Afro Colombians are no strangers to their nation’s half century of violence. Black and Indigenous communities have lost thousands of men, women, and children to the 52-year armed conflict between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government, notes Professor Aiden Salgado.
Salgado is campaigning for a seat on the City Council of the nation’s capital, Bogotá. He is vying to become part of the council in the upcoming Oct. 29 regional elections.
Salgado is an activist who is originally from the town of Palenque de San Basilio, which is in Colombia’s Atlantic zone. Palenque is a town often referenced by members of the African diaspora in the Americas: it’s known for having preserved many African linguistic expressions, and because it has maintained African music (champeta), spiritualities, and aesthetics.
When he was young, Aiden Salgado joined the struggles against the racial discrimination and injustices faced by Afro Colombians. Fully aware of the origins of the armed conflicts in his country, he recently wrote a book entitled “Who Created the Ethnic Chapter?” His text looks at Colombia’s 2016 Peace Accord and the agreements his nation signed on Nov. 24, 2016. The book suggested that a peace agreement should not have been signed in Colombia without the involvement of Afro Colombians and Indigenous peoples. In this book, Aiden notes that the conflict’s violence was felt most in Afro Colombian and Indigenous territories. He adds that though they signed the agreements, the government of former President Juan Manuel Santos did not implement them, and that in paramilitary sectors, new armed groups and drug trafficking were allowed to grow again and revitalize the violence that continues to claim lives. The harmonization plan, which was designed to help reintegrate most of the combatants who fought against the government but then put down their weapons, has not been implemented since 2016.
What happened to Law 70 of Black Communities?
In 1993, Colombia’s congress was pushed by Afro Colombian organizations to pass Law 70 of Black Communities. Law 70 was created to “recognize that Black communities have been occupying lands in the rural areas along the Pacific basin rivers, in accordance with their traditional production practices…” 30 years have passed since the approval of this law…what is the current situation?
“I believe,” Salgado said, “that 30 years after the signing of this law, none of the governments prior to that of our current president, Gustavo Petro, cared about this law. Today, Petro’s government has begun to standardize this law so that it can move forward and benefit Black communities. So, progress is being made in Afro Colombian inclusion policies.”
The Afro Colombian professor and activist is a candidate for the Bogotá City Council as part of the Fuerza Ciudadana political party. He wants people to vote for him so that he can help create a dignified city that combats the kind of racism and racial discrimination suffered by thousands of Afro Colombians who were displaced due to violence and now live in Bogotá, where they are now suffering daily acts of racism. “In this sense I am proposing an employment plan not only for the displaced Black people, many of whom are forced to wander the streets, but for Afro Colombians in general. We hope that this plan will include at least 20% of the unemployed Black population, as well as an affirmative action plan for employment with the mayor of Bogotá. We also want to initiate a radical curriculum plan to include information about Afro Colombians in the formal educational system.”