Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Thursday question
"If, as we have seen, black culture on the Americas depends on both history and the act of remembering or reconstructing that history in the present, how does each (history and remembering/reconstructing that history) figure in the black political movement in Colombia discussed by Julio César Montaño/in the Tumaco festival?"
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Aleph Cervo
ReplyDeleteJulio Cesar Montano spoke much about the importance of culture as a political force. In Columbia, culture was represented in the form of different arts, including theater, poetry, music, dance, etc. Montano spoke about how children were in introduced to culture in the past. Older men would share stories while the younger members would play the instruments, such as the marimba. Nonetheless, it seems like the white pseudo-politicians in Columbia were ignorant of the long history of black culture that had developed from Africa and as a result of slavery, resulting in the discrimination of Afro-Columbians. In Tumaco, some results of this were poor water supply, lack of electricity, and unpaved roads. Eventually, groups of musicians, poets, artists, and theater...people...began fighting for their rights by expressing their demand for representation through these different forms. Not only did these groups perform or present to legislatures and councils, but they also became the cultural force that united communities to express their demand for representation. Eventually the cultural force formed itself into the festival of currulao. In this way, cultural expression became a political force, and eventually the state (can't remember the name) recognized blacks officially and the constitution was changed; efforts to improve the condition of life for black communities also increased.
Julio Cesar Montano talked about the significance that culture holds when you look below the surface, past the mere aesthetics of it. Cultures are often presented in a romanticized sort of way, but such a view of culture cannot convey the symbolic content of what is being said or played or sung. Culture is not “passive,” and not simply a way to entertain – it has the ability to affect politics, and therefore effect change. In many cases various elements of culture are mediums through which people can demand and reclaim their rights. Montano spoke about organizations that teach different art forms to children, in the hope that this art can serve as a platform from which they can be critical of the society in which they live. In this way, the importance of culture and the need to assert cultural autonomy is transmitted to younger generations, who can continue to press for changes and wield culture as a political force. Montano spoke of the white politicians in Columbia – or rather, “politicians” – who seemed to ignore the plight of Afro-Columbians. These subjugated groups then began to demand rights through different cultural forms such as song, dance, music, and poetry. In 1991 a new constitution was adopted in Columbia, which shows how powerful the voices of these communities could be. As Montano said, “la cultura está viva:” culture is alive. It is something to be enjoyed and appreciated on the surface, but it also plays an important role in instituting change when you look for the deeper meanings. He commented that everything exists for a purpose – it seems the purpose of culture is in a large part to bring about change and improvement.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect repeated by Mr. Montano was the need to take culture at more than face value. He said something to the effect that "everything that exists has meaning". Thus we should not take cultural expression for granted. Music, dance, theater and other forms of particular cultural expressions all have deeper meanings and were essentially created to make sense of historical moments. Moreover, they should be passed down to young children especially, so that they know their history. If the history is loss or forgotten then many forms of culture get reduced to forms of entertainment while they truly mean so much more. Because music, dance, song and other forms of cultural expression contain so much symbolism they can also be used for political activism which I think echoes Moore's concept of oppositionality. By creating EPA and the Festival de Currulao Julio Cesar Montano exhibits how culture can become a movement that does not allow history to become just a memory to the people who are old enough to see it, but in fact it is continuously opened up to the minds of young people who will hopefully pass it along for generations to come and not be prohibited from using it for political action. Some of the African heritage lives on in Colombia.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Ho
ReplyDeleteI think that the expression of culture as a means of using present day art to address the needs of present day people takes precedence over the preservation of history and tradition. However, the authenticity and power of culture comes from its continuation through periods of hardship and celebration, so the preservation of history plays an important foundational role.
History is the foundation upon which people can remember and reconstruct their memories into a form that is applicable today, so that they can use it to continue to solidify their community and social relationships
This foundational role is what allows Colombians to reconstruct their memories as something useful to the present. An effective and pragmatic expression of culture is when it is used to empower those who are underrepresented in society.
One of the most important things I think Mr. Montaño emphasized was the need to look beyond the surface of culture. He spoke a great deal about what culture did for him, and how it changed his life, not only as a means of connecting with his country and his heritage but also as a political force to help him convey his thoughts and ideas. Montaño and his organization used music and dance as well as other art forms to convey their thoughts to the government and make their demands known. Their political messages were infused in their music which was heard by the government to some extent because they did make progress on obtaining more rights (the land territory rights) as well as the public radio station. Montaño's organization started a school for children in which they taught them different art forms such as painting and dance, which empowered the youth of his country to be educating them with culture. Montaño spoke about how in the end the country was just too unsafe for him to remain their because the government armies believed that anyone who was not with them was against them. Mr. Montaño did not believe that this was right and his organization refuse d to all them to use their children or their radio station to broadcast their thoughts and messages. I think that representing your culture is just as important as remembering it and it seemed that Mr. Montaño agreed. History is an important part of culture, and embracing culture is also important, which both significantly contribute to political movements.
ReplyDeleteRodolfo Edeza
ReplyDeleteJulio Cesar Montaño talked about the beauty of culture and why we should not let it become passive. When culture is viewed as only an art of beauty for the purpose of selling/presenting for a group of people we are not examining the symbolic content of that culture. Culture should not be passive and a way to simply entertain the people around us. According to Montaño culture has the ability to affect politics and cause change. Montaño spoke about the white politicians in Colombia who ignored the voices of Afro-Colombians. They did not want to accept that their culture traced its roots back to Africa. Through dance, music, art, poetry, and various other activist movements these groups began to demand change. Because culture is not passive/dead, therefore it is alive and is a weapon political activism. As a result of different political activist movements in Tumaco, elected officials improved the conditions of living. The roads were paved, water supply was improved, and electricity was implemented. It is through culture that change came and that’s why it is very important to pass culture on to the youth. Teaching children about culture and different art forms will help them become critical members of society. The older men are responsible for teaching children how to play instruments and share stories with them so that the culture stays alive through generations and there is positive change. People have the choice to be a “clown” or a “thinking man” as Montaño said.
