African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
352 p, Contains: Papers based on the lectures delivered at the Segundo Coloquio Nacional de Estudios Afrocolombianos on Mar. 18-20, 2004 in Popayán, Colombia./ Includes bibliographical references.
The intensification of ethno-racial protest in Latin America has led to the adoption of targeted legislation for Black and indigenous populations, signaling a new moment in race politics in this region. Existing literature has failed to account for this shift either because it held that race was not salient in Latin America, or it presumed that racial hierarchy existed, but that the obstacles to Black mobilization were insurmountable. Argues that the literature must contend with this new reality of “Black politics” in Latin America.
The Caribbean coastal region of Colombia is called the costa, and its inhabitants are referred to as costeños. The müsica costeña (coastal music) is a product of tri-ethnic syncretic cultural traditions including Amerindian, Spanish, and African elements, a merging that begins with the colonial period and continues into the republican period on the Caribbean Coast. Traditional music from the Colombian Caribbean coast expresses its tri-ethnic costeño identity in various vocal styles and musical forms and through its types of instruments and the way they are played. This essay describes the aspects and circumstances under which cumbia, a coastal musical genre and dance form of peasant origins characterized by an African-derived style, has spread from its local origins in the valley of the Magdalena River to acquire a Colombian national identity, becoming in a few years a transnational musical phenomenon.
Carlisle Barracks, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
4 p., The growing violence and instability in Mexico and the Caribbean will clearly demand greater attention from the United States in the future. This conference, held at the University of Pittsburgh campus on October 28-30, 2009 offered an important opportunity to assess these threats, and to consider what can be done to counter them. Includes chapter "Perspectives on the Caribbean."
