Marlene Peralta
watching Black in Latin America on PBS
April 19 at 8:00pm via BlackBerry · Like ·

Dulce Mateo jajaj a I just posted the same thing
April 19 at 8:01pm · Like

David Betancourt Not coming on until 9 over here.
April 19 at 8:04pm · Like

Franklin Sanchez ‎30 minutes into the show and they have so many things wrong. At the beginning they present Son(Cuban) as Merengue. The other thing is that they want to “Americanize” the perception of being Black on another country making DR look like a country with racially unaware citizens.
April 19 at 8:34pm · Like

Marlene Peralta I agree on the inaccuracies Franklin but isn’t our country racially on denial? I mean I have to say that’s changing now but with inaccuracies and all he is on the right track
April 19 at 8:56pm · Like

Franklin Sanchez He has some valid points but he only dedicated 20 minutes( I timed him hehehe) to DR and the rest of the show was dedicated to Haiti. Furthermore, you cannot impose(Americanize) your belief of what black is on other people of a different co…
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April 19 at 9:28pm · Like · 1 person

Marlene Peralta Where does it aknowledge that Sanchez or Luperon were black? Yes they looked black on photos but was the racial factor discussed on history books?
April 19 at 9:33pm · Like

David Betancourt I know this from my mothers (black side) of the family. Heard it a zillion times from mis tias morenas americanas. They don’t like that some Dominicans don’t identify themselves as black. It’s like “if I’m black you gotta be black too”. To which I always say “yo soy boricua. Pq tu no sepas!”. Jajaja.
April 19 at 9:36pm · Like

Marlene Peralta LOL @David—-thats the response we tend to give when asked about race:” I’m dominican….a percent spanish, taino and some african…..when african is the heaviest influence we have
April 19 at 9:40pm · Like

Marlene Peralta ‎@Franklin…it doesn’t stop there….watch the one on Brazil…a country that has 130 categories of black tones, which I also interpret as a negation of their blackness
April 19 at 9:52pm · Like

Franklin Sanchez ‎@Marlene- Sanchez and Luperon’s background is clearly stated in black and white in Dominican history books. When you visit La Puntilla in Puerto Plata you can clearly see that Luperon’s statue looks nothing like a white nor black guy. The …
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April 19 at 10:06pm · Like

Marlene Peralta U and I r going to write a book here…..yes the statues were black but his point was people like you and I do not embrace we r black although we look like one….and yes the black experience differs country by country but that doesn’t take…
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April 19 at 10:13pm · Like

Franklin Sanchez Marlene- what can I embrace about being black? when you come into this world everything is pretty much predetermined. I did’nt get to choose culture, folklore or even geographical location of birth. As far as I know, the world population mu…
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April 19 at 10:32pm · Like

Marlene Peralta You r right…..we have both..that’s why we r a mixed culture predisposed to only celebrate half of who we r…..and Americans take advantage of that to again impose their views….the sad thing is they have a strong argument this time
April 19 at 10:37pm · Like

Franklin Sanchez Exactly, it’s all about who has the power to influence the masses. Like we say: “Para el gusto se hicieron los colores.” Let people be brown, chocolate or whatever they want to call it.
April 19 at 11:14pm · Like

Judith Escalona The Dominican Republic’s culture and history are given short shrift. Gates even slightly mocking as he frames this complex history through a simple, assymetrical American lens. This history awaits to be told outside the facile black and white binary. Indeed, where are the “indios” in all of this? Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that salsa they were playing, not merengue.
April 20 at 11:39am · Like

Marlene Peralta it was “son” Judith
April 20 at 11:49am · Like
Judith Escalona hmm. thought it was guanguanco in a more fused salsa form–heavy brass. And the dancing, didn’t seem much a merengue either! In any case, a poor choice for Gates who was trying to exemplify the merengue. What was the name of the band?
April 20 at 12:03pm · Like

Judith Escalona I’d like to turn a Latin American lens on the U.S. and see what comes up.
April 20 at 12:12pm · Like

Franklin Sanchez ‎@Judith- I think we would see some interesting things. My point is that you can’t “export” the enclosed vision that Americans have towards color to other countries.
Blacks in DR have never suffered from law backed segregation, unlike African Americans who couldn’t even use the same bathrooms let alone sit where they wanted in a bus.
April 20 at 1:40pm · Like

Judith Escalona The point is to examine the two racial systems and how they functioned within their respective civil societies. Both you and Marlene are right. But if the history of these two systems are left out, you will be debating till you both turn blue. And, North Americans, especially Aftrican Americans, will continue to mock you out of the same ahistorical, asymmetrical perspective.
April 21 at 7:35am · Like

Judith Escalona Puerto Ricans had a similar experience in relation to African Americans in the sixties and till this day. I have personally experienced Aftrican Americans argue that all Puerto Ricans are black which is as absurd as saying all North America…
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April 21 at 7:43am · Like

Judith Escalona The complexity of the Spanish system can be seen in Casta paintings which the Spanish used to actually document the continuous mixtures in the “New World”: Spanish (the Spanish referred to “Spanish,” not “White,” at least in the early peri…
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April 21 at 8:01am · Like

Judith Escalona Enough said. Sorry, I didn’t break this up into paragraphs. Marlene, these early categories were part of the Spanish CENSUS taking. At the meeting Tuesday, I raised this idea but didn’t fully articulate it because it would have taken too long. Jeje.
April 21 at 8:05am · Like

Judith Escalona This is all a very painful and hurtful history. I researched this (not thoroughly but sufficiently) for a mini-series I collaborated in and believe me I cried frequently. And we were only looking at the areas that became the U.S.
April 21 at 8:20am · Like

Franklin Sanchez ‎@Judith- Sorry for the tardiness in replying, I’ve been disconnected for a while. Just wanted to say thank you for your contribution to this post.
4 hours ago · Like

Judith Escalona Thank you Franklin. I’m sure we each have much to relate. A recent reflection: The denial of being racially and culturally mixed encourages segregation and domination by one group or another.