McMaster course aims to fight the erasure of Black history in Latin America

For one McMaster University student, a unique course on the Black history of Latin America has made her feel closer to her roots. 

Myra Delgado, 19, is Afro-Latina. She's in her second-year of psychology and part of a class called Black Latin America: Belonging, Refusal, Resistance. The course explores Black Latin American and Afro-Latinx histories, cultures, and politics, while highlighting their voices and experiences.

The class is hosting a roundtable on Thursday as part of Black History Month events at McMaster that will gather Black Latin American and Afro-Latinx scholars online and in-person to discuss race, culture, migration, and diasporic identities, the course's professor, Stacy Creech de Castro, told CBC Hamilton.

Delgado's parents are Guatemalan and Barbadian, but she was born in Canada. She said growing up in Toronto she didn't get to spend time with many Guatemalans, but that has now changed due to Creech de Castro's class.

"It's the community and environment that comes with the class that I really do appreciate because I'm able to be around more people who come from [Latin America]," she told CBC Hamilton.

"It is nice to come into the class and have people who are just like me and who have similar experiences as me."

Having an Afro-Latina instructor in Creech de Castro has also motivated Delgado.

"It's inspiring because then you're like, this is something that someone like me could also achieve if I just continue pursuing it," she said.

Important to teach Black history beyond slavery and colonialism: instructor

Creech de Castro, postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University, is from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and has been living outside her home country for over 10 years.

She said students have told her contents of the course have been "illuminating," especially with Black history in Latin America not being taught enough in the region.

"It's often marginalized, erased, or distorted to fit nationalist narratives that prioritize mestizaje [Spanish for mixed race]," she said.

It's important, Creech de Castro said, to portray Black history in the region beyond slavery and colonialism.

"There is a long legacy of Black intellectual thought, artistry, and political organizing. I also wish more people understood how interconnected Black Latin America is with other Black diasporas — including in Canada," she said.

She's hoping the Thursday roundtable will encourage people to seek out Black Latin American and Caribbean voices and stories beyond Black History Month.

"There's generative knowledge, creativity, and activism coming from Black communities across the Americas that deserves more attention," said Creech de Castro.

Black contributions in Latin America not recognized enough

While 21-year-old Alejandra Estrada Valera is not Black, the course has sparked her curiosity about her Indigenous background.

Estrada Valera is a third-year social work student at McMaster and an immigrant from Barranquilla, Colombia, who has been in Canada for around eight years.

Estrada Valera is now exploring the possibility that her mother's side of the family may be part of the Mokaná peoples in her home country.

"This class [has] aided me to reflect on my own positionality and my own identity," she said.

It's not uncommon for people in Latin America who have mixed features to not know the exact details of their Black or Indigenous roots. 

Roxana Escobar Ñañez, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto, said there's a phenomenon in Peru where the mixing of races is seen as a sign of progress, and Blackness "was seen as this backwards reality that you needed to move away from."

"When you insert yourself in the conversation of mestizaje, it's basically a way of making us all equal," she said.

Escobar Ñañez, who is half Black and from Lima, Peru, will be one of the participants of Thursday's roundtable. Her thesis is focused on urban spatial practices of Afro-Peruvian women, particularly those who are singers of Criollo music, a genre from her hometown, where most Afro-Peruvians live. She also has a podcast where she interviews these women called Tertulia Day.

Afro-Peruvians have been very influential in the country's day-to-day life, particularly Lima's, said Escobar Ñañez, from the way of speaking to sounds "behind almost every song that we have and that are immediately recognized."

"To the point that it almost disappears, … it becomes Limeño (from Lima) culture when in reality it's African-descended culture," she told CBC Hamilton.

She said it's important to recognize the influences of Afro-Peruvians on the country's culture and not continue to push the narrative that everyone is the same, which she said could lead to erasure of the struggles Black people in Peru disproportionally face, like poverty and education gaps.

"Latin American countries right now wouldn't be breathing without the African diaspora and how they have impacted absolutely every [corner]," she said.

Representation in the classroom 

Arturo Victoriano Martinez is an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia who will also participate in the roundtable. He says people need to be mindful of the "colour line when we talk about the power structure," in Latin America and the Hispanic Caribbean.

"When people say, people in our countries said to me, 'we are all mates,' and, 'we don't have races,' I say, 'what about the richest people in the country? What colour are they?'" he said.

Victoriano Martinez is from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and has been living in Canada for 24 years. He said he's looking forward to talking about the power of personal stories.

"There's a power in telling our stories as a Black person coming from a Spanish-speaking reality and a different conception of blackness than the one that we have in North America," he said.

Victoriano Martinez also said the roundtable could be helpful for students who will be able to see "somebody that looks like them in the academic world, in the business world, etc."

"When you see somebody that looks like you in a racialized society, [or] in a position that it's not the usual position that society assigns to people that look like that. I think it has the potential to be inspiring," he said.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.