Caribbean Traditions and Afrofuturism in Equity

Speaker 1 0:03

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Carry On Friends the Caribbean American experience and I'm excited for my guest today , Vianca . Welcome to Carry On Friends , how are you ?

Speaker 2 0:14

I'm doing good . Thank you so much , Carrie-Ann , for inviting me to the show . I'm excited to chat with you .

Speaker 1 0:20

I'm excited to chat with you too , so why don't you go ahead and tell the audience a little bit about who you are Caribbean country you represent , and a little bit about the work you do ?

Speaker 2 0:29

Yeah , so I hail from Jersey City , new Jersey , of Boricua , ruth , so I very much identify as Puerto Rican Caribbean , and then , of course , coming from a mixed heritage , I identify as African descendant and indigenous descendant . I'm a part of those diasporas . I am a cultural preserver worker , an artist of Afro-Puerto Rican folk traditions , bombay Ndana , an eternal student of all things culture , and I'm also a fellow podcaster and a studied broadcasting and I work for the Caribbean Cultural Center , african Diaspora Institute . Right now I'm the director of communications and new media there . I've been there for three years just shy of three years and it's been part of my incredible cultural learning experience and ability to affirm my identity while applying my professional skills . So that's a little a little about me in a nutshell .

Speaker 1 1:36

Now , even in that little bit you said a lot . So let's talk about the Caribbean Cultural Center and maybe talk a little bit about that for those who are not familiar with it .

Speaker 2 1:46

Yeah , so the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute is nearly 50 years old . Based out of East Harlem , new York , it is a center that is dedicated to advancing cultural equity , racial and social justice for African descending communities everywhere , through arts and culture . So what that looks like is we put together programming , virtual online exhibitions , conversations , symposiums , travel experiences all centered in advancing racial and social justice and cultural equity . And what that looks like is a reclamation of our African ancestry and our heritage , a reclaiming of the knowledge and traditions , belief systems , ways of eating , ways of practicing wellness , ways of carrying out musical traditions . We center all of the work in those , in those pieces and in reclaiming those pieces , to affirm identity and to kind of reconnect with the heritage and the culture that colonization and enslavement attempted to strip away any race . Yet our ancestors preserved it and passed it on , and it's our responsibility to just anchor ourselves in that and use it as a tool for advancement .

Speaker 1 3:13

Now , I love what you're saying and I want you to define a couple of things , because , before we get deeper into this , I just want to define cultural equity . What is that ? Why does it matter ? Why is that ?

Speaker 2 3:25

important ? That's a really good question and I think it's super important to define this . Cultural equity can mean so many things , so I'm just going to use one or two examples to try to break this down . One when we look at our history as Caribbean , as African descendants , as a diaspora , which is the dispersal of a people outside of their homeland when we look at our history modern , no-transcript and hundreds years past what we see was a deliberate attempt , systemically , through enslavement , through systemic oppression , to strip away culture . An example In Puerto Rico , up until very recent , in the 1900s I don't wanna give an exact date , but I think something like the 1950s practicing bomba , which is Afro-Potarican music , was illegal .

Speaker 2 4:31

It was prohibited , it was not allowed . That is not cultural equity . That means that my culture does not have the right to be practiced and to be retained . So when we talk about cultural equity , we're talking about being able to ensure that a people have access to their own culture and can practice that culture without obstacles , without systemic obstacles . The other way to look at cultural equity is when we look at institutions right , and we know that cultural institutions are nonprofit organizations oftentimes , not all the time but when we look at the ecosystem of nonprofit cultural institutions and we look at the funding models behind them which cultural institutions are getting what kind of funding , how much right , and so is there equity in that ? Are we seeing a common thread of cultural institutions that represent one culture versus another getting better funding or getting more access to funding right ? So that's a little bit about what we're talking about when we talk about cultural equity .

Speaker 1 5:46

Thank you for defining that . I think that is important as we ground the conversation , and cultural equity then plays into this idea of cultural preservation then , because , as you pointed out , if the Caribbean Cultural Center and other nonprofit Caribbean arts or performing arts organization aren't getting their funding and part of those efforts is to preserve culture then we are at risk of losing said culture . Exactly , I completely get it . So one of the things that was really drew me to you is this idea of Afrofuturism , and I think that's another big word . I'm like I don't know Afrofuturism . A lot of times I hear it referred to when people are talking about Black Panther and Wakanda and all of this . So what is Afrofuturism and what is Afrofuturism as it pertains to Caribbean traditions , which is something that it's important to you ? I hope I got that right , yeah yeah , no , for sure .

