loyola llothta
☭☭☭
Haiti - Economy: The IMF estimates that Haiti's debt to 28.9% of GDP in 2017
Haïti - Économie : Le FMI estime à 28,9% du PIB la dette d’Haïti en 2017 - HaitiLibre.com : Toutes les nouvelles d’Haiti 7/7
Essential Afro-Latino/ Caribbean Current Events
- Thread starter Poitier
- Start date
Haiti - Economy: The IMF estimates that Haiti's debt to 28.9% of GDP in 2017
Haïti - Économie : Le FMI estime à 28,9% du PIB la dette d’Haïti en 2017 - HaitiLibre.com : Toutes les nouvelles d’Haiti 7/7
loyola llothta
☭☭☭
US Media Distorts Venezuela’s Food Crisis
Full article :
Blaming Socialism, US Media Distorts Venezuela’s Food Crisis
Full article :
Blaming Socialism, US Media Distorts Venezuela’s Food Crisis
loyola llothta
☭☭☭
Bolivia, Russia Building Peaceful Nuclear Research Center
Bolivia, Russia Building Peaceful Nuclear Research Center
Bolivia, Russia Building Peaceful Nuclear Research Center
Yo can we stop with the nonsense
Maduro is garbage
Venezuela is garbage
Just because they are anti us doesn't mean they're doing everything great
INSPIRING LATINA: MEET NOËLLE SANTOS, AN AFRO-BORICUA CAMPAIGNING FOR THE ONLY BOOKSTORE IN THE BRONX
BY BIANCA MERCADO • FEBRUARY 21, 2017 • 11:42AM
Noelle Santos is determined to bring her dual purposed vision of an indie bookstore and wine bar, ingeniously named The Lit. Bar, to the Bronx, a New York borough without one single bookstore. “Lit like literature. Lit like drunk. Lit with passion to kill stigmas overdue to be debunked,” she says of her latest undertaking.
MORE: Inspiring Latina: Meet Chloe Fernandez, a 9-Year-Old Author Living with PCD
At the start of the year, 1.5 million locals were left bare of hardcovers after a Barnes & Noble in the Bay Plaza Shopping Center closed its doors. Santos, who is Afro-Puerto Rican, stood with 3,000 Bronxites protesting the closing of the Barnes & Noble – and then hit the ground running toward uplifting her community. She structured her blueprint and placed second in the New York Public Library StartUP! Business Plan Competition, earning $7,500. Today, she has raised more than $71,000 toward her $100,000 goal via Indiegogo. She is optimistic and requests that “you open your hearts to help us show the world what many fail to see: that the Bronx is no longer burning … except with desire to read.”
We caught up with the Inspiring Latina, where she shared her vision, her activism and a message for Afro-Latinas.
The petition to stop Barnes & Noble from closing is what sparked the fire for you to establish The Lit. Bar, correct?
The only general-interest Bronx bookstore was in jeopardy. I saw the petition online that made the owners extend the bookstore lease for two more years. That exasperated me – I’ve been working on establishing The Lit. Bar since. Our Barnes & Noble closed this past New Year’s Eve.
What is the vision of your bookstore?
This is going to be a true community space. It will bless the borough. Indies are thriving and Barnes & Noble is not because we cater to our niche markets. We may be in competition with Amazon.com; however, we offer something Amazon can’t: an experience. Our communities are being gentrified, but I want to help preserve Bronx culture, as much as I can. I want us to have a safe space in the South Bronx to share dialogue, especially in this political climate.
What is your message to other Afro-Latinas, or women as a whole?
It’s all about women supporting women. Our culture is such an advantage. My mother is Puerto Rican. People ask me, “What are your challenges as a Black woman?” But I do not try to simulate – I am just myself. The more authentic I am, the more people I attract. Latinas just have a natural sexy going for us. [Laughs]
I agree.
I want to see more women of color proud of themselves. We don’t need to assemble ourselves to reflect other people’s culture because we bring something special to the table. A lot of the press I connect with finds me being Afro-Latina so interesting. I’m completely comfortable with my heritage, it makes me stand out from the pack.
You’re an HR professional by day but write online. It’s impressive. I identify with your dream of graffiti meets chandelier. Walk us through your bookstore.
You’re what we call a sophisti-ratchet. [Laughs] I want my wine bar to be made of books with comfortable seating that invites long stays. I see social drinking and introverted readings. At Barnes & Noble, there is nowhere you can hideaway. It’s not very warm. Sometimes I’ll just sit on the floor in there, and the security tells me I am a fire hazard.
The Lit. Bar will feel like home. There will be areas for communal groups to meet, like my book club the Readers & Shakers. The book club is for girlfriends going places, both literary and literally. It’s accessible – I don’t want locals to feel like they can’t afford their book club.
Nice. Where will your activism take you in 2017?
You know, a lot of people call me that and it wasn’t my plan – I’m an unintentional activist. [Laughs] No matter what I have to do, my store will be open this year! I will lose these 15 pounds I gained because entrepreneurship is so fattening. [Laughs]
PLUS: This New Bilingual Children’s Book Teaches Young Latinas That Beauty Comes in All Colors
What do you want people to know about you?
That I am bad and boujee. I am South Bronx savvy, and I catch a lot of flack. People say this concept of bringing books and wine to the Bronx is really white. I reject that! I know a lot of people from the Bronx, who are like me. The media only highlights negative Bronx activities to the public. We often measure our success by how far away we get from the Bronx. I want to change that narrative. I challenge other Bronxites to stay here and develop our own.
I used to be one of them. I was planning to move to Long Island City to have grass and a better quality of life. Still, I felt like a coward leaving The Bronx in no better condition then while here. So, I stayed and that is what people need to know. We exist. We have intellectuals, and there is no shame in being classy from the Bronx. If we commit to being the change we want to see, our neighborhood will have things that serve us. If we leave it to politicians, we’re never going to have anything.
Get Involved and Support The Lit. Bar here.
