Diaspora
in Latin America and Caribbean
diaspora
• From Greek word meaning
“dispersion”
• Classic diaspora is the Jewish
diaspora of Jews from their
ancestral homeland (Land of
Israel) and their other
communities
• After destruction of temple in
Jerusalem in 70 AD/CE
Prototypical (classic) diasporas
• Jewish diaspora was a type of involuntary mass dispersal of
people; the predominant character of this type of diaspora is
victims of expulsion
• Traumatic dispersal from an original homeland
• Collective memory of the homeland
• Other diasporas of this type include African slave trade, displacement of
Palestinians from Israel
• Meaning of diaspora has widened to include the very complex
transnational communities and identities in today’s world.
• Alluded to in our first reading “Latin American Geographies”
• Deterritorialization of Latin America
Common features of diaspora
1. Dispersal from an original homeland, often traumatically, to two or more foreign
regions
2. alternatively or additionally, the expansion from a homeland in search of work, in
pursuit of trade or to further colonial ambitions
3. a collective memory and myth about the homeland, including its location, history,
suffering and achievements
4. an idealization of the real or imagined ancestral home and a collective commitment to
its maintenance, restoration, safety and prosperity, even to its creation
5. the frequent development of a return movement to the homeland that gains collective
approbation even if many in the group are satisfied with only a vicarious relationship or
intermittent visits to the homeland
6. a strong ethnic group consciousness sustained over a long time and based
on a sense of distinctiveness, a common history, the transmission of a
common cultural and religious heritage and the belief in a common fate
7. a troubled relationship with host societies, suggesting a lack of acceptance
or the possibility that another calamity might befall the group
8. a sense of empathy and co-responsibility with co-ethnic members in other
countries of settlement even where home has become more vestigial
9. the possibility of a distinctive creative, enriching life in host countries with
a tolerance for pluralism.
Atlantic Triangular trade
• Slave trade animation
Africans
Principal labor force in Caribbean from 1518-1850
decimation of indigenous population of Caribbean
Caribbean slave societies : majority slaves with enclaves of slaveholders
as opposed to US and Brazil: slaveholders were majority
Africans did not undergo SOCIAL DEATH by coming across Atlantic
held fast a vision and memory of homeland
Transatlantic slave trade
• Began Charles I sanctioned direct import of Africans to colonies
1518
• By 1550, thousands of Africans were transported to colonies, mainly
Hispaniola
• Four phases
First phase 1518-1620
• 125,000 slaves To Spanish and Portuguese colonies
• 75,000 to Spanish
• 50,000 to Brazil
Second Phase 1620 - 1700
• 350,000 to Americas (25,000 to Europe)
• Brazil received 42%
• Spanish America (Hispaniola, Puerto rico, Cuba, Mexico, Central America,
Andes) 25%
• English Caribbean: 20%
• French Caribbean : 12%
• Dutch Caribbean: 3%
• Sugar, cotton, tobacco, indigo, rice
Third Phase 1710 - 1810
• Height of the slave trade; 60% of trade (6 million Africans)
•
•
•
•
•
•
31% to Brazil
23% to British plantations (Barbados, Jamaica)
22% to French Caribbean (Hispaniola, Martinique, Guadeloupe)
9.6 % to Spanish Caribbean (Cuba)
8% to Dutch Caribbean
<6 % to North America
Fourth Phase 1810 - 1870
•
•
•
•
2 million Africans
60% to Brazil
32% to Cuba, Puerto Rico
5% to Franch Antilles (Martinique, Guadeloupe)
• AFRICANS FORMED VIABLE DIASPORIC COMMUNITIES
Descendant
populations
Regions with largest African-descended
populations are those where sugar
plantations were abundant.
Collective myth about African homeland?
• Ethiopia : seen as heartland of African civilization (“Zion”)
• Also a concept of blackness and Africanity
• Rastafarianism makes connection to Jewish history: Babylon is
white establishment; signifies slavery and oppression
• Believe they are the true Jews of prophecy
rastafarianism
• Originated in Jamaica in 1930s
• 1930: tribal warlord was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia; took the
name : Haile Selassie
• Some preachers in Jamaica prayed to him as the living god and hope of
African redemption (many biblical references to Ethiopia; descendant of
King Solomon)
• Worshippers became known as Rastafarians
• Did not shave (“no razor shall touch the head of the faithful”)
• Wore hair in dreadlocks
• Some smoked ganja; others shunned it
• Often vegetarian; roots, fruits, whole
grains, vegetables
• “Babylon” is corrupt modern society
• Hope to find peace in “Zion”
Bob Marley embodied Rastafarian
culture; ambassador of reggae
• Influenced reggae music
“By the Rivers of Babylon”
Marcus Garvey
• Jamaican-born
• Promoted self-esteem and dignity
• In response to many Africans in Americas for whom Africa signified slavery,
poverty, denigration, exploitation, white superiority and loss of self-respect
• Universal Negro Improvement Association
• To restore pride in African heritage
• 1920: 4 million members
• W. E. B. DuBois
• Another leader of African diaspora
• a sense of empathy and solidarity with co-ethnic members worldwide and
• a sense of distinctiveness, a common history and the belief in a common
fate.
DuBois
“On this vast continent were born and lived a large proportion of my
direct ancestors going back a thousand years or more. But one thing is
sure and that is the fact that since the fifteenth century these ancestors
of mine and their other descendants have had a common history, have
suffered a common disaster and have one long memory ... But the
physical bond is the least [tie] and [merely] the badge; the real essence
of this kinship is its social heritage of slavery, the discrimination and
insult; and this heritage binds together not simply the children of Africa
but extends through yellow Asia and into the South Seas. It is this Unity
that draws me to Africa”.
Cultural achievements of African diaspora
• Dance, literature, architecture, sculpture, fine art
• Musical traditions:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Jazz
Blues
Ragtime
Gospel
Swing
Samba
Calyso
Ska
reggae
Deterritorialized diasporas
• Groups who have “lost” conventional territorial reference points
to become mobile and multi-located cultures
• E.g. Afro-Caribbean migrants to elsewhere
• Everyone in the Caribbean is from elsewhere
3.5 million Caribbean immigrants in US (2009)
Hybrid identity
• Identity among Afro-Latinos 2
African folk catholicism
• “syncretism” has been traditional view of blending diverse
cultures into a new Caribbean culture: creole
• “symbiosis” is term used by recent scholars to describe religions in
Caribbean: they coexist without being fused
• Christian-oriented but highly Africanized religions
A few examples…
•
•
•
•
•
•
Shakers (penitents)
St. Vincent and Trinidad
Spiritual Baptists
Revivalism
Jamaica
Bedwardnism
Shango : Trinidad
Voodoo: Haiti
• Belief in Obeah: magical powers of spirit world
• Majority of Caribbean people are descendants of west African countries
• Wide range of tribal groups and languages
• 50 cultural groups
• Scraps of religious beliefs became a composite with regional variations
• Themes: spirit world where good and evil battled; respect for ancestors
• African religious beliefs were outlawed during plantation slavery
• Feared revolt
• Practiced in secrecy
• Obeah is still criminalized in documents today
voodoo
• Originated from Dahomey
• Based in worship of good serpent, Dangbay
• Priest communicates with spirit
• Worship includes dance, drumming, chants