Speaker 2 6:48

So this is a fun word and I'm gonna try my best to break it down . First I'm gonna start with saying I am no expert in the theory or study of Afrofuturism , and there are certainly folks who are cultural theorists who are delving very deep into concepts and themes around Afrofuturism . But I am learning and I've had the privilege of learning through the Caribbean Cultural Center , african Diaspora Institute , which I also wanna just point out we say Gavi for sure , cause it's a full name . So I have been learning through my work at Gavi and through my exploration of Afroputurican traditions , in particular through Bomba and , by extension , afro-caribbean traditions , in particular music . What I have been learning is that one is we have this term , afrofuturism now this is language that we have and that's pretty recent .

Speaker 2 7:53

But when we break down the concept , afrofuturism , as I understand it , as I have learned , is very circular , and what do I mean by that ? We are talking about envisioning a future , being creative with our imagination . That traces back to African retentions and traditions . So it's back to what I was saying earlier , which is Afrofuturism ties directly into the reclamation of what has been lost , a return to teachings of our African ancestry . Those teachings , again , were deliberately disrupted and cut off from being passed on , or were passed on , but were passed on in ways that couldn't be uplifted , couldn't be talked about , and now we're getting the language to talk about these things . So when we talk about Afrofuturism , we're looking to the future , but we're using the past in order to envision a more liberated future .

Speaker 2 8:59

So January 1st was Haitian Independence Day , right , and I'm very much thinking about what that has meant in terms of a revolution , a rebellion by enslaved people right against their oppressors . In order to do that , they had to dare to envision a future that expanded beyond their present reality . That was Afrofuturism . Every rebellion , both indigenous and enslaved Africans , was a future that was being envisioned beyond their present reality . When we move further , we look at the civil rights movement Again , we're envisioning a future that expands beyond the borders of what is the present reality .

Speaker 2 9:54

So when I think about Afrofuturism and I want to be clear I do consider myself African descendant and part of the diaspora , but I also do not live the Black experience right , and so it is really important to name that as well , because there's intersectionality in all of our identities . But we are , in my point of view , we are seeing a system that is a sliding scale of injustices , and that scale also depends on color , right ? So to tie it all together is when we talk about decolonization which we all need to talk about , in my opinion , as people of color , when we talk and Caribbean folk , we need to talk about decolonization , and Afrofuturism is a necessary tool in that , because when we can return to those ways and those traditions and we can imagine what a future looks like when those oppressions do not exist or when we have been able to undo them , then we can see a liberated future .

Speaker 1 10:55

So , based on what you're saying , it feels like this is me paraphrasing and this is me in my understanding of what you just said . It feels like Afrofuturism is seeing our future the way we envision it for ourselves , without external dictation of what that future should be , or it may be influenced by it , but it's for the history of most Afro people's lives or future has not been determined by us . It's been other people deciding our future for us . Okay , all right . Yeah , that's a little bit more , I'm glad .

Afrofuturism and Cultural Preservation

Speaker 2 11:34

If I can share an example , and this is really quick , at Gavi recently , we held a festival in August , and the theme of that festival , the festival is called Afri Bembe , and the concept of the festival is to anchor ourselves in the tied connection across the entire global African diaspora . Right , it's a Pan-African festival . It's a time to come together and highlight how we have cultural differences that are beautiful but are anchored in one common thread , right , which is what has been carried on and retained through our African ancestry from Africa . And this year the theme was Afrofuturism . In the festival we had an excerpt performance of a play called In the Valley of Coming Forth , which was produced and conceptualized by Dr Herukuti , an amazing artist who createda play , an Afrofuturist play that envisioned a world in 2169 , post-apocalyptic , in which the main character is on a journey to save their child from the neocolonialism and white supremacy that has in fact destroyed the world right . So that is a beautiful example and is it a phenomenal play ? I don't have any information for when it will be put on again , but a beautiful example of how creatives are envisioning the future , past , the current reality right , and tying in that sci-fi piece that you were talking about earlier .

Speaker 2 13:34

So I felt really connected to that play because , well , at first I did it , at first I was like I don't know .

Speaker 2 13:41

But this is my learning journey , right when it comes to Afrofuturism . A lot of it has been through the work that I do at Gadi , and one of the examples is this summer festival and working with the artist , Dr Herupiti , to put on the play , and when I was reading his materials and really diving into it and understanding , I said you know , this is performance and this is a work of art , but this is what is necessary in order to really be creative and bring into real life and to practice a re-envisioned future . So I just wanted to give that one example and tie it back because , yes , it's true , like the Wakanda Forever is part of that Afrofuturism theory and expression , but there is a bigger reason for that , because we need these kind of creative tools to say wait a minute , there's things that can be applied in the right now , like we do need to save our children from neocolonialism . I mean , your response is letting me go down a whole different path .

