Collective Statement From Intellectuals, Scholars, Activists, Community Leaders, And Artists Participants in the Third CumbreAfro
The collective of intellectuals, scholars, activists, international and community leaders, and Afro-descendant artists from Abya Yala who have participated in one or more of the three CumbreAfro (hereafter Afro Summit) editions want to reaffirm its significance and value as a singular platform in Améfrica Ladina and the Caribbean. A unique space, facilitated by Afro leadership, fosters the convergence of academia, critical intellectual thinking, and a variety of black movements.
The Afro Summit 2024 was dedicated to Haiti’s legacies and the need to show solidarity with the Haitian people's struggles today. This served as both the starting point and the endpoint of the Summit and is a crucial part of its conclusions: the significance of positioning Haiti as the number one priority on the agenda of Afro-diasporic black movements in Latin America and the Caribbean. Recognizing the necessity of Historical Reparations as one of the fundamental political pillars of our movements, in response to the violence of transatlantic racial slavery as a crime against humanity and its continuity through systemic anti-black racism, whose consequences we endure daily, we reaffirm that the reparations agenda cannot be addressed without placing Haiti and its fate at the center of such discussions. We can’t forget that the crisis Haiti is currently facing is part of a long history of abuses and dead ends to which colonialism, Western imperialism, and white supremacy have condemned it. These crises follow one and other and continuously worsen the situation in which its population is trapped. Haiti encapsulates the entire history of colonialism and coloniality, and its historical condition is the punishment for daring to rebel in the way it did against white Western imperial power.
Likewise, we take this opportunity to reaffirm the Afro Summit’s value in political, epistemic, and aesthetic terms as a forum that positions itself within the framework of radical race theory and decolonial critique. It commits to global racial justice — and comprehensive justice against all forms of oppression — from a standpoint open to engaging in diverse debates about the political project while remaining attentive to the most effective ways to confront racial capitalism and coloniality. It is a space for building a community of affinities and emotions, for coming together from the diverse spectrum of dark shades that we are, from our cultural and ideological differences, and based on various forms of resistance, creation, and collective action.
We value the Summit autonomous nature, which, although organized within the university space, renounces from the formality, interference, and control typically imposed on such settings. Conversely, we embrace dialogue among academia, artistic practices, movements, and communities, dialogue between different spiritual and political perspectives, intercultural and inter epistemic dialogue, intergenerational dialogue, and a transdisciplinary approach that transcends gender and sexuality binaries.
The Afro Summit has allowed us, over these three years, to connect beyond multiple borders that separate us, to become enlightened with the diverse local realities, as well as the wide array of actions we are undertaking from our territories. Both guests and organizers have committed to constructive criticism, enabling us to assess and reassess the dynamics occurring in these spaces and to embrace a commitment to the anti-racist, anti-patriarchal, participatory, decolonial pillars, and the horizons of justice of our movements.
We are committed to ensuring that the Summit continues to be a space for gathering, collective critical thinking, inclusive radical solidarity, proactive creation, and praxis. It is a space to strengthen Afro-epistemologies and Afro-cosmogonies that allow us to narrate and recreate ourselves, while simultaneously twist networks of respect and solidarity, knowledge, and transformative praxis in pursuit of liberation. We express our gratitude for the opportunity provided by the annual Afro Summit in Puerto Rico to nourish our collective Black and Afro-diasporic being, to materialize the concept of malungaje, maroonage, and much more.
In a time like nowadays, where a relentless racial capitalism prevails, characterized by violence and hostility, amongst a civilizational crisis where death often triumphs over love and complementarity, the sense of sharing facilitated by the Summit, the hospitality, dedication, and commitment from its organizing team, is restorative. It uplifts the soul and stimulates hope in an optimistic world. The Summit demonstrates that academia and activism can be approached differently, transforming academia into something else, organically connected to grassroots communities, artistic collectives, and social movements.
As participants of this Afro Summit 2024, we raise our voice for Haiti. We declare that there can’t be reparations without Haiti, that we owe what we are to Haiti. Therefore, we call upon all black, Afro-diasporic, and racially marginalized movements in general to stand up for Haiti, to prioritize Haiti in our demands for justice, reparations, and global consciousness production.
We collectively demand an honorable solution to the Haitian crisis which prominently considers the demands of the people experiencing the crisis firsthand. Let us pressure our governments to take a clear position against any new foreign military intervention.
We demand that our states take urgent action to respect and guarantee the human rights of Haitian migrants, refugees, and displaced persons who arrive in our territories seeking protection.
We call for an end to the persecution and mass deportations of Haitian migrants, and we advocate for an end to the statelessness experienced by thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent.
Let's spearhead an ongoing international solidarity campaign with the Haitian people for their right to self-determination, including a global fund to pay off the historical debt owed by Western empires and transnational capital to the Haitian people. Together with Haitian organizations, we outline a path that enables the Haitian people to emerge from their profound crisis, restoring hope and dignity to our ancestors and our Haitian siblings.
The fight for Haiti and its autonomy is all of us fight as Afro-descendant people. The torch of the Summit will not extinguish; it is brighter than ever.
#LongLiveCumbreAfro
#HaitianLivesMatter
Written on the 27th of March, 2024
Signed by:
Yuderkys Espinosa-Miñoso. Pensadora, docente e investigadora, Instituto Caribeño de Pensamiento e Investigación Descolonial (INCAPID-GLEFAS), Rep. Dominicana.
Helen Ceballos. Artista y productora, Puerto Rico/ Rep. Dominicana.
