Introduction (Introducción)

Photos by Bertha Knight

During the summer of 2011, I had a panoramic view of Peru in the twenty-first century, history, society, culture and globalization as a Fulbright Scholar through the Fulbright-Hays grant program.  This program is a awarded to teachers, administrators and graduate students from the United States for research and training efforts overseas, focusing on non-Western  foreign languages.  My six-week extensive tour of Peru included visiting major geographical areas, where I engaged in educational, cultural and historical pedagogy with faculty, students and community leaders.  The major areas I visited include Catacaos, Chiclayo, Chincheros, Cusco, El Carmen, El Guayabo, Ica, Koricancha, Lambayeque, Lima, Machu Picchu, Morropon, Ollantaytambo, Pisaq, Piura, Pucapucara, Sacsayhuaman, Tambomachay, Trujillo, Ya patera and Zaña.  To date, I am still in contact with my Peruvians friends and communicate with them regularly through social media websites (See detailed itinerary section).

The goal of my analysis is to share my Fulbright Scholar experience with you from an Afro-Peruvian (afroperuano) perspective:

• I will present the results from my afroperuvian women questionnaire/survey titled “Race, Class & Culture: How Afro-Peruvian Women Embrace their Identities (Sobre Raza, Clase Social y Cultura, Basado en Sus Experiencias Viviendo en Perú)” which is located at: http://fulbrightscholarperu2011.blogspot.com/2012/01/cuestionario-sobre-raza-clase-social-y.html
• I will discuss why I found I.E. José Pintado Berrú de Yapatera’s (Providence of Piura) secondary school exemplary in its philosophy, leadership and sense of community, which is located at: http://fulbrightscholarperu2011.blogspot.com/2011/12/afro-peruvian-community-of-yapateras.html
• I will present my interview with Rocio Muñoz, a staunc Mujeres Afroperuanas Feminista (Afro-Peruvian feminist), who advocates for women of African descent across Latin America and the Caribbean.
• I will present a my detailed itinerary which is located at: http://fulbrightscholarperu2011.blogspot.com/2011/10/detailed-itinerary.html
• I will present a pictoral travel diary which is located at: http://fulbrightscholarperu2011.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post.html

Map of Afro-Peruvian Communites

HISTORY OF AFRO-PERUVIANS (HISTORIA DE AFROPERUANOS)

Peru is geographically located on the western side of South America’s Pacific Coast whose immediate neighbors are Chile and Ecuador. Afro-Peruvians only make up about 5% of the population which is about 3 million in total. This is an approximate figure because Peru has not been a census report taken by the government since the 1940’s and the word “race” was not included in the report. The coastal areas where Afro-Peruvians are mostly located include Yapatera, Zana, El Carmen, and Morropon. They have had a presence there since their African ancestors began arriving to the coastal regions of Peru in 1534 from Senegal, Guinea, Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Angola and Mozambique during the Spanish rule to work on plantations