|
African Influences in Caribbean and Latin American CulturePresentation at Boston Arts Academy High School - March 9, 2012
|
On March 9, 2012, I applied the personal training I received as a Caribbean dancer in my high school's TAG Latino Program, and presented a workshop to students at Boston Arts Academy High School on African influences in Caribbean and Latin American culture. Specifically, I covered the Yoruba tradition as practiced in the music and religion of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. I performed bomba and plena/merengue, which are folkloric dances native to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. It was truly amazing, as I feel the students were really enlightened on how closely related our traditions are to those that hail from various countries in Africa - not to mention the similar food we have, which include my favorites: rice, beans and plantains. My ancestors come from Haiti, and it was amazingly funny to hear another Haitian student say to himself, "I have Taino ancestry?" (yes, though probably long gone) and another student ask himself, "Haitians are Africans?"
Yes, we are.
Although perhaps somewhat distant, we carry the genes of those who survived the Middle Passage, as do my Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban brothers and sisters, as do other members of the African and human diaspora.
The reward: After I taught the students the meaning of the lyrics of the salsa song, Aguanile, and its references to African influences, the teacher who invited me to speak to her class told me that her students later played Aguanile at their Latin American showcase forum and were jamming to it pretty hard.
Yes, we are.
Although perhaps somewhat distant, we carry the genes of those who survived the Middle Passage, as do my Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban brothers and sisters, as do other members of the African and human diaspora.
The reward: After I taught the students the meaning of the lyrics of the salsa song, Aguanile, and its references to African influences, the teacher who invited me to speak to her class told me that her students later played Aguanile at their Latin American showcase forum and were jamming to it pretty hard.
Above: Artifacts from the Dominican Republic, books on the Caribbean and on Dominican cultural identity, a pandeiro played in Capoeira Angola, cloth from Ghana, West Africa
| african_diaspora_cultural_resources_2012.pdf |