Oral Histories in the Black Pacific

Black women's pivotal yet erased roles in shaping the history and resistance of the Black Pacific are being recovered through oral histories, revealing their ancestral knowledge and political significance. While official colonial narratives in Seville's Archivo General de Indias omit their presence, court archives in American colonies document their demands for freedom. Oral history projects in Bojayá and Esmeraldas bridge digital archives with traditional methods like song and prayer to access this marginalized knowledge, highlighting its relevance for contemporary resistance against extractivist development. This study underscores the political dimensions of Blackness and freedom in the diaspora, challenging Afropolitan frameworks by emphasizing class and migration dynamics.

Carcelén-Estrada, A. (2022). Oral Histories in the Black Pacific. Radical History Review, 2022(144), 77–105. https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-9847816