As 2023 marks the one-hundred-fiftieth anniversary commemorating the official abolition of enslavement in Puerto Rico on March 22, 1873, it deserves mention that uncovering more details about the Afro-Latin identity and culture still maintains relevance across Latin America and the Caribbean. The Cumbre Afro 2023 conference, which I attended virtually, reaffirmed the urgency for more open dialogs about Afro descendants and culture in ways that avoid cultural exploitation. Many of the presentations and panel discussions that I witnessed would acknowledge racial and gender discrimination through invisibility and provided possible solutions to overcoming sociopolitical and economic problems through the arts, education, historical preservation, and other approaches. This conference additionally demonstrated the growing awareness and impact of African American identity, literature, and social struggles from the past and present. More specifically, moments like the Black Lives Matter movement have encouraged Afro-Latin and Afro-European communities in the United States and abroad to address and resist cultural assimilation and erasure.
The Cumbre Afro 2023 symposium also discussed issues already covered in my previous works concerning Africanized syncretic religions in Latin America. The information presented not only explored the inclusion of the bomba music and dance as codes for spreading conspiracies and revolts in Puerto Rico. Afro-Puerto Ricans in the nineteenth century and beyond would incorporate the bomba through Africanized defensive martial arts. That aspect further shatters previous romanticized misconceptions about enslavement in Puerto Rico. As the symposium came to a close, I perceived the interest and concern from the audience to continue these conversations in the communities and daily life.
The Cumbre Afro 2023 symposium also discussed issues already covered in my previous works concerning Africanized syncretic religions in Latin America. The information presented not only explored the inclusion of the bomba music and dance as codes for spreading conspiracies and revolts in Puerto Rico. Afro-Puerto Ricans in the nineteenth century and beyond would incorporate the bomba through Africanized defensive martial arts. That aspect further shatters previous romanticized misconceptions about enslavement in Puerto Rico. As the symposium came to a close, I perceived the interest and concern from the audience to continue these conversations in the communities and daily life.
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