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Last Updated: May 30th, 2008 - 11:49:13 |
The Black women, gathered together as if in worship, clap their hands and sing a familiar spiritual refrain:
“Wade in the water.
Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the water.
God’s gonna trouble the water…”
But the scene is not in Alabama, Philadelphia, Chicago or Los Angeles. These women—with distinct African features—live in Mexico, in a small community founded by African Americans more than a century ago. This startling scene, and the history behind it, is included in “From Florida to Coahuila,” a documentary directed by Rafael Rebollar Corona as part of his effort to tell the hidden story of African presence in Mexico. His documentaries were screened recently at “AfroMex: The First International Festival of Son Jarocho” at the Cultural Institute of Mexico in Washington, DC., and are also available online.
“From Florida to Coahuila” tells the story of the Mascogo people living in the small community of Nacimiento de los Negroes (Birth of the Negroes), near the city of Muzquiz, Coahuila, southwest of the Mexican border near San Antonio. Through interviews with community residents, oral histories and scholars, Corona tells a fascinating story about the community that begins with colonization by Spain in 1565 of the area now known as Florida and the import to that area of enslaved Africans. Blacks who escaped bondage often formed independent communities called maroons; many also joined the Native American communities of Seminoles. After the series of wars between Spain and he Seminole nation, the Seminoles agreed to relocate to the area now known as Oklahoma and began the long trek west.
As the story has been passed down from generations, some Black members of the Seminole nation settled in Bracketville, a border town in the area of the Alamo, west of San Antonio. From there, they developed a close relationship with Mexicans and, to escape the reach of slave-catchers and violence that beset them in the deep South, relocated to Mexico and founded Nacimiento do los Negroes in 1856. The new community thrived at its height, with agriculture and the practice of a religion that included both the spirituals they knew and interpretation of their dreams.
For a time, Nacimiento did maintain ties with Bracketville but many of those ties have diminished. Similarly, the original culture is in danger of being lost as the Mascogos marry other Mexicans or move away from the village for better opportunities. Across the border in Bracketville, however, there is a regular return of the Oklahoma Blacks for a celebration and commemoration of their heritage, which includes a cemetery in that community for those who served the U.S. Army as Seminole Indian Scouts.
Despite his obviously limited budget, Corona takes on the yeoman’s task of telling this complex story with gusto, with interviews on both sides of the border, and with historical segments filled with period photographs, drawings and maps. With so much material to cover, however, “From Florida to Caohuila” cold use some streamlining in theme and content. And, as he romps through history, some important details are given only sketchy treatment. It may be difficult for the viewer to absorb so much in one sitting, without reaching for the rewind button. Despite such lapses, it makes an invaluable contribution to revealing an important and fascinating chapter in a history that is, at the same time, African-American and Mexican.
More information about the documentaries is available in English and Spanish at www.afromexico.org. Esther Iverem’s new book of poems, Living in Babylon, is available through this site on www.Amazon.com.
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
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