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In relation to the United States, would these 2 departments/provinces be more like an area like the Mississippi Delta or the Lowcountry of South Carolina or would it be more like the Southeastern portion of the US in regards to where the Black population is concentrated in their respective countries?
In relation to the United States, would these 2 departments/provinces be more like an area like the Mississippi Delta or the Lowcountry of South Carolina or would it be more like the Southeastern portion of the US in regards to where the Black population is concentrated in their respective countries?
To answer your question OP, The Afro-Hispanic Pacific Lowland cultures as historians and anthropologists have termed these areas and as academia refers to it refers to the large long run and long spanning series of interrelated cultural areas and black communities beginning in East Panama/Darien Province all the way down to Choco and Pacific Colombia and Pacific Ecuador and Esmeraldas Ecuador since all of these areas are connected and share interrelated and interconnected Afro Hispanic culture(s) along with Zambos (mixed African, and Native American descent) and history of maroonage (cimarronaje) striving for survival and freedom since the colonial period and the series and continuum of culture(s) all of these lands and areas share.
So in some ways, it can compare to the the black cultural areas and regions of the USA you mentioned. However the black peoples and cultures of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are rooted more so through Spanish and French and Latin and Catholic cultural synthesis and differ from the blacks that were historically and colonially rooted the 13 original colonies states and regions, so that is something to consider. (although there were early Afro Hispanic blacks in the Carolinas states as early as the 1510s and/or 1520s. In fact a Spanish speaking slave settlement of escaped slaves was set up in the Carolinas states area in 1526 called San Miguel de Allende)
At the same time of course black people and cultures and regions are not homogenous etc and in addition black culture can and is often rooted in or practiced in more than one area. In Colombia the Atlantic/Caribbean coast has a unique black culture and traditions. In the area located near the border with Panama the culture of this surrounding area seems to have influences from the Pacific Afro Colombian culture and the Atlantic Caribbean side Afro Colombian culture. In fact much of the interior of these nations and regions were majority black but through disenfrachisement and often forced migrations and circumstances many went to or migrated to other areas and thus hegemonic powers that be re write history or make it seem like one areas is the black area or cradle when in fact blacks and Afrodescendants can be found in ALL areas and aspects and localities and locales of society. Afrodescendants live in more than one area and many nations do a god job of hiding or obscuring these facts or truths. And sadly, many tourists and tour guides fall into this trap. This is why research and travelling and doing further and deeper investigation is very important.
Ecuador not only has Esmeraldas which relates heavily with Afro Colombian due to shared interrelated and connected history, but there are also othe areas where Afrodescendants and blacks live in Ecuador. In the Chota Mira Valley / Valle de Chota there is a separate unique Afro-Ecuadorian culture altogether with a different history and different cultural patterns than those of the blacks of Esmeraldas Ecuador. Black land (claim) rights are also a major issue in these Afrodiasporic nations and land titles and entitlement between the respective nations governments are also contentious issues as the nations have to make sure to uphold the constitutional law and promises to help maintain and protect these Afrodescent/Afrodiasporic land claim rights.
Last edited by MelismaticEchoes; 01-08-2014 at 09:21 PM..
In relation to the United States, would these 2 departments/provinces be more like an area like the Mississippi Delta or the Lowcountry of South Carolina or would it be more like the Southeastern portion of the US in regards to where the Black population is concentrated in their respective countries?
Have you ever been to these regions of Colombia & Ecuador respectively or any other parts of these nations?
From my understanding, Choco is one of the poorest regions in Colombia and aside from having a AfroColombian Majority there are also some Native tribes still around there. I think the choco region was one of hardest hit by paramilitary and guerilla violence. To me its seems like one of the most interesting regions in Colombia, I would like to visit someday. I heard there was good surfing in the Choco region.
One of the prettiest females I have ever met in my life was from Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Another place thats on my travel list. I really wish I would have done more travelling when I was single.
