Thread by @ZmiluskaF

In honor of #BlackHistoryMonth, I want to remind y’all that Afro-Salvadoran history/legacy *is* black history. A history not well recorded in a country that continues to deny the existence of any African presence...

Yet what we do know of Salvadoran culture today derives from not only the prominent influences from the Indigenous populations but also the African legacy that also contributed to what we know now as El Salvador 🇸🇻

El Salvador is the smallest country from Central America and has the smallest Black population in the entire isthmus, 0.13%. There are still many that believe that because El Salvador does not have a Caribbean coast that no entry of Africans ever arrived. False.

According to Salvadoran historian Marvin Aguilar, the first enslaved Africans, from Senegambia which is today known as Senegal & Gambia, to arrive to El Salvador happened on April 1st, 1528 & were forced to work in the haciendas, gold mines, indigo & cocoa mills...

Acajutla, Sonsonate
Verapaz, San Vicente
San Alejo, La Union
Zacatecoluca, La Paz
Chinameca, San Miguel
Ahuachapán, Ahuachapan
Atiquizaya, Ahuachapán
Nejapa, San Salvador

Had at one point a strong African presence because of the demand for labor...

Over time the African population began to mix with the general population, transitioning from a purely African population to Mulatto & Zambo populations...

By 1807, much of the larger Mulatto populations were in San Salvador & in 1821 San Miguel reported 95% of its population as Afro-descendants.

especiales.laprensagrafica.com/2011/bicentena…

On December 31, 1823, Jose S. Cañas decreed to abolish slavery in Central America, enacted the following year. Today, a statue is dedicated to him in Zacatecoluca, La Paz

But in 1933, General Hernández Martinez wanted to follow Adolf Hitler’s example & wrote a law called the Immigration Limitations, prohibiting the entry of Blacks, Asians, “Gypsies”, & Arabs but allowed entry of Europeans in order to whiten the population...

Because of this law, this further strengthened the denial existence of Afro-Salvadorans ever being present in the country & the legacy they left.

The national instrument of El Salvador is the marimba. The marimba is originally from Africa and introduced to Central America in the 16th century...

In Morazán, there is the “Negritos de Cacaopera” dance (Black people from Cacaopera)

In Ereguayquín, Usulután there is Danza de Los Tabales, a dance to honor San Benito de Palermo (the Black Saint)

In Izalco, Sonsonate there is the Jeu Jeu dance

There is the Baile de la Negra Sebastiana (Dance of the Black Sebastiana) explaining through the dancers the arrival of the Spanish with the Tlaxcalans (an Indigenous tribe) and Blacks in El Salvador

The African legacy is tasted through our foods like:
-Chanfania
-Sopa de Pata (leg soup)
-Plátanos

Some variants of witchcraft that people continue to practice and the figures of the Black Christ. Also, la Virgen de la Paz (San Miguel) is described as Trigueña

Depictions in art & literature by Salarrué, Francisco Gavidia, Benjamin Saul, Miguel Ibarra, David J. Guzmán.

In Zacatecoluca, stands the only monument acknowledging African presence.

There are more cultural elements of African legacy in Salvadoran culture but these are just a few I wanted to share. In conclusion, I don’t want to hear anyone, **especially** my Salvadoran ppl, continuing to deny the existence of Afro-Salvadorans/Afrodescendiente Salvadorans