Hello Meltingpot Readers,
I am so excited. I know I mentioned the documentary film Gurumbé:Afro-Andalusian Memories here before, but now I have some exciting news to share.
I am hosting a screening of the film at Temple University on Monday, and wait for it…the director, Miguel Ángel Rosales will be here along with featured dancer, Yinka Esi Graves. Take a moment to watch the movie trailer so you can get excited with me and for me.
This film explores the history of African people in 14th, 15th, and 16th century Spain and their influence and impact on the culture, particularly on Flamenco music and dance. In my memoir, Kinky Gazpacho, I wrote about this hidden Black history and at the time, most Spaniards didn’t believe their country had any significant Black history. This film is like sweet vindication. I, of course, only scratched the surface of Spain’s Black history, so I’m thrilled that Rosales took on the task.
After Temple, Rosales will be heading to my alma mater, Smith College and I know while in the United States he will also visit Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and New York.
If you could ask Rosales, or Yinka Graves, who is British but lives in Spain, one question, what would it be?
I’ll let you know how it goes. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll probably see some photos from the event.
Peace!
Comments
3 responses to “Black Spain Coming to a Theater Near Me!”
Congratulations for bring the movie to Temple! Awesome. Looks like I could see it in Minneapolis next month, if I can go on a road trip. Or, it might be part of the Madison Film Festival in early 2019. Not sure I want to wait that long or chance it! Mpls!
Rebecca,
The film was great! I highly recommend you trying to see it if you can. And to answer your question about what happened to all of those Africans, basically they were whitened out of existence. The rate of racial mixing was so high, Blackness as evidenced by melanin, faded away (pardon the pun). This is explained in the film, but it is the number one question everyone asks.
Fascinante! Wow, this film looks great. Not surprising, since you know I’m a fan of flamenco, Spain and cultural histories. Where did the 80,000 Africans mentioned in the clip who arrived in Sevilla go!? Their descendants must still live in southern Spain. Can’t wait to find out more.