From my understanding, Choco is one of the poorest regions in Colombia and aside from having a AfroColombian Majority there are also some Native tribes still around there. I think the choco region was one of hardest hit by paramilitary and guerilla violence. To me its seems like one of the most interesting regions in Colombia, I would like to visit someday. I heard there was good surfing in the Choco region.
One of the prettiest females I have ever met in my life was from Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Another place thats on my travel list. I really wish I would have done more travelling when I was single.
Actually Choco is actually the most natural resource rich and richest biodiversity area in Colombia, yet a lot of the people of El Gran Choco live in poverty. And yes, the FARC and paramilitaries have killed and displaced many of the local inhabitants of the region, and many are even forced into sex and drug trafficking or rape or threatened with death or forced to join illegal criminal activity or the FARC. It's very sad.
A big issue that has been going on for centuries is land entitlement claim rights. Under constitutional law the Colombian government is suppose to ensure and protect the ancestral and communal homelands of Afro-Colombian ancestral lands and areas, and in many ways the Colombian government has not lived up to it's promise and Afro Colombians and even indigenous Native Americans are fighting to maintain their land, which is often stolen by or occupied by elites and outside foreign interests.
Gold mines and gold mine workers in Choco and pacific Colombian regions make a whole bunch of money for Colombia yet the Afro Colombian workers that mine and cultivate the gold often make little to nothing for it, but meanwhile outside foreign port dockers and visitors and foreign investors and companies and the elites of Colombia and Colombian government make so much money and profit off of it. It's a very crazy situation.
I ask not only in terms of demographics/culture, but in terms of history, quality of life and how it is viewed on a national level.
Pretty much but there are sub-regional historical differences. For example, in Colombia, the Pacific coast is divided into two big regions. The Northern Pacific coast is Choco and the Southern Pacific coast is Valle, Cauca, Nariño and this is where Buenaventura and Tumaco are at. So the South has the most populated city on the Pacific coast, Buenaventura, Choco has the 2nd largest being Quibdo and then you have Tumaco third way South in Nariño by Ecuador. The Northern Ecuadorian Pacific coast (and parts of Southwest Colombia) has a a big history of Africans and Natives uniting against the Spaniards during the colonial days, and this region was referred to as La Republica de Los Zambos, republic of the Zambos (African-Native American hybrids), this history is cited in books like Beyond Black and Red Afro-Native Relations in Colonial Latin America where communities like Barbacoas, Nariño in the Southern Pacific coast are covered, Mexico's Costa Chica is also cited in the book among others. Choco on the Northern Pacific coast did not have that same unity of Africans and Natives, they pretty much lived/live apart. Choco has the political advantage for AfroColombians because it is the most Black populated department in the country while the Pacific coasts of Valle, Cauca and Nariño make part of those predominantly mestizo Andean departments. So the Black communities of Valle, Cauca and Nariño do not control a whole department as the Black people of Choco do. Choco also has more Caribbean influence than SW Colombia on its Northern end because of its proximity to Colombia's Caribbean coast. Choco has their music Chirimia which is not made on the Southern Pacific coast of Colombia nor Ecuador. While, SW Colombia and NW Ecuador both make Currulao, which is our regional traditional Afro music. So in conclusion you have Choco being one thing and you have SW Pacific Colombia/Esmeraldas much more similar to each other. Going from Tumaco, Nariño to Esmeraldas, Ecuador you will witness essentially the same culture on a trans-national basis.
Is Currulao marimba based music? I have heard some Marimba music form Ecuador and Pacific coast of Colombia and it quite beautiful. I would like to get my hands on that book Beyond Black and Red Afro-Native Relations in Colonial Latin America.
Is Currulao marimba based music? I have heard some Marimba music form Ecuador and Pacific coast of Colombia and it quite beautiful. I would like to get my hands on that book Beyond Black and Red Afro-Native Relations in Colonial Latin America.
Thanks UrbanLuis. Yes marimba is the heart of Currulao...and the music you described was probably Currulao, Juga, Patakore, Bunde, etc. The book is available on Amazon.
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Is Choco Colombia into Esmeraldas Ecuador essentially the same
