VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES AND THE DISCOURSE OF BLACKNESS

IN THE AFRO-LATIN DIASPORA

Daphine Washington, M.A.

Ph.D. Student, Department of Anthropology
University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Avenue, FAO 271
Tampa, FL 33620
813-974-6163
dwashing@mail.usf.edu

A Paper Submitted at the AfroGeeks May 2005 Conference

University of California – Santa Barbara, California
 VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES AND THE DISCOURSE OF BLACKNESS
IN THE AFRO-LATIN DIASPORA

The movement of information across borders and boundaries through the media

technology of the World Wide Web has become a significant part of the study of global Diaspora

communities. The Internet has given members of Diasporas who live in disparate locations the

ability to communicate with each other, despite distance, through the venues of virtual online

communities. These online communities provide a space where people with shared identities

and values can communicate about the cultural and social issues important to them without

actually coming together at a physical location. A study of virtual communities can prove

especially enlightening when studying identity formation and construction within the black

Diaspora, especially in examining how these transnational social networks are used to not only

negotiate the meanings of both local and global black identities, but also to share an experience

of “blackness” that transcends the boundaries of the nation-state.

Afro-Latinos (also referred to as Afro-Latin Americans) are among the large number of

diverse communities within the black Diaspora that are using the global and transnational space

of the Internet and the World Wide Web to create and maintain social and political networks

based on a shared identity of “blackness” or African descent. In this paper, I will focus on two

Afro-Latin websites in particular: (1) Afro-Peruvian Forum (Foro Afroperuano in the original

Spanish) (Schmidt 2005), a website which focuses primarily on the local experience of black

people of African descent in Peru and (2) Los Cabildos (Vazquez 2005), a site hosted by an

Afro-Puerto Rican, which covers issues of concern to the global black Diaspora. These two

virtual communities demonstrate how the Internet can be used as a form of transnational

communication, providing a space for a discourse that articulates the lives of black people living
in Latin America. In addition, they serve as sources of information and emphasize connections

between blacks living both in and outside of the Latin American region. However, the question

remains as to whether or not virtual communities actually make for social change in the “real”

world. An examination of Diasporas within the context of globalization and the increase in the

use of media technologies such as the Internet for networking between local and global

communities is emerging as a critical component of black Diaspora studies.

In her discussion of the usefulness of a study of the relationship between cyberspace and

the black Diaspora, Ebeling notes that,

The increasingly broader use of the Internet comes at a time when scholars

studying Africa and the African diaspora have called for research that transcends

the constructed nation-state boundaries of the twentieth century as well as similar

boundaries constructed by academe and that recognizes the interconnectedness of

the black world (2003, 96).

An examination of these two websites will show that the discourse on these sites is a highly

political form of communication and also shows that virtual communities do not only focus on

“difference,” but also the possibility for social change. Furthermore, virtual online communities

have strong connections and commonalities that provide social capital and have expansive

networking capabilities.

In her article on Eritrea on-line, Victoria Bernal “explores the complex intersections

between new possibilities opened up by the Internet and the ways that new forms of

technological and geographical mobility are giving rise to new publics and new public spheres

that transform the meanings of community, citizenship, and nation” (2005, 660). While sites

such as Afro-Peruvian Forum and Los Cabildos, are not currently dealing with the horrors of an

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actual physical war, one of them is certainly connected to a specific homeland and both beg for a

study of the types of meanings Bernal mentions. In addition, while the presence of blacks in

Latin America and the connection of Africa-descended diaspora communities are not, in and of

themselves, “new publics,” the Internet has, nonetheless, created a new space for the exercise of

a collective identity. As Kolko, Nakamur and Rodman note in their book, Race in Cyberspace,

“…cyberspace can be a place where ethnic and racial identity are examined, worked through,

and reinforced. Cyberspace can provide a powerful coalition building and progressive medium

for “minorities” separated from each other by distance and other factors” (2000, 9). In the

introduction to Communities in Cyberspace, Smith and Kollock argue that, “The Internet is a

strategic research site in which to study fundamental social processes. It provides a level of

access to the details of social life and a durability of the traces of social interaction that is

unprecedented” (1999, 4). In this paper, I combine a textual analysis with cyber-interviews to

see how these social interactions, networking and identification with “blackness” operate in two

Afro-Latin online communities.

