Panama is definitely one of the pricer Latin countries but I think it pays for itself in regards to safety and convenience in moving around.
I would walk back to my aunts crib in Panama City drunk as hell after midnight
Cash & iPhone in my pocket, chain on my neck and I had no issues
I wouldn’t dare do this in any major city in Colombia
You've been to alot of Latin countries. What are the ones with the most black people, in your experience, after Belize, Panama and Dominican Republic?
(I know you haven't been to DR yet but we all know they have mostly black people)...
Of those countries too, which of those people would you say are most in tune with their blackness the way you see here in America?
I've never been to any of these countries, but anecdotally, I've found the stereotype that Dominicans are ashamed of or downplay their blackness, to be overstated. I think the dynamic that Dominican-Americans have in the Northeast is different than elsewhere, because living in the Southeast (VA and NC), I've had a number of "Dominican" friends (all these muhfukkas were born in the US but have parents or grandparents from DR), and all of these nikkas repped their blackness...
I've never met one person of Dominican ancestry who was black that didn't rep their blackness. I had a close homeboy once, both his parents were from DR, he used to go back and forth to DR like every year, and he told me on the island people that are black, know they are black, and stand on it. My youngest daughter's mom, her dad is from DR so she considers herself "Dominican" but also considers (black) Dominicans, and herself, black...
My experiences in the Northeast, the culture there is so built on ethnic pride and people differentiate themselves along those lines, it's different there fir some reason. No Dominicans I've ever met outside the Northeast were on some "I'm not black" shyt...
Every black Belizean and Panamanian I've met repped their blackness, I'd assume it's the same in those countries?
Mexico doesn't have alot of black people but I've met some black Mexicans, from Veracruz and Guerrero, and those people loved their blackness...
I guess what I'm trying to ascertain, thru your travels, where is it true in Latin America that BLACK PEOPLE downplay their blackness or are ashamed of it?
Puerto Ricans are probably the closest I could think to this, I've met a handful of Boricuas with clearly black ancestry who didn't identify with blackness, but even then I'd say MOST Puerto Ricans with African ancestry rep that too...