Spanish Palenque means:"A Fortified Village of Run-A-Way Slaves". In 2005, the village was declared
a UNESCO SITE -" A Masterpiece of The Oral and Intangible Heritage of the Humanity".
a UNESCO SITE -" A Masterpiece of The Oral and Intangible Heritage of the Humanity".
During my first visit to the picturesque wall city, Cartagena, November, 2016...blog page tab "Cartagena, Colombia." In the photo gallery are pictures of me with two African-Colombian women in their colorful yellow, blue & red traditional dress. I left there with very little time to explore the black community and an overwhelming thought of returning to do just that! I was consumed with questions about the black women who were selling fruits and candies from an aluminum bowl balanced on their heads . I wondered where they lived, what was life like for them living in Colombia as black people... curiosity got the best of me...five ( 5) months later I booked to return with two (2) friends on May 13-17, 2017. During the interim I researched information online,met Alex De Rocha, a young man who has written extensively about the poor treatment of blacks in Cartagena. He runs a youth center for impoverished children living in the La Maria San Francisco Barrio, located a few minutes outside the city...(Refer to my "Interview Alex Rocha: Afro Colombian) tab including the wonderful experience my friends and I had with him, his family and the children at his youth center).
BENKOS BIOHO
(Born late 15th Century-1621)
Betrayed then hanged by Governor of Cartagena in 1621
BENKOS BIOHO
(Born late 15th Century-1621)
Betrayed then hanged by Governor of Cartagena in 1621
ENJOY OUR PHOTO SLIDESHOW: CARTAGENA, PALENQUE, & ALEX'S YOUTH CENTER
Palenque Ancestry "First Free Africans In The Americas":
The town of "Palenque" declared the "first free Africans in Americas" over four hundred years ago was founded in 1603 by 30 more (or less) free slave escapees lead by an African resistant leader named Benkos Bioho fled into the swampy jungles of the region at that time. He is said to be born in the region of Bioho, Guinea Bissau West Africa. Benkos statue "Breaking Out of The Chains of Slavery" stands proudly in the town's square. The community of Palenque is located about an hour from Cartagena in the countryside where descendants of African Slaves live... The town still preserves traditional African customs, language. It resembles an African village with some houses made of mud and thatched roofs, brick style pastel painted houses lined along dusty unpaved sandy dirt roads.. some with ornate gates. Inhabitants are descendants of free slaves numbering 4, 500 (more or less).
Village Life: Consist of farming, raising live stock, (pigs who freely roam the streets). Agriculture: Villagers grow peanuts, bananas, rice, corn, and other crops on community acres. Traditional meals include staples food of rice (coconut rice), fish & plantains. It was mango season so kids were climbing them and knocking of the fruits.
Beautiful Palenquera women colorfully dressed in their native dresses commute to the city by bus to sell fresh fruits and candies everyday. Gathered in high tourist areas, they smile, pose for photos opts and collect $1.00 U.S.. dollar ... I couldn't help but wonder what's hidden behind the smiles, perhaps tired and weary of walking around all day in the hot sun to sell fruit, perhaps feeling life should/could be better, , perhaps feeling despair and wanting a better life for themselves and their family....
The men work in construction and road paving. The children were running, laughing and seemed so happy throughout the village, some engaged in soccer play. They were shy of visitors...on my approached one of the little boys quickly moved away until coached by Alex then came up to me. perhaps in largely due to the intrusion of outsiders, skepticism, and of course, those seeking to exploit. They were very clean in shorts, tee shirts (couldn't help but notice some of the American logos) and bare feet. Men and boys rode past us riding on horses, donkeys, and or motor scooters (modes of transportation).The women gather at a small river to wash their clothes. They pound out the dirt using a large stick all the while singing and laughing together.
Self-Governed: The village is self-governed by a group of elders who are in charge of making decisions. There is no police, no crime, no military regime. They seemed to be an orderly municipality separate from the national law. They fly their own flag colors. The children attend the Bi0ho School house (Community-based).
Palenque Residents Native Language: Bantu Creole-based with some infusion of Spanish & Portuguese.
Infrastructure: Internet Connection, Running Water, Electricity largely due to the government honoring boxer: Antonio Cervantes AKA "Kid Pambele" who won the world boxing champion title in 1968.
A community monument stands in the village. (Power outage during our visit).
Health Care: Villagers are treated by Midwives, traditional African medicine (plants, roots), with access to doctors and nearest hospital 15-20 minutes away.
PALENQUE BATATA DANCE & MUSIC SCHOOL: (Video below) See group photo above
After driving around the village/town led by Alex Rocha we met the students at Palenque Batata Dance & Music School located in a small blue concrete building near town center that reads "RFP"...an infusion of local music and genre of Rap, Reggae, Folklore & Palenque about everyday living in their village. A large wall canvas hang with the group members photo (can be seen on YouTube) as as posted here. This is a young generations of musicians who are deeply entrenched in African culture and the fortitude to keep it's history and culture alive through their music and their lifestyle ( something I strongly admired and appreciated). The building walls are full with tourists graffiti accolades.