Elizabeth Humphrey
ReplyDeleteBlack Musics in Latin America
Professor Birenbaum Quintero
Julio César Montaño discussed the ways in which music and culture were able to bring forth political change in the city of Tumaco. The same musicians that were playing at the parties for the white élite were the same musicians that played the music for younger children in order to teach them about their culture and the history of their people. Montaño mentioned that around 1975 or so, many different groups in different art fields came together to create this cultural process. When, the ciduadanos of Tumaco wanted to combat the political corruption that was done by the “politicians”, it was the group of artists, musicians, poets, and actors that spoke up for all the civilians to change the corruption. This cultural group was shaping the history of Afro-Colombians and their presence in Colombia. In 1991, the new constitution even recognized that there were Black people in the country. The creation of the Ecos del Pacífico Afro-Colombiano (EPA) y el festival del Currulao were and are able to not only help people learn about the history of Afro-Colombians and expose them to the culture and music, but also they have power and influence in the political realm of life as well. Paraphrasing Montaño, the festivals were able to unify the different communities of Afro-Colombians to find commonalities in the issues they faced.
This might be off the topic of the question, but might I just add that I thought it was very interesting and thought provoking when Julio César Montaño said that in Colombia he was not necessarily discriminated against, but when he arrived to the US, he was discriminated against, especially by blacks. I feel like this goes back to the etic and emic analyses discussed in the last class. From the outside looking in on the Afro-Colombian, it would seem that with blanqueamiento and its reinforcement of a racial hierarchy, there would be discrimination against Afro-Colombians. However, from the emic approach (Montaño in this case), there really isn’t much discrimination that he felt in Tumaco.
Ben Hill-Lam
ReplyDeleteJulio Cesar Montano detailed his experience as a part of the group Echoes of the Pacific in his attempt to spread living and breathing Afro-Columbian culture. The black political movement in Columbia is deeply tied to the idea of remembering black culture and not just having an objective history of it. Without the actively remembering and acknowledging the uniqueness of black culture in Columbia, cultural groups such as Montano’s never would have been formed. The Tumaco festival is a prime example of the importance of remembering black culture and not letting culture become something passive. The festival, at first, was unpopular, but eventually attracted Afro-Columbians and got them talking about their common problems and rights as a defined ethnic group. Without this festival, this gathering place where remembering and reconstructing their culture took place, the Afro-Columbian political movement never would have been formed. It took first an acknowledgement of the legitimacy of their culture through events such as the Tumaco festival before cultural groups felt their cause was real enough to be political. In this way the act of remembering their culture was integral to the Afro-Columbian movement. The other side of history, the objective sterile type of history not dependent on active remembering, figures as the antagonistic force in the movement. This type of history led the nonblack corrupt politicians to ignore and step on the rights of the Afro-Columbians. This type of history excluded and discounted the unique heritage and culture of the black descendants living in Columbia. In this way, it also partly responsible for the Afro-Columbian political movement, but it lies on the other side of things. Without this fragments and incorrect type of history, the Afro-Columbians would not have felt so disenfranchised that a political movement needed to form. This “push” factor, along with the “pull” of awareness, uniqueness, and sense of identity provided by the cultural groups and festivals such as Tumaco show how both side of history, the objective and the remembering/reconstructing figure in the development of the Afro-Columbian movement.
If black culture on the Americas depends on both history and the act of remembering or reconstructing that history in the present, how does each figure in the black political movement in Colombia discussed in the article?
ReplyDeleteThis article describes the political movement to preserve black Colombian culture and the resulting process of constructing local cultural identities. The increasing effects of globalization brought cultures around the world into contact with Colombia. These outer powers made efforts to exploit this land and the people living on it. However, in reaction to these attempts to wrest control of Colombia from Colombians the Ley de Negritudes was passed, which effectively was meant to maintain the rights of black ethnic groups in Colombia. This also entailed the establishment and preservation of distinct local identities in communities. The basis of this identity creation was the shared past of communities as well as the myths and memories that were made based on this history. Often these interpretations and myths showed up in cultural constructions more often than actual historical fact.
One such example of this is in the Currulao Festival in Tumaco. This festival was built around already existing cultural elements of Tumaco, such as the celebration of the marimba and the specific placement of Tumaco culture between Catholic and pagan practices. It was created in order to display the local identity of the Tumaco community. This ritual consists of two main parts: “Father Mera combats the marimbas” (142) and “the marimbero Francisco Saya combats the devil” (143). The figures and events in both of these rituals or performances are based on history, Father Mera was a priest who focused on conversion in Colombia and Francisco Saya was actually a talented marimba player in the 20th century. However, the actual performances themselves are based on bits and pieces and myths that surrounding these figures that have been put together to create this ritual. For example, Father Mera did not actually force every Catholic person to dispose of his or her marimba. However, this act helped to explain the movement of marimbas and their music to other parts of Colombia. This helped to explain why marimbas, a very important cultural instrument, were so present and important in the community. Further, this ritual also served to show that this specific black ethnic group did not identify strongly with the Catholic faith, another important distinction in their identity. However, the story of Francisco Saya also sets the community up in opposition to the devil (thereby positioning them somewhere between Catholic morality and satanic immorality). This again demonstrates the importance of music, specifically that of the marimba, to the identity construction of Tumaco. Through these performances during the Currulao Festival, actors in this community worked to construct a cultural identity, based upon their history and memory, in reaction to the political movements to localization of identity among black Colombians.
