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AfroMexico collosal afro-olmec head wearing nubian type war helmet i (sparklin -aka- amethyst-star) created this pg to answer all questions concerning this topic and to help educate my people. make no mistake AFRICA lives in mexico too.   the image on the left is the face of afro-olmec child carved on the waste "belt" of an olmec ballplayer. this head also wears the common disk type ear plugs common in parts of africa even today among tribes such as the dinka and shilluk. the image on the right is the faces of the mende from west africa. the term "olmec" was first used by archeologists since the giant stone heads with the features of west african negritic people were found in a part of mexico with an abundance of rubber trees. the maya word for rubber was "olli, and so the name "olmec," was used to label the africoid negritic people represented in the faces of the stone heads and found on hundreds of terracotta figurines throughout the region. yet, due to the scientific work done by deciphers and linguists, it has been found out that the ancient blacks of mexico know as olmecs, called themselves the xi people (she people). the olmecs -aka- the xi are the motherculture of mexico, they are also the oldest civilization in the americas, who came from africa. discoveries in the field of linguistics and other methods have shown without a doubt, that the ancient olmecs of mexico, known as the xi people, came originally from west africa and were of the mende african ethnic stock. according to clyde a. winters and other writers (see clyde a. winters website), the mende script was discovered on some of the ancient olmec monuments of mexico and were found to be identical to the very same script used by the mende people of west africa. although the carbon fourteen testing date for the presence of the black olmecs or xi people is about 1500 b.c., journies to the mexico and the southern united states may have come from west africa much earlier, particularly around five thousand years before christ. that conclusion is based on the finding of an african native cotton that was discovered in north america. it`s only possible manner of arriving where it was found had to have been through human hands. from the archeological evidence gathered both in west africa and meso-america, there is reason to believe that the african negritics who founded or influenced the olmec civilization came from west africa. not only do the collosol olmec stone heads resemble black africans from the ghana area, but the ancient religious practices of the olmec priests was similar to that of the west africans, which included shamanism, the study of the venus complex which was part of the traditions of the olmecs as well as the ono and dogon people of west africa. the language connection is of significant importance, since it has been found out through decipherment of the olmec script, that the ancient olmecs spoke the mende language and wrote in the mend script, which is still used in parts of west africa and the sahara to this day. the flowering of the olmec civilization occurred between 1500 b.c. to 1000 b.c., when over twenty-two collosal heads of basalt were carved representing the west african negritic racial type. this flowering continued with the appearance of "magicians," or shamanistic africans who observed and charted the venus planetary complex. these "magicians," are said to have entered mexico from west africa between 800 b.c. to 600 b.c. and were speakers of the mende language as well as writers of the mende script or the bambara script, both which are still used in parts of west africa and the sahara. these shamans who became the priestly class at monte alban during the 800`s to 600`s b.c. ( ref. the history of the african-olmecs and black civilization of the americas from prehistoric times to the present era), had to have journied across the atlantic from west africa, for it is only in west africa, that the religious practices and astronomical and religious practices and complex (venus, the dogon sirius observation and the venus worship of the afro-olmecs, the use of the ax in the worship of shango among the yoruba of west africa and the use of the ax in afro-olmec worship as well as the prominence of the thunder god later known as tlalock among the aztecs) are the same as those practiced by the afro-olmec shamans. according to clyde ahmed winters. thus, it has been proven through linguistic studies, religious similarities, racial similarities between the afro-olmecs and west africans, as well as the use of the same language and writing script, that the afro-olmecs came from the mende-speaking region of west africa  nubian - kush!te king and queen it is believed that there was a nubian presence in mexico and that the west african civilizations were related to that of the nubians, despite the distance between the two centers of black civilization in africa. there is no doubt that in ancient times there were commercial ties between west africa and egypt. in fact, about 600 b.c., nikau, a pharaoh of egypt sent ships to circumnavigate africa and later on about 450 b.c., phoenicians did the same, landing in west africa in the nation now called cameroon. there they witnessed what may have been the celebration of a kwanza-like harvest festival, where "cymbals, horns," and other instruments as well as smoke and fire from buring fields could be seen from their ships. a combination of nubians and west africans engaged in mutual trade and commerce along the coasts of west africa could have planned many trips to and from the americas and could have