Inspiring Latina: Meet Noëlle Santos, An Afro-Boricua Campaigning for the Only Bookstore In the Bronx
BY BIANCA MERCADO • FEBRUARY 21, 2017 • 11:42AM
Noelle Santos is determined to bring her dual purposed vision of an indie bookstore and wine bar, ingeniously named The Lit. Bar, to the Bronx, a New York borough without one single bookstore. “Lit like literature. Lit like drunk. Lit with passion to kill stigmas overdue to be debunked,” she says of her latest undertaking.
MORE: Inspiring Latina: Meet Chloe Fernandez, a 9-Year-Old Author Living with PCD
At the start of the year, 1.5 million locals were left bare of hardcovers after a Barnes & Noble in the Bay Plaza Shopping Center closed its doors. Santos, who is Afro-Puerto Rican, stood with 3,000 Bronxites protesting the closing of the Barnes & Noble – and then hit the ground running toward uplifting her community. She structured her blueprint and placed second in the New York Public Library StartUP! Business Plan Competition, earning $7,500. Today, she has raised more than $71,000 toward her $100,000 goal via Indiegogo. She is optimistic and requests that “you open your hearts to help us show the world what many fail to see: that the Bronx is no longer burning … except with desire to read.”
We caught up with the Inspiring Latina, where she shared her vision, her activism and a message for Afro-Latinas.
The petition to stop Barnes & Noble from closing is what sparked the fire for you to establish The Lit. Bar, correct?
The only general-interest Bronx bookstore was in jeopardy. I saw the petition online that made the owners extend the bookstore lease for two more years. That exasperated me – I’ve been working on establishing The Lit. Bar since. Our Barnes & Noble closed this past New Year’s Eve.
What is the vision of your bookstore?
This is going to be a true community space. It will bless the borough. Indies are thriving and Barnes & Noble is not because we cater to our niche markets. We may be in competition with Amazon.com; however, we offer something Amazon can’t: an experience. Our communities are being gentrified, but I want to help preserve Bronx culture, as much as I can. I want us to have a safe space in the South Bronx to share dialogue, especially in this political climate.
What is your message to other Afro-Latinas, or women as a whole?
It’s all about women supporting women. Our culture is such an advantage. My mother is Puerto Rican. People ask me, “What are your challenges as a Black woman?” But I do not try to simulate – I am just myself. The more authentic I am, the more people I attract. Latinas just have a natural sexy going for us. [Laughs]
I agree.
I want to see more women of color proud of themselves. We don’t need to assemble ourselves to reflect other people’s culture because we bring something special to the table. A lot of the press I connect with finds me being Afro-Latina so interesting. I’m completely comfortable with my heritage, it makes me stand out from the pack.
You’re an HR professional by day but write online. It’s impressive. I identify with your dream of graffiti meets chandelier. Walk us through your bookstore.
You’re what we call a sophisti-ratchet. [Laughs] I want my wine bar to be made of books with comfortable seating that invites long stays. I see social drinking and introverted readings. At Barnes & Noble, there is nowhere you can hideaway. It’s not very warm. Sometimes I’ll just sit on the floor in there, and the security tells me I am a fire hazard.
The Lit. Bar will feel like home. There will be areas for communal groups to meet, like my book club the Readers & Shakers. The book club is for girlfriends going places, both literary and literally. It’s accessible – I don’t want locals to feel like they can’t afford their book club.
Nice. Where will your activism take you in 2017?
You know, a lot of people call me that and it wasn’t my plan – I’m an unintentional activist. [Laughs] No matter what I have to do, my store will be open this year! I will lose these 15 pounds I gained because entrepreneurship is so fattening. [Laughs]
PLUS: This New Bilingual Children’s Book Teaches Young Latinas That Beauty Comes in All Colors
What do you want people to know about you?
That I am bad and boujee. I am South Bronx savvy, and I catch a lot of flack. People say this concept of bringing books and wine to the Bronx is really white. I reject that! I know a lot of people from the Bronx, who are like me. The media only highlights negative Bronx activities to the public. We often measure our success by how far away we get from the Bronx. I want to change that narrative. I challenge other Bronxites to stay here and develop our own.
I used to be one of them. I was planning to move to Long Island City to have grass and a better quality of life. Still, I felt like a coward leaving The Bronx in no better condition then while here. So, I stayed and that is what people need to know. We exist. We have intellectuals, and there is no shame in being classy from the Bronx. If we commit to being the change we want to see, our neighborhood will have things that serve us. If we leave it to politicians, we’re never going to have anything.
Get Involved and Support The Lit. Bar here.
Inspiring Latina: Meet Noëlle Santos, An Afro-Boricua Campaigning for the Only Bookstore In the Bronx
King P
Legends Never Die
INSPIRING LATINA: MEET NOËLLE SANTOS, AN AFRO-BORICUA CAMPAIGNING FOR THE ONLY BOOKSTORE IN THE BRONX
BY BIANCA MERCADO • FEBRUARY 21, 2017 • 11:42AM
Noelle Santos is determined to bring her dual purposed vision of an indie bookstore and wine bar, ingeniously named The Lit. Bar, to the Bronx, a New York borough without one single bookstore. “Lit like literature. Lit like drunk. Lit with passion to kill stigmas overdue to be debunked,” she says of her latest undertaking.
MORE: Inspiring Latina: Meet Chloe Fernandez, a 9-Year-Old Author Living with PCD
At the start of the year, 1.5 million locals were left bare of hardcovers after a Barnes & Noble in the Bay Plaza Shopping Center closed its doors. Santos, who is Afro-Puerto Rican, stood with 3,000 Bronxites protesting the closing of the Barnes & Noble – and then hit the ground running toward uplifting her community. She structured her blueprint and placed second in the New York Public Library StartUP! Business Plan Competition, earning $7,500. Today, she has raised more than $71,000 toward her $100,000 goal via Indiegogo. She is optimistic and requests that “you open your hearts to help us show the world what many fail to see: that the Bronx is no longer burning … except with desire to read.”
We caught up with the Inspiring Latina, where she shared her vision, her activism and a message for Afro-Latinas.
The petition to stop Barnes & Noble from closing is what sparked the fire for you to establish The Lit. Bar, correct?
