[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 73 (Friday, June 9, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1095-E1096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1095]]
               COLOMBIANS REDISCOVER THEIR AFRICAN ROOTS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 9, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in praise of an article written 
by Howard Dodson in Africana Heritage, a periodical from the Schomburg 
Center for Research in Black Culture, in New York City. I praise the 
piece because it touches on a very little known subject, that being the 
lives of Afro-Colombians in the Americas, a people with a rich and 
radiant culture who are so often ignored by mainstream Colombia.
  Their presence in the region dates back to the age of European 
exploration of the Americas and, in particular, the transatlantic slave 
trade. Dodson pointed out in his article that, ``the Afro-Colombian 
population had become so marginalized that for the overwhelming 
majority of Colombians as well as the world's people they were 
invisible.'' With over a quarter of the population being of African 
descent, there is no way this society should have been treated the way 
they were for so many years.
  He also describes how the system might now be changing: ``presence of 
Afro-Colombians as part of the Colombian nation may be at an all time 
high.'' The Afro-Colombian people understand their history, their 
identity and national heritage and the need to keep it alive for the 
generations to come. For such a rich and vibrant culture to dissolve 
with time would be a detriment to an entire race of people.
  What makes these people so unique is the one thing that may have kept 
them in isolation for so many years, their African ancestry. For years, 
the nation has been in denial about its connection to the people of 
Africa. However, the connection is so strong that, ``what makes 
Colombia's culture distinctly Colombian is likely the African presence 
in it,'' as noted by Dodson. The people of African descent in the 
Americas have carried with them over the Atlantic aged traditions and 
concepts unknown to the western hemisphere prior to their arrival.
  The plight of Afro-Descendent populations in Latin America and the 
Caribbean is one that I take special interest in, for their struggles 
have long gone on ignored for so many years. That was why I sponsored 
the bipartisan historic resolution H. Con. Res. 175 recognizing, for 
the first time ever, the struggles of African-descendent populations in 
Latin America and the Caribbean. This in turn urged the United States 
and the international community to support social development and 
economic programs targeting these groups.

  Usually denied the most basic necessities, African-Descendent 
populations, particularly in Latin America, are among the poorest, 
least educated, and most marginalized groups in the region. In terms of 
the Afro-Colombian population, they have the shortest life expectancies 
and the lowest literacy rates of any group in Colombia. Displacement, 
guerilla and military violence, and fragile economics make the struggle 
of these groups even more difficult.
  I enter into the Record the article by Howard Dodson for his 
continuing effort to give a face to the often ignored Afro-Descendent 
population in Latin America. Dodson took it upon himself to research 
and get a first hand account about the situation below our borders. I 
believe that this is an ideal opportunity for African Americans to 
reach out to their brothers and sisters in Haiti, Cuba, Brazil, 
Colombia and the rest of the hemisphere, for they are experiencing the 
same second-class treatment African Americans received in this country 
forty years ago. We need to come together to safeguard access to 
healthcare, education and basic human rights.

    [From the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 2006]

               Colombians Rediscover Their African Roots

                           (By Howard Dodson)