conducted a crossing about 1500 b.c. and afterwards. massive sculptures of the heads of typical negritic africans were carved in the region of south mexico where the olmec civilization flourished. some of these massive heads of basalt contain the cornrow hairstyle common among west african blacks, as well as the kinky coiled hair common among at least 70 percent of all negritic people, (the other proportion being the dravidian black race of india and the black australoids of australia and south asia). one of the most impressive pieces of evidence which show a direct link between the black olmec or xi people of mexico and west africans is the presence of scarification marks on some olmec terracotta sculpture. these scarification marks clearly indicate a west african mandinka (mende) presence in prehistoric and ancient meso-america. ritual scarification is still practiced in parts of africa and among the black peoples of the south pacific, however the olmec scarification marks are not of south pacific or melanesian black origins, since the patterns used on ancient olmec sculpture is still common in parts of africa. this style of scarification tatooing is still used by the nuba and other sudanese african people. in fact, the face of a young girl with keloid scarification on her face is identical to the very same keloid tatoos on the face of an ancient olmec terracotta head from ancient mexico. similar keloid tattoos also appear on the arms of some sudanese and are identical to similar keloid scars on the arms of some clay figures from ancient olmec terracotta figurines of negroid peoples of ancient mexico. during the international congress of american anthropologists held in barcelona, spain in 1964, a french anthropologist pointed out that all that was missing to prove a definite presence of negritic blacks in the americas before columbus was black african skeletons to add to the already found black african featured terracottas. Later on february of 1975 skeletons of negroid people dating to the 1200`s were found at a precolumbian grave in the virgin islands. andrei wierzinski, the polish crainologist also concluded based on the study of skeletons found in mexico, that a good portion of the skulls were that of negritic blacks, based on the many finds for a black african presence in ancient mexico, some of the most enthusiastic proponents of a pre-columbian black african presence in mexico are mexican professionals. they conclude that africans must have established early important trading centers on the coasts along vera cruz, from which middle america`s first civiliztion grew.  gaspar yanga more pertinent for present day mexico is the impact upon mexico made by those who were brought in chains from africa during the slave trade of the three centuries of spanish rule in mexico. during the three centuries of spanish rule the indian nation of mexico was culturally and politically more enriched by the over 300,000 african slaves brought by the spaniards than by the spaniards. few spaniards came to stay. by the time of the 1810-1821 mexican war for independence afro-mexicans had largely intermarried and merged their numbers with the urbanized of the indians. together, they formed the bulk of the coalition that comprised the new nation`s activist poor. culturally, blacks and indians built a mixed race life-style during colonial times. once liberated from spanish rule, mexico flowered. today, we can look back and see that in addition to indigenous food, drink, clothing, colorful art and legends, multiracial mexico has an african contribution that includes much of nation`s great music, including the song and dance la bamba. recent studies also show a substantial african influence upon mexican cuisine, language, literature, history writing, art, religious observances, medical practices and magic rites. black indian mexico also produced for the nation, 4 presidents, 2 heroes to name states after, 17 to name cities after, and many more to get streets and statues.  dancing la bamba at the 1998, second annual festival of los pueblos negros at ciruelo in oaxaca the distinctive culture and militant political history of mexico is the product of multiculturalism in action. recent studies show that the mixed african/indian family has been essential in this development. africans, indians, and the sizable number of asians in old mexico, along with a few poor whites, worked together to create a distinct national identity. the spanish rulers and their white mexican elite allies wanted to recreate europe in the new world. the spaniards and the light hued mexican elite repressed culture that was expressly indigenous, african or asian. however, left relatively unchecked was a new synthesized merged culture. those who lived its lifestyle came to like it, and to champion it in many political struggles over the past few centuries. marma luisa herrera casasus in her presencia y escalvitud del negro en la huasteca points to a potentially large contraband slave trade that must be included in estimates. the huastaca coast of northern veracruz was roughly 80% afro-mexican in colonial times, and slavery was prevelant. this coast had many inlets for laying anchor but none were licensed for the slave trade. according to the elder of the coastal town of tamiahua, alfonso cruz lorenzo, the origins of the african people in tamiahua are unknown, but there are many stories and legends that have been passed down, and one well retold account attributes the initial african presence in tamiahua to shipwrecked french pirates who were either mostly black sailors, or who had on board a large number of black