Afrolatinos: The untaught story

Stepping foot onto the island, immediately you feel how Puerto Rico is fighting to be LATINO; to be seen, to be heard, to be independent.

The Puerto Rican flag is incredibly visible, the sense of nationalism is in the air they breathe. Historically, Puerto Rico has gone through its share of movements and revolutions both in their own backyard as well as in the U.S. Before the producers even arrived to Puerto Rico, it is important to mention the contributions of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.

Schomburg was one of the first Afro-Latinos to collect, search for, document and preserve the history and contributions of those with African descent.  His personal collection of research during his travels can be found at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.  Another important Afro-Puerto Rican to mention is Pedro Albizu Campos "El Maestro." Campos is recognized as one of the most important political leaders in Puerto Rican history. A graduate from Harvard University, he decided his education would be of better use in his homeland. He returned to Puerto Rico and worked as an attorney, spending his remaining years fighting for the independence of Puerto Rico.

What the team discovered in Puerto Rico was exciting. Puerto Rico is one of the only nations where the legacy and contributions of our connection to Africa is well documented. They visited The Museum of Our African Roots, El Museo de Nuestra Raiz Africana, and were utterly impressed by the exhibit. The museum starts with the chronology for the dispersal of enslaved Africans, and their arrival to the island. With the first slaves arriving to Puerto Rico in 1509, the museum documents the journey well.

The most powerful portion of the exhibit was entering a room that reflects what the voyage from Africa looked like. You enter this room and are immediately greeted by the chill of the sea. You step foot into a replication of a ship, where the enslaved African slept-- their bunks, hearing the creaking sounds of the wood, as the soundtrack plays you feel scared, hearing the cries, the cold air hitting your skin, the crashing sounds of the ocean, and for a moment, you catch a glimpse of how Africans were brought to Latin America, against their will.  In the chill you sense their fear, can see the tears running down their face, the terror in their souls, el dolor (the pain) of being ripped from your home, being taken from the ones you love, STOLEN.

The one thing that is consistent throughout the slave experience, throughout Latin America, is that music helped them endure the pain and longing for Africa. Through music and dance the sounds of Bomba y Plena are preserving the history of Afro-Puerto Rican culture.

Bomba is a generic term for Puerto Rican drum music; the drum originating from drum barrels. Bomba is a way to call forth the spirits of our ancestors. There is a call and response form of singing; a very specific dialogue between dancers and the drum. Dancers challenge the drummer and the drummer must prove his skills, by making sound affects to every movement and gesture that the dancer makes.

The Plena on the other hand is very mobile music, because it is played with hand drums, you can take it anywhere, it was a way to tell people the news, a form of oral history. This music form was used by sugarcane cutters and coffee workers; those of lower classes and who were very much rooted in this music.

Yet despite their horrible living conditions, the enslaved Africans still managed to find happiness, maintain their strength, and keep an iron fisted grasp to their spirit, a spirit that still lives on today. Slavery in Puerto Rico was abolished in the year 1873.