       I returned to Colombia after a 40-year hiatus this past 
     November. What was new there that I did not see during my 
     visits from decades ago was the emergence of the 
     consciousness of the Afro-Colombian population within the 
     nation and an Afro-Colombian consciousness among Afro 
     descendants. Forty years ago, indeed 10 years ago, the Afro-
     Colombian population had become so marginalized that for the 
     overwhelming majority of Colombians as well as the world's 
     people they were invisible. This is no longer the case. 
     Consciousness of the presence of Afro-Colombians as a part of 
     the Colombian nation may be at an all time high. And Afro-
     Colombians' consciousness of themselves as a critical but 
     neglected segment of the Colombian national identity, 
     heritage, and future is also at an all time high.
       When I visited Colombia in the 1960s, I was a Peace Corps 
     volunteer in Ecuador. All of my travels in Latin America 
     during my two-and-a-half-year tour of duty were partially a 
     mission of discovery. As an African American living and 
     traveling in South America for the first time, I was 
     especially interested in meeting and learning more about 
     people of African descent who lived in Latin America. In 
     Colombia, I traveled to the Caribbean and Pacific Coasts and 
     visited Cartagena, Barranquilla, Santa Marta, Cali, Medellin, 
     Manizales, etc. I also spent some time in Bogota where I met 
     a lot of Afro-Colombians, but at the time even they were 
     reluctant to discuss their Africanness.
       While my most recent visit was limited to Bogota and Quibdo 
     in the Choco region, the context in which it occurred 
     announced for me the existence of a new era in Afro-Colombian 
     history and culture. The Universidad Technologica del Choco, 
     the country's major black university, has launched an 
     initiative to establish a National Center for Documenting 
     Afro-Colombian Cultural Expressions. I was invited, in my 
     capacity as Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in 
     Black Culture, to participate in a two-day planning symposium 
     to continue to develop the concept and program for this new 
     national initiative. I have devoted over 20 of the last 40 
     years of my life developing the Schomburg Center into the 
     world's leading research library devoted exclusively to 
     documenting the global black experience. Organizers of the 
     planning symposium thought the Center's and my experiences 
     might be helpful in developing the Center in Quibdo. Over the 
     last decade, we've placed a special emphasis on the Afro 
     Latino or Afro descendant populations in South and Central 
     America.
       One recent collaborative effort took place in Colombia. The 
     staff of the National Archives of Colombia in Bogota 
     unearthed a plethora of historic documents on slavery and 
     black people in Colombia during the colonial period. With 
     funding from the Schomburg Center and York University in 
     Toronto, Canada the Archives staff was able to digitize 
     these records. A grant from UNESCO made it possible to 
     develop these digitized resources into a robust website 
     and now these historic documents on AfroColombians' 
     colonial past are accessible to the world on the Internet. 
     This project was an important beginning, but documenting 
     the centrality of the African presence in the development 
     of Colombia's national history and culture will require 
     much more research and documentation. This is what the 
     Universidad Technologica del Choco proposes to spearhead 
     through its National Center for Documenting Afro-Colombian 
     Cultural Expressions.
       Why is such an effort warranted at this time? First of all, 
     recent scholarship on the African presence in the Americas 
     has unearthed a startling demographic fact that is forcing 
     scholars to rethink their understanding of the African 
     presence in the Americas as well as the historical and 
     cultural development of the Americas themselves. Between 1492 
     and 1776, or roughly the first 300 years of what is commonly 
     referred to as the European colonization of the Americas, 6.5 
     million people survived the crossing of the Atlantic and 
     settled in the Americas-North, Central and South America, and 
     the Caribbean. Of those original 6.5 million settler 
     pioneers, only 1 million were Europeans.
       The other 5.5 million were African. This simple demographic 
     fact challenges all of our conventional notions about who 
     were the principle history-and-culture-makers in the Americas 
     during the colonial period.
       Cartagena, Colombia was the principle entrepot for the 
     Africans who would eventually populate the Pacific Coast of 
     South America and Colombia (or New Grenada as it was called). 
     Two hundred plus years later, Colombia's Caribbean and 
     Pacific Coast provinces still have the overwhelming majority 
     of the nation's African descended population. Their 
     marginalized and seemingly invisible state notwithstanding, 
     they still constitute over 25 percent of the nation's 40 
     million people.
       Of equal importance, over the last decade and a half, 
     thanks to the Constitution of 1991 and Law 70 of 1993, the 
     nation has committed itself to ending black marginalization, 
     integrating the African descended population into the 
     national body politic. While fulfilling those commitments has 
     been fraught with difficulty, the Afro-Colombian population 
     has developed a new sense of entitlement and consciousness of 
     its rights and is actively seeking to have the nation correct 
     the consequences of centuries of neglect, discrimination, and 
     invisibility.
       While the nation has been in a state of denial about the 
     African roots of its past, the African presence in the 
     national culture has been undeniable. Indeed, in the realm of 
     culture--be it art, music, religion, dance, language, 
     cuisine, etc.--what makes Colombia's culture distinctly 
     Colombian is likely the African presence in it. Recent 
     scholarship has begun this process of documentation, but 
     more, much more needs to be done if the total integration of 
     the society is to be realized.
       Finally, Afro-Colombians themselves have been in denial 
     about their African heritages. As a consequence, they 
     frequently know little or nothing about it. Their historical 
     and cultural heritage are not included in the textbooks or 
     taught in the schools. Stereotypical representations of 
     African descended Colombians have all too frequently 
     dominated the public media. And Afro-Colombians' unique 
     cultural heritages have all too frequently been mocked or 
     denigrated.
       The National Center proposes to foster the development of 
     new scholarship that will reveal the true nature of the Afro-
     Colombian historical and cultural legacy. The project is

[[Page E1096]]

     off to an excellent start. During the two-day planning 
     symposium, representatives of the National Library, The 
     Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History, the National 
     Archives and the Ministry of Culture were in attendance as 
     were some of the country's leading scholars in the field of 
     Afro-Colombian Studies. All have gone on record in support of 
     this effort. Eduardo Garcia Vega, Director of the Universidad 
     Technologica del Choco, has made a major commitment to the 
     effort. There is already an academic program in Afro-
     Colombian Studies and plans are underway to offer a Masters 
     Degree in the field. A full floor of the new technology 
     building that is currently under construction has been 
     designated to house the Center. It is scheduled for 
     completion and occupancy in June 2006. Members of the faculty 
     and staff of the University are already working with the 
     Rector to make the Center a reality. Finally, Georgetown 
     University's (Washington, D.C.) Colombia Program and the U.S. 
     Embassy in Bogota have thrown their full support behind this 
     effort.
       Among the unique features of the Center is that it will 
     house a 21st century archive. The Center will conduct oral 
     histories and document through film, audio, and audiovisual 
     media contemporary Afro-Colombian cultural expressions. And 
     it will collect and preserve some printed records. But the 
     central archive of the Center will be a virtual one. Using 
     the 21st century Internet technology, the Center will 
     assemble a comprehensive virtual archive of print, audio, and 
     audiovisual resources documenting Afro-Colombian history and 
     culture. Developing a virtual resource will allow libraries, 
     museums and archives that currently house Afro-Colombian 
     materials to participate in the development of this national 
     program without having to give up their original materials. 
     Once online, the materials will be accessible throughout the 
     country as well as throughout the world. Researchers and 
     scholars will be able to conduct their research without 
     having to leave their homes or their institutions. This 
     national digital archive on Afro-Colombian cultural 
     expressions will be the centerpiece of the Center's larger 
     program of research, education, and celebration.
       I cannot begin to underscore the importance of this 
     initiative. While we at the Schomburg Center attempt to 
     document the global black experience, we are clear that no 
     single institution can carry out such an ambitious agenda. 
     Every country in the world that has large African descended 
     populations needs a Center that is focused on preserving the 
     records of their past. We have done an extraordinary job of 
     documenting the African-American experience in the United 
     States and our collections contain representative 
     documentation of black people around the world. A national 
     documentation center such as the one contemplated in Colombia 
     will go a long way toward preserving the Afro-Colombian 
     heritage for the Colombian people as well as filling this 
     important gap in the documentation of the global black 
     experience.

                          ____________________