Last week the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed 43 new Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritages of Humanity. These 'awards' are "destined to raise public awareness of the value of this heritage, which includes popular and traditional oral forms of expression, music and dance, rituals and mythologies, knowledge and practices concerning the universe, know-how linked to traditional crafts, as well as cultural spaces". One of those 'new masterpieces' is San Basilio de Palenque. Before i go deeper on what this post is about i want to give a brief historical background, which i find important. If you are not interested in this little history lesson then skip to the third parragraph.
The first manifestations of slavery in the colonial period appeard in the atlantic littoral, where the first Palenques were formed. Palenques were organizations, normally situated high in the mountains, where black slaves and rebels would go when scaping from their owners. Dances, rituals and special celebrations took place in these 'secret societies'. Even a different language, palenquero, was (and is still today) spoken which differs to spanish and resembles, at the same time, to african communities like Bantu, Kikongo and Kimbundu. These Palenques appeard first near Cartagena de Indias and then extended themselves far to the south of the continent. The most famous of the Palenques is San Basilio which is located just a few kilometers away from Cartagena. One of the reasons for its fame is that its the only Palenque which still survives as a 'town' and where old traditions including authentic music, complex medical knowledge and obscure burial ceremonies are still held alive. Because of San Basilio´s direct relation to old african cultures, it has been named 'Colombia´s African Corner'...
Hopefully this award will induce the governement to give better resources like finacial aid, infrastructure, educational projects and social welfare to this forgotten town where 7,000 people live today. However, the real african corner in Colombia is much bigger and infinately more forgotten. More than 6 million afro-colombians live in the country, specially in the western coast (both in the pacific and atlantic littoral). More than 80% of the afro-descendents in Colombia live in poverty with almost 25% of them living in misery. A great percentage of these afro-colombians live in the departments (the colombian version of a state in the U.S.A.) called Chocó and Valle del Cauca; the first registering the highest levels of poverty in the country. Many of the afro-colombians reside in two cities: Quibdó (the capital of Chocó) and Buenaventura (Colombia's most important harbor-city in the pacific coast). Special attention has risen recently as reports have been published which show the inmense misery and unfairness (to say the least) which lies on top of these communities. Buenaventura, according to figures by the DIAN (Colombia´s entity in charged of customs and taxes), give to the country almost 400 million euros by moving 9,4 million tons of merchandise every year. How can this happen? How can a community that gives so much to the country, receive so little (less than 2% of what they give)?. Choco is not only important for the country for economical reasons but also because it houses great part of Colombia´s and the world´s most important and extensive biodiversity.
Something has to be done about this. The black community in Colombia has to be given special attention and tremendous care. They deserve it because they have been living in unfair conditions for as long as history has been writen. Apart from this, if politicians dont care, they should at least think about the opportunities and profts which a real investment in this zone might bring (more money, tourism, international investment, etc...). Again, something has to be done about this.