We sat in white plastic chairs outside in front of the music building tolerating the scorching hot sun burning, I mean beaming down on us... despite the temperature climb from 90 F up to 101 F, we fully enjoyed a brief history about their music messages and their desire to preserve African culture as told by young members of the group speaking both Bantu and Spanish, interpreted by Alex. They played variations of traditional African drums along with "Maplae dance of resistance"...a dance of the community... small children gathered and joined in the street performance. They invited us to sing a ritualistic song led by the group. This musical group is popular on YouTube and the internet. Their music is inspired by struggles of black people living in Colombia. Band member, Edwin Valdez was selected by the Ministry of Colombia and the Smithsonian institute to go to U.S an as exchange student this year..
A few title songs from their DVD for sale. We left monetary donations in appreciation.
"We are all the Same"
"Dancing"
" Ma Kuagro-The Crew Social Organization" *one of my favorite!
"African A Diverse Continent (this song was in a movie made in Senegal W.A.Journey to the Americas).
In Spanish they asked us who was the most popular rapper in American now and how old was he... We thought it might be Kendrick Lamar age around 30 but wasn't sure. (Hip Hop, Rap has no boundaries)! Personally, I thought Chance The Rapper was a more popular choice for me along with Big Shawn.
Cartagena Disparity Wealth And Social Inequalities For Poor Black People: In other words, the gap between the rich and the poor. To this day Cartagena remains predominately black,but there is no black power (black leaders, politicians,no civil rights movements, etc). A few activists are working to bridge the disparity, but not enough. The disparity is blatant fuel out of greed, corruption, lack of humanity, and of course racism...(a word, the government refuses to use). Black people live in the poorest slums, only a few miles from residents, as we say in America "living high on the hog" and are deeply entrenched in unsanitary conditions (exposed to piles of street garbage, raw sewage flowing down unpaved streets (likened to villages I've visited in New Delhi India, Soweto S.A.) and dirty water) where there is no social services, or government aid to at least assist them in their basic needs (quality food, safe well constructed housing, schools, good medial care, good nutrition ).
Alex described the socioeconomic hierarchy & racial classification where neighborhoods are classified into class/caste systems as levels or Strato" Levels 1-6, Six (6) only 5% population of mulatto's (Spanish/Black), and Zabas in this level is considered to be the highest, better education & jobs. Level 1-2 & 3 although considered the working class, 80% of the population live in poverty,...disparities: poor health & education, low to no income, Level 5 middle class and level 4 Lower middle class to moderate income ( it looked slightly a step up but the neighborhoods connect to one another).
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Antedotal History: It is my understanding that more Africans were delivered to the Cartagena del las India ports than any other place on the world globe. Regions included but not limited to Guinea, Sierra Leon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Tog0/Benin,& Angola. Let's not forget Nigeria & Brazil.
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The people of San Basilio de Paleque have not only maintained over 400 years of African traditions, culture and resilience but continue to endure mistreatment and racism into the 21st century with tumultuous government relationships as evidence by cultural conflicts reportedly between villagers and the Colombian army. They suffered subjugation at the hands of the Colombian army through acts of violence and displacement. Several villagers were killed as racism continues to rear its nefarious ugly head. Many Palequeras are still made fun of by the indigenous population for speaking their native language(Bantu-Creole Spanish). Even though Colombia government claims racism does not exist there... perhaps a myth to them but real to those that are discriminated against. However, on the contrary, Villagers continue to triumph over the worst human atrocities on a race of people...both past and present. Even today they are subjects of curiosity seekers, anthropological, linguistic, cultural and history studies for others to document their deep rooted African culture.
African Diaspora: Colombia is home to one of the largest African diaspora population in the world. The country have more black people living there than in the United States, second only to Brazil S. A. & Nigeria W. A.
"Our Comparative Lives": Such is the plight & fight for equal rights in America for African-Americans as we fight to penetrate racism in the 21 st century! Hard to believe that aggressive UN-lawful police racist predators are killing our black youth, men and women at an alarming rate with no fear of judicial punishment.
Since Donald Trump: (America's President) some racist whites seem to think they have a pass or sanction to carry weapons (guns) and openly shoot people of color. YEAH I SAID IT!
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Final Words:
" Travelers" go off the beaten path to explore what is not trendy, popular, get our their comfort zones, blend in and immerse in cultural experiences, independent spirit, don't collect souvenirs, document with live conversations, notes, travel logs & camera... "A journey instead of a vacation. Travelers "see sights"...
" Tourists" stay in comfort zone, hang close to groups of other tourists or people of familiarity, tourist "sight-see"
Yada, Yada, Yada...Hey it's this Blogger matter of opinion...Yada ,Yada They both travel to far off places for pleasure & recreation!..in pursuit of something!
GlobaSista!
[SITES OF INTEREST]:
- www.pbs.org/wnet/black-in-latin-america/ (Black Historian Henry Gates, Jr. Public Broadcasting Series)
- experiencerealcartagena.com/ (Our Tour Guide & Host: Alex Rocha)
- foreverblackeffusion.wordpress.com/
- bishopstravels.wordpress.com/tag/
- alex-rocha-youth-center-cartagena-colombia/ (Alex Rocha)
- www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/colombia-dispatch-4-palenque-an-afro-colombian-community-87781979/
- www.tiannapaschel.com/uploads/Racial_Discrimination_and_Human_Right_-_Colombia.pdf