Debate on black diaspora opens Latinities Festival
The 2014 edition of the Latinities Festival started on Wednesday (Jul 23) with a debate on the origins of black culture and the characteristics of diaspora literature—the forced arrival of black Africans in Latin America and the Caribbean as of 15th century, which is the focus of the gathering this year.
During the opening ceremony, Costa Rican writer Shirley Campbell talked about the differences between African and diaspora art, and their common roots. “African art is very closely connected with manifestations on descriptions of everyday life. Diaspora art, on the other hand, addresses the interaction of black art with other communities.”
In her view, in spite of the difference, black women from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean share an fundamental connection, based on the memory of their predecessors and the maintenance of their traditional knowledge and beliefs. Shirley Campbell was among those who participated in the first debate of the Latinities Festival, which was also attended by Brazilian writers Inaldete Pinheiro and Nina Silva.
“The black women’s movement makes it so that their identities are voiced by their own mouths and not by that of others. There’s a harmony among voices [of Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa], because there are deep roots, kept alive by spirituality, memory, and genetics. We’re a huge network and we feed ourselves through knowledge, experiences and sayings,” Nina Silva said.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Debate on black diaspora opens Latinities Festival