"Challenges to Garifuna & Afro-Brazilian Communities"

Shackled together and piled on top of each other, men, women and children crossed the Atlantic crammed in the dark leaky hulls of creaking slave ships. Upon arrival in the New World, they suffered a daily existence of backbreaking labor, endless abuse and the subjugation of their religions and cultures. Although African slaves endured relentless brutality in the Americas, many did not acquiesce to their captivity; they were not docile subjects. Resistance characterized their new lives: from covert sabotage of plantation equipment and working at a turtle’s pace when possible, to outright violent rebellion and escape. Many opted for the latter.

As slavery spread across the Americas, so did autonomous communities of runaway slaves. Living off the plantation allowed these groups to preserve and reproduce their original African cultures. The modern descendants of these courageous renegades amazingly have kept much of their culture, religion and language intact.

Full Article : americas.org