The only general-interest Bronx bookstore was in jeopardy. I saw the petition online that made the owners extend the bookstore lease for two more years. That exasperated me – I’ve been working on establishing The Lit. Bar since. Our Barnes & Noble closed this past New Year’s Eve.
What is the vision of your bookstore?
This is going to be a true community space. It will bless the borough. Indies are thriving and Barnes & Noble is not because we cater to our niche markets. We may be in competition with Amazon.com; however, we offer something Amazon can’t: an experience. Our communities are being gentrified, but I want to help preserve Bronx culture, as much as I can. I want us to have a safe space in the South Bronx to share dialogue, especially in this political climate.
What is your message to other Afro-Latinas, or women as a whole?
It’s all about women supporting women. Our culture is such an advantage. My mother is Puerto Rican. People ask me, “What are your challenges as a Black woman?” But I do not try to simulate – I am just myself. The more authentic I am, the more people I attract. Latinas just have a natural sexy going for us. [Laughs]
I agree.
I want to see more women of color proud of themselves. We don’t need to assemble ourselves to reflect other people’s culture because we bring something special to the table. A lot of the press I connect with finds me being Afro-Latina so interesting. I’m completely comfortable with my heritage, it makes me stand out from the pack.
You’re an HR professional by day but write online. It’s impressive. I identify with your dream of graffiti meets chandelier. Walk us through your bookstore.
You’re what we call a sophisti-ratchet. [Laughs] I want my wine bar to be made of books with comfortable seating that invites long stays. I see social drinking and introverted readings. At Barnes & Noble, there is nowhere you can hideaway. It’s not very warm. Sometimes I’ll just sit on the floor in there, and the security tells me I am a fire hazard.
The Lit. Bar will feel like home. There will be areas for communal groups to meet, like my book club the Readers & Shakers. The book club is for girlfriends going places, both literary and literally. It’s accessible – I don’t want locals to feel like they can’t afford their book club.
Nice. Where will your activism take you in 2017?
You know, a lot of people call me that and it wasn’t my plan – I’m an unintentional activist. [Laughs] No matter what I have to do, my store will be open this year! I will lose these 15 pounds I gained because entrepreneurship is so fattening. [Laughs]
PLUS: This New Bilingual Children’s Book Teaches Young Latinas That Beauty Comes in All Colors
What do you want people to know about you?
That I am bad and boujee. I am South Bronx savvy, and I catch a lot of flack. People say this concept of bringing books and wine to the Bronx is really white. I reject that! I know a lot of people from the Bronx, who are like me. The media only highlights negative Bronx activities to the public. We often measure our success by how far away we get from the Bronx. I want to change that narrative. I challenge other Bronxites to stay here and develop our own.
I used to be one of them. I was planning to move to Long Island City to have grass and a better quality of life. Still, I felt like a coward leaving The Bronx in no better condition then while here. So, I stayed and that is what people need to know. We exist. We have intellectuals, and there is no shame in being classy from the Bronx. If we commit to being the change we want to see, our neighborhood will have things that serve us. If we leave it to politicians, we’re never going to have anything.
Get Involved and Support The Lit. Bar here.
Inspiring Latina: Meet Noëlle Santos, An Afro-Boricua Campaigning for the Only Bookstore In the Bronx
Definitely supporting this
loyola llothta
☭☭☭
I have no issues with Venezuela
I like Chavez but he was no above criticism
And Maduro is trash
Venezuelans fleeing willy nilly
Big Win for Colombian Community Against Canadian Mining Giant
Small gold mine in Marmato, Colombia | Photo: EFE
Published 2 March 2017
The Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community of Marmato won a major court victory in their 10-year fight against a massive Canadian gold mine.
On Tuesday Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the residents of Marmato, a small Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community in the center of the country, in their 10-year fight against a massive open pit mine project by Canadian gold giant Gran Colombia Gold Corporation.
RELATED:
Canada Mining Companies in Latin America Have Blood on Hands
The court ruled that Colombia's Interior Ministry must first complete community consultations before the Canadian company can proceed with the project, which would require the demolition and relocation of the community.
The court also recognized the land rights of the Indigenous Cartama and Afro-Colombian Asojomar communities, as well as their traditional small-scale mining practices, which had been protected under Colombian law since 1946.
Judge Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva ruled that because 80 percent of the local population depends on subsistence mining activities, and because the project would require the displacement of the entire community, the initial 2007 granting of the concession to the Canadian mining company had to be reviewed.
In 2011, Father José Reinel Restrepo, the local parish priest, was murdered after returning from the capital Bogota after registering the Church's objection to the project.
OPINION:
Mining Corporations vs. Democracy
"The church declares itself in defense of the poor, and the small scale miners of Marmato are at real risk of losing their jobs in this situation," Restrepo said in a video statement made four days before his murder. "The company doesn't provide them with an alternative to their jobs because the company wants to use open-pit mining, displacing the population and exploiting this area in a short period of time."
"They will have to kill me with bullets or machetes to get me out of there," he concluded.
On Monday of this week, Gran Colombia launched a US$700 million lawsuit against the Colombian government and local officials, accusing them of violating the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement by not proceeding with the relocation of the community.
In the lawsuit, the company also accuses the ELN guerillas of interfering with its mining installations.
Big Win for Colombian Community Against Canadian Mining Giant
Small gold mine in Marmato, Colombia | Photo: EFE
Published 2 March 2017
The Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community of Marmato won a major court victory in their 10-year fight against a massive Canadian gold mine.
On Tuesday Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the residents of Marmato, a small Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community in the center of the country, in their 10-year fight against a massive open pit mine project by Canadian gold giant Gran Colombia Gold Corporation.
RELATED:
Canada Mining Companies in Latin America Have Blood on Hands
The court ruled that Colombia's Interior Ministry must first complete community consultations before the Canadian company can proceed with the project, which would require the demolition and relocation of the community.
The court also recognized the land rights of the Indigenous Cartama and Afro-Colombian Asojomar communities, as well as their traditional small-scale mining practices, which had been protected under Colombian law since 1946.