Vanessa Rendon
ReplyDeleteBlack Musics in Latin America
2/22/11
The Tumaco festival brings to mind the way in which culture reproduces the legends of “lost, dreamed, and invented communities.” There are two parts in the play Return of the Marimba, one in which Father Mera attempts to defeat the devil by forbidding marimba playing, the instrument of the devil, and the other where Francisco Saya triumphs over the devil with his superlative skills as a marimbero. This remarkable double reversal portrays the influence history and memory have on the beliefs and features of the black political movement in Colombia. Because the marimbero wins over the priest, who treats him as a diabolic figure, and eventually he does the priest’s work by overpowering the devil, we see the black community’s desire to define its culture by portraying its music as a source of good rather than evil. In other words, “the resurgent black culture overturns the white Catholic world and takes on its values and powers of domination.” Therefore, the black community in Colombia basically reconstructs its history in a way that pleases them. Apart from reconstructing history in a way that satisfies their needs, the black community in Colombia also has “no single unified representation of the mythical culture, no generalized myths, recognized by all.” This means that pieces and bits of history are utilized to recreate multiple versions of the same story or legend of a particular area. Ultimately, cultural identity in Colombia’s black political movement determines “cultural mixing, hybridization and change” that affect how humans use history as part of their memories and memories to reconstruct a unique version of history.
Julio César spoke about how culture is often perceived as a passive entity. A group gives a performance and simply displays their culture to a group of people. He said that we present culture in a romantic way as something that should be preserved. However, César viewed culture as something that is very active. To him, culture is something that moves people and is an integral part of the development of communities. He and his group realized that they could persuade communities with their culture. When César and his group went to the capital and did their show, soon “regular” people in Tumaco were demanding the same rights. Thus, César and his group were able to make a political statement through their culture. Soon, there were many changes in Tumaco that improved their lifestyles. To César, this proved that culture cannot simply be a passive thing because it has the ability to make profound political statements. Therefore, one must not simply remember their culture. But instead their culture should be part of who they are. He stressed that culture is alive and can have a very important in instituting change.
ReplyDeleteChelsea Young
ReplyDeleteAs we have discussed in class, there is often a difference between what has actually happened in history and what people remember as happening. Julio César Montaño began his talk with a performance, saying how the drum is his connection with the past and the present. I found this very interesting because the drum is an instrument that has been around for centuries, and has been an integral part of bringing different cultures together. But how do we know where exactly the drum originated? The real history of the drum could be very different from what people today have learned, which is most likely based off of stories that people remember, and that have been passed down from generation to generation. Julio César Montaño talked about how culture is an integral part of development in communities, and thus he realized that he and other groups could teach young people about politics and critical subjects through culture and music. He was adamant about keeping black culture in the communities in Colombia, and wanted to educate children and adults by using music, art, and dance to promote his ideas. From his talk, I took away the idea that it is important for everyone to understand their past, however, the way one person understands his or her past can be completely different from how another person understands his or hers. But what is important is how you take your past, and pass it on from generation to generation, in a positive manner, keeping your culture alive.
Laura Connolly
ReplyDeleteJulio Cesar Montano discussed the importance of music and culture and that it provides a way to develop a community and to teach young people about the past. Culture can become a way of making political claims when it is not a passive process and can lead to changes in the way people are treated. Culture cannot be seen as something that is simply a romanticized image because culture has deeper meaning and is created from memory and from history. Culture can come out of the community process and can become a political process that a government can be forced to recognize. You must enjoy and appreciate culture but must look inside for meanings because culture isn’t dead its alive. Julio Cesar Montano notes that culture must be remembered so that social changes are able to take place. What is important is not just what is recorded but also what people remember and how it shapes their views of the past. By having a cultural presence, it forces the government to see what their actions have led to and allow for change to occur because someone must take responsibility for things to change and culture can aid in this process.
Julio César Montaño and his work embody the fact that culture depends on both history and present perceptions of cultural practices. Throughout his talk, Montaño spoke of many examples where we see both history and present reconstructions of history factoring into the political movement of the Tumaco festival. Montaño highlighted the fact that simply showing off one’s culture, while entertaining, is not enough. He said that it is important to realize that we are what we do, and this requires an element of historical background.
ReplyDeleteMontaño also stated that he believes there are two paths one can take with creativity. The first is essentially “clowning,” or entertaining for the fun of it. The second, and more important, is to be a thinking person with a purpose. He states that they used the Tumaco festival as a way to send a message, almost subliminally using the entertainment factor that comes along with dance, music and other art forms. However, he also spoke of the importance of contextualizing culture within one’s history in order to understand it more fully and thus implement it more effectively.
Sarah Nelson
ReplyDelete2/26/11
I was struck when Julio César Montaño said at the beginning of his presentation that he had never realized his situation in Columbia was unusual; the struggle he experienced everyday was just a part of life. The real change he was able to affect through his music, poetry, and dance represents to us that culture is not just a form of entertainment but is a very live force that can be employed to do good. I felt his take on culture, particularly his insistence that we not view culture as a passive element, related well to the Wade article we studied last week and his discussion of etic and emic analysis. Rather than presenting culture as if it is “mummified” and passive, we must harness the symbolic content of cultural representations and use those to develop communities and teach about justice.
The manner in which Montaño and the other performers at the Tumaco festival were able to act as the voice of the people is staggering and representative of the ability culture has to augment and strengthen human voices, particularly when they are demanding rights as they were in Tumaco.
Montano emphasized the importance of the relationship between a person, his or her culture, the past and the present. He believes that culture can be used to understand both the past and the present, as well as their relationship to each other. He began his talk by explaining that his drum (representative of his culture) is his connection to the past. It is also seemingly his present, as he uses his drum to make music and perform, which he hopes will educate youth about the power of their culture. Also, he uses his music to fulfill political aims. Though music can be used as a form of entertainment, Montano insists that we can't merely accept this as its full value. Culture must be utilized in order to fulfill it's potential. When people feel empowered to use their culture as a tool to make positive changes, they are getting at the true nature of power and autonomy.
ReplyDeleteThe first depiction of memory in Mr. Mantano’s discussion was shown when he used the Congo drum as a way to connect with his past to speak with us. Mr. Mantano explained that struggling is normal where he comes from, and the struggle motivated him to get involved in the cultural and political movement in Colombia. He described culture as an element that moves people, and an integral part of communities.
ReplyDeleteOne element of memory that Mr. Mantano spoke of was the Toad’s Cave. The Toad’s Cave is a place in his community in Colombia where adults would gather to tell stories and play traditional music while their young kids played outside. These stories, taught to children indirectly, are an example of memories. Mr. Mantano said these serve an importance to the younger generation of the culture, as the stories will act as a seed in their minds in later years.
