Priest shares history on Afro-Mexicans

The Rio Claro Heritage Committee in conjunction with Dades Road Village Council will observe Emancipation Day with a lecture by catholic priest Fr Glyn Jemmott.

Although Emancipation Day is annually observed on August 1, the committee’s event will be held on August 4. Jemmott’s lecture will be on the Afro-Mexicans, their legacy and culture. The event will take place at the Dades Road Community Centre from 2 pm to 6 pm. A release issued by the committee said Jemmott spent many years working in Mexico with Afro-Mexicans and is globally considered to be a leading authority on the history and culture of Afro-Mexicans.

Jemmott’s work, it said, centered mainly in Veracruz (one of Mexico’s oldest, largest and historically significant ports) and “has been a reference for many who have written on the African presence in Mexico.” His work led to Mexicans of African descent being recognised as an ethnic group by the Mexican census, the release said.

The committee hopes the lecture will be an “opportunity for many to understand and therefore get a better understanding of the presence and contribution of Africans in South and Central America, which has been denied or in some instances, completely written out of the history of a number of countries.”

The event will also feature a lecture and demonstration of traditions brought to TT by people of African descent.