Judge Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva ruled that because 80 percent of the local population depends on subsistence mining activities, and because the project would require the displacement of the entire community, the initial 2007 granting of the concession to the Canadian mining company had to be reviewed.
In 2011, Father José Reinel Restrepo, the local parish priest, was murdered after returning from the capital Bogota after registering the Church's objection to the project.
OPINION:
Mining Corporations vs. Democracy
"The church declares itself in defense of the poor, and the small scale miners of Marmato are at real risk of losing their jobs in this situation," Restrepo said in a video statement made four days before his murder. "The company doesn't provide them with an alternative to their jobs because the company wants to use open-pit mining, displacing the population and exploiting this area in a short period of time."
"They will have to kill me with bullets or machetes to get me out of there," he concluded.
On Monday of this week, Gran Colombia launched a US$700 million lawsuit against the Colombian government and local officials, accusing them of violating the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement by not proceeding with the relocation of the community.
In the lawsuit, the company also accuses the ELN guerillas of interfering with its mining installations.
Big Win for Colombian Community Against Canadian Mining Giant
Guyana says future oil output could be refined in Trinidad, Suriname
Thu Mar 2, 2017 9:11pm GMT
GEORGETOWN, March 2 (Reuters) - The South American nation of Guyana could send future oil production to Trinidad and Tobago or Suriname for refining, a government official said on Thursday.
Exxon Mobil Corp and partner companies say they have found between 800 million and 1.4 billion barrels of oil off the coast of Guyana, with production expected for 2020.
"We recently had some overtures made by the government of Trinidad and Tobago ... they are operating right now below optimum and they are importing oil from Nigeria," Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman told reporters.
"Suriname has also indicated a willingness to do refining for Guyana. Why? Because they too have a refinery which is performing under par."
Guyana, which currently does not produce oil, is considering whether it would make economic sense to build its own refinery, Trotman said.
The crude discovery triggered a diplomatic dispute with neighboring Venezuela, which lays claim to a portion of Guyana as part of a long-standing border dispute. Guyana says the countries' border was settled over a century ago.
Venezuela has in the past supplied crude to Petrotrin's 168,000-barrel-per-day Pointe-a-Pierre refinery in Trinidad, but is no longer doing so amid ongoing oilfield production problems. (Reporting by Neil Marks; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Guyana says future oil output could be refined in Trinidad, Suriname
Thu Mar 2, 2017 9:11pm GMT
GEORGETOWN, March 2 (Reuters) - The South American nation of Guyana could send future oil production to Trinidad and Tobago or Suriname for refining, a government official said on Thursday.
Exxon Mobil Corp and partner companies say they have found between 800 million and 1.4 billion barrels of oil off the coast of Guyana, with production expected for 2020.
"We recently had some overtures made by the government of Trinidad and Tobago ... they are operating right now below optimum and they are importing oil from Nigeria," Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman told reporters.
"Suriname has also indicated a willingness to do refining for Guyana. Why? Because they too have a refinery which is performing under par."
Guyana, which currently does not produce oil, is considering whether it would make economic sense to build its own refinery, Trotman said.
The crude discovery triggered a diplomatic dispute with neighboring Venezuela, which lays claim to a portion of Guyana as part of a long-standing border dispute. Guyana says the countries' border was settled over a century ago.
Venezuela has in the past supplied crude to Petrotrin's 168,000-barrel-per-day Pointe-a-Pierre refinery in Trinidad, but is no longer doing so amid ongoing oilfield production problems. (Reporting by Neil Marks; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Guyana says future oil output could be refined in Trinidad, Suriname
loyola llothta
☭☭☭
This is what haitians need to doBig Win for Colombian Community Against Canadian Mining Giant
Small gold mine in Marmato, Colombia | Photo: EFE
Published 2 March 2017
The Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community of Marmato won a major court victory in their 10-year fight against a massive Canadian gold mine.
On Tuesday Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the residents of Marmato, a small Indigenous and Afro-Colombian community in the center of the country, in their 10-year fight against a massive open pit mine project by Canadian gold giant Gran Colombia Gold Corporation.
RELATED:
Canada Mining Companies in Latin America Have Blood on Hands
The court ruled that Colombia's Interior Ministry must first complete community consultations before the Canadian company can proceed with the project, which would require the demolition and relocation of the community.
The court also recognized the land rights of the Indigenous Cartama and Afro-Colombian Asojomar communities, as well as their traditional small-scale mining practices, which had been protected under Colombian law since 1946.
Judge Luis Ernesto Vargas Silva ruled that because 80 percent of the local population depends on subsistence mining activities, and because the project would require the displacement of the entire community, the initial 2007 granting of the concession to the Canadian mining company had to be reviewed.
In 2011, Father José Reinel Restrepo, the local parish priest, was murdered after returning from the capital Bogota after registering the Church's objection to the project.
OPINION:
Mining Corporations vs. Democracy
"The church declares itself in defense of the poor, and the small scale miners of Marmato are at real risk of losing their jobs in this situation," Restrepo said in a video statement made four days before his murder. "The company doesn't provide them with an alternative to their jobs because the company wants to use open-pit mining, displacing the population and exploiting this area in a short period of time."
"They will have to kill me with bullets or machetes to get me out of there," he concluded.
On Monday of this week, Gran Colombia launched a US$700 million lawsuit against the Colombian government and local officials, accusing them of violating the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement by not proceeding with the relocation of the community.
In the lawsuit, the company also accuses the ELN guerillas of interfering with its mining installations.
Big Win for Colombian Community Against Canadian Mining Giant
INSPIRING LATINA: MEET NOËLLE SANTOS, AN AFRO-BORICUA CAMPAIGNING FOR THE ONLY BOOKSTORE IN THE BRONX
BY BIANCA MERCADO • FEBRUARY 21, 2017 • 11:42AM
Noelle Santos is determined to bring her dual purposed vision of an indie bookstore and wine bar, ingeniously named The Lit. Bar, to the Bronx, a New York borough without one single bookstore. “Lit like literature. Lit like drunk. Lit with passion to kill stigmas overdue to be debunked,” she says of her latest undertaking.
