Delving into Hispanic culture’s ‘blackness’
A Berry guest lecturer draws comparisons between the experiences of different enslaved peoples.
Berry College recently welcomed Hispanic Heritage Month guest lecturer Chantell Limerick, who discussed how people of African descent have contributed to Hispanic culture.
Berry College students and community members alike gathered in the Evans Hall auditorium Thursday evening to hear Limerick, an assistant professor of Spanish at Centre College in Kentucky. She has a B.S. degree from The University of Alabama, an M.A. from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.
“The idea of recognizing ‘blackness’ within Latino culture, is something that should be recognized,” Limerick said. “I think that there is a lot of ignorance and a lack of exposure to Latino African Americans and their experience of slavery.”
Limerick said of the entirety of the slave trade, only 5 percent of Africans were forced to North America, the other 95 percent went to Latin America and the Caribbean.
“In terms of slavery, the United States is just a drop in the bucket,” Limerick said. “The enslaved people of Central and South America had — and still have — their own distinctive legacy and culture.”
Despite this, there is a strong connection between African Americans and AfroLatino Americans through slavery.
Comparing two novels: Toni Morrison’s “A Mercy” and “Malabo,” by the Peruvian author Lucia Charun Illescas, she showed similarities between the two.
Both novels are set in the 1600s with female African slave protagonists. However, Morrison’s novel is set in rural New York, whereas Illescas’ was set in urban Peru. Limerick believes that these books have the ability to teach readers a great deal about slavery despite being writ- ten thousands of miles apart.
“I thought that these two women were writing almost the same novel, but in their own national contexts. These books deserve to be read together,” she said.
The lecture was sponsored by the Hispanic student organization, Orgullo, the Berry College Department of World Languages and the Latin American and Caribbean Studies program as part of the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.