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A Shared History: Blacks in Mexico

A Shared History: Blacks in Mexico. ). Embrace of Memory courtesy of Tony Gleaton, Cuajinicuilapa, 1990. OLMEC HEAD AT LA VENTA.

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A Shared History: Blacks in Mexico

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  1. A Shared History: Blacks in Mexico ) Embrace of Memory courtesy of Tony Gleaton, Cuajinicuilapa, 1990

  2. OLMEC HEAD AT LA VENTA The earliest Africans in Mexico may have been the Olmecs, the first of the ancient civilizations. They originated in Veracruz c. 1200 – 400 B.C. The colossal stone heads or cabezas colossal were first discovered in the 19th century and is cited as major evidence of the African presence by Professor Ivan Van Sertima in his book They Came Before Columbus (1976). He states that pharaonic-period Africans sailed to Mexico and had a major influence on the Olmec

  3. ESTEVANICO THE MOOR1503-1539 Estevanico the Moor (also known as Esteban, Little Steven or Stephen the Black) was a Muslim born in Azzemour, Morocco in 1503. He was a slave in the party of explorer Panfilo de Narvaez. Narvaez’s party left Spain in 1527 intending to explore the northern and western shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Blown off course, the party instead landed in Florida and traveled on to Texas. In 1536 the party, now headed by Alvar Nunex Cabeza de Vaca, arrived in Mexico City. Estevanico, although illiterate, was fluent in five Native American languages and the silent art of sign language. He was also a self-made medicine man. The Spanish Crown, regaled with Native American tales of the Seven Cities of Gold or Cibóla organized an expedition headed by Fray Marcos de Niza. In March of 1539 Estevanico and the others departed San Miguel on this quest. Traveling northward in what is now Arizona, it was now May of that year when he reached the Zuni settlement of Hawikuh near what is now St. Johns. Suspicious that Estevanico was a spy for the Spaniards, they killed him to protect their location. He was then skinned to prove that he was not a god but a mere mortal. Estevanico was the first non-Native American to explore parts of what is now Arizona,

  4. JUAN GARRIDO • Juan Garrido was born, a free black on the west coast of African and was sent to Lisbon as a young man to be Christianized. He was a member of the parties of explorers Ponce de Leon and Diego Velasquez and traveled to Hispanola; Puerto Rico; Guadeloupe, Dominica and Florida. In 1519 he arrived in Mexico, participating in the conquering of the Aztecs at Tenóchtítlan with Hernan Cortes. Garrído is perhaps best known as the first European to sow wheat and commercially produce flour at Coyoacán in 1521. He explored many parts of México including Michoacan and Baja California. Before Cortés fell out of favor, Garrído was appointed city manager of Tenóchtítlan. Juan Garrido with Hernan Cortes Garrido

  5. YANGA1545-1612? Gaspar Yanga was brought to Veracruz as a slave from the African nation of Gabon. It was said that he was from a royal family. Yanga led runaway slaves and Indians into mountains, where he found a locale sufficiently inaccessible to settle and create his own small town of over 500 people. The Yanguícos (as his followers were called) secured provisions by raids upon the Spanish caravans bringing goods from the highlands to Veracruz. For more than thirty years Yanga and his band lived free while his community grew in size. They kept the forces of the Crown at bay for many years. Yanga and his followers brokered a treaty in 1630 which included freedom for the Yanguícos; self-government; and a farmable land grant. By the time of his death, Yanga secured from the Spaniards freedom for his followers and their own "free town." Today he is national hero in Mexico.

  6. Routes of the Mexican Slave Trade According to Colin Palmer (Slaves of the White God, 1976) 80.1% of African slaves came from Senegambia and Guinea-Bissau, 0.5 % in North Africa, and 13.3% in other parts of West Africa.

  7. Sistema de Castas17th Century Mexico The sistema was based, in theory, on lineage even though few of the elite could trace their ancestry. Skin color was stressed as a guide to racial status among the commoners. At its extreme there were as many as forty-eight categories though few had practical significance. The goal of the Sistema de Castas was to preserve wealth and limpieza de sangre among the elite. Phenotype acted as a sieve filtering out unsuitable marriage candidates for admission to Spanish families. Colonials hoped racial pride would trickle down to the non-Spanish isolating the lighter-skinned and further lengthening the distance between Spaniards and Afro-Mexicans. Paintings by artists such as Miguel Cabrera (1695-1768)

  8. Partial Listing of Sistema de Castas • Spaniard and Indian produce a Mestizo • From Spaniard and Mestiza, Castiza • Spaniard and Castiza, produce Spaniard • Mestizo and Indian makes Coyote • Black and Spaniard makes Mulatto • Mulatto and Spaniard makes Morisco • Spaniard and Morisca makes Albino • Spaniard and Albino makes a Black-Return-Backwards • Black and Indian makes Wolf • Wolf and Indian makes Zambaiga • Zambaigo and Indian makes Albarazado • Albarazada and Indian makes Chamizo • Chamizo and Indian makes Cambuja • From Albarrado and Indian, a Cachimboreta is born • From Indian and Cambuja, a Wolf-Return-Backwards is born • Wolf-Return-Backwards and Indian makes Hold-Yourself-in-Mid-Air

