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Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Book review: Blackness in the
White Nation By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO In Uruguay, the Black population makes up an estimated
5 to 9.2 percent of the nation’s 3.38 million people, while most Uruguayans—some 70 percent—are of European
descent. Regardless, Afro-Uruguayan culture has come to define the nation. The Afro-Uruguayan music of “candombe” (a Ki-Kongo word used to describe
local African-oriented dance societies) and its related dance styles led to the popularity of Argentina’s tango. To
this day, the music of candombe and its tradition of “llamadas” (calls for all to share in the music) determines
Uruguay’s Carnival tradition, which, from late January to mid-March, celebrates the Afro-Uruguayan culture of drumming
and dancing. This is not unusual, notes George Reid Andrews
in his book, Blackness in the White Nation: A History of Afro-Uruguay (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 2010). Throughout the Americas, nations that had up until the 19th century enslaved Black people had, by the beginning
of 20th century, discovered yet another way to utilize Black culture. “The Llamadas were the Uruguayan variant of a
phenomenon taking place throughout mid-century Latin America: The creation of ‘nationalization’ by the state
of folkloric festivals and holidays that, through lavish pageantry and symbolism, defined the place of nonwhite peoples
in the nation. read more
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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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