Oct 3
Afro-descendant Identities in Cuba and Brazil Info Session
As the last countries to abolish slavery in the Western Hemisphere, Cuba and Brazil represent two of the most important sites in the African diaspora, both historically and up to the present. Both countries are sites of multi-layered Black diaporic culture and identity, where questions of blackness have continuously shaped governmental policies, self-identities, and everyday life. While they share these similarities, they are also contrasted by stark differences such as population size – 11 Million (Cuba) and 215 Million (Brazil), as well as political and economic systems – Cuba as a socialist system, and Brazil as a capitalist and multi-party system. Both countries have also gone through significant changes economically and politically in the past two decades that have impacted and shaped Afrodescendant communities and identities. In this program, we explore contemporary Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian identities with a particular focus on place, racial inequality, and social change. As a two-country program that takes place in four cities on a familiar topic, this program offers multiple opportunities for intellectually-stimulating comparisons and reflections on transnational blackness, national and regional identities, and culture and power between countries and places.