Episode 12 - Hispanic Heritage Month and the Garifuna Diaspora

This episode of The Garifuna Experience Podcast dives into the complexities of Hispanic Heritage Month through the unique lens of the Garifuna people. Host José Francisco Ávila explores how the broad term "Hispanic" can often overshadow the rich, distinct histories of Afro-Latino and Indigenous communities.

We'll unpack the history of the Garifuna diaspora, a people of mixed African, Carib, and Arawak descent, who have a unique language and culture despite their Central American roots. The episode will feature insights from U.S. Census data, highlighting how a growing number of people are self-identifying in more nuanced ways, including as Afro-Latino and Garifuna.

Join us as we challenge the one-size-fits-all mentality and make a powerful case for a more inclusive and accurate celebration of heritage.

Resources:

The Garífuna Experience in NYC | Bronx walking tour

The Garifuna Experience in NYC 

The Happy Land Memorial Walking Tour 

Garifuna Heritage Walking Tour (BronxNet Video)

Hispanic Heritage Month Dates | Hispanic Heritage Month 2025

National Hispanic Heritage Month: 2025

Books by José Francisco Ávila

Pan-Garifuna Afro-Latino Power of Pride: My Quest for Racial, Ancestral, Ethnic and Cultural Identity

Garífuna Ancestry: The DNA Quest to Decipher the Garifuna Distant Past 

Transcript

Jose Francisco Avila (00:00.078)

Soundtrack

Jose Francisco Avila (00:11.983)

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month. ¿Y nosotros qué? Welcome back to the Get Even Experience Podcast. I'm your host, José Francisco Ávila. As we get into Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th to October 15th, we're diving into a crucial and often overlooked chapter of our history. The timing is historically significant. As September 15th,

is the anniversary of independence in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The last three countries are home to the Central American Garifuna diaspora. For us, it's also a time to ask, where do the Garifuna people fit into this narrative? It's a story of shifting alliances, resilience, and the fight for survival in a changing world.

During the next four episodes, we'll bring you the stories that have been historically marginalized. Let's get into it. The Complexities of Hispanic Identity. The term Hispanic is a broad one and is a creation of the U.S. government. As the Census Bureau defines it, National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the contributions of Americans tracing their roots

to places with Spanish cultural origins in Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Spanish speaking nations of the Caribbean, regardless of their race. This can be a useful way to categorize a large diverse population, but it also has a major drawback. It can unintentionally erase the rich and varied histories

of groups that don't fit into a simple mold, especially black and indigenous communities. While many Garifuna people come from Spanish-speaking countries like Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, and have Spanish surnames, our history, our heritage, and our language are distinct. We are part of the Hispanic world, but our identity goes deeper. We are a people-furge.

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from a unique blend of African, Arawak, and Kalinagou ancestors. This is why many organizations argue that Hispanic heritage month often minimizes groups like ours who have been historically silenced. This brings us to the concept of Afro-Latino, a term that's gaining more and more traction.

It's a way to acknowledge the significant Black and African diaspora within Latin American communities. But even this term can be challenging. Afro-Latinos often misnavigate a dual identity, celebrating their Hispanic heritage while confronting racism, colorism, and anti-Black bias within those very same communities.

This bias can lead to their identities being questioned or their voices being excluded from broader celebrations. Demographics of a diverse identity. Let's look at some numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau that show just how complex this identity is. In the 2020 census, 62.1 million people identified as Hispanic or Latino.

making them the nation's largest racial or ethnic minority. This group is growing fast by 23 % between 2010 and 2020. Meanwhile, Hispanic or Latino residents made up 28.3 of New York City's population, totaling approximately 2.5 million people. This group

is the second largest racial ethnic group in the city behind non-Hispanic whites who accounted for 31 % of the population. The Bronx has the highest concentration of Latinos. The Bronx population is majority Hispanic, making up about 55 % of the borough's 1.35 million residents as of 2023.

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or 742,500. As of July 1, 2024, the Hispanic population of the United States stood at 68 million, making it the nation's largest racial ethnic minority, representing 20 % of the total population. New York City is home to the largest Garifuna community outside of Central America.

with over 250,000. Over half of the population resides in the Bronx, making it the largest Garifuna community in the world. Hispanic identity. The way Hispanics identify their race is changing too. For the first time, more Hispanics identify with some other race or with multiple races than they did as white. In 2020,

20.3 million Hispanics identified as white alone, while a larger number, 27.8 million, identified with two or more races. This shift reflects a growing recognition of the multiracial nature of our communities. And when we look at Afro-Latino identity, specifically, a 2022 Pew Research Center study,

found that about 6 million U.S. adults who identify as Hispanic also identify as Black. This group represents 11 % of the total Hispanic's adult population. The largest share of Black Hispanics at 29 % trace their roots to the Dominican Republic, followed by 26 % who trace theirs to other parts of Latin America.

the Garifuna voice in the census. In a significant step forward, the 2020 census was the first time specific terms like Afro-Latino and Garifuna were added to the code list for Hispanic Latino ethnicity. This was in response to feedback from community leaders and advisory committees. It's a huge win for visibility, but it also shows us

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how much work there is to do. When people were asked about their Hispanic origin, 1,878 people in the United States identified as Afro-Latino and 5,710 identified as Garifuna. Interestingly, a larger number of people used these terms to describe their race. 

When asked about their race, 24,745 people responded with Afro-Latino, and 14,946 responded with Garifuna. This shows that for many of us, our identity is more than just a place of origin. It's about race and heritage too.

The Census Bureau acknowledges that these numbers don't fully capture everyone who identifies as a Black Hispanic. But as we move toward the 2030 Census, they are working with stakeholders to improve how this data is collected. This is a crucial step for ensuring that our community's contributions and experiences are finally seen and counted. The Garifuna Diaspora.

a cage study in Erasure. The Garifuna people are prime example of a group whose history has been historically marginalized. As we noted, the Garifuna are a hybrid people with a mix of Kalinagu, Arawak, and African ancestry, originating from the island of St. Vincent. The term Black Caribs was used by Europeans to distinguish them from other groups. 

On March 11, 1797, 2,248 Gadifuna ancestors were forcibly exiled aboard 10 British ships from St. Vincent. The ensuing 33-day voyage across the Caribbean resulted in the death of 222 individuals. On April 12, 1797,

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2026 Garifuna ancestors from St. Vincent landed on Roatan Island. Today, the global Garifuna population is estimated at 600,000 people living in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, with significant communities in the United States, particularly in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Houston. Despite their deep roots in Central America,

Garifuna history has often been overlooked in the broader narrative of these nations. Honduras, for example, officially recognizes the Garifuna as one of its seven indigenous groups. Yet, the historical and cultural contributions of the Garifuna people are often absent from the mainstream educational curriculum. This historical and ongoing erasure

is a key reason why efforts to make Hispanic Heritage Month more inclusive are so critical. Highlighting figures like Catarino Castro Serrano, a Honduran intellectual, author, publisher, educator, and politician of Garifuna descent. He was the first Honduran Garifuna intellectual who in 1921, to celebrate the centennial of Honduras independence,

wrote his first transcendental work, Honduras in the First Century, Our Political, Diplomatic, Military and Cultural Life of the First Hundred Years, 1821 to 1921, which serves as a source of information for many Honduran students and intellectuals. Thomas Vincent Ramos, who is considered

the father of Garifuna history, whose creation of a recognized holiday for the Garifuna people in Belize placed them among the earliest founders of official black holidays in the Americas. We must also celebrate the Garifuna's participation in Central American independence movements, which directly counters this narrative of invisibility. It serves to disrupt

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the one size fits all mentality and acknowledges the rich, diverse and often overlooked history of groups like the Garifuna. And that wraps up another illuminating episode of the Garifuna Experience podcast. In this episode, we answer the question, where do the Garifuna people fit into the Hispanic Heritage Month narrative? It's a story of shifting alliances, resilience,

and the fight for survival in a changing world. Thank you for listening and remember the future of the Garifuna people is in our hands and we are driving power, prosperity and progress. Until next time, stay united, stay proud. Sungubay Lita Aba. Ayo! Find new episodes of the Garifuna Experience Podcasts every Tuesday. Follow the show on Apple Podcasts.

Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeart Radio, or whatever you listen to podcasts. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, review. Your support helps us share our vital and even experience with more people around the world.

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