MORE: Inspiring Latina: Meet Chloe Fernandez, a 9-Year-Old Author Living with PCD
At the start of the year, 1.5 million locals were left bare of hardcovers after a Barnes & Noble in the Bay Plaza Shopping Center closed its doors. Santos, who is Afro-Puerto Rican, stood with 3,000 Bronxites protesting the closing of the Barnes & Noble – and then hit the ground running toward uplifting her community. She structured her blueprint and placed second in the New York Public Library StartUP! Business Plan Competition, earning $7,500. Today, she has raised more than $71,000 toward her $100,000 goal via Indiegogo. She is optimistic and requests that “you open your hearts to help us show the world what many fail to see: that the Bronx is no longer burning … except with desire to read.”
We caught up with the Inspiring Latina, where she shared her vision, her activism and a message for Afro-Latinas.
The petition to stop Barnes & Noble from closing is what sparked the fire for you to establish The Lit. Bar, correct?
The only general-interest Bronx bookstore was in jeopardy. I saw the petition online that made the owners extend the bookstore lease for two more years. That exasperated me – I’ve been working on establishing The Lit. Bar since. Our Barnes & Noble closed this past New Year’s Eve.
What is the vision of your bookstore?
This is going to be a true community space. It will bless the borough. Indies are thriving and Barnes & Noble is not because we cater to our niche markets. We may be in competition with Amazon.com; however, we offer something Amazon can’t: an experience. Our communities are being gentrified, but I want to help preserve Bronx culture, as much as I can. I want us to have a safe space in the South Bronx to share dialogue, especially in this political climate.
What is your message to other Afro-Latinas, or women as a whole?
It’s all about women supporting women. Our culture is such an advantage. My mother is Puerto Rican. People ask me, “What are your challenges as a Black woman?” But I do not try to simulate – I am just myself. The more authentic I am, the more people I attract. Latinas just have a natural sexy going for us. [Laughs]
I agree.
I want to see more women of color proud of themselves. We don’t need to assemble ourselves to reflect other people’s culture because we bring something special to the table. A lot of the press I connect with finds me being Afro-Latina so interesting. I’m completely comfortable with my heritage, it makes me stand out from the pack.
You’re an HR professional by day but write online. It’s impressive. I identify with your dream of graffiti meets chandelier. Walk us through your bookstore.
You’re what we call a sophisti-ratchet. [Laughs] I want my wine bar to be made of books with comfortable seating that invites long stays. I see social drinking and introverted readings. At Barnes & Noble, there is nowhere you can hideaway. It’s not very warm. Sometimes I’ll just sit on the floor in there, and the security tells me I am a fire hazard.
The Lit. Bar will feel like home. There will be areas for communal groups to meet, like my book club the Readers & Shakers. The book club is for girlfriends going places, both literary and literally. It’s accessible – I don’t want locals to feel like they can’t afford their book club.
Nice. Where will your activism take you in 2017?
You know, a lot of people call me that and it wasn’t my plan – I’m an unintentional activist. [Laughs] No matter what I have to do, my store will be open this year! I will lose these 15 pounds I gained because entrepreneurship is so fattening. [Laughs]
PLUS: This New Bilingual Children’s Book Teaches Young Latinas That Beauty Comes in All Colors
What do you want people to know about you?
That I am bad and boujee. I am South Bronx savvy, and I catch a lot of flack. People say this concept of bringing books and wine to the Bronx is really white. I reject that! I know a lot of people from the Bronx, who are like me. The media only highlights negative Bronx activities to the public. We often measure our success by how far away we get from the Bronx. I want to change that narrative. I challenge other Bronxites to stay here and develop our own.
I used to be one of them. I was planning to move to Long Island City to have grass and a better quality of life. Still, I felt like a coward leaving The Bronx in no better condition then while here. So, I stayed and that is what people need to know. We exist. We have intellectuals, and there is no shame in being classy from the Bronx. If we commit to being the change we want to see, our neighborhood will have things that serve us. If we leave it to politicians, we’re never going to have anything.
Get Involved and Support The Lit. Bar here.
Inspiring Latina: Meet Noëlle Santos, An Afro-Boricua Campaigning for the Only Bookstore In the Bronx
The Bronx has no bookstores?
That's newsworthy of itself.
For Afro-Chileans, First Step Is Getting Counted
BY ARTHUR WILLIAMS | MARCH 7, 2017
How Chile's Afro-descendant rights groups are pushing for inclusion in the national census.
An Afro-Chilean Easter celebration in Arica, Chile. Ibar Silva C. (flickr) Jan. 6, 2015 CC by NC - ND 2.0
Seventeen years ago, a group of Latin American and Caribbean NGOs, government agencies and regional bodies officially adopted the term “Afro-descendant” to refer to the region’s approximately 150 million citizens of African origin. The occasion was the Latin American Regional Conference Against Racism in Santiago, and the host was the government of Chile.
Ironically, nearly two decades later and Chile is one of just a handful of countries in Latin America that do not explicitly include an Afro-descendant category on their official census forms. Despite a push from Chile’s Afro-descendant community, that absence will continue in a condensed census set to take place on April 19.
“Afro-descendant people’s fight for inclusion in Chile’s national statistics started in 2005 ... There is a vicious cycle of the state denying the existence of Afro-descendants,” said Cristian Báez, director of the Afro-Chilean NGO Lumbanga.
The National Institute of Statistics’ (INE) decision not to incorporate the category “Afro-descendant/Black” in a question about inclusion in indigenous and ethnic groups in this year’s census came as a surprise to some activists. They say that a 2013 regional pilot project by the INE, which identified approximately 8,415 Afro-descendant people in Arica and Parinacota in northern Chile, was supposed to be a precursor to a reference in future censuses.
“There is an understanding now that Afro-descendants exist in the Arica and Parinacota region,” Báez said, adding that when the decision was made to conduct a partial census in 2017 (in addition to a full survey in 2022) his expectation was that an Afro-descendant category would be included.
