Afrodecendence in Mexico
Contemporary dynamics of Afro-descendants in Mexico
UNAM-South Africa
Sepeakers:
Dr. Paul Mvengou Cruz Merino (associate professor in Anthropology at the Omar Bongo University of Libreville in Gabon, Central Africa)
Dra. Citlali Quecha Reyna (researcher at the Institute of Anthropological Research at UNAM)
Moderator:
Dr. Arturo Mendoza (director of UNAM-South Africa)
Photograph: "Mural" Paul Mvengou Cruz Merino
After a year of the historical constitutional recognition of Afro-Mexican communities, it is still necessary to present and analyze the historical, social and political processes of formation and reproduction of these communities that shape some Afro-Mexican cultural practices. To talk about Afro-descendants in Mexico implies a dialogue from the past to the present to trace some roots and to identify heritages and blend of cultures. This dialogue aims to show the logics of exclusion that have made it difficult for Afro-Mexicans to become visible until today. Moreover, this invisibility and exclusion has led to racism and a negative self-perception of many Afro-descendants in Mexico. Finally, to speak of Afro-Mexicans is also, in some way, to present the past and current ties between Africa and Mexico.
Citlali Quecha Reyna
Citlali Quecha Reyna is a researcher at the Institute of Anthropological Research at UNAM. She holds a degree in Social Anthropology from the National School of Anthropology and History in Mexico and a PhD in Anthropology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She did a post-doctoral stay at the Department of Anthropological Sciences at the Metropolitan Autonomous University. In 2012 she was awarded third place of the 4th UNICEF 2012 Prize in the category of Best Research for her doctoral thesis. From 2013 to 2014 she was Director of Research Promotion Unit at the National Anthropology Coordination of the National Institute of Anthropology and History. She is a member of the National System of Researchers, Level 1, of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT). She is lectures undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Anthropology at UNAM. She is part of the Advisory Committee of the University Seminar on Racism and Xenophobia in Mexico (SURXE-UNAM) and her topics of academic research deal with the Afro-descendant population in Mexico, in particular on the following areas: childhood, migration, social movements and religious expressions.
Dra. Citlali Quecha Reyna (researcher at the Institute of Anthropological Research at UNAM)
Dr. Paul Mvengou Cruz Merino (associate professor in Anthropology at the Omar Bongo University of Libreville in Gabon, Central Africa)
Paul Mvengou Cruz Merino
Paul Mvengou Cruz Merino is an associate professor in Anthropology at the Omar Bongo University of Libreville in Gabon, Central Africa. He holds a doctorate in anthropology from the Lumière Lyon University in France in 2015. He is a member of the Center for Afro-Ibero-American Studies (CERAFIA) of the Omar Bongo University of Gabon. CERAFIA is a Center associated with the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO). Paul Mvengou is a member of the Ibero-American Anthropologists Network Association and the Decolonial Studies Network. His lines of research are Afro-Mexican identities and memories, socio-racial dynamics between Mexico and Central Africa, national constructions, comparative decolonial studies between Latin America and Africa, the globalization of Afro-Mexican subjects from the South, and anthropologies from the South. Since 2001, Dr. Mvengou has participated in several international Congresses and Colloquia on Afro-descendants in Latin America, with a particular focus on the Afro-Mexican situation and on the contribution of a comparative dialogue with Africa. He has published in anthropology journals in French and Spanish, and has been a guest evaluator as a reviewer for indexed social science journals in France and Canada. He currently teaches at the Omar Bongo University.