slaves. certainly, between 250,000 and as many as 500,000 africans were brought to colonial mexico. an unknown number of united states slaves escaped to freedom in mexico between 1829, when guerrero abolished slavery in his country, and 1865 when the u.s. civil war ended. in 1850 the seminole "black indians" fled to mexico and established communities along the rio grande. many returned to the u.s. after the civil war, but many remained, and one of the seminole communities, nacimiento de los negros, continues in existence today. at least a few hundred black americans came to work in the great tampico oil boom of 1910-1925. marcus garvey`s universal negro improvement association had two branches in the oil region. during garvey`s harlem renaissance years many black americans came to mexico to escape the land of lynching and legal segregation, and an african american farm commune near ensenada that was founded in 1917 lasted until 1960. mexicans play african "hand pianos" and perform "the dance of the black people." mexican "corridos" -- or song-stories -- tell of slave uprisings. And the marimbas of mexico, as well as those of central america and ecuador, all have their origins in africa. all are examples of the still thriving african legacy in mexico. since 1492, the history of the americas has been forged by three cultures: indigenous, european, and african - the third root of the americas, according to the late university of veracruz professor, gonzalo aguirre beltran, who was considered mexico`s foremost expert on the african influence on mexican culture. the early african presence in the americas is normally associated with the slave trade in the united states, the caribbean, brazil, central america, colombia and peru. not generally taught in history textbooks is that mexico was also a key port of entry for slave ships and consequently had a large african population. in fact, during the colonial era, there were more africans than europeans in mexico, according to aguirre beltran`s pioneering 1946 book, "the black population in mexico." and he said they didn`t disappear, but in fact took part in forging the great racial mixture that is today mexico. "because of race mixture, much of the african presence is no longer discernible except in a few places such as veracruz and the costa chica in guerrero and oaxaca," wrote aguirre beltran. in mexico, many of the africans that entered came to what are now the states of yucatan, michoacan, tlaxcala, mexico, chiapas, veracruz, guerrero and oaxaca. contrary to popular thought, they did not remain in the south but migrated throughout the whole of mexico. blacks in mexico weren`t simply slaves. many were explorers and cofounders of settlements as far north as los angeles and other parts of what is today the southwest united states. prior to independence from spain, there were numerous slave rebellions throughout the americas, including in mexico. the first documented slave rebellion in mexico occurred in 1537; this was followed by the establishment of various runaway slave settlements called "palenques." some rebellions were in alliance with indians and mestizos even as far north as chihuahua. in 1608, spaniards negotiated the establishment of a free black community with yanga, a runaway rebel slave. today, that community in veracruz bears its founder`s name. the principal guerrilla fighters for mexican independence from spain were indians, mestizos and mulattos. one of the primary leaders of the independence movement, jose maria morelos y pavon, was mulatto, or of african ancestry, as was vicente guerrero, mexico`s second president, who officially abolished slavery in 1822. slavery was actually not done away with until 1829.  1998 city of yanga`s annual august carnival en negritude many contemporary mayans may appear to have african features as a result of the mating of africans and mayans after slavery was introduced to the new world. the mixed mayans were often called zambos. researchers have found that some mayan people have genetic markers, which point to african ancestors. for example: underhill, et al noted that:" one mayan male, previously [has been] shown to have an african Y chromosome." - underhill, et al (1996)." mestizos in mayan or nearby areas show significant african admixture. the east coast had extensive admixture according to a recent study by lisker et al. ("genetic structure in mesoamerica," _human biology_, june 1996). the following percentages of african ancestry were found among east coast populations: paraiso - 21.7% el carmen - 28.4% veracruz - 25.6% saladero - 30.2% tamiahua - 40.5% among indian groups, the chontal have 5% and the cora .8% african admixture. according to crawford et al., the mestizo population of saltillo has 15.8% african ancestry, while tlaxcala has 8% and cuanalan 18.1%.  