Agustin Lao-Montes. Profesor de Sociología y Estudios Afroamericanos, University of Massachusetts en Amherst. Miembro Comité Coordinador, Articulación Regional Afrodescendiente de las Américas y el Caribe-ARAAC.
Ana Maria Belique. Activista Movimiento Reconocido, República Dominicana
Doris Careaga. Activista negra, afroveracruza, afromexicana, afrochicana y afrolatina. Profesora e investigadora de la Universidad de Nuevo México (UNM), NM, USA.
Ashanti Dinah. Departamento de Estudios Africanos y Afroamericanos, Harvard University, Colombia.
Jesús Elías Córdoba Valencia. Promotor cultural, Asesor Fundación Universitaria Claretiana, miembro de la Red Departamental de Mujeres Chocoanas. Quibdó-Medellín. Colombia.
María Ignacia Schulz. Escritora, traductora e investigadora afrocolomboalemana. Alemania.
Aurora Arias. Escritora, República Dominicana.
Tania Pierre Charles. Profesora e investigadora CRESFED, Haití.
Luis Graham Castillo. Curador e investigador dominicano.
Patricia Cabarcas Morales. Docente e investigadora, Secretaría de Educación de Bogotá.
Montserrat Aguilar Ayala. Coordinadora del proyecto AFROMEXART, México.
Odome Angone. Docente investigadora (Universidad Cheikh Anta Diop - Senegal).
Brenda Cruz Díaz. Artista multidisciplinar e investigadora puertorriqueña radicada en España.
Mabel Cuesta. Profesora y escritora. Divido mis querencias entre Matanzas, Cuba y Houston, Texas. Vengo de las diásporas Atlánticas.
Dorothy Bell Ferrer. Novelista, Profesora, City University of New York (CUNY), Candidata al grado de Doctora, Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.
Dachelys Valdés Moreno. Educadora, psicóloga, podcaster y activista por los derechos LGBTIQ+, Lo llevamos rizo, Cuba.
Sandra Heidl. Escritora y activista, Cuba-Alemania. Fundadora de Afrocubanas.com.
Sandra D. Rodríguez Cotto. Periodista y escritora, En Blanco y Negro, Puerto Rico.
Diógenes Díaz. Antropólogo Afrovenezolano. Universidad de Carabobo, Venezuela.
Nyya Toussaint. Creative Director and Scholar, Lanbi ak Manchèt, USA.
César Uzcátegui Mantilla. Antropólogo y Profesor de la Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. Venezuela.
Antonio Jose Niño. Licenciado en historia, investigador social jubilado, Universidad de los Andes, (ULA), Mérida, Venezuela.
Jocelyn A. Geliga Vargas. Profesora e investigadora, Universidad de Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.
Rolf Malungo de Souza. Professor e pesquisador da Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro/Brasil.
Ángela Superville Mijares. Mujer líder Afrovenezolana. Docente Etnología.
Ochy Curiel. Feminista Descolonial. Del Grupo Latinoamericano de Estudios, Formación y Acción Feminista-GLEFAS- Profesora de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
Omly Karla Palacios Labori. Docente jubilada y Operadora Local de CONADECAFRO, Venezuela.
Michèle Stephenson. Cineasta, Rada Studio.
Clarivel Ruiz. Dominicans Love Haitians Movement, NYC, Estados Unidos.
Erica Joseph. Investigadora independiente, autora de Necrología de una comunidad haitiana en Chile.
Anjanette Delgado. Escritora, Puerto Rico.
Yuliana Ortiz Ruano. Escritora afroecuatoriana e investigadora, Universidad de las Artes de Ecuador.
Edizon León Castro. Profesor y director de la carrera de Comunicación Comunitaria de la Universidad Intercultural Amawtay Wasi-Ecuador.
Anastasia Valecce. Profesora e investigadora, Spelman College, Atlanta, GA.
Carlos Manuel Álvarez. Periodista y escritor cubano. Director de la revista El Estornudo.
Kaysha Corinealdi. Historiadora, Panamá/EE.UU.
Ivel Urbina Medina. investigadora del Museo antropológico de Quíbor, Venezuela. Maestrante de la Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia.
Mayra Santos Febres. Investigadora Principal del Centro de Investigación y Archivo Virtual Afro.
Guesnerth Josué Perea. Director ejecutivo, foro afrolatin@
Jossianna Arroyo-Martinez. Profesora e investigadora, Universidad de Texas en Austin, (USA).
Eduardo Antonio Rodezno Méndez. Estudiante de filosofía, Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas, El Salvador y miembrx de la comunidad de estudios decoloniales de El Salvador.
Amanda S. Soto González. Estudiante de Derecho, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.
Mariana Iriarte Mastronardo. Profesora, abogada y activista, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto Río Piedras (UPR), Puerto Rico.
Edwin A. Figueroa Narváez. Consejero Asociación Estudiantil NGRX, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Puerto Rico.
Nelson Maldonado-Torres. Profesor, Universidad de Connecticut (USA) y Co-Director de la Fundación Frantz Fanon, París, Francia.
Víctor Jean Luis. Estudiante de Derecho, Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto de Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.
William Luis. Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor in the Humanities, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
Marisel Moreno. Profesora de Estudios Latinx, Universidad de Notre Dame (Indiana, EEUU).
Jose Arturo Ballester Panelli. Artista visual afro caribeño, Limaní 00601.
Lydia Platón. Colaboradora de estudiantes UPR y gestoría cultural comunitaria. UPR, Río Piedras y Taller Comunidad la Goyco.
Lilia Ferrer-Morillo. Escritora, afroactivista, Asociación Civil Abajo Fronteras, Argentina.
Malena Rodriguez Castro. Profesora UPR retirada, ensayista, Puerto Rico.