Speaker 2 14:45

I didn't intend on going down , so let me just all right , it may be connected .

Speaker 1 14:52

Another aspect of your bio and the work that you do is traditional folkloric Caribbean dance and music , and it often feels like in a world of TikTok dances and all these other things . Those things don't have a place in modern society . And so you know , born and raised in Jamaica , for you know the earlier years of my life and knowing that that was part of the tradition , but that was pre-technology . So in a post-technology world , where is the space for that ? And how does that play a part in cultural preservation ? Because it feels like , I'm sure , to young kids it feels like that's all folks' business . So where does that play a role in the here and now and the future ? Yeah , I think what is really important is that you have to be able to see the future .

Speaker 2 15:48

Yeah , I think what is beautiful about the world of TikTok and Instagram is that it gives us an opportunity to use those tools to expose our young people to these traditions , because just because we're participating in what is folk or traditional music doesn't mean that we can't also bring in technological tools in those practices , right ? So there's the one . I think what I have been noticing is that oftentimes folks will reach out to me and be like hey , you know , my daughter saw this video on Instagram of somebody dancing bomba a child her age dancing bomba and she's really interested . I know that you dance bomba . Where can I expose her to it in real life ? And so there's this beauty in that , in being able to use the tools to show young people that they have a place in it . And I think that's really important is to be able to bring in really all of the generations , because there's a good chunk of our folks who are my elders who did not have access to this traditional music because it was highly stigmatized and it was really kept in and protected in certain families and certain neighborhoods and certain towns , and so if you were not kind of born and raised in it . Your access was incredibly limited , right . Like I mentioned earlier , this music was prohibited , it was illegal , and then , after that , it was stigmatized , right , and I've had this conversation with my mom actually , who was , like you know , I didn't really know much about Bomba in order to be able to pass it on , because when I grew up , I understood it as you don't do that like almost black magic , you know , and through my experience , she has been able to experience it and experience the healing that has come from it . She shares a story with me of having gone to one of my rehearsals when I was with Segunda Kim Bamba , the group that I'm a part of .

Speaker 2 18:09

We traveled to Puerto Rico in 2019 to participate in two festivals , one of which was Encuentro de Tambores . Background is that pretty much the entire island of folks who practice Bomba come together for this one festival to present their area , and , as part of the diaspora , we traveled and participated in it as well . My mom comes to the rehearsal reluctantly , she goes like I don't want to be here , I got things to do and sits , watches as rehearsed , and when she retells me the story , she said you know something ? Just , I felt it from my feet up and from my head down , I felt this overwhelming feeling as it was happening , and when I left , I felt cleansed , I felt lighter and to me , that was magical right .

Speaker 2 19:07

So , to bring it back to your question , I think that it's not only about the youth , and I actually feel like there's an opportunity with the youth , because of these tools and because they don't necessarily have the stigmas or the old ways of thinking , to more easily pass on the traditions . And , just as importantly , we should work on some of our elders who don't quite get it , and we can , we can find these ways to open them up to the experience . And the other thing I'll say about the young people is in bringing them in and in using these tools to expose them . You know , that's all good and well , but we also need to be those of us that are aware and mindful that cultural preservation and passing of traditions is important and it is its identity affirming , and we have folks who risk their lives in order to preserve it , and so we should honor that .

Speaker 2 20:11

We need intentionality , and so one of the points that that I like to make around that is , when we're raising our children , or our nieces and our nephews and our God , children . What are the experiences that we are trying to give them ? Right , we just passed the holidays , right , and so what did I see ? A lot of . There was a lot of taking children to the Macy's Day parade in New York . There was taking them to a holiday festive train with pictures with Santa . That's all good and well , but are you being as intentional about bringing them to a cultural experience where they get to learn about their history , about who they are , where they come from , because you need to know where you come from in order to know where you're going ? So the tools are there , but also we need that intentionality in order to bring people , young people , in .

Speaker 1 21:07

Every time you say something is like a long list of things that I'm just like oh my gosh .

Speaker 1 21:11

All right . So I agree that there's a bit lost in translation from old to new . For instance , growing up in Jamaica there was this pantomime and people are like what is a pantomime called Brookings and I'm like if you talk to anyone else about it they're like what is that ? But I just wanted to back up a little bit and if you could briefly define Bomba , just give a description . My sister show , strictly Facts I also produced that . We did an episode on the history of Puerto Rico and Bomba , so I will link that for the audience . But in your words , just a brief description of Bomba for the audience . And then , of course , audience I got you . I'll put the link to Strictly Facts so you could learn a little bit more about it there .

