Description

This class surveys the history of Africans and people of African descent in Latin America from the sixteenth century to the present. The vast majority of enslaved people from Africa who crossed the Atlantic arrived in Latin America, not in the US. In some areas, like the Caribbean and Brazil, the majority of the population for many years was (or is) of African descent. How has this affected social, cultural, and political life in the region? We will consider a range of topics, including how elements of African culture have been incorporated into broader Latin American traditions, slavery and abolition, the struggle for citizenship and inclusion, and the formation of a distinct Afro-Latin American identity.