Voices of the Race: Black Newspapers in Latin America, 1870–1960 (Afro-Latin America)

Voices of the Race offers English translations of more than one hundred articles published in Black newspapers in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, and Uruguay from 1870 to 1960. Those publications were as important in Black community and intellectual life in Latin America as African American newspapers were in the United States, yet they are almost completely unknown to English-language readers. Expertly curated, the articles are organized into chapters centered on themes that emerged in the Black press: politics and citizenship, racism and anti-racism, family and education, community life, women, Africa and African culture, diaspora and Black internationalism, and arts and literature. Each chapter includes an introduction explaining how discussions on those topics evolved over time, and a list of questions to provoke further reflection. Each article is carefully edited and annotated; footnotes and a glossary explain names, events, and other references that will be unfamiliar to English-language readers. A unique, fascinating insight into the rich body of Black cultural and intellectual production across Latin America. "This book introduces English-language readers to the historical (1870-1960) Black newspapers and magazines of Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, and Uruguay. In Latin America, the violence of enslavement, limited access to primary education and the world of publishing, and exclusion from regional archives and libraries make documents and texts produced by Afrodescendants themselves extremely rare. The majority of the abundant documentary evidence of the participation of Africans and their descendants in the region's history was created by state and Church officials and institutions, lawyers, policemen, foreign visitors to the region, journalists, scientists, and others, most of whom were not themselves of African descent. Yet in their own periodical publications, Afro-Latin Americans eloquently expressed their thoughts on a host of social and political issues: slavery, race and racism, democracy, civic and social equality, gender, African-based culture, economic development, literature and the arts, parenting,"-- Provided by publisher This book offers English translations of more than one hundred articles published in Black newspapers in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, and Uruguay. Essential reading for students of Afro-Latin American History and Studies, the book introduces English-language readers to a rich body of Black cultural and intellectual production.