Sherwin K. Bryant, professor in the Departments of African American Studies and History, discusses his research on the Black Pacific and Afro-Andes in an interview for the African American Intellectual History Society’s Black Perspectives.
In the interview, Bryant discusses his book, Rivers of Gold, Lives of Bondage: Governing through Slavery in Colonial Quito. This book is the first serious English treatment of slavery and slave life in colonial Quito, challenging the narrow conceptualization of slavery as an economic demand. Bryant also discusses his new book projects. His first book charts the history of Black subjectivities along Colombia and Ecuador’s Pacific littoral. His second book develops on the history of slave life within the contraband slave routes that ran through Panama and New Granada before the era of free trade.
Additionally, Bryant discusses challenges pertaining to research of Blackness in Latin America, as well as the field of African American studies.
“Another enduring challenge to the study of Blackness in Latin America is found in the national myths and master narratives that diminish the importance of Black life, and those that deny and devalue the scale of Black populations and the extent of their on-going persecution. Rather than account for the full scope of Black life, these nations have preferred narratives of mestizaje, or race mixture, marginalizing Blacks and their contributions to the nation,” said professor Bryant.
Read the full interview between Yesenia Barragan and Professor Sherwin K. Bryant here.
Read more about Professor Sherwin K. Bryant on his biography page.