in all this area black indians were over 30% of the population in late colonial census counts, and along the pacific the percentage in places was 80% or more. spaniards and white mexicans were very few in any of the shaded areas. the african experience in modern mexico is basically interracial. the boat loads of african captives that the spaniards brought to mexico were from 2 to 1 to 3 to 1 male to female, and this situation resulted in slaves creating families with indigenous women. while the law said black must live with black, african male slaves had a powerful incentive to seek indian women. the children they made together were born free. by law, all children of indian women were free, even if the father was a slave - this legal clause was part of the prohibition upon enslavement of indians. mixing of the black with indian also occurred when slave runaways sought refuge in indian villages. spaniards who had children with black women furthered what is called "el mestizaje." in a census taken in 1810, near the end of spanish rule, afro-mexicans were 98% mixed race, and were 10.2% of the population. toward the end of spanish rule only 1 in 35 afro-mexicans were slaves, thanks to intermarriage with indians, and to revolts and flight which encouraged the masters to grant manumission in order to maintain a work force. cultural contributions from africa to mexico need to be distinguished from the genetic contributions. one the one hand, popular mexican songs (such as "la bamba" - misnamed from the angolan city of mbamba), along with types of religious observances and other cultural behaviors evolved in certain areas of sizable afro-mexican population and were then spread nationwide to help create the distinctiveness that is mexican. on the other hand, geographic mobility during the 19th and 20th century has spread african genes with little cultural consequence. the degree of genetic spread is seen, for example, in the surprising blood sample findings of a 1990s international cancer research group. samples were taken in two mexican cities on the u.s. border, and over two thirds of those sampled had at least some african genes.  mexico`s 2nd president vicente guerrero and 1st afromexican president and example for all mexicanos to follow. the abolition of the caste system at independence was accompanied by a feeling that to use racial labels was to continue to the psychological tyranny of the spaniards. the feeling reached ridiculous extremes when in 1824 a suggestion was made in the congress of mexico that in the name of "progress" no congress member should ever again utter the word "indian."14 the politically conservative faction that was especially enamored of the aracial policy was, none the less, willing to openly try to intimidate voters away from guerrero in the 1828 presidential election on the grounds that he was "a black." hypocrisy and confusion on race mark modern mexican history. the spanish certainly gave mexicans across the political spectrum reason to loath racial identification. creating discord and division between mexico`s many racial groups was a part of spanish crown strategy for control. a sizable government bureaucracy engaged in compulsive racial categorizing in the census, and in military and tax records. one race would pay at one tax rate and another race at a different rate, etc. babies were baptized with esoteric racial designations such as "lobo," "castizo," "morisco," and "coyote." spanish racial categorizing extended into the art world in the "caste paintings." these oils from the late colonial period were sold to spaniards to take home after their tour of duty, to be put on the wall to display the quaint "breeds" in mexico. each caste painting typically contained inside it 12 to 16 depictions of a mother, father and child, each depiction showing different racial combinations, such as a black father, indian mother, and their "zambo" child; or a zambo and a mulata produces a "calpamulo," etc. african roots were typically in about half the painting`s depictions. caste paintings are among the few pictures showing ordinary daily life in the colony, as in the painting of a hard working afro-mexican cobbler. but insult and ridicule are common, as in the painting of a mother cleaning the mess off of her baby`s bottom, and the paintings of families that had a black and a white parent. in most of these the parents are shown having a fist fight, and their child is crying. the "caste paintings" are despised for their stereotyping. a caption to a caste painting that hangs in the independence war museum of morelos in the city of cuautla attributes a desire to end such painting as one reason for the determined fighters in that war with spain. on the other hand, the caste paintings are accepted for showing the mix that creates modern mexico. while browsing at the national museum of history in mexico city this writer overheard a father explaining the national identity to his seven or eight year old. the two were walking past a caste painting that was displayed not far from the wall with the guerrero/riva palacio family tree. the father called his son to the painting, pointed and said... "see these people. look closely, son. this is what we are, mexicans." my whole reason for creating this pg is to help bring to light ALL that a mexican is. i find so many that are ignorant to the fact that AFRICA lives and thrives in us, as mexicanos, and as latinos. whether or not you have african genes, you still have sabor africana (african flavor), african culture. i hope that you gain something positive from this page. be proud of who you are, ALL that you are. I AM AFRICAN I AM SPANISH I AM MEXICO *NEWS a museum dedicated to african heritage was opened in mexico. Museo de Culturas Afromestizas Vicente Guerrero Saldana was opened in Cuajinicuilapa, Mexico. you can read more about it by clicking here. MUSIC i`ve been doin my research to find afromexican musicians and here are two, if anyone find anymore please let me know.  La Negra Graciana  Tona La Negra   AIDS_AWARENESS feel free to check out my pg sparklin which just touches the surface, and my other pg amethyst-star which is updated almost every week with whatever thoughts i need to express. Favorite Pages(?)Other InterestsActivism , Community Service , Fashion , Film , Fine Arts , Literature , Performing Arts , Photography , Shopping , Travel , Urban Arts , Writing Favorite Links (?)Friends(?)Send me a Note |
