Panama in Black: Afro-Caribbean World Making in the Twentieth Century

by Kaysha Corinealdi

In Panama in Black , Kaysha Corinealdi traces the multigenerational activism of Afro-Caribbean Panamanians as they forged diasporic communities in Panama and the United States throughout the twentieth century. Drawing on a rich array of sources including speeches, yearbooks, photographs, government reports, radio broadcasts, newspaper editorials, and oral histories, Corinealdi presents the Panamanian isthmus as a crucial site in the making of an Afro-diasporic world that linked cities and towns like Colón, Kingston, Panamá City, Brooklyn, Bridgetown, and La Boca. In Panama, Afro-Caribbean Panamanians created a diasporic worldview of the Caribbean that privileged the potential of Black innovation. Corinealdi maps this innovation by examining the longest-running Black newspaper in Central America, the rise of civic associations created to counter policies that stripped Afro-Caribbean Panamanians of citizenship, the creation of scholarship-granting organizations that supported the education of Black students, and the emergence of national conferences and organizations that linked anti-imperialism and Black liberation. By showing how Afro-Caribbean Panamanians used these methods to navigate anti-Blackness, xenophobia, and white supremacy, Corinealdi offers a new mode of understanding activism, community, and diaspora formation.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Research, Race

280 pages, Hardcover

Published September 16, 2022

Reviews

[Ninna Ottey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este es un libro que debería ser lectura obligatoria en las escuelas, a través de ella, la autora nos da otra narrativa de Panamá en el siglo XX contada desde una mirada afrocaribeña. La historia debajo de la alfombra de cómo se vivió el racismo inminente en Panamá, así como las influencias del nazismo y el Jim Crow.

El libro es fácil de leer y te invita a indagar mucho más en la historia y, a la vez, es una celebración al ingenio resiliente de nuestra identidad afroantillana. Es un libro que se tiene que leer después de haber leído a Olive Senior en Dying to Better Themselves. Pero lo que más resalto de esta lectura es el rescate de grandes mujeres, quienes contribuyeron con grandeza en el movimiento antirracista y en la inclusión caribeña a la identidad panameña.

Definitivamente es una investigación a la que recurriré constantemente para rescatar a esas mujeres que por años estuvieron escondidas en la omisión y silencio.

[Kiki Tapiero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Id give more stars if I could, should be required reading at least for every panamanian, but there's so much for everyone to learn here about the effects of US colonization on anti Black sentiments and more. I learned so so much. I learned how Caribbean migration started with building the panamanian railroad and the canal, and within the canal zone the US modeled racism and anti Blackness through Jim crow laws / segregation. This actually ended up tying panamanian struggle to the civil rights movement and activists in labor and education drew influence from mlk, malcolm X and the Black panthers! In the dispopulation of the canal zone, panama tried to get afro Caribbean folks perceived as foreigners to leave and deprive them of citizenship if they were born in the canal zone. A very racist panamanians for panama (ppp) faction came out that took influence from Hitler and fascism that advocated for extreme policies like forced sterilization. It's fascinating to see the history of Caribbean influence on panama like speaking English and racially coded language that comes from it. I loved learning about the histories of places I know intimately like arraighan and colon, and about racist language I'm also familiar with. It's also interesting seeing how anti Blackness pitted indigeneity / whiteness against Blackness, commonalities panama has with the DR, and thinking about what it means to be panamanian and part of the diaspora, especially living in brooklyn! the book has a whole chapter on panamanians settling in parts of Brooklyn ive lived in and how afro panamanian women started the scholarship org las servidoras/ dedicators here.  A beautiful final quote: "to be panamanian in brooklyn blurred the distinctions among latinx, African American, Latin American, and Caribbean identities." ( pg 155). We're all connected and together in this struggle for liberation!!

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am glad that I read this, but it was very important for me to read it as part of a book club otherwise I would have bailed. It was not an easy read. It was very dense and very academic for being as short as it was. I had a hard time convincing myself to pick the book up and read anything. I often felt like by the end of the chapter, I was unable to retain very much of the content. I really enjoyed the final chapter and conclusion and really, really struggled with the rest. I wanted to get a historical context on Black Panamanians that would also be clearly tied to the present situation. I felt like the book was somewhat successful at that.

[Valeria Nunez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative but super dense. Anyone who wants to learn more about Panama should read this.