Afro-Latin America as Part of the Global “Black” Diaspora

Afro-Latin America is a term used to refer to millions of descendants of Africans who

either live in, or have recently migrated from, Latin America. Whether their ancestors were

involuntarily exported from the African continent as slaves or whether they arrived with the

conquistadors or as employees of European merchants, the Afro-Latin community is composed

of diverse people with identities that differ based on a number of variables, including geographic

location, ethnicity, access to resources and identity politics. Although racial mixing and the lack

of census data by Latin American countries makes it difficult to count with any absolute

accuracy the number of Latin Americans who consider themselves to have African ancestry

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(Andrews 2004; Minority Rights Group 1995), historians note that in excess of 14 million

Africans were imported to the region as slave labor beginning in the 16th century and it has been

estimated that people with African ancestry comprise about one-third of the present population in

Latin America (Minority Rights Group 1995, viii).

The Latin American region has historically denied the existence of discrimination based

solely on race, stressing the importance of nationality and citizenship over racial and ethnic

identities. Nonetheless, at the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial

Discrimination, Homophobia and Xenophobia (United Nations 2001), the Latin American region

participated and prepared plenary documents that acknowledged the disproportionate social and

economic exclusion of blacks within Latin American nations. This conference, in particular,

represents a critical juncture in the dialogue between Latin American nations and the

descendants of enslaved Africans and combined with extensive research by government, non-

government and international development organizations, has served as a tool to promote the

development of policies that address the socioeconomic exclusion of Afro-Latinos.

The Minority Rights Group, in their seminal 1995 work No Longer Invisible, noted that,

“A history of oppression, struggle and achievement…implied in the title is that Afro-Latin

Americans have not been visible, and must now be made so” (Introduction). However, just as

important as the history of oppression is the long-lasting effects these processes have had and

continue to have on the present status of African-descended people living in Latin America

today. Given the diversity of the black population in Latin America, the fluidity of racial

identities and the social constructions of race itself, it is helpful to turn to other venues to

examine the existence and lives of Afro-Latin Americans. This is where an examination of

virtual online communities can become useful. Researchers increasingly recognize the value of

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the World Wide Web as not only an individual community resource, but also as a source of

information that builds transnational bridges between local and global communities.

Furthermore, these virtual online communities are also sites of a discourse that can give voice to

issues of citizenship, belonging, power and racial difference in Afro-Latin America, as they

engage in a dialogue about the claim to and meaning of blackness itself.

These online communities increasingly make powerful use of transnational, global

communication to draw attention not only to the history, presence and lives of black people

living in Latin America, but also serve as forums for discussion of the social, cultural, political

and economic conditions and realities under which Afro-Latinos exist. In addition, these virtual

spaces function as social networks, connecting Afro-Latinos living both inside and outside of the

Latin American region with not only each other, but also links them to the global black Diaspora.

Afro-Latinos are using the transnational space of the World Wide Web to provide political,

cultural and social support through the sharing of knowledge in both local and transnational

spaces. As Karim notes, the Internet allows Diaspora communities “The ability to exchange

messages with individuals on the other side of the planet and to have access to community

information almost instantaneously changes the dynamics of diaspora, allowing for qualitatively

and quantitatively enhanced linkages” (1998, 12). The study of these virtual spaces can reveal

much about the construction and maintenance of black identities in the Afro-Latin Diaspora, as

well as the everyday realities of their lives not only as blacks in Latin America, but also as part

of a global black diaspora.

The concept of “Diasporas” is a complex one, both temporally and spatially. Although

members of diasporic communities are most often thought of as having concrete ties to a specific

geographic location, often the connection to a specific homeland is itself imaginary and, as is

5
especially the case with many members of the black Diaspora, the idea of a homeland is just as

connected with historical processes as it is with actual residence patterns. These types of

Diaspora communities are represented by shared origins, histories, experiences and cultural

affiliations that are deeply rooted in the collective consciousness of a people. It becomes

difficult to entirely trace the connection between various communities that are separated by

geographic, cultural and language boundaries. Kearney points out that, “Gonzalez distinguishes

diasporas from other patterns of migration in that diasporas include a full cross-section of

community members who are dispersed to many diverse regions of the world, and who yet retain

a myth of their uniqueness and an interest in their homeland” (1995, 559). Nevertheless,

diasporic communities engage in the production of a discourse about their common origins,

whether imaginary or concrete. James Clifford, a scholar based at the Center for Cultural

Studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz asks, “How do these discourses attain

comparative scope while remaining rooted/routed in specific, discrepant histories?” (1994, 302).

I suggest that globalization, despite many of its negative effects, has increased the possibilities of

negotiating the delicate terrain between the past and the present, as well as increasing the

blurring of the geographical boundaries that have served as divisive forces over the past few

centuries.