Mr. Mantano stated that in 1988, many cultural activists and performers went to the capital and fought for change. The army was brought in, and several people died. However, a change was instituted. In Tomako, streets were constructed, running water was provided and electricity was wired. These people made history. Mr. Mantano explained that after this event, he realized culture is capable of persuading communities. Individuals cannot just remember dances and songs- that is passive. Rather, activists and performers must stand together and use these memories to create history.
Hannah Wurgaft
Julio César Montaño spoke very highly of culture and it’s meaning in his life as well as others. Montaño, an activist in the Colombian social movement, described culture as often being presented to outsiders in a very passive, “mummified and reserved way”. This is exactly the opposite of what Montaño has done and still does. On the other hand, Colombian culture in Colombia possesses elements that move people, making them think and act differently. Hence, politics in Colombia has become a practice shaped by culture because it puts force certain guidelines that are integral in cultures or communities. Culture is something that must be taught as well as preserved. The way to teach young people about culture is through playing games, says Montaño, while others tell stories of the past. In the very beginning of Montaño’s journey, he put forth the idea that culture could be a way to put forth political ideas, and he realized that with their culture, they could persuade their community through a political and artistic statement. With his group, Echoes of the Pacific, Montaño has taught children that they could play important roles in preservation and cultivation of their culture through their art. They also started the Tumaco festival with the goal to bring together all different people from different places to speak about black culture in Colombia. Perhaps the most important thing that Montaño emphasized was that culture plays an important role in changing anything—and that one can certainly enjoy certain elements of culture one the outside, but in order to truly appreciate it one must look underneath everything for its meaning, Because, as Montaño said, “nothing is alive without a meaning, a function”.
ReplyDeleteRebecca Centanni
ReplyDeleteFor Julio César Montaño, culture is not simply a static entity. He spoke of the necessity to actively engage with one’s cultural heritage and the cultural forms that he or she presented; it was insufficient to simply present culture in the form of a music performance. Instead, Montaño argued that culture, through a process of reconstructing and remembering history, could be used as a tool to persuade a group of people. He explained that in order to use culture as an effective tool, individuals needed to take the symbols from the past, for example the plain cultural forms, and recontextualize them so that they make sense in the future. One way in which this concept of reconstructing a memory of history was present in his talk was in his description of teaching the music to children. He spoke of how the adults would get together and play music, and in the process they would be passing down this cultural form to their children as the children were in earshot of the music. While the kids did not necessarily understand the past history of the music, they would reinterpret it within a new setting. At the same time, the process of remembering and reconstructing history was an integral part of his movement in Tumaco. Montaño proved that culture could be used as a political tool, as he used music to unite people against the political corruption in Tumaco, bringing the people many life improvements. For him, cultural forms such as music were reconstructed in the context of political struggle to become a way to achieve ethnic and territorial rights. While music when statically played simply was a form of entertainment, it took on a whole new role when reconstructed in a manner to equate it with a fight for change. Once it was recontextualized, traditional music became a means of uniting individuals through festivals to talk about their common problems and fight inequality. As his talk proved, music could hold a power much stronger than pure entertainment when individuals explored beyond the face value of the cultural form presented to them.
Dominique Johnson
ReplyDeleteIn the discussion with Julio Cesar Montaño, there was a lot of emphasis placed on looking at culture beyond the surface value, and more specifically that culture is not “passive.” Mr. Montaño spoke a great deal, about how he utilized his culture as a means of connecting his country and his heritage, {through the utilization of music and dance} into a real political force, which allowed him to publicly convey his thoughts and ideas of change to the government. Through protest infused with music {which I personally believe is something that can reach the masses in a short amount of time}, Julio was able to obtain access to the public radio station as well as gain the land territory rights, he and his organization spent years fighting for. In addition, the organization was also able to start a school for children, promoting the continuance and development of culture through forms like painting and dance. In the end, it became dangerous for Montaño to remain in Colombia, due to the governmental platform that “those who are not with them are against them.”
What I took from the discussion was the idea that we should not take cultural expression for granted, because forms of music, dance, etc., include various hidden meanings, essentially created as a means to articulate and define historical movements. Furthermore, Montaño spoke about the importance of passing down these forms of cultural expressions to the youth as a means to perpetuate, reinforce, and continue developing culture, to prevent it from being lost of forgotten. If the true history of culture is lost or forgotten, many forms of cultural expression will be reduced to “minstrel” type shows of entertainment, losing all of its significant cultural value.
One focus of Julio Cesar Montaño’s talk was the ability of culture to affect political change. Montaño talked about how while many people perceive culture to be merely a form of entertainment, a passive force that is often static, in fact culture has the capacity to be the voice of change. Whether through art, music, dance or any other form of cultural expression, these forms embody the feelings of people. They express the hopes, anxieties, past occurrences, and future ideas that exist within a community. Therefore preserving and encouraging the growth of culture is instrumental in retaining the past while looking towards the future. Julio Cesar Montaño talked specifically about his own experiences in Columbia. He explained how through his work with activists to promote music and dance they were able to facilitate community building and a means for members of the region to meet in order to discuss the political situation around them. In addition through these types of cultural events traditions could be passed down to the next generation and children could learn about the history of their past. The promotion of culture acted and acts as a way to rekindle the power of a people and to ensure that their voice remains strong. Montaño emphasized that music and dance seem to have a dual function. They both can act as a unifier through retaining tradition and history but can also serve as the voice of change.
ReplyDeleteSteven Borukhin
ReplyDeleteMontano spoke in large about how culture has a much larger role than in the black political movement than perhaps perceived. He mentioned that history and remembering is important but it no longer lives like a culture can. Montano says that culture is presented in a “romantic sort of way,” meaning that culture is misrepresented. Culture should be able to “move people” according to Montano. Reconstructing history is important but it couldn’t and shouldn’t be recreated. Culture on the other hand is integral in defining a society and is in fact what allows people to move forward. Culture more than history, is fundamental in institutionalizing change. In Tumaco, people were inspired by the performances of Montano and his crew. The people began to look towards their culture as a form of political force for reform. History, remembering and reconstruction are important into giving insight into the past while culture allows the history to continue.
