The International Day of Afro-descendant Women is celebrated every year on 25th July, marking the first Meeting of Afro-Latin American and Afro-Caribbean Women held in the Dominican Republic in 1992. The commemoration was established to highlight the importance of making Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean, and Diaspora women visible.
We interviewed Marta Salgado, president of the NGO Oro Negro. This group is one of the first in Chile to bring attention to the existence of the Afro-descendant population in the country and to work for the preservation and dissemination of their culture.
Born to Afro-descendant parents from Arica, Marta has spent much of her life in that city. She is the eldest of nine siblings and recounts how, from childhood, she experienced discrimination in the classroom, and how, as a teenager, she learned to defend both herself and her siblings. 鈥淐hilean society is educated to see a European prototype. Schools have never taught that we are descendants of African people, brought here through the transatlantic slave trade,鈥 she says.
After participating in the Summit of the Americas in Santiago in 2001, Marta decided to take action for the Afro-descendant population. Along with her sister, Sonia Salgado, she founded the NGO Oro Negro. 鈥淚t was said that black people in Chile had died from the cold. This created a very interesting space, because all the Afro-descendant brothers and sisters, whether they had come from Africa or Central and South America, found the missing link that was Chile, as the country had always erased the presence of African people,鈥 she asserts.
Historically, when the current borders between Chile and Peru were defined, Marta explains that many Afro-descendant families were separated between the two countries, leading to the fragmentation of their communities. 鈥淢y paternal grandfather died in Callao, a maternal aunt died in Lima, and a relative recently passed away in Cusco,鈥 Marta explains.
But the challenges faced by Afro-descendant women, particularly vulnerable in Latin America and the Caribbean, are even more complex.
What are the main challenges for Afro-descendant women in Chile? Do you believe this experience is similar across Latin America and the Caribbean? Why?
The challenges faced by Afro-descendant women in Chile are the same as those faced by Afro-descendant women throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The common challenges include: eradicating discrimination and racism, and ensuring that State institutions recognise that being an Afro-descendant woman comes with certain social, cultural, political, and socio-economic conditions that require support for these women.
One of the main issues is discrimination and racism, because, based on stereotypes, there is an attempt to homogenise women. However, Afro-descendant women have differences, particularly in health. For example, there are health conditions that the programmes fail to address, such as sickle cell anaemia, which is very common among Afro-descendant women.
Another issue is how discrimination is faced when looking for work or in institutions where you work, where you may feel excluded. For instance, you might be asked not to appear in a photo. These are things that have happened to me, and they are very painful. I couldn鈥檛 advance to higher positions because of my skin colour.
Furthermore, when we talk about Latin America and the Caribbean, we see that people are displaced from their territories in the name of 鈥渕odernisation鈥, which has also happened in our regions. In Chile, many Afro-descendant families now live in rural areas, such as Azapa, without proper sewage systems. They have to buy water and are constantly exposed to the pollution of untreated sewage.
What measures do you consider most urgent for States to implement in order to support the comprehensive development of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean, and Diaspora women? What role do civil society organisations and communities play?
The first step is to eradicate discrimination and racism, and to dismantle the stereotypes of how Black women are perceived in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is an issue that needs to be addressed and developed. Our grandmothers were very wise and hardworking women, but they were exploited by States, internationally, under the conditions of discrimination. At that time, they were employed as domestic workers, housemaids. That was the place relegated to Black women.
We must reclaim the dignity of our grandmothers, so that they are seen for who they were: dignified women. The States owe us that dignity. They need to recognise us in terms of rights, justice, development, and acknowledgment. Only then can we move forward.
Why is it important to celebrate the International Day of Afro-descendant Women, and what message would you like to share with those reading this interview today?
It is important to commemorate the International Day of Afro-descendant Women because this day emerged from the feminist studies of women. Most of the early feminist movements were led by women of European descent, particularly Spanish women, who were very intelligent and represented everything we might expect from such movements. However, they did not accept Black women into their organisations or their work. This is where Black feminism was born, led by very intelligent, persistent, and constant women, who began this struggle to defend what we seek today: recognition, justice, and development.
This is our struggle: to make ourselves seen in the world, to raise visibility as women who play a role in history, and who have, across Latin America and the Caribbean, sown the seeds for what we want today. We simply want to be respected as Afro-descendant women. My message is that we must continue fighting for our rights and development, to regain our dignity, especially in honour of our grandmothers.