Speaker 2 21:57

Yeah . So I'm a student and I continue to learn about Bomba every day , and I want to say that upfront , because we are talking about a tradition that is 400 plus years old , and so I can spend a decade learning about it , but I still got 390 . Bomba is Puerto Rico's African music , so it is born on the island , but it is absolutely our tradition and our retention of African traditions . There is elements in there that you can see Taíno , indigenous retentions and there's a lot of intersectionality between the two in that Taíno is also practiced in drum circles . The word bate , which is used in Bomba , is a Taíno word and the maraca is a Taíno instrument . But I say all of that to Nadi Reis . But those contributions are important to name , but Bomba is , without question , puerto Rico's Black African ancestry . That's what the tradition is , and it is a drum music . It is a call and response music . For me and for most people that I know in the space , it is a sacred music . It is a healing music . It is an act and a tradition of resistance and it is incredibly powerful .

Speaker 2 23:31

The actual dynamic is that you have these drums that are originally made out of barrels , like rum barrels . That was the material that was available to our ancestors , and so , in full creativity , they made drums out of what they had , and you have one drum in particular . I think that this is like the highlight piece of Bomba music , but every element is absolutely necessary in order to create what we all love and feel . One drummer is responsible for communicating with one dancer . Typically , in some places , there's two dancers . They dance in pairs and the other drummers are responsible for holding the bass rhythm , and then there's a person playing what we call qua , which is responsible for the timing , and then we have the singer , who usually carries the maraca , and they're responsible for the tempo and the call and response of the song . All of these elements are absolutely

Cultural Preservation and Creativity for Future

Speaker 2 24:37

necessary .

Speaker 2 24:37

It's like not one is more important than the other , but what we're often taken by is the dynamic between the drummer and the dancer , and that dynamic is that , unlike music in the way that we dance it right now , where the music plays , we dance to the beat , the dancer is creating music with his or her body and her movements , and so there is a language there and it can be very nuanced , and there is an exchange happening , but it's happening . So they're so in sync with one another , that it looks like they're happening in the same moment in time , but what's really happening is that the dancer is utilizing the drummer to create music and the drummer is interpreting these movements to create music , and so it can be very powerful when a dancer and a drummer just lock in and sync up and for someone who doesn't really know , it's almost like which one's coming first Is it the drummer or the dancer ? And so , in a nutshell , that is Boma .

Speaker 1 25:46

Thank you for explaining that , and I think in your explanation you said this a couple times , and this is coming off the heels of another conversation I had with someone . It's like , even though it's part of our culture , it's okay not knowing it fully and completely , and it's part of the experience , or the journey is getting reacquainted to that which we , A were either first not exposed to or , B were getting reacquainted with and C applying all of that in this new age that we're in and how to practice that in this new age that we're in . My husband and I talk about how we grew up in Jamaica , going to primary school , and things we learned and how , while some of those things are really important , they wouldn't quite work exactly the same way today , but they're pieces that we can interpret .

Speaker 1 26:40

So , thank you for just always being mindful that you're still learning and we're always learning , even if it's part of our culture and it's part of what you said , which is this cultural equity , affirming identity and cultural preservation , and I think the audience , the Cary Onferne's audience understands that in how important that is . But , as we wrap up , how is this collectively important for all of us , not just for a Caribbean or Caribbean American audience , like , what is the collective importance of this and what would you love to see in the future as we move towards the change ? So it's , yeah , in theory I get why we're preserving culture , but what is the result of that and why should we all be moving and creating our own little spheres of what Afrofuturism could look like ? Because you said it starts in the creative process . First we have to imagine it , right ?

Speaker 1 27:45

Even this idea of technology , a lot of this was imagined on , probably , star Trek or some other movie that we now see in real life , and so that was something that really stuck out to me is that a lot of what we're seeing in technology we're all imagined in these sci-fi movies , and that's part of a creative process . So I would love for you you know , as we wrap up to talk about how important the creative process is to envisioning the future that we not only want but need for the newer generation that exists now and future generations , because I think that is just so important , and I think the cultural equity and the affirming of identity is important for us to even begin to imagine a creative output for the future of what we should be . So I'd love to hear your thoughts on that and you know what your work is in the future and galvanizing the community towards that .

