«La Escuelita Antirracista» or Antiracist School
«La Escuelita Antirracista» or Antiracist School The Antiracist School is a space for racial awareness made by and for black people from various territories. Its main objective is to provide a space for thought, reflection and anti-racist construction where various topics are addressed in order to strengthen the empowerment of the black community, through various educational tools. Due to Covid-19, it was developed virtually, encompassing a program of 5 modules, with a total of 14 sessions that apply various methodologies, from more expository classes, to instances more focused on the exchange of knowledge between the workshop leaders and the participants. The modules address topics such as transatlantic trafficking, cultural resistance strategies of Afrodiasporic communities, the hypersexualization of black bodies, self-care tools for anti-racist activism, among others.
«Proyecto Censo 2024» or Census 2024 Project
The 2024 Census will include for the first time in Chile the variable of ethnic-racial identification of black, Afro-descendant and Afro-Chilean people. In this context, the Kilombo has developed a project that seeks to encourage the self-recognition of black people in this census, in order to reflect the existence of these communities in the country, which has been historically denied in benefit of a whitened national identity. We hope that demonstrating our presence through demographic data will open the way to proposals regarding public policies and anti-racist initiatives. This project involves, on the one hand, a massive campaign through advertising, communication and social media, and on the other hand, in-person instances of reflection and meeting around racial awareness and self-recognition. In favor of the decentralization of the anti-racist movement, these meetings were held in Coquimbo, Antofagasta and Valparaíso, and currently we aim to visit new locations.
The first session of the Black General Assembly was held on April 29, 2023, and it was an unprecedented meeting of the Afro-descendant community that inhabit the Metropolitan Region, in which we discussed three lines of work; Education, Economy and Health, in order to identify the needs and problems of the community. According to this initial diagnosis, we collectively proposed possible actions to face these obstacles. This instance was very enriching, since it allowed us to socialize various reflections regarding the consequences of systematic racism, but it also made visible the various tools, knowledge and strategies that we use to confront racism. We hope to hold our second session in 2024, to update the initial findings and start coordinating work tasks aimed towards the concretization of said initiatives.
«Asamblea General Negra (AGN)» or Black General Assembly
«Afrorigen» or Afro-origin
The «Festival de Artes y Oficios Negros» or Festival of Black Arts and Crafts is an event created to give visibility to black culture through music, poetry, artistic performances, workshops for children, dance workshops, afrodiasporic culinary gastronomic stands, and a varied fair of ventures and entrepreneurships that promote the economic empowerment of black people. This festival is part of the commemoration of “Black Consciousness Day” in Chile, which has its origin in the life and struggle of Zumbi dos Palmares in Brazil, a leading and key figure in the resistance against slavery. Over the years, the commemoration has spread throughout Latin America and has become an opportunity to highlight the black heritage in the region. It is a space that aims to combine the appreciation of our community with instances of racial awareness linked to the political contingencies of the territory.
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«Tertulias Negras» or Black Gatherings
Tertulias Negras is a project which carries out a series of gathering surrounding themes linked to anti-racism and colonialism. Initially they were informal meetings regarding specific readings or topics, then it became a Youtube miniseries made in collaboration with the production company OboloboTV, which aired 8 episodes of conversations on various topics in relation to anti-racism, decolonialism and black feminism. Currently we are working on its third stage, which hopefully will become a podcast that can reach a wider population.
25 J Chile
Since 1992, July 25th has been the date in which we commemorate Black and Afrodiasporic Women's Day in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, in Chile, this date was not celebrated, which reflects the lack of visibility of the milestones of black feminism. Since 2020, thanks to collaborative work between Kilombo Negrocentricxs and other Afro-descendant organizations and activists, we have established the national commemoration of this, carrying out a series of cultural, artistic and intellectual activities. In its first year, this initiative had to be held virtually because of the pandemic, but since then, there have been a vast array of initiatives throughout various territories of Chile. In 2022, for the first time, the Central Government of Chile recognized this date, inviting the Kilombo Negrocentricxs to build the commemoration in La Moneda (government house). It was an act, marked by the presence of the first lady and the minister of women, as well as other chilean black organizations in the country. The event included the screening of the documentary “Igualada”, which portrays the anti-racist and ecological struggle of Francia Marquez and her companions. In the present the date is commemorated every year, we consider it an achievement for our movement.
