Afrolatinos: The untaught story

Ecuador was part of La Gran Colombia in the 1820s. In 1830 the political project (of Simón Bolívar) to build the Great Colombia ended with his death.  Ecuador shares a lot with Peru and Colombia. The indigenous presence is strong here, but so is the African footprint. The Census says that only 5% of the total population is Afro descendent, while Afro Ecuadorians studies say it’s at 8%. 

There is an estimated 1.6 million Afros in Ecuador.  However, the Ecuadorian census tells us there is only 600 thousand—why the miscount?  There is a huge discrepancy between 600 thousand and 1.6 million.  There is something wrong with how census is being conducted in Ecuador like in Mexico and other countires.  The application is very confusing, a person must select one of the following: Afro, mesitizo, Afro mestizo and etc. Local people dont even know what is being AFRO.

While our producers visited Ecuador they saw Afro Ecuadorians everywhere. There is a strong mestisaje here; a mix of Indigenous and Afros, there is no segregation. The producers visited Quito and were surprised to find how organized the Afro-Ecuadorian community really is. There is a large library with literature and videos in "El Centro Cultural" that holds an important body of information and incredible works. 

The production team was greeted by, Chaterine Chala Angulo, who works with "El Centro de Pastoral Afro," (The Afro Pastoral Center) a church based community organization. Also, in Quito they met Jose Chala Cruz, a long time advocate working with the "Corporacion de Desarrollo Afroecuadoriano".  Jose’s organization works directly with families and in the community developing funds and support. There are many well-organized establishments that cater to acknowledging the Afro presence and a strong commitment towards working at bringing to the forefront the Afrolatino movement in Ecuador.

One of the things the team noticed in Ecuador was an issue very similar to one found in Panama; there is a lot of tourism.  Like Colon, there is a huge port with a tremendous amount of merchandise entering the country regularly—and not a lot of opportunity for Afro-Ecuadorians to work.  Why does the country say that there are NO JOBS?  Ecuador shares the same story as Colon, Panama...its a trickle down affect of poor education, no inspiration, racism, no money being invested in building community, building people, building roads, creating jobs, no opportunity = NO HOPE. 

Although, the beach seems to be the biggest attraction where most locals go to relax on Sundays and play soccer.  However, there are talks that a company from Spain will rebuild the entire beach and charge EVERYONE to enter. Sound familiar… “The New Face of Colon,” where the plan is to revitalize an area for tourism while pushing those who have lived their entire lives in these areas OUT!

The producers also traveled to San Lorenzo. This boarder town is famous for its soccer players. Futbol is played everywhere—everyday. The level of soccer is incredible, this is why so many Afro Ecuadorians from San Lorenzo dream of going pro – of making it BIG. This is the baseball story found in the Dominican Republic, where the boys aspire to play the game well enough to be discovered and be able to feed the family. This way of thinking has helped the Afro community on many levels. Now in most international games you will find that many of the players are Afro, and many are from Ecuador.

Most of the Afro Ecuadorian community can be found in cities and towns such as Guayaquil, Chota, and of course the famous Esmeraldas. There are parts of Esmeraldas that are dangerous and houses with poor living conditions. Some of the issues the community is left to deal with are that the water and electricity comes every two days, there are no jobs and a sense of inspiration for the youth is lacking. The largest problem is that there are no sewage systems. However, the mayor has done quite a bit for the Afro community in attempts of changing this.

When our producers visited Esmeraldas they noticed that it is a tourist port with a large Afro population. You hear the Marimba and drums in the streets and you can see in the faces if its people—they know their roots and know where they come from. They are proud to be black and celebrate their culture daily not just on special holidays, which was visible in the way they keep their traditions alive – it is found in the food, dances and music. In the short time the production crew was in Ecuador it was clear that Afro Ecuadorians know their history and are proud of their roots.  The people in Esmeraldas are happy Afro-Ecuadorians who ARE fighting for their rights.