The Importance of Cultural Preservation

Speaker 2 28:42

A couple pieces here . Right , and I'll try to be brief because I know we're wrapping up the one . Why is cultural preservation important , beyond the communities that are preserving their culture ? Right , and I think it's critical because there's a lot of imbalance in our society . Right , and some of us are living the short end of the stick of that imbalance . Yet we're one society and so we have a lot of imbalance , because we have so many people who have been disconnected from who they are , from their history , from their ancestry , and to move in this world , to me , is nothing more important than knowing who you are , because that's how you move , because you know who you are , you know where you're going , and so it's critical , I think , for the betterment of the entire society . It's not fair for some people to know who and where they come from and for another , when we talk about our young people , for our young people to just be up in the air about it , almost as if they just popped up into life just now , just popped up into society , while their counterpart can trace back to 17th , 18th century . Right , knows their entire lineage , right ? That's imbalance . So that's one , and that's why it's important . And that's why cultural equity is important Because , again back to that funding , what culture are we funding when we're funding cultural preservation ?

Speaker 2 30:27

The other piece is in terms of us as community holding space .

Speaker 2 30:34

When I think about the Caribbean community in particular , I think about the fact that we are essentially one and there is so many ways in which we have separated from one another . And when we go back to our culture , when we go to deep diving into our history , we're able to find one another , we're able to see each other , right , and then that has real-time effects in the world today . And when we teach our young people that we eliminate the ideas in their mind that I'm Puerto Rican , so I don't really get along with Dominicans , or I have nothing in common with Jamaicans or Haiti and us . We're not the same , we're different , right , we eliminate that because we start to realize that there's cultural differences , there's nuances and there's distinctions , and that's beautiful . But why are those distinctions there ? Because we come from a common root and we were able to preserve them in these different types of ways . But it's a common root and so for us to really be able to advance what is solidarity and intersectionality , you have to go into culture and cultural preservation .

Speaker 1 31:55

I love that you mentioned the separation and I'm like that's a whole other episode . But it's important to call out because that's the work of this show , shickly Facts and the other shows on the Breadfruit Media that the Caribbean was the first real experiment on colonialism and imperialism .

Speaker 1 32:16

And I just got chills . Slavery , it's really the lab , and the successes in quote of that lab was taken to North America . So that's a whole other conversation . But this is why this is important and you know , this idea of affirming your identity is because it's the way I can stand tall and all the other Jamaicans and the other Caribbean people could walk into this world , because they know who they are . And so , even if and I just want to point out this to the audience even if it's not someone else stealing the culture , that affirmation of identity might get lost , because I've moved here from Jamaica almost 30 years now . My kids live here , so the connection that on biblical core to the country is very different from mine , and so the affirmation of identity is the same for them , but it takes on a very different way . So even though you're describing affirmation of identity in one way , it applies in different ways .

Speaker 1 33:18

Once we have generations that are not connected to the home country , the same way , so I really want the audience to take away that the cultural equity and the affirmation of identity applies to us differently than it applies to our children , but it's also critically important for the preservation of our culture and the overall holistic affirmation of our culture and identity . So I really , really , really thank you for coming on the podcast and opening this new window of our conversation that we should have and keep in mind . And then , in this affirmation of identity , how do we then go out in the world and plant seeds to continue or cultivate or culture in new ways ? So I really really appreciate this conversation . I really do , and we may have to bring you back on in the future around Caribbean , american Heritage Month and all these other things , because I just think it's a necessary conversation . So why don't you tell the community of friends where they could find you , interact with you and stay connected with you ?

Speaker 2 34:24

Yeah , absolutely Two places . I am on Instagram as Bianca Vélez and I'm also on Instagram as Kultura Lovers . So culture , but with an A instead of an E Lovers , and both viancavelescom and kulturaloverscom .

Speaker 1 34:46

Wonderful . Thank you so much , bianca . And , as I love to say at the end of every episode which , by the way , is part of my preservation of culture , because it's a very Jamaican saying it is walk good . And walk good was a term that the elders used when someone came to visit their home and they were leaving . A lot of them weren't driving cars , you know . They were walking wherever home and they would say walk good , which was a way of saying be careful , right , and so until the next time I see you , be careful in going home and in whatever you do . So that still applies with cars or whatever . So it's like , is that a good night or bye-bye ? They said walk good .

Speaker 2 35:30

I love that .

Speaker 1 35:31

Yes , so for the last gosh . However many years I've been doing the podcast since 2015 , I end the show with walk good . So thank you for grounding this episode in the preservation of culture . So walk good .

Speaker 2 35:47

Thank you so much , carrie Ann , and thank you for holding space . It's important what you're doing here .

Speaker 1 35:52

Thank you .