Representatives from the INE say that was not the case. National director Ximena Clark Núñez said in a statement that the 2017 "abbreviated census" was intended to correct measurements from the full census conducted in 2012, and would only ask questions that "apply to all of the population of the country.” Furthermore, she said that the northern Chile pilot project did not officially recognize Afro-descendant people, nor did it bind the INE to consider or include them in future statistics. As of publication, the INE had not responded to AQ’s requests for comment.
Mara Loveman, a sociologist and author of National Colors: Racial Classification and the State in Latin America, told AQ that the INE’s refusal to acknowledge the country’s Afro-descendant population was emblematic of the community’s social and political invisibility.
“As long as you don’t count (Afro-Chileans) then you can continue to insist that they aren’t there and so there is a certain circularity in the response from the INE ... They aren’t visible precisely because they have never had a chance to be visible,” Loveman told AQ.
Afro-descendant groups’ latest push comes in an election year that has seen presidential candidates employ anti-immigrant rhetoric to bolster their support, including by partially attributing the country’s problems with crime and drug trafficking to the presence of immigrants. Recent polls show that approximately 45 percent of respondents believe immigration is bad for Chile. That’s a concern for Afro-Chileans who, especially in larger cities, are often mistaken for Afro-Peruvians, Afro-Venezuelans, Haitians, or other immigrant populations that have recently entered the country in large numbers.
“The problem with immigration in this country isn’t based on nationality but rather race,” said Báez. “The conflict that immigrants experience in this country is because they are black or indigenous… the white, blonde Colombian or Peruvian, for example, doesn’t have any problems here.”
The question of inclusion in the census is more than just a matter of statistics, said Judith Morrison, a senior adviser on gender and diversity at the Inter-American Development Bank. She told AQ that census data are an essential ingredient of social inclusion.
“There are still major challenges to get Afro-descendants (in Latin America) incorporated in political and economic spaces in their countries, whether it's in discussions around public policies, economics, or labor force participation,” said Morrison. “It is extraordinarily important from a development standpoint to have good access to data.”
Activists in Chile filed legal actions against the INE to get an Afro-descendant category included in the official census, but their case was denied by both the lower and supreme courts. Báez told AQ that they would resort to campaigning ahead of the April 19 census in an effort to get as many Afro-Chileans as possible to write Afro-descendant in the “other” category of the census form. Given the size of Chile's unrecognized Afro-descendant population, said Báez, that may make them hard to ignore by the time the full census gets underway in 2022.
--
Williams is an editorial intern for AQ. He is from Jamaica.
Any opinions expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Quarterly or its publishers.
For Afro-Chileans, First Step Is Getting Counted
BY ARTHUR WILLIAMS | MARCH 7, 2017
How Chile's Afro-descendant rights groups are pushing for inclusion in the national census.
An Afro-Chilean Easter celebration in Arica, Chile. Ibar Silva C. (flickr) Jan. 6, 2015 CC by NC - ND 2.0
Seventeen years ago, a group of Latin American and Caribbean NGOs, government agencies and regional bodies officially adopted the term “Afro-descendant” to refer to the region’s approximately 150 million citizens of African origin. The occasion was the Latin American Regional Conference Against Racism in Santiago, and the host was the government of Chile.
Ironically, nearly two decades later and Chile is one of just a handful of countries in Latin America that do not explicitly include an Afro-descendant category on their official census forms. Despite a push from Chile’s Afro-descendant community, that absence will continue in a condensed census set to take place on April 19.
“Afro-descendant people’s fight for inclusion in Chile’s national statistics started in 2005 ... There is a vicious cycle of the state denying the existence of Afro-descendants,” said Cristian Báez, director of the Afro-Chilean NGO Lumbanga.
The National Institute of Statistics’ (INE) decision not to incorporate the category “Afro-descendant/Black” in a question about inclusion in indigenous and ethnic groups in this year’s census came as a surprise to some activists. They say that a 2013 regional pilot project by the INE, which identified approximately 8,415 Afro-descendant people in Arica and Parinacota in northern Chile, was supposed to be a precursor to a reference in future censuses.
“There is an understanding now that Afro-descendants exist in the Arica and Parinacota region,” Báez said, adding that when the decision was made to conduct a partial census in 2017 (in addition to a full survey in 2022) his expectation was that an Afro-descendant category would be included.
Representatives from the INE say that was not the case. National director Ximena Clark Núñez said in a statement that the 2017 "abbreviated census" was intended to correct measurements from the full census conducted in 2012, and would only ask questions that "apply to all of the population of the country.” Furthermore, she said that the northern Chile pilot project did not officially recognize Afro-descendant people, nor did it bind the INE to consider or include them in future statistics. As of publication, the INE had not responded to AQ’s requests for comment.
Mara Loveman, a sociologist and author of National Colors: Racial Classification and the State in Latin America, told AQ that the INE’s refusal to acknowledge the country’s Afro-descendant population was emblematic of the community’s social and political invisibility.
“As long as you don’t count (Afro-Chileans) then you can continue to insist that they aren’t there and so there is a certain circularity in the response from the INE ... They aren’t visible precisely because they have never had a chance to be visible,” Loveman told AQ.
Afro-descendant groups’ latest push comes in an election year that has seen presidential candidates employ anti-immigrant rhetoric to bolster their support, including by partially attributing the country’s problems with crime and drug trafficking to the presence of immigrants. Recent polls show that approximately 45 percent of respondents believe immigration is bad for Chile. That’s a concern for Afro-Chileans who, especially in larger cities, are often mistaken for Afro-Peruvians, Afro-Venezuelans, Haitians, or other immigrant populations that have recently entered the country in large numbers.
“The problem with immigration in this country isn’t based on nationality but rather race,” said Báez. “The conflict that immigrants experience in this country is because they are black or indigenous… the white, blonde Colombian or Peruvian, for example, doesn’t have any problems here.”
The question of inclusion in the census is more than just a matter of statistics, said Judith Morrison, a senior adviser on gender and diversity at the Inter-American Development Bank. She told AQ that census data are an essential ingredient of social inclusion.
