Afro-Venezuelan culture achieves an educational space

New Afro-Venezuelan education center to instill pride in the often-neglected African influence in Venezuelan culture

By Lisa Krysiak
La Voz Editor

Professors from the Instituto Universitario de Barlovento in Venezuela, a historically Black institution, rallied for love and pride of the African heritage influence in the Venezuelan culture Sept. 12.

Gerónimo Alberto Sanchez Garcia and Alejandro Israel Correa Ortega discussed how the cultural impact from those of African descent is “integral in what it is to be Venezuelan,” citing that there is an African presence in Venezuelan songs, dance, literature, architecture and agriculture.

About 25 people attended the speech at Jimenez Hall with varying knowledge about the Afro-Venezuelan culture. The speakers tried to keep the event a dialogue, responding to laughter and other reactions from audience members and offering a chance for a question-and-answer session.

A culture in need of space
Many Afro-Venezuelans feel bitter about their ethnic background, according to Garcia and Ortega.

To help combat this, a new cultural center is being opened at the Instituto Universitario de Barlovento to teach students about the often-neglected topic of the African heritage in Venezuela.

Ortega said that there is a “huge void” in Venezuelan education about African heritage, and the center aims to “instill a love of diversity” in all people and create a “sense of motherland” for Afro-Venezuelans.

Education to counter racism
According to the Venezuelan Information Office, an estimated 100,000 Africans were brought to Venezuela as slaves between the 16^th and 19^th century. Despite abolition in 1854, racism still played a huge part in Venezuelan life, and the “mestizo,” an ethnic mix of indigenous, African, and European bloodlines, became a demoralized ethnicity.

Solomon Comissiong, assistant director for Student Involvement and Public Relations at the Nyumburu Cultural Center, who helped sponsor the event, believes revamping education is the place to start in order to improve ethnic pride and the appreciation of diversity.

In order to change the “inherently racist” mindset of today’s society “we must look to the root causes, the societal factors that brought [immigrants] here” and the treatment of indigenous people during colonization,” according to Comissiong. He believes that the incorporation of these historical factors into education can also stir new ways of thinking.

Audience repsonse
Kathryn Buford was an audience member who had previous knowledge about the topic of Afro-Venezuelan heritage; she is a graduate student who wrote her thesis on Afro-Venezuelan emancipation.

Buford attended the event because through her research in the topic she lived in Venezuela for eight months and later took a tour of Venezuelan places that have strong remnants of African heritage.

Afterwards, Buford said she thought the speech “could have been more factual and comprehensive,” but enjoyed it and appreciated the cultural references presented.

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Posted by admin on Oct 19 2009. Filed under National News, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry