Forgotten and excluded from their government, Afro-Colombians have had to rely on themselves to build community, economy, and protect the lands of them and their ancestors. Their work finds alternatives to help from governance and puts an emphasis on local power and organization. My project, though it includes a general survey of Afro-Colombians and their history of struggle for land recognition, hopes to look at how they have formed spaces of resistance in spite of legal and extralegal negligence and exploitation. Through the formation of political and counter political groups, art, music, folklore, etc. Afro-Colombians have continued a lineage of challenging the state through land and cultivation. Their ecological practices center people and respect for the land, conserving it for generations to come. 

This project will be looking at Colombia’s pacific coast. Afro-Colombians are estimated to make up somewhere between 10 and 30 percent of the total population, but it is known they make up 90% of the population on the Pacific Coast (IRB 2020). The coast, which is made up of departments of Chocó, Valle de Cauca, Cauca, and Nariño, has some of the least infrastructure and access to healthcare and education (Fuentes 2019, 404). This stems directly from the presence of slave communities that historically occupied those regions pre-Independence. Since, the Colombian government has neglected to develop the territories, while recognizing the importance of the region economically and geographically. The pacific coast is rich in biodiversity and natural resources, but that has led to extraction and exploitation of the land with little regard for its inhabitants. While there are some legal protections, such as Law 70, they leave much room for improvement and have even led to the endangerment of Afro-Colombian land activists’ lives. Colombians have long struggled for political self determination, but none quite like Afro-Colombians. They stand as an example of the will and importance for people to lead themselves, protect their land, and find paths to abandon a government that does not seek to include or help them. 

IRB (2018). Situation of Afro-Colombians, including treatment by society and authorities; state 

protection and support services available (2017–May 2020). Immigration and Refugee 

Board of Canada. https://irb.gc.ca:443/en/country-information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc=458098

Fuentes, M. (2019). The restoration and protection of afro-colombian land to establish equality 

and mitigate violence. Emory International Law Review, 33(3), 399.

https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/eilr/vol33/iss3/3