February is Black History Month in the United States, an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of blacks in U.S. history, and to celebrate Language Magazine would like to feature ways to honor Afro-Latinos.
1. Music
Below you’ll find a playlist created by NPR sure to get you grooving including Cumbia, bachata, mambo and son jarocho.
2. The Afro-Latin@ Reader
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.
While the selections cover centuries of Afro-Latin@ history, since the arrival of Spanish-speaking Africans in North America in the mid-sixteenth-century, most of them focus on the past fifty years
The book can be found here.
3. Poetry
If poetry is more up your alley, check out poet and journalist Julia Constanza Burgos García. Below is a video of the poem “Ay, Ay, Ay, de la Grifa Negra” by Burgos, read by Glaisma Pérez-Silva (Teacher, Hartford, CT).
4. Podcasts
Afrosaya The Afrolatino Podcast is produced by Alex Gutierrez. The podcast is produced in English and Spanish and is an advocate for access to quality education, health and justice for all. Occasionally, in Afrosaya you will hear guest speakers who join us to share their personal stories.
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/afrosaya
5. Library
If you’re in New York City, a great way to celebrate Afro-Latinos during Black History Month is to visit the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Founded in 1925 as the Negro Literature, History and Prints Division of the 135th Street Branch Library by Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is one of the leading cultural institutions in the world devoted to the preservation of materials focused on African-American, African Diaspora, and African experiences. Recognized for its prominence in digital humanities, scholarly research, and vast collection spanning over 10 million items, the Schomburg Center won the National Medal for Museum and Library Service in 2015. Today, the Schomburg serves as a space that encourages lifelong education and exploration with diverse programs that illuminate the richness of black history and culture, and in 2017 it was named a National Historic Landmark.
