Colombia Dispatch 4: Palenque: An Afro-Colombian Community
Four hundred years ago, escaped slaves formed Palenque. Today, the Colombian town celebrates its African roots
- By Kenneth Fletcher
- Smithsonian.com, October 29, 2008, Subscribe
Students at Palenque’s Batata Dance and Music School perform a traditional dance with African roots. Kenneth R. Fletcher
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Centuries ago, escaped slaves built isolated forts in the jungles that surround Cartagena, once Colombia's main port for incoming slaves. Today, the Afro-Colombian inhabitants of San Basilio de Palenque, a village just over an hour from Cartagena, have preserved many of the customs of their African ancestors.
I wander around the dusty streets and of the small town on a scorching hot day, listening to residents speaking a local Creole tongue. A mixture of African languages with Spanish and Portuguese, it sounds a lot like the Bantu languages of central Africa. Although the town now has electricity and running water in most homes, locals still gather at the creek to wash clothes, chat and bathe. In the center of town there's a statue of town founder Benkos Bioho breaking out of chains. Locals say he established Palenque in 1603 with 36 other escaped slaves.
While most other strongholds for escaped slaves eventually fell, this one survived because of its isolation among the hills and swamps about 30 miles outside Cartagena. Locals claim that in 1713 the inhabitants declared it the first independent community in the Americas. Escaped slaves would head to Palenque, knowing that was their chance at freedom. But several decades ago, that same isolation led residents, called Palenqueros, to leave the village for big cities in search of work.
Today, colorfully dressed Palenquera women commute to Cartagena to sell candy and fruit on the streets, while many men work in construction and paving roads. But when Palenqueros first arrived in the cities they encountered racism and were mocked for their strange language. Out of embarrassment, many refrained from observing their traditional customs.
Near the town square, I sat down with Edwin Valdez Hernandez, a charismatic young instructor at the Batata Dance and Music School in Palenque. He tells me that in the 1980s and ‘90s a new generation of young, educated Palenqueros fostered a resurgence in pride in the community's African roots.
"We defend our values with a shout," Valdez says. "We are black, and we are defending our culture."
He believes this pride is essential to combating the racism he says still flourishes on the Colombian coast. His friend, Enrique Marques, agrees, "If you lose your culture, you become a slave again."
The town's public school now teaches Palenque's traditional language to all students.
For the past 10 years, a group of dance enthusiasts has scraped together enough donations to run a Batata school in a small blue concrete house a few blocks from the town center. Valdez says the school's 150 students, from elementary school age to teenagers, meet Monday through Friday afternoons to practice Palenque's traditional dances, passed down through the centuries from Africa. They've performed at festivals across the country, including Palenque's famous yearly drum festival in October. I walk down to the school with Valdez and a dozen of his students and head out into the hot dirt courtyard where they practice. Students pound on wooden drums of all shapes and sizes while Valdez leads chants about the town's history.
Teenage boys and girls wearing yellow, blue and red costumes (Colombia's national colors) perform highly charged dances inspired by their African roots. At the end of the 10-minute song, sweat drips off everyone and dust covers the dancers. I shake their hands as they file out. Determined to keep his culture alive, Valdez yells out toward them with the command of a football coach as they leave.
"I want everybody back here for practice at 5:30 sharp."
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Related topics: Race and Ethnicity 17th Century Colombia Towns and Villages
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Comments (7)
Dear Editor,
This is very interesting.I never believed that these people over there still see themselves as Africans.
I am thrilled and wished them well on their road to keep their roots alive.
Posted by Tony O.from Nigeria,West Africa. on July 8,2011 | 09:37 AM
the africa africa song they were singing.
the language sound very close to mandinka.
ive lived in the gambia n picked up quite a bit of mandinka.
i could understand some of the words of the song n wat i understood was confirmed by the subtitles on the programme.
Posted by sam on June 21,2010 | 07:31 PM
That's really interested?
Posted by Carina Guerrero on March 8,2010 | 11:11 AM
Margaret Washington wrote: "So much for the so-called liberalism of Latin Americans toward race."
Oh, please! I've traveled to Perú and Ecuador, and for the life of me, cannot understand why so many Latin Americans who come to the USA insist that there is no racism in their respective countries. I've even met some Latin American blacks who are in denial. I get disgusted when I go into a bank or office building, or even catch a cab and I see no Asian, indigenous, or black people who also make up their country's population.
Posted by Bill Smith on March 7,2010 | 12:56 PM
I study Spanish by looking at movies and I recently saw a documentary about the people of Palenque. This documentary (about 15 years old), was most interesting. One of the things Palenqueros said was that they had to pay a tax to the government of Columbia. Why? The people are obviously trying to be self-sufficient; Why punish such an impoverished segment of the population who are clearly working so hard. I was also impressed by one of the Afro-Columbian women saying that when they go to Cartagena to sell their wares, on the bus white Columbians put packages on empty seats to prevent blacks from sitting next to them. So much for the so-called liberalism of Latin Americans toward race. In the U.S. we never even hear that there are black people in Columbia, although as a historian I knew this. They fought and won their freedom like the maroons in Jamaica, the enslaved in Haiti, and Africans elsewhere in the Americas. Still, Palenqueros are a people to be celebrated not shunned.
Posted by Margaret Washington on January 31,2010 | 05:18 PM
It amezes me how little we knows about the struggle and repression of our neigbord afro-latine communities.
I am panamanian and just recently become aware of the oppresive situation that black marginalized colombian are experiencing. Panamanian have also experience exclusion and rejection in panama as well, however, the situation in Colombia is to me for more difficult and dangerous.
I am making others latinos aware of the situation and keeping up with the movement to exposed and demands afro-m Colombian civil rights to be honor.
Posted by marcia harris on November 6,2009 | 12:21 PM
I recently watched on the TV Community Channel a documentary about the Palenque community in Columbia. I was truly moved by their strong beleif in and attachment to African traditions. On the programme, a young lady said despite the high level of poverty in Sub -Saharan African, they would remain attached and identify with the continent. I feel it would be useful for African countries to establish some relationship with this community to give them a true sense of belong that they deserve.
Posted by Terry Ndee on October 6,2009 | 07:42 AM