Florida – Fake Flamenco

Afro-Latinos, history, Spanish Culture and Language

1738: Black Freedom Fort Built in Florida

Harriet Tubman did wonderful work in the Underground Railroad, but this is not a story about her. This is an earlier account of an Underground Railroad, that went from South Carolina to Florida in the late 1600s and into the 1700s. At that point, the Spanish still owned Florida. They wanted to increase their population […]

Afro-Latinos, Indigenous Peoples, Mexico, Spanish Culture and Language, The Americas

South to Freedom from Slavery

Songs, quilts and legends celebrate the history of the Underground Railroad to the north. Those are wonderful stories, yet most of us don’t realize heading south was another way Blacks successfully emancipated themselves. Both routes had great dangers, but for southerners, they were far closer to Mexico. As Felix Haywood, a former Black slave said, […]

Latinas, Spanish Culture and Language

Butterfly Defender Susette Oñate

Susette Oñate is a member of the Dr. Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots National Fellowship Program. This encourages young people, especially youth of color to work in underserved communities around the world. Dr. Goodall’s nonprofit gives grants to youth leaders so they can develop community action programs and empower people. Susette is working in her […]

Afro-Latinos, history, Spanish Culture and Language, The Americas

Who Was the First Free Black Man in The Americas?

According to what I’ve read, the first documented free man from Africa to land in the Americas was Juan Garrido. He was born in present day Angola, moved to Portugal, then to Sevilla, Spain. A few researchers think he may have been the servant or slave of Pedro Garrido on his first voyages of conquest. […]