Aggie Kelly
ReplyDeleteIn his presentation, Julia César Montaño provided a new perspective of the cultural movement that took place in Columbia, much different that what we have studied so far. While the readings we have examined have been related, this presentation allowed for us to get a personal account of some of the cultural oppression that happens in Latin American countries. In his speech, Julio recognized how seemingly simple music, dance, and art could provide a much stronger meaning towards the revolution. This idea applies to the concept we have been discussing about history vs. memory. In this historical/factual sense, these arts that Julio and his friends were producing were simply just forms of art. The songs they sang were merely songs, and the art they created was nothing more than a display of talent. However, in the memory aspect, these were much more. The art they produced inspired civilians, and lead them towards fighting for what is right. The lyrics of songs were the words that civilians could not say aloud to the government, and the artwork portrayed the thoughts of those who were oppressed. So these expressions of culture ended up being the most important factors in leading people towards a better life, even though, in the historical sense, these arts created by Julia César Montaño and his friends were no more significant that any other kind of performed art.
Montaño explained that through cultural groups kids were taught the importance and meaning of the art, dance, music, stories, etc of their ancestors. Through these same cultural groups, the white elite was taught the importance of the black history in Colombia. The memory of the culture brought about the political fight to end discrimination against blacks in Tumaco. The cultural group became a political force through the expression of their oppressed culture by unifying the different black communities of Colombia.
ReplyDeleteBrendan McDermott
ReplyDeleteTumaco is a Columbian city on the pacific coast near the equator. In recent years black culture has been making a comeback as evident by the carnival and the “Return of the Marimba” performance. White elites ruled the town for many decades until in the late 1990’s when a new council and a black mayor were elected. The “Return of the Marimba” is a symbol for the larger return of black culture and history to the area that has been void of it for many years. With the new Columbian constitution in the early 1990’s black culture was strengthened with laws that protect their “cultural identity” and rights as a group. The idea of a cultural identity has become a very powerful political tool for these groups. In the 1980’s this carnival was largely ignored because it was not related to any distinct cultural identity at the time. I would say that this is an example of how at the time black culture wasn’t the history of the area only because it was recognized and remembered as so. The new most recent culture was based primarily on the local identity through its dance, spirits, and catholic rites. For many years their culture, including marimba dancing, was deplored by everyone from political parties to the Catholic Church who considered it very immoral. The marimba was often called the devils instrument and many festivals and songs contains references to the devil and even people like Father Mera fighting him. In this article they also discuss the delacrational aspect of culture which is how which mostly comes from self-reflection and oral and written discourse. This basically means that history and cultural identity are fluid and always being altered and changed.
Mr. Montano highlighted the importance of music both as a part of culture and as a tool to define and explain culture. Music as a representation of culture can hold much information and history that can be handed down to younger generations. While music and culture can develop as a community affair, they also have the potential to make the leap into a more global and perhaps political arena. Culture (and music) is a component of political change and thus should not be shortchanged. It shapes and defines and is also defined by history and memory of a set of peoples. While music may at some levels be for entertainment and pastime, on a higher level it can hold much more meaning. So in the end, music and culture should not be thought to only have sway over minor things but should be regarded as important tools for social and political change as well.
ReplyDeleteWhen Julio César Montaño began his talk, one of his opening remark was that everyday struggle is normal for a Columbian. When recalling and reconstructing the past, the struggles and hardships are always very salient moments, thus it comes as no surprise that Montano’s life pervades an era of distress and hardship. An aspect we have not delved deeply into this class is the effect of culture and nationalization on politics. As Montano described, politics is in everything, and culture is an integral part of development of communities. Culture is a way to make political claims. The root of Social Problems in Tumaco, Columbia was a result of dirty politics. As Mr. Montano lived this social and cultural disaster, he thought to himself, what can I do to fix this? I find it remarkable that with very limited means Montano was able to create group that could bring the city together and combat the money grubbing politicians. Story and recollections such as this are the fuel for more social reformations in countries that are abused by rich political figures.
ReplyDeleteAn important, though often overlooked, element of culture is its fluidity. Culture, as Julio César Montaño suggests, is not mummified or entombed, but rather a dynamic part of developing communities. Culture, as a living entity, can be used as a means to give voice to those who otherwise do not have a voice. It can be used as a means to vocalize the thoughts and concerns of a country. As something that moves people, it can be used to promote various activist causes. In the case of Colombia, musicians used music as a means to share their message, to rally others behind their fight, and enact change. They demanded improved rights and an end to political corruption; through music they received a forum they otherwise would not have had.
ReplyDeleteCésar Montaño started his lecture by saying that the ancestors flow through you; music is an inevitably historical process. The instruments are those of the past, the ability to play shared between generations. Although the motives for playing may evolve over time, often the manner of playing remains the same. In this way, the dynamic process of music remains rooted in the past and continues to retell shared experiences.
Stephen Sullivan
ReplyDeleteWhat I took from Julio César Montaño’s talk was that it is important to realize that culture, often see as something passive, develops society. Through culture, one can fight for human rights, and make the world a better place. Music, art, and other cultural elements transformed the perception of black culture in Colombia. It all started with a group of artists who leveraged their artistic powers to create a voice for blacks in Colombia. As Julio César said, the artists expressed their rights through music and this eventually overflowed into a political movement. Through festivals and other cultural events, blacks gained recognition in the state and facilitated, as Julio César called it, “the second abolition of slavery.” Their objective was to pull apart political and cultural process and take responsibility for change in culture. They taught young kids different art forms in order to empower them for the future. It is important to understand how in Colombia, it was art that gave blacks a voice in which they could promote human rights and social justice.
