A chance remark recently by Mexico Connect publisher David McLaughlin has prompted me to examine the statistics on Mexican beauty. As a single, footloose and fancy-free, 20-something-year-old in Mexico City in the 1980s, I often heard that the most beautiful women in Mexico came from the state of Sinaloa. While I’m not confessing to having […]
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March 3, 1996 — In Mexico, various Indian peoples still play ancient instruments. And their songs and dances — which tell of uprisings against their masters — pay tribute to their ancestors. These Mexicans play African “hand pianos” and perform “the dance of the black people.” Mexican “corridos” — or song-stories — tell of slave […]
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The purpose of these web pages is to introduce you to the culture and unique experience of Mexicans of African descent. If you are like most people, you probably have never heard of Afro-Mexicans and are completely unaware that they exist. If you fall into this category, these pages will hopefully be quite a learning […]
Continue Reading To begin a discussion of the Black Experience in Mexico, it is important to establish the quantitative significance of the black slave population in the colonial era. One of the most frequent responses I get when discussing my research with Mexicans, or Americans for that matter, is “there couldn’t have been more than a handful […]
Continue Reading This is a list of 17 sources in Spanish and English dealing with black Mexicans from a variety of perspectives. I chose these few sources from a large bibliography that I have been compiling since 1992, hoping that these works will not be too difficult to find. A good university library should have most of […]
Continue Reading (populations based on 1990 census) GUERRERO Cerro del Indio 615 Cuajinicuilapa 8439 Maldonado 964 Montecillos 880 El Pitahayo 2186 Punta Maldonado 1109 San Nicolás 3359 Copala 5772 Azoyú 3718 Huehuetán 1662 Juchitán 3409 Marquelia 6305 38,418 OAXACA El Carrizo 1752 El Ciruelo 2393 Collantes 1967 Corralero 1039 El Chivo 868 Lagunillas 449 El Azufre 320 […]
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From Cholula we are in the city of Puebla in a matter of minutes. Though Puebla is a city of maybe 1.5 million people, it is not a city of tall buildings of steel and glass. The old part of town surrounds the main plaza or ‘zocalo’. The plaza is dominated by a magnificent Cathedral and buildings […]
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During Christmas holidays, a college sophomore stumbled into a board game, “Pancho Villa, Dead or Alive.” He was surprised I had heard of Pancho but not the goofy game. He said everybody was playing it. I doubted that — but filed away his remark as another insensitive putdown, a way of saying I am old […]
Continue ReadingQuetzalcoatl was coming. Moctezuma had already sent wizards, magicians and seers, to cast spells that would destroy or at least deter the Spaniards from continuing toward his capital. Their failure had re-confirmed the emperor’s opinion that these were indeed the gods of the legend. He had also sent ambassadors with gold and other treasures to […]
Continue ReadingPerhaps the most startling thing revealed by the Aztec account of the Conquest of Mexico, is that unknowingly, the Conquistadors had invaded the country at a perfect time. Superstition had produced self-doubt and smallpox was already in the incubation stage. In a sense, the victory of the Spaniards was a self-fulfilling prophecy based on omens and legends. […]
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