  9. VICENTE GUERRERO1782-1831 Vicente Guerrero, the first president of African ancestry, was born of mixed African, Spanish and Indian descent to a poor family in Tixtla near Acapulco. He was a mule driver before joining the revolt against Spain in 1810 fighting alongside future president José María Morelos. He seized power in April of 1829 with the aid of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana. During Guerrero’s short (eight months) presidency his most notable achievement was the abolition of slavery in Mexico. He was murdered in a counter coup in December of 1929. The state of Guerrero is named for this first president of African descent

  10. PIO PICO1801-1894 Pío Píco (1801-1894), was the last Mexican governor of California (1832, 1845-46) before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo which signaled the American occupation of the Western states. In later years he would become an influential businessman, mainly in real estate, and built a deluxe hotel called the Pico House. It was the largest hotel of its day. Pico also served on the Los Angeles City Council. His ancestry included a mixture of ethnicities, including Mexican, African, Indian, and Italian. The city of Pico Rivera and Pico Boulevard are named after him. Pío Píco and his wife Ygnacia (Nachita Alvarado de Pico) Photograph courtesy Ted Vincent, Black Indian Mexico Website

  11. ISABEL DE OLVERA • Isabel de Olvera, a servant in the expedition of Juan Guerra de Resa , became the first free woman of African Ancestry to venture into Northern New Spain (Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1600). De Resa’s mission was to strengthen the colony of New Mexico on behalf of the Spanish Crown. De Olvera’s presence predates the arrival of Blacks in Jamestown by many years. An articulate woman, de Olvera presented herself before the mayor on January 8, 1600 gave the following affidavit—a petition for her freedom: • “As I am going on the expedition to New Mexico and have reason to fear that I may be annoyed by some individual since I am a mulatto, and as it is proper to protect my rights in such an eventuality by an affidavit showing that I am a free women, unmarried, and the legitimate daughter of Hernando, a negro and an Indian named Magdalena, I therefore request your grace to accept this affidavit, which show that I am free and not bound by marriage or slavery.  I request • that a properly certified and signed copy be given to me in order to protect my rights, and that it carry full legal authority.  I demand justice.”* • *Source: George P. Hammond, and Agapito Rey, eds., Don Juan de Onate: Colonizer of New Mexico, 1595-1628 (Albuquerque, 1953), pp. 560-562.

  12. ANDRES PICO1810-1876 Andrés Pico (1810-1876 ) was Commander-in-chief of the California Forces under the Mexican Flag. On behalf of Mexico, he signed the Treaty of Cahuenga in 1847 which was consolidated into the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. After California became an American state, Pico was California State Assemblyman for multiple terms during 1851-60. A rancher, in addition to being a businessman, Píco at one point leased the entire San Fernando Valley. Photograph courtesy California Faces: Selections from the Bancroft Library Portrait Collection, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley

  13. Los Pobladores PlaqueEl Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historical Park Librarian and historian Miriam Matthews (1905-2003) proposed and fought to have a monument erected honoring the forty-four founders of the City of Los Angeles, properly listing each member of the 11 families by name, race, sex, and age from the official Spanish Census of 1781. It was erected upon the occasion of the Bicentennial in 1976.

  14. Early African Presence in Los Angeles • Did you know that… Of the forty-four pobladores or settlers of Los Angeles or El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles on September 4, 1781--twenty-six were of African descent. The Spanish crown recruited the new Angelenos from the town of Rosario, Sinaloa in Mexico with the promise of free land. The census showed that two-thirds of Rosario’s population were of African descent. Descendants of these early settlers would go on to contribute much to the civic life of the fledgling city: • Juan Francisco Reyes served as the first Black mayor of Los Angeles from 1793-1795. He was the original owner of the San Fernando Valley Rancho and the first grantee of the San Fernando Valley proper. • Manuel Camero, of African descent, was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1788. • Tiburcio Tápia, grandson of Felipe Tápia (of African descent) served three terms as mayor and later a judge in the years following 1833. • Maria Rita Valdez, granddaughter of Luis Quintero (one of original Black founders of Los Angeles in 1781) acquired the rancho Rio Rodeo de las Aguas today known as Beverly Hills when her husband Vicente Ferrer Valdez died. This adobe stood across the road from the Beverly Hills Hotel as late as 1920s and is the present-day intersection of Sunset and Alpine.

  15. Original Plan of El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles The original plan of the Spanish El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles or Los Angeles in 1781. The homes of Afro-Mexican settlers Manuel Camero, Jose Moreno and Basilio Rosas are among them. Courtesy of Shades of LA, Los Angeles Public Library

  16. © 2006 Alva Moore Stevenson

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