|
 Sunday,
June 1, 2008 at CHICLE, 5:00 pm, Film, De Florida a Coahuila, Director
Rafael Rebollar, 2002, 50 min
Black Mexican Heritage
By Esther Iverem--SeeingBlack.com Editor and Film Critic
Aug 9, 2006, 22:34
The Black women, gathered together as if in worship, clap their hands and sing
a familiar spiritual refrain:
“Wade in the water.
Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the water.
God’s gonna trouble the water…”
But the scene is not in Alabama, Philadelphia, Chicago or Los Angeles. These women—with
distinct African features—live in Mexico, in a small community founded by African
Americans more than a century ago. This startling scene, and the history behind it,
is included in “From Florida to Coahuila,” a documentary directed by
Rafael Rebollar Corona as part of his effort to tell the hidden story of African
presence in Mexico. His documentaries were screened recently at “AfroMex: The
First International Festival of Son Jarocho” at the Cultural Institute of Mexico
in Washington, DC., and are also available online.
De Florida a Coahuila tells the story of the Mascogo people living
in the small community of Nacimiento de los Negroes (Birth of the Negroes), near
the city of Muzquiz, Coahuila, southwest of the Mexican border near San Antonio.
Through interviews with community residents, oral histories and scholars, Corona
tells a fascinating story about the community that begins with colonization by Spain
in 1565 of the area now known as Florida and the import to that area of enslaved
Africans. Blacks who escaped bondage often formed independent communities called
maroons; many also joined the Native American communities of Seminoles. After the
series of wars between Spain and the Seminole nation, the Seminoles agreed to relocate
to the area now known as Oklahoma and began the long trek west.
As the story has been passed down from generations, some Black members of the Seminole
nation settled in Bracketville, a border town in the area of the Alamo, west of San
Antonio. From there, they developed a close relationship with Mexicans and, to escape
the reach of slave-catchers and violence that beset them in the deep South, relocated
to Mexico and founded Nacimiento do los Negroes in 1856. The new community thrived
at its height, with agriculture and the practice of a religion that included both
the spirituals they knew and interpretation of their dreams.
For a time, Nacimiento did maintain ties with Bracketville but many of those ties
have diminished. Similarly, the original culture is in danger of being lost as the
Mascogos marry other Mexicans or move away from the village for better opportunities.
Across the border in Bracketville, however, there is a regular return of the Oklahoma
Blacks for a celebration and commemoration of their heritage, which includes a cemetery
in that community for those who served the U.S. Army as Seminole Indian Scouts.
Despite his obviously limited budget, Corona takes on the yeoman’s task of
telling this complex story with gusto, with interviews on both sides of the border,
and with historical segments filled with period photographs, drawings and maps. With
so much material to cover, however, De Florida a Caohuila could use
some streamlining in theme and content. And, as he romps through history, some important
details are given only sketchy treatment. It may be difficult for the viewer to absorb
so much in one sitting, without reaching for the rewind button. Despite such lapses,
it makes an invaluable contribution to revealing an important and fascinating chapter
in a history that is, at the same time, African-American and Mexican.
Please call us at (919) 933-0398 if you want more information. You can also e-mail
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