“There are still major challenges to get Afro-descendants (in Latin America) incorporated in political and economic spaces in their countries, whether it's in discussions around public policies, economics, or labor force participation,” said Morrison. “It is extraordinarily important from a development standpoint to have good access to data.”
Activists in Chile filed legal actions against the INE to get an Afro-descendant category included in the official census, but their case was denied by both the lower and supreme courts. Báez told AQ that they would resort to campaigning ahead of the April 19 census in an effort to get as many Afro-Chileans as possible to write Afro-descendant in the “other” category of the census form. Given the size of Chile's unrecognized Afro-descendant population, said Báez, that may make them hard to ignore by the time the full census gets underway in 2022.
--
Williams is an editorial intern for AQ. He is from Jamaica.
Any opinions expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Quarterly or its publishers.
For Afro-Chileans, First Step Is Getting Counted
How the 19th-century flow of indentured workers shapes the Caribbean
Mar 11th 2017 | PORT OF SPAIN
Sources of tension include child marriage and terrorism. But mostly, people get on fine
WHEN Anthony Carmona, the president of Trinidad and Tobago, showed up in a Carnival parade last month wearing a head cloth, white shorts and beads like those worn by Hindu pandits, he was not expecting trouble. Nothing seems more Trinidadian than a mixed-race president joining a festival that has African and European roots. But some Hindus were outraged. “[O]ur dress code has never been associated with this foolish and self-degrading season,” huffed a priest. Trinidad’s cultures blend easily most of the time; occasionally, they strike sparks.
The Hindu-bead controversy is not the only one ruffling feelings among Indo-Trinidadians. Another is caused by a proposal in parliament to raise the minimum age for marriage to 18 for all citizens. Currently, Muslim girls can marry at 12, girls of other faiths at 14. Muslim and Hindu traditionalists want to keep it that way.
Another argument has been provoked by the disproportionate number of Trinidadians who have joined Islamic State (IS). About 130 of the country’s 1.3m people are thought to have fought for the “caliphate” or accompanied people who have. That is a bigger share of the population than in any country outside the Middle East. The government wants a new law to crack down on home-grown jihadists, which some Muslim groups denounce as discriminatory. The attorney-general, Faris Al-Rawi, is guiding both measures through the legislature.
Both debates are causing unease in the communities that trace their origins to the influx of indentured workers in the 19th century. This month marks the 100th anniversary of the end of that flow. By bringing in large numbers of Indians, mostly Hindus and Muslims, the migration did much to shape the character of the Caribbean today (see chart). The arguments about marriage and terrorism are part of its legacy.
The migration from India began in 1838 as a way of replacing slavery, banned by Britain’s parliament five years earlier. Recruiters based in Calcutta trawled impoverished villages for workers willing to sign up for at least five years of labour—and usually ten—on plantations growing sugar, coconut and other crops in Trinidad, British Guiana (now Guyana), the Dutch colony of Suriname and elsewhere.
Workers were housed in fetid “coolie” barracks, many of which had served as slave quarters, and were paid a pittance of 25 cents a day, from which the cost of rations was deducted. Diseases like hookworm, caused by an intestinal parasite, were common.
But the labourers’ lot was better than that of enslaved Africans. Colonial governments in India and the Caribbean tried to prevent the worst abuses. Workers received some medical care and were not subject to the harsh punishments meted out to slaves, notes Radica Mahase, a historian. In some periods the colonial government offered workers inducements to stay at the end of a contract: five acres of land or five pounds in cash.
Opposition from Indian nationalists and shortages of shipping during the first world war prompted the British government of India to shut down the traffic on March 12th 1917. By then, more than half a million people had come to the Caribbean. Today, just over a third of Trinidad and Tobago’s people say they are of Indian origin, slightly more than the number of Afro-Trinidadians; the share is higher in Guyana, lower in Suriname. Hindus outnumber Muslims. Many, especially those whose forebears were educated at Presbyterian schools, are Christians.
Caribbean people of Indian origin are as successful and well-integrated as any social group. Many of Trinidad and Tobago’s state schools have religious affiliations but are ethnically mixed; the government pays most of their costs regardless of denomination. Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, and Diwali are public holidays. Many Hindus celebrate the religious festival of Shivaratri, then join in Carnival parades. “An individual can have multiple identities,” says Ms Mahase.
Politics still has ethnic contours. In Trinidad and Tobago, most voters of African origin support the People’s National Movement, which is now in power. Indo-Trinidadians tend to back the opposition United National Congress. Guyana’s president, David Granger, is from a predominantly Afro-Guyanese party.
But these distinctions are blurring. A growing number of Caribbean people identify with neither group. Nearly 40% of teenagers in Trinidad and a quarter in Guyana call themselves mixed-race or “other”, or do not state their ethnicity in census surveys. When both countries hold elections in 2020, these young people are likely to vote less tribally than their parents do.
Trinidad’s jihadist problem is in part caused by the choice of new identities rather than by the embrace of established ones. Many of IS’s recruits are Afro-Trinidadian converts to Islam. Mr Al-Rawi, who is leading the fight to stop them, claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad through his Iraqi father, but has a more relaxed view of religion. His mother is Presbyterian, his wife is a Catholic of Syrian origin and one of his grandfathers was a Hindu.
The anti-terrorist and child-marriage laws he is promoting, though seemingly unrelated, are rebukes to rigid forms of identity. The anti-terrorist law would make it a criminal offence within Trinidad to join or finance a terrorist organisation or commit a terrorist act overseas. People travelling to designated areas, such as Raqqa in Syria, would have to inform security agencies before they go and when they come back. Imtiaz Mohammed of the Islamic Missionaries Guild denounces the proposed law as “draconian”.
The proposal to end child marriage affects few families; just 3,500 adolescents married between 1996 and 2016, about 2% of all marriages. But it has been just as contentious as the anti-terrorism law. The winning calypso at this year’s Carnival, performed by Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool, a former teacher, was called “Learn from Arithmetic”. Its refrain, “75 can’t go into 14”, mocked Hindu marriage customs and implicitly backed the legislation to raise the marriage age. Satnarayan Maharaj, an 85-year-old Hindu leader, called it an insult.
