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Monday, December 22, 2008
Afro-Colombians fight biodiesel producers In her article, "Afro-Colombians fight biodiesel producers," BBC journalist Jane Monahan writes about the difficulties Afro-Colombians have faced in simply trying to
remain on their native lands: "Talking to Jose Caceido, another displaced Afro-Colombian, there is so much tension
in the air it almost seems as if you could cut it with a knife. "Mr Caceido,
in his early 30s, says he moved to Bogota in 2001 after being threatened by presumed paramilitaries in Tumaco, a Pacific coast
region.
" 'We have been discriminated against in three ways,'
he says with steely restraint. " 'We are displaced, we are black and
we are poor.' "It is Mr Caceido's view that underlying the displacement
of countless Afro-Colombians is a clash in values between the communities' use of the land and an initiative of Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe to produce more palm oil for biodiesel. "For Afro-Colombians,
Mr Caceido says, land use is based on cultivating a few traditional crops for subsistence - such as corn, yucca and cocoa
- or for hunting and fishing. "But, according to human rights organisations
working in the north-west Choco province, and in dense forests along the Pacific, paramilitary gangs are seizing Afro-Colombian
land to facilitate biofuel conglomerates."
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Visit www.afropresencia.com to find listings and links to areas where you can find out
about upcoming events, as well as links to articles, photos and videos on Life in the Black Americas.
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The Sound of My Footsteps: Narratives of Migratory Jamaican immigrants
Interviews with over 30 Jamaican immigrants on their
pre-migratory perceptions of New York and England Click
here to view and purchase the book.
The Afro-Latin@ Reader:
History and Culture in the United States
 The Afro-Latin@ Reader focuses attention on a large, vibrant, yet oddly invisible community
in the United States: people of African descent from Latin America and the Caribbean. The presence of Afro-Latin@s
in the United States (and throughout the Americas) belies the notion that Blacks and Latin@s are two distinct categories
or cultures. Afro-Latin@s are uniquely situated to bridge the widening social divide between Latin@s and African
Americans. At the same time, their experiences reveal pervasive racism among Latin@s and ethnocentrism among African
Americans. Offering insight into Afro-Latin@ life and new ways to understand culture, ethnicity, nation, identity,
and antiracist politics, The Afro-Latin@ Reader presents a kaleidoscopic view of Black Latin@s in the United
States. It addresses history, music, gender, class, and media representations in more than sixty selections, including
scholarly essays, memoirs, newspaper and magazine articles, poetry, short stories, and interviews. Click here to view and purchase the book.
African American History Day by Day: A Reference Guide to Events by Karen Juanita Carrillo The proof
of any group's importance to history is in the detail, a fact made plain by this informative book's day-by-day documentation
of the impact of African Americans on life in the United States. One of the easiest ways to grasp any aspect of history
is to look at it as a continuum. African American History Day by Day: A Reference Guide to Events provides just
such an opportunity. Click here to view and purchase the book.
The
View from Chocó: The Afro-Colombian past, their lives in the present, and their hopes for the future by Karen Juanita Carrillo The View from Chocó: The Afro-Colombian past, their lives in the
present, and their hopes for the future is an introduction to the lives of Blacks in Colombia. Afro-Colombians
live in a resource-rich yet remote region of Colombia. They only recently won recognition as one of that nation's
distinct ethnic groups. But Colombia's on-going civil war has led many Afro-Colombians to reach even farther than
their nation's borders for recognition: many have made their way to the United States as refugees and as political
activists working for peace in their homeland. The View from Chocó introduces the lives and struggles of a too-long neglected community of Colombian Blacks. Click here to view and purchase the book.
Raise Your Brown Black Fist is a collection of essays
written by Kevin Alberto Sabio during his time as a Contributing Writer  for an online magazine.
The book combines his two article series, "Black
vs Brown" and "Black Thoughts: A Political Ideological Perspective
for Afrolatinos" into one volume, plus three other miscellaneous entries. The book
is currently available through his publisher, AuthorHouse. Click
the logo above to view and purchase the book.
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