Black History Class: Lesson 16 of 26

(Photo - Two Nicaraguan dancers)

Some people of African origin first arrived in the Americas with the Spanish and Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries. For example, Pedro Alonso Niño, traditionally considered the first of many New World explorers of African descent [7] was a navigator in the 1492 Columbus expedition. Those who were directly from Africa mostly arrived in Latin America as part of the Atlantic slave trade, as agricultural, domestic, and menial laborers and as mineworkers. They were also employed in mapping and exploration (for example, Estevanico) and were even involved in conquest (for example, Juan Valiente). They were mostly brought from West Africa and Central Africa in what are now the nations of Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Angola, and Congo, There are three major groups: the Yoruba, Akan, and the Bantu. Most of the enslaved Africans were sent to Brazil, Peru, and the Caribbean, but lesser numbers went to Colombia and Venezuela. Countries with significant black, mulatto, or zambo populations today include Brazil (86 million), Colombia (10 million), Haiti (8.7 million),

Dominican Republic (4 million), Cuba (up to 4 million), and Puerto Rico (20%-46%). Recent genetic research in UPR Mayaguez has brought to light that 26.4% of Puerto Ricans have African heritage on the X chromosome and 20% on the Y chromosome, thus between 20%-46% of the Puerto Rican population has African heritage.

(Photo - Rastafarian Afro-Cubans)

The mix of these African cultures with the Spanish, Portuguese, French, and indigenous cultures of Latin America has produced many unique forms of language (e.g., Palenquero, Garífuna and Creole), religions (e.g., Candomblé, Abakuá, Santería, Lucumi and Vodou), music (e.g., kompa, salsa, bachata, cumbia, Palo de Mayo, plena), samba, martial arts (capoeira) and dance (rumba, merengue).