The concept of a Diaspora is itself a production, or rather a manufactured space within

which identities are constructed, maintained, negotiated and re-negotiated, and these productions

have been informed by historic, economic and political forces. Whether the descendants of

Africans are scattered as the result of the slave trade or the result of more recent transnational

and global processes, however, the concept of a shared identity is invoked in very real ways as

increasingly, communities within black Diaspora use new media technologies as tools with

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which to address the injustices that create socioeconomic inequities in their communities. The

idea of social exclusion forms a bond between these communities as members claim to

experience an overwhelmingly disproportionate amount of social exclusion and economic

marginalization in their countries of citizenship. As stated in a paper on social networks, “One

of the ways that low-income populations overcome difficulties is to obtain and give mutual

support through exchanges involving money, objects, and necessary emotional support” (Llanos,

Orozco and García 1999, 243).

One common thread that binds Afro-Latin communities together with other black

communities around the world is this issue of marginalization and displacement. In fact, Bernal

notes that this “displacement” also represents a connection between cyberspace and the concept

of “diaspora” itself, noting that, “Cyberspace and diaspora are interesting to think about together

for several reasons. One conceptual link between diaspora and cyberspace is that of

“displacement.” Cyberspace involves displacement in that cyberspace is no place or any place; it

is an imaginatively constructed space” (Bernal 2005, 661). We see this issue of displacement

through a textual analysis of the discourse on both of the websites examined in this paper. The

need to address invisibility through the spread of information and the creation of a space for

sharing that would not otherwise exist is illustrative of the desire to form social networks.

Accompanying this conceptualization of displacement is also the concept of community and

Bernal argues for “new forms of social belonging arise out of the dual processes of technological

advances in communications and the geographic mobility of populations…Diasporas and the

Internet …both reflect the changing social formations of postmodernity” (Bernal 2005, 661).

Thus, a discussion of social networks and their role in transnational Diaspora communities

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becomes a necessary component of any examination of how the link between Diaspora

communities on the Internet operates.

Computer Networks as Social Networks

It is important to remember that computers and the Internet are not just composed of a

network of machines, but rather that behind these technologies are humans who form the social

networks and virtual communities under discussion. Wellman, Salaff et al capture this element

well in their discussion of computer networks as social networks, stating, “When computer

networks link people as well as machines, they become social networks…Members of virtual

community want to link globally with kindred souls for companionship, information, and social

support from their homes and workstations” (Wellman, Salaff et al 1996, 214). Both Los

Cabildos, based in the United States, and Afro-Peruvian Forum, based in Lima, Peru, are using

global and transnational spaces to organize for political action and create social networks that

provide political, cultural and social support for members of its community primarily through the

sharing of knowledge in both local and transnational spaces.

Studies have shown that social networks are “crucial for material and emotional support

and for generating “social capital” (meaning access to information about services, jobs and so

on)” (Rose 2002). Los Cabildos and Afro-Peruvian Forum are actively engaged in the

production of knowledge and the Internet as an organizing tool to share information about a

variety of issues, including publicizing national and international meetings and conferences,

sharing news about events in the black Diaspora, broadcasting political concerns, among other

things. In addition, the history of their ancestors, both in Africa and in their respective countries

is a major part of their online dialogue and, therefore, both of these websites functions as a type

of both social and cultural capital that can be drawn upon to facilitate organization for social

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action intended to improve the lives of people in their immediate regions, as well as call attention

to existing issues throughout the black Diaspora. Robert D. Putnam examines social capital in

the public arena, noting that, “Stocks of social capital, such as trust, norms, and networks, tend to

be self-reinforcing and cumulative. Successful collaboration in one endeavor builds connections

and trust” (Putnam 1993). This is an important concept when studying the use of technology

within the black Diaspora as an organizing tool. Putnam continues to assert that, “Racial and

class inequalities in access to social capital, if properly measured, may be as great as inequalities

in financial and human capital, and no less portentous (Putnam 1993). It is these racial and class

inequalities that are at the center of the discourse of groups such as Los Cabildos and Afro-

Peruvian Forum.

In an increasingly globalized world, there is constant movement of not only people, but

also communications, back and forth across the boundaries of nation-states. Kearney notes that

“globalization entails certain displacements of the production of anthropological knowledge from

its historic national institutional and cultural contexts to other sites” (1995, 548). Tools such as

cable, satellite, and the Internet are of great value in helping to spread news about what is

happening in one part of the world to other regions and diasporic communities are taking full

advantage of this technology. This “movement of information, symbols, capital, and

commodities in global and transnational spaces” (Kearney 1995, 547) has become a significant

part of the study of global communities. Although there are many problems with the process of

globalization itself and many feel that it serves to increase inequities and marginalization,

transnational communications are being used effectively as tools to organize and publicize the

needs of communities worldwide. Furthermore, the black Diaspora continues to construct an

identity based on racial characteristics that are often arbitrary social constructions, but whose

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actual realities remain an important component in the formation of political agendas. Citing the

work of two scholars, the following quote from Noguera provides a good summary of the

underlying rationale for this identity construction:

“Rather than retreating from race, or rejecting it on the basis of biological

determinism, the authors carefully examine how race can be used a basis for
organizing and challenging various forms of injustice…they recognize that racial
categories have been imposed for the purpose of rationalizing domination.
However…they recognize that race can be used as part of a political project that
draws various subordinate groups together…” (2003, 197).

