Black women are subjugated to discrimination and prejudice, experiencing different forms of injustice and violence because of their race, gender, class, and sexuality. Scholars working in fields such as African Diaspora Studies, Gender Studies, and Cultural Studies, among others, have highlighted the core role played by intersectional analyses of cultural expression as a way to challenge the overlooked position of Black women in dominant narratives about Latin America.
The rationale for organizing this session stems from the fact that, despite the growing visibility of Afro-Latin American women in various spheres of cultural production, they continue to face marginalization and erasure in mainstream discourse. By featuring presentations on a range of topics related to the socio-political implications of Afro-Latin American cultural production, this panel seeks to contribute to filling this gap by bringing together scholars, artists, and activists who engage in the study and promotion of Afro-Latin American women’s cultural production in an effort to inspire new forms of cultural expression and social change.
Aned Ladino will open the session with the analysis of the latest album of Afro-Colombian singer Lido Pimienta, Miss Colombia (2020), which highlights the history of colonialism, misogynism, and anti-Blackness of her native country. The musical and visual aesthetic of the album revolves around the idea of first free African town in colonial America, San Basilio de Palenque, as a source of ancestral inspiration, while integrating a hybridization of bullerengue—a folkloric rhythm from maroon communities—with modern electro-pop. By exploring the musical repertoire and performance of Lido Pimienta, the presenter argues that Miss Colombia creates a sonic “homeplace,” a site of resistance where black people could strive to be subjects rather than objects.
By employing decolonial feminist theories, Michelle Tennyson will examine the theater production of two Afro-Cuban creators, Georgina Herrera and Fátima de la Caridad Patterson, who made visible the contributions of various Afro-descendant women to the nation. The pieces analyzed in this presentation feature historical figures and characters from the African worldview, such as Fermina Lucumí—the leader of a slave uprising—and Yemayá—the Yoruba goddess of the seas. This panelist argues that Herrera and Patterson turn the theater into a space of image-reconstruction for Afro-descendant women highlighting their historical agency able to create and transform their social environment.
To conclude the session, Karyn Mota will discuss current debates about reparations for the legacy of slavery and anti-Black racism. As argued in this final presentation, the idea of Black women as carriers of the status of slavery gives rise to their protagonism in the histories of enslavement in Latin America and the Caribbean. By examining contemporary novels written by Black women authors with Black women protagonists, this talk will display an intergenerational experience of oppression and dispossession, but most importantly, a sense of resistance and a spirit of insurrection that is passed on through generations of Black women.
This panel session features three formal presentations conveyed through multimodal approaches. To promote discussion, each panelist will have no more than 15 minutes to present their paper. Emphasis will be put on lively interactions between the presenters and the audience. This operation will be facilitated by the presiders who will pose questions to stimulate a constructive conversation.