From the US South and the Mexico altiplano in the north, to the Peruvian coastal lowlands and the Argentine pampas down south, the rhythms of Africa continued to beat. [...] The samba and Candomble of Brazil; the son and Santeria of Cuba; the street car- nivals of Salvador de Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and a host of other towns and cities; the merengue of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela; modern-day salsa; the very ingredients of the lan- guages spoken and the foods eaten; family, community and other organizational forms: in all lie manifestations of the striv- ings of. [...] Blaming the victim - perhaps the most damning outcome of the denial of the African past - made subsequent re-evaluations of the African contribution to the development of Latin American society imperative. [...] There is thus a serious discrepancy between the usual portrayal of racial matters in the country and the reality as experi- enced in the lives of millions of Afro-Brazilian people.3 The African contribution to Brazilian life has been one of the most significant factors in its formation and development, but there is little official acknowledgement of its importance. [...] With the colonial conquest, the Portuguese promoted both the ethnic and cultural dismembering of Africa,8 the cradle of human civilization and knowledge, and the genocide of indige- nous Brazilians.
- Pages
- 440
- Published in
- United Kingdom