Julio Cesar Montano explained black culture in the Americas and how it depends on history, remembering, and reconstructing in the present. The way Julio describes black culture also tells us about black political movement in Columbia. Julio’s main way of communication is through is drums. Drums have a ton of significance for black culture. They are instruments indigenous to Africa which tells shows the role history plays in black culture in Columbia. Julio uses communication through his drums to teach ethnic, territorial, and political rights and messages. This is an example of how Columbians use history to reconstruct the past to push forward their political movement. He continues to explain the importance of culture once it has been remember, reconstructed, and historicized. Julio says even though culture is important you must look into it to find the “real” meaning.
ReplyDeleteJulio uses music to reconstruct history which also happens to send political messages. These political messages are incorporated into the culture in music, dance, poems, and paintings. Through the messages citizens are exposed and take in the political messages, and once others are exposed to the movement changes begin. Specifically in Julio’s case his political movement influenced his village to get electricity, running water, and paved roads
History was very important in the black political movement in Colombia that Julio César Montaño was involved with. He marked that his drum was a live tool he could use and that it contained much history. The drum was used to bring slaves together in the past where they would create their own black culture together. In the modern day the drums were used to teach children indirectly about traditional culture while they were playing in the yard. Montaño spoke much about culture and status as movers of culture, and how he later realized that he could move politics through culture using his instruments and those of other musicians and activists. He also spoke about getting past the historical and symbolic barriers so that the music and cultural movements would make sense in the present.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most memorable statements made by Julio Cesar to me was about the way messages are sent through history and culture: “sometimes they will give you a message you do not understand at the moment but over time your mind responds to it and the thought become accepted.” Culture is embedded with meaning and lessons that must be retained within the memory of one’s culture as time passes.
ReplyDeleteThe black political movement in Colombia was birthed and spread through “teaching through hearing.” Julio spoke about the crucial role of spreading beliefs through the form of art, whether it be in the form of dance, story telling, or through musical expression. Echo’s of the Pacific in 1991 took small children around the ages of eight or nine and taught them through artistic expression. The group also brought together people of all cultures and all groups to express their culture to all the other groups. Julio stated, “With culture you must enjoy it but must look for deeper meanings within culture because nothing exists without meaning; culture is alive.”
In Colombia (1975) the cultural process became official through performance groups and political activists. Julio emphasized in this year the groups realized that performance and dance was a way of speaking and expressing culture. The dancers, the musicians, and the artists were in a way, putting themselves out as the voice of the people who could not speak.
Julio closed with an important message about how the acts of remembering and reconstructing history figure into cultural movements: “you must bring the messages from the past and express them in the future and in the present. Culture is alive.”
History is just that, it is “his” “story”. Despite the naivety of some differences between what actually happened and how people remember it are vast. For Julio Cesae his drum is his connection between the past ad the present, he says it brings people’s culture together and lets them express it. Musical expression can stand to represent culture.. His lyrics depict a story of his culture. To Julio Cesar culture symbolizes development in the community and on the large stage, it is something that is always changing with the times and something that people encounter and define daily.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mr. Cesar performed in the capital it stirred the emotions of the townspeople. They soon demanded the same rights. Due to the musical performance that depicted how Julio Cesar perceived his culture he was able to leave his imprint on the political scene. His vision in part is to educate the people, from children to adults using his music as a means of communication. In the end, in person will perceive their own history and culture in their own light; it is up to the individual to define his own background in a positive or negative light. The movement of culture from generation to generation is key, whether you are keeping culture in your family alive by music or on paper.
Montaño described the interplay of history and memory as a means of effecting social and political change. He explained that through active cultural pride and identity, Afro-Colombians were able to affect political movements. Montaño stressed repeatedly that culture is most able to have an impact on others through active rather than passive measures. In this sense, people who practice particular cultural forms within a nation must not only perform them amongst themselves, but must be so prideful that others are forced to confront those forms as part of the national culture at large. In this case, Montaño refers to the Afro-Colombian culture forms as being able to have an impact on general Colombian culture and identity. This cultural/ethnic pride builds from perceptions of past experiences, i.e. both through history and memory. He first exemplified Afro-Colombians’ use of the past in contemporary cultural forms with his initial drumming piece. He then went on to describe the Tumaco festival. This festival was initially unpopular, but eventually gained a positive reputation as an outlet to discuss the past and present discrimination that Afro-Colombians and their ancestors had experienced. This festival therefore allowed for Afro-Colombians to unite and build a greater sense of pride and identity. Because they then grew in terms of their force, they were able to effect political change. This feat was particularly impressive given the corruption embedded in Colombian politics. The Tumaco festival, then, is a prime example of a minority’s use of history and memory to develop the cultural/ethnic pride that has the power to effect tangible change.
ReplyDeleteThe carnival opening has a “powerful meaning” that is “foremost a political one.” Before Tumaco had a black mayor, this carnival opening was not played. After electing a black mayor in 1997, the carnival opening Return of the Marimba was performed, symbolizing a return to black cultural roots with the election of a black mayor. The political movement in Colombia is very race oriented. In 1993, the Ley de Negritudes, Law of Black Affairs was passed, which seeks to protect the cultural identity of blacks. Race is officially part of the political law in Columbia. In 1998, the “Currulao Development Plan” was passed which officially admitted that the carnival had political connotations. The article even mentions national organizations devoted to black cultural groups in Latin America. Blackness and politics are intertwined in Latin America.
ReplyDeleteMackenzie Schleicher
ReplyDeleteBlog #6
February 27, 2011
How does each (history and remembering/reconstructing that history) figure in the black political movement in Colombia discussed by Julio César?
According to Julio Cesar, if you aren’t black on the outside, you’re dark on the inside. What he experienced was worth telling—he has every single day as an option to live. Julio Cesar discussed that normally, they invited dance and music groups in Colombia to perform so everyone would have a good time. It was also a way to make a little money. In this way, they could show people their music in a romantic way; they were presenting culture that had been preserved. Julio Cesar specifically stated, “This was our way of doing politics through culture because politics is in everything.” Culture makes guidelines for politics. It is an integral part of communities and is thought of as an element that teaches people ethnic and territorial rights. In 1975, culture was a way to make political claims. There were social problems in Colombia. Politicians wanted to become rich with public money and performers, such as musicians and writers, were the voice of the people and spoke for those who could not. For example, the Drum Skin show, which was an hour and a half long with 45 performing artists, served as a way in which the people of Tomaco demanded their rights. After many fights, Tomaco had paved streets, improved running water and working electricity. This proves that with culture, we can persuade our communities. In 1991, Julio Cesar became part of a group called Echoes of the Pacific and taught people different arts, and through this art, they created a dance and music school with videos, books and CDs. In 1987, the objective of this group was to get people together to talk about problems and solutions to these problems through music and dance; the group convinced people to donate money and economic resources through culture. This process went hand-in-hand with the new constitution in Colombia. 1991 marked a period of the second abolition of slavery in Colombia. The constitution was changed through this movement, a movement that stopped being about a community process and turned into more of a political process. The leaders who took on this process didn’t leave behind their culture because it has an important part in instituting change in countries. People should enjoy culture and look underneath it to see all the underlying meanings. According to Julio Cesar, “Nothing exists without a function.” Remembering history and reconstructing that history plays a prominent role in the way in which black political movement in Colombia is constructed.
The black political movement on the Colombian pacific coast is an example of contras views of cultural history. On the side of politicians in Bogotá, there was no recognition of black people. To them, black people had to be directly tied to Africa, and they believed these ties had died with the arrival of the slaves. However, to the Pacificos, African culture was very much alive. Their evidence was in the place of culture, especially the music. Though perhaps the music is not identical or directly linked with those in Africa, the Intra racial creolization that created this mixture of African music and music culture is to them very African. In his opening song, Julio Montano’s referred to Africa as his drum’s mother. The way music is approached both in the households and in the streets is testament to a different approach to culture that played a role in the political movement.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, to me the different forms of evidence on the opposing sides during the pacific black political movement shows not only a different understanding of history between the two sides, but a different understanding of culture as well.
Through Julio César Montaño’s discussion of the black political movement in Colombia, he was able to shed light on the ways in which black culture on the Americas depends on both history and the acts of remembering or reconstructing that history in the present as well as how this relationship specifically played out in Colombia. He said how everyone tends to share and display our own cultures to others outside of one’s own culture in a romantic way. As a result, we end up presenting it like it something “mummified” or preserved. Julio César Montaño also mentions the importance of “doing politics” through culture because everything is at heart political. For him, culture is often the means of change in countries because it is alive. In Colombia, as in other places, what is remembered from history and how it is interpreted is often determine by who is telling the history. Often, what actually happens is quite different than the manner in which it is reconstructed, but what is remembered is what essentially matters. In Colombia, festivals were spaces where people got together to speak about black culture. At first, however, most of the people speaking about black culture at these festivals were whites. Black culture and history is very different from the point of view of blacks and whites in Colombia. Eventually, progression occurred, and it changed so that blacks talked about their own problems and culture in general at these festivals. This was a huge step in the black political movement because it not only provided an arena for blacks to come together to discuss issues and possible solutions, it also was a turning point in the way in which history was remembered. Blacks in Colombia were given more of a voice. In 1991, the Constitution recognized black people in Colombia, and Julio César Montaño described this as similar to a “second abolition of black people.” Prior to this, blacks in Colombia did not really have a voice, or at least a voice that had to be listened to. Without a legitimate voice, the reconstruction of your own history and culture gets distorted because others tell your story for you. Julio César Montaño created the EPA in addition to the Festival de Currulao. In doing so, he was able to convey his message of the importance of appreciating culture and telling your own story.
ReplyDeleteJulio Cesar Montano emphasized the role of culture in relation to struggles for broad social changes in Colombia. The Afro-Latin population of Tumaco has a rich history and culture, which is continually changing like a living organism. Sr. Montano stresses the need to understand how culture is passive and active. It can be passive in the sense that a group of people will perform a certain dance in front of a group of people just for some money. However, culture becomes active if that same group performs the dance and also teaches the importance of the dance to the audience and spreads a political message demanding social changes. According to Sr. Montano, “everything is politics”. Eventually these artisans of Tumaco began to join together along with other groups from around the Pacific coast of Colombia in the effort of forcing the government to make changes. Their message spread fast and eventually the constitution of Colombia was ratified so that the country officially recognized Afro-Colombians. Sr. Montano’s message was that culture is an key “organic” component of our lives and that when need be we may use it as a tool to institute needed change.
ReplyDeleteIn Columbia the Tumaco Festival consists of interesting and valuably traditions that further exhibit the importance of music and religion to the black community of the country. In the ceremony there are two pieces that make up what is called the Return of the Marimba. First, Father Mera battles the devil by forbidding the playing of the instrument of the devil, the marimba. In the second scene, Francisco Saya defeats the devil with his extremely impressive skills as a marimbero. These contrasting dynamics are interesting to the fullest extent. How can the marimba first been seen as the devil's instrument, but then next be played in order to defeat the devil? It is evident from reading the article that the blacks in Columbia see religion and musical practices as something they have the power to manipulate. They clearly see that music is something that should be used for good in religious practices. It is clear through Agier's writing that these traditional festivals have not been practiced for many years (formed in 1970's) and they are not attended by the best people: "Marked as it has been by the contributions of blacks and the poor, the technical, aesthetic and symbolic aspects of the performances were rather precarious and not seen as very status enhancing" (p 146).
ReplyDeleteHistory contributes to the black political movement in Columbia in that enacting laws - Ley de Negritudes - that protected the black culture in Columbia called for the acknowledgement of the importance of the black (African and descendants of Africans) populations. Recognizing that Afro-Columbians have a history in Columbia and a part in its culture lays a foundation for black and black-derivative cultural forms to thrive alongside the cultures of the white elite and the pervading cultures from around the world. The Currulao sought to display the customs of the Tumaco. Practitioners reconstructed historically black culture in the present by juxtaposing the influences of Catholicism alongside marimba music and their use in pagan rituals. The festival, despite presenting black cultural forms, did not represent or acknowledge them as such. With growing political force behind the black movement, the representing of these forms as black has increased.
ReplyDeleteJulio César Montaño started his talk off asserting his belief that culture is an integral part of the development of community, partially because of the guidelines it sets forth for a society, and the rest of his talk only proved the validity of this statement. Montaño’s focus was on the symbolic content of cultural performances and expression, because of the messages that such things contain. The history of culture is important because of the traditions it brings to a society, and the lessons that can be learned from such traditions. According to Montaño, it is important for children to learn the history of their culture so they can understand it. However, it is also incredibly important for children to be learning about different arts and performance styles so that they can later be critical through their it. It is important for people to realize that they can use the tools, both historical and from the present, to persuade their communities; traditions cannot just be remembered, they must be acted upon and used to assert culture from the past into the present. Montaño talked a lot about how present day artists and performers in Colombia were using their art to give the people of Colombia a voice and allow their opinions to be heard. These performers used their cultural expressions as a political movement and assertion in the present. When the people of Tumaco saw artists and performers doing this, they realized that they had the same power and started demanding fairness and equality, ultimately what they deserved. Furthermore, when blacks wanted to host festivals that celebrated their cultures and gave them place to congregate, they used their culture. The people did not have enough money to cover the expenses of such festivals, so they went out and convinced people, particularly those with authority (council and congress member, mayors, etc.) that they had culture and that it was important. This is a perfect example of the people using their culture and aspects of their history to make changes in the present. Montaño’s conclusion brings together the idea of history and asserting it into the present. He argued that the entire black political movement that he was involved in Colombia came out of a communal process, not a political one, but then developed into a political process. It started with culture, which takes a lot from history, and ended with politics in the present and used the culture to reach the end.
ReplyDeleteJulio César Montaño spoke of culture as either passive or living. At its heart, culture is about history, about preserving traditions that have been passed down through centuries. Yet, Julio César Montaño asserted that merely keeping up traditions and showing your culture off to outsiders as a history lesson was akin to showing mummified/preserved remains to museum visitors. He emphasized over and over that by relating that history to the present, by reflecting on traditions and connecting those traditions to current struggles, culture becomes alive. As he said, “culture is an element that moves people”. Thus, Julio César Montaño seems to suggest that the history of black culture alone is not nearly sufficient but, rather, the act of remembering or reconstructing that history in the present enables black culture to have social and political impacts.
ReplyDeleteJulio César Montaño helped organize various groups and festivals to bring together black musicians who used their music to encourage a new social order. The efforts of and message given by the musicians inspired people to demonstrate in the streets in 1988, ultimately resulting in paved roads, improved running water, and permanent electricity for Tumaco. This use of culture shows how black culture was preserved but then brought into the present and adapted for the needs of the time period, resulting in tangible change.
I liked the message Julio César Montaño closed with; he said, “With culture, you have to enjoy and appreciate it, but also have to look inside because nothing exists without a function. Culture isn’t dead, it’s alive, like life.” This statement shows that enjoying and appreciating the history contained in culture is important, but that in order to make culture alive and politically relevant, you must go further and probe, remember, and reconstruct.
The article deals primarily with dualtities, not simply within the culture (Black/White, pagan/christian) but also the duality between local/global. The duality of history and memory doesn’t wander too far from this pattern, but seems to have taken on an even more complicated relationship in the last few decades in Afro-Colombian cultural identity.
ReplyDeleteMontaño describes global forces—something that we can concretely deem as recent history, or things that actually occurred—as a selective sieve for cultural. With the development projects, the displacement of rural communities and the explosive growth of centers like Tumaco, communities and populations with their own specific histories became clustered physically and culturally, which required the new forging of an identity in a new urban setting. Montaño describes that “black-culture of the Pacifice” as an urban-situated identity, [was] created or ‘invented’ with existing fragments of regional symbolic material and in relation to a regional development process that has strongly ethnic connotations” (146). The fragments that survived to be integrated had to pass through the other sieve of international funding; traditions and beliefs were essentialized and “simplified” so that they could earn the support of internaional cultural projects, so that “the culture of the [African] diaspora is expressed locally in terms that can be comprehended externally” (160).
Luckily, the homogenization in the global sphere did not entail complete uniformity on the local level. The devil, for example, is represented in various forms—race, dress—in concordance with the distinct versions of the legend of Mera and the marimba. However thriving and diverse, local practices seem to be more acutely pressured not just by recent global forces, but rather the selectivity of memory in cultural construction also responds to farther reaching historical currents (which had very real local implications of repression and reinterpretation via religion and music, although the framework followed a global pattern of ethnic/racial inequity.) Thus the entire Afro-Colombian twist to Carnival strived to be more “status enhancing”; the idea was to be pristinely “black,” but not so “black” as to be associated with the poor. For example, however prevalent and important pagan and satanic symbols, they must be taken simply at their face value of black symbols of resistance without being too deviant. For example, “the visions, in the carnival procession scenes, are depicted but neutralized; they serve only as décor to a local flavor”. Selectivity when constructing cultural identity in a historically marginalized group toes a fine line.
Julio Cesar Montano spoke about the importance of music and culture as a means of political power. Culture in Colombia is an element that moves people and as a result it was effective to address political issues of Afro-Colombians through culture. Because culture is highly valued, people are likely to want to hear about political issues. Culture is used for the development of the Tumaco community as elements of culture are used as an activity of teaching about human, territorial and ethnic rights in Colombia. Different forms of the arts such as music, theater, poetry and dance were used to teach children and young people about culture, which is their connection to the past and the present. While children and the young danced and played, the elders of the community told stories of their past through music and poetry. Julio and many of his fellow activists were in fact speaking for the people who couldn’t speak as the activists addressed public issues through forms of cultural expressions. Activists believed that they could use their culture to truly bring change to their communities as they fought for their rights. The activists were able to mobilize people to participate in public issues and as a result they were able to demand permanent electricity, clean water and paved roads. In the long run, the use of culture as a political factor led to the constitution of Colombia to recognize the presence of blacks in Colombian society. In the end Julio Cesar Montano leaves us with a powerful message of enjoying the significance of culture while also digging deeper for an underlying meaning.
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