In fact, organization around “blackness” can serve as an important form of social and cultural

capital, even if only part of a supportive dialogue. Blanchard and Horan discuss the connections

between virtual communities and social capital, noting that there is evidence of a great deal of

potential for building social capital through virtual communities through networking, sharing of

common interests and creating partnerships and developing relationships based on these shared

interests (2000). In addition, an anthropological study notes the relationship between online

communities, culture and social activism by noting that “These new media collectives might be

mobilized to further particular political agendas or to bring together dispersed members of

familial or ethnic groups…” (Wilson and Peterson 2002, 449). Here, Wilson and Peterson also

call for an examination of online practices that examines “…how gendered and racialized

identities are negotiated, reproduced, and indexed in online interactions” (Wilson and Peterson

2002, 454). The negotiation and reproduction of the meaning of “blackness” is displayed

vividly, even in communities with a historic denial of the existence of race or racism.

A Look at Two Afro-Latin Online Communities: Afro-Peruvian Forum and Los Cabildos

Feenberg and Bakardjieva describe an online community as a “relatively stable, long-

term online group associations mediated by the Internet or a similar network,” (2004, 2) and link

this description to Amitai Etzioni’s definition of communities as “…a web of affect-laden

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relationships among a group of individuals” and “a measure of commitment to a set of shared

values, norms, and meanings, and a shared history and identity—in short, to a particular culture”

(2004, 2). My own examination of these two online communities certainly supports this

definition. I chose these two communities in particular because they have been persistently

active online for several years, despite the difficulty of maintaining a website, as well as because

of their responsiveness to my query about their work. Each one of these sites represents a type

of Internet activism, as the webmasters actively engage in a racially-centered dialogue online.

As Kahn and Kellner note in their discussion of online activism, “The Internet remains a

dynamic and complex space in which people can construct and experiment with identity, culture

and social practices” (Kahn and Kellner 2004, 183).

I conducted a textual and content analysis of these two websites for the purpose of

examining the nature of the online discourse and how the discussions on these sites form a

source of networking within the Afro-Latin community. “One interesting attempt to outline

strategies for analyzing the web is that by Mitra and Cohen (1999), which focuses on textual

analysis…analyses of content (layout, style, etc.), a consideration of intertextuality…and the role

of different readings positions in making the text (web page ) meaningful” (Bell 2001, 193).

This type of analysis is very important as a way of examining the actual meanings of a discourse

and, combined with a little ethnography, such as the interviews I have conducted here, helps to

provide an understanding of the reasons these websites exist. “Cyber-ethnography” is being

increasingly recognized as a valid type of methodology when conducting research and scholars

such as David Hakken (1999), who has conducted significant research on online ethnography,

advocate for a holistic approach to research that combines both online and offline methodologies.

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 Upon opening the webpage for Afro-Peruvian Forum (referred to here in its translation of

Afro-Peruvian Forum) http://www.concytec.gob.pe/foroafroperuano/, the viewer is greeted by an

animated graphic, black in color, of two intertwined figures with halos of kinky hair, each one

with an arm outstretched over their heads and their hands joining to form a circle. Underneath

this is text that says, “150 years of abolition of slavery in Peru” and a box that can be clicked to

link to commemoration activities. On the left-hand side of the page is a series of vertical menu

text boxes, each of which can be clicked on to link to additional information. Among these are:

An Afro-Peruvian Constitution, a map of 45 Afro-Peruvian organizations (including the names

and short biographies of prominent Afro-Peruvians), a “geoethnic” map of Afro-Peruvian

communities that shows their locations in Peru, news on various Afro-Peruvian activities in the

country, a list of books and videos on Afro-Peruvians and numerous links to other Afro-Peruvian

organizations and resources for historical and cultural studies.

The website tells the reader that eight Peru-based organizations form the Afro-Peruvian

Forum and their objectives are based on the principles formed at a meeting which produced the

Declaration of Pachacamac, formulated during a 2001 meeting in Lima, Peru between Afro-