Welcome To My Blog, Today I Have Had A Strong Desire To Create A Space Where I Can Share My Passion For

Comparing perceptions of race in Latin America and the United States, the fundamental question posed is "why did Latin America not have black movements... [or] racial 'pride' that could spur such movements?" The common explanation is that state ideologies around racial mixing have served as a mechanism through which to deny the existence of racism.

Tatiana Flores, "Latinidad Is Cancelled: Confronting an Anti-Black Construct" (2021)

Calao, oiseaux à cornes, production du peuple Sénoufo présent en Côte d'Ivoire et Mali.

Objets blessés - La réparation en Afrique, Gaetano Speranza, 2007

Coeur tambour, Scholastique Mukasonga

The cover image of this book is beautiful. This luminous woman holds a bowl, bearing the colors of the moon that gives its beauty to the early morning sun, thus revealing the splendor of sacred objects. When the drum beats, the story of Africa beats. It is first the story of Queen Kitami then that of Prisca, a little girl from a village in Rwanda, whose myth resonates in the Caribbean and America. This book seems magical to me, and I’m just looking forward to reading it, it fits perfectly into my research themes.

Terno dos Reis, Henry John Drewal, January 5 1998. Madison Libraries Terno dos Reis (Day of the Kings) festivals are celebrated annually during the christmas season. The January 6th feast commemorates the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem bearing gifts for the Christ child. Brazilian celebrations include processions in which community members dress in costumes, dance, play music, and carry banners. This Terno festival took place on January 5, 1998 in Liberdade, Salvador.

In the 1970s, excavations at the Newton Slave Burial Ground uncovered the grave of a man believed to be a healer or spiritual figure. He was buried with powerful objects: metal jewelry, an iron knife, and a short-stemmed clay pipe likely made in Ghana.

Among his burial items was a necklace made from a mix of beads, some with fascinating origins.

One glass bead, made with European powder glass, was probably crafted in Ghana.

Another, a cylindrical carnelian bead, came from Cambay, India ; a region known for carnelian bead production since the first millennium. These beads were traded through East Africa, across the Sahara, and into West Africa.

Other elements of the necklace could have been acquired in Barbados, but together they reflect a deep continuity of African cultural traditions in the Caribbean.

Scholar Jerome Handler used ethnographic sources from West Africa to interpret the necklace, and strongly argued that the man was likely seen as an obeah or healer by the enslaved community at Newton.

This burial is one of the most powerful archaeological cases for the survival of African spiritual identity through the horrors of the Middle Passage and slavery.

Barbados Heritage District, honoring memory, land and spirit. Designed by world-renowned architect Sir David Adjaye. It will be built next to Newton Slave Burial Ground, the oldest and largest slave cemetery ever found in Barbados. The site will include a memorial, a museum, a global research center, and spaces for performances and reflection.It’s part of a national project called ROAD (Reclaiming Our Atlantic Destiny), which aims to reshape Barbados’identity and economy by making it a central place for learning about Atlantic slavery, from the Caribbean, not just from the West. Barbados actually holds the second largest collection of slave records after the UK. One key part of the project is to digitize these archives and give access to researchers, families, and future generations. But not everything has gone smoothly. Some activists, spiritual leaders, and museum workers protested the construction, saying it disrespected the sacred nature of the burial ground.Now, discussions are ongoing to create cultural and spiritual guidelines.There’s also talk of founding a spiritual university, in collaboration with Codrington College, to show how different faiths and traditions can live together. The Newton Burial Ground itself is powerful: about 1,000 enslaved people were buried there, between 1660 and 1820.They were laid to rest by their families and communities, often with rituals inspired by African traditions.It’s the only untouched slave cemetery ever excavated in the Caribbean.The artefacts and human remains found here tell us stories we couldn’t get from written documents alone. This project has the potential to transform how we understand slavery, heritage and identity. It also reminds us that healing history must include respect, spirit and the voices of the people.

Happy memory captured with my camera : friend who contemplates the city and walks in the streets of Santo Domingo passing by the Colmado corner.

Art for Sale at Local Art Fair, Joshua Forrest, 1984. Madison Libraries