African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
270 p., Contents: 1. El arribo -- 2. De oficios, ocupaciones y formas de subsistencia -- 3. Los afroporteños propietarios -- 4. El proceso abolicionista -- 5. Las manifestaciones religiosas -- 6. Las cofradías religiosas -- Conclusiones.
In 2004, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva published an article in which he argued that the US system of race is beginning to resemble that of Latin America. This article is a critical reply to Bonilla-Silva’s Latin Americanization thesis. The author introduces a Latin American perspective.
Christina A. Sue commented on my 2004 article in Ethnic and Racial Studies on the Latin Americanization of racial stratification in the USA. Almost all her observations hinge on the assumption that racial stratification in Latin American countries is fundamentally structured around ‘two racial poles’. I disagree with her and in my reply do three things. First, I address three major claims or issues in her comment. Second, I point out some methodological limitations of American-centered race analysis in Latin America. Third, I conclude by discussing briefly the Obama phenomenon and suggest this event fits in many ways my Latin Americanization thesis.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
Based on a conference which took place in Sandton, Johannesburg from 14-15 July 2008., 346 p., This conference is the first of three conferences on the African diaspora with respect to the returnee phenomenon of 'Back to Africa'. Contents: volume 1. Afro-Brazilian returnees and their communities -- volume 2. The ideology and practice of the African returnee phenomenon from the Caribbean and North-America to Africa.
The article reviews the book "Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé," by J. Lorand Matory. "My extensive use of superlatives throughout this review should make it clear that I find the book to be invaluable and extraordinarily well researched. With that said, Black Atlantic Religion is not for the reader interested in the spiritual and/or practical side of Candomblé (e.g., practices/rituals, theology, internal hierarchy, etc.). In fact, I would argue that by focusing on the humanity of the practitioners (their interests, desires, strategies, and ideologies), Matory depicts Candomblé more as a political organization than a religious one." --Michael Iyanaga