The government has enough votes in parliament to pass the law in its current form, but opponents may challenge it in the courts. Traditionalists may thus hold on to an anachronism imported from India, at least for a while. The bead-wearing, calypso-dancing president is probably a better guide to what the future holds.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "Favouring curry"
How the 19th-century flow of indentured workers shapes the Caribbean
Mar 11th 2017 | PORT OF SPAIN
Sources of tension include child marriage and terrorism. But mostly, people get on fine
WHEN Anthony Carmona, the president of Trinidad and Tobago, showed up in a Carnival parade last month wearing a head cloth, white shorts and beads like those worn by Hindu pandits, he was not expecting trouble. Nothing seems more Trinidadian than a mixed-race president joining a festival that has African and European roots. But some Hindus were outraged. “[O]ur dress code has never been associated with this foolish and self-degrading season,” huffed a priest. Trinidad’s cultures blend easily most of the time; occasionally, they strike sparks.
The Hindu-bead controversy is not the only one ruffling feelings among Indo-Trinidadians. Another is caused by a proposal in parliament to raise the minimum age for marriage to 18 for all citizens. Currently, Muslim girls can marry at 12, girls of other faiths at 14. Muslim and Hindu traditionalists want to keep it that way.
Another argument has been provoked by the disproportionate number of Trinidadians who have joined Islamic State (IS). About 130 of the country’s 1.3m people are thought to have fought for the “caliphate” or accompanied people who have. That is a bigger share of the population than in any country outside the Middle East. The government wants a new law to crack down on home-grown jihadists, which some Muslim groups denounce as discriminatory. The attorney-general, Faris Al-Rawi, is guiding both measures through the legislature.
Both debates are causing unease in the communities that trace their origins to the influx of indentured workers in the 19th century. This month marks the 100th anniversary of the end of that flow. By bringing in large numbers of Indians, mostly Hindus and Muslims, the migration did much to shape the character of the Caribbean today (see chart). The arguments about marriage and terrorism are part of its legacy.
The migration from India began in 1838 as a way of replacing slavery, banned by Britain’s parliament five years earlier. Recruiters based in Calcutta trawled impoverished villages for workers willing to sign up for at least five years of labour—and usually ten—on plantations growing sugar, coconut and other crops in Trinidad, British Guiana (now Guyana), the Dutch colony of Suriname and elsewhere.
Workers were housed in fetid “coolie” barracks, many of which had served as slave quarters, and were paid a pittance of 25 cents a day, from which the cost of rations was deducted. Diseases like hookworm, caused by an intestinal parasite, were common.
But the labourers’ lot was better than that of enslaved Africans. Colonial governments in India and the Caribbean tried to prevent the worst abuses. Workers received some medical care and were not subject to the harsh punishments meted out to slaves, notes Radica Mahase, a historian. In some periods the colonial government offered workers inducements to stay at the end of a contract: five acres of land or five pounds in cash.
Opposition from Indian nationalists and shortages of shipping during the first world war prompted the British government of India to shut down the traffic on March 12th 1917. By then, more than half a million people had come to the Caribbean. Today, just over a third of Trinidad and Tobago’s people say they are of Indian origin, slightly more than the number of Afro-Trinidadians; the share is higher in Guyana, lower in Suriname. Hindus outnumber Muslims. Many, especially those whose forebears were educated at Presbyterian schools, are Christians.
Caribbean people of Indian origin are as successful and well-integrated as any social group. Many of Trinidad and Tobago’s state schools have religious affiliations but are ethnically mixed; the government pays most of their costs regardless of denomination. Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, and Diwali are public holidays. Many Hindus celebrate the religious festival of Shivaratri, then join in Carnival parades. “An individual can have multiple identities,” says Ms Mahase.
Politics still has ethnic contours. In Trinidad and Tobago, most voters of African origin support the People’s National Movement, which is now in power. Indo-Trinidadians tend to back the opposition United National Congress. Guyana’s president, David Granger, is from a predominantly Afro-Guyanese party.
But these distinctions are blurring. A growing number of Caribbean people identify with neither group. Nearly 40% of teenagers in Trinidad and a quarter in Guyana call themselves mixed-race or “other”, or do not state their ethnicity in census surveys. When both countries hold elections in 2020, these young people are likely to vote less tribally than their parents do.
Trinidad’s jihadist problem is in part caused by the choice of new identities rather than by the embrace of established ones. Many of IS’s recruits are Afro-Trinidadian converts to Islam. Mr Al-Rawi, who is leading the fight to stop them, claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad through his Iraqi father, but has a more relaxed view of religion. His mother is Presbyterian, his wife is a Catholic of Syrian origin and one of his grandfathers was a Hindu.
The anti-terrorist and child-marriage laws he is promoting, though seemingly unrelated, are rebukes to rigid forms of identity. The anti-terrorist law would make it a criminal offence within Trinidad to join or finance a terrorist organisation or commit a terrorist act overseas. People travelling to designated areas, such as Raqqa in Syria, would have to inform security agencies before they go and when they come back. Imtiaz Mohammed of the Islamic Missionaries Guild denounces the proposed law as “draconian”.
The proposal to end child marriage affects few families; just 3,500 adolescents married between 1996 and 2016, about 2% of all marriages. But it has been just as contentious as the anti-terrorism law. The winning calypso at this year’s Carnival, performed by Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool, a former teacher, was called “Learn from Arithmetic”. Its refrain, “75 can’t go into 14”, mocked Hindu marriage customs and implicitly backed the legislation to raise the marriage age. Satnarayan Maharaj, an 85-year-old Hindu leader, called it an insult.
The government has enough votes in parliament to pass the law in its current form, but opponents may challenge it in the courts. Traditionalists may thus hold on to an anachronism imported from India, at least for a while. The bead-wearing, calypso-dancing president is probably a better guide to what the future holds.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "Favouring curry"
How the 19th-century flow of indentured workers shapes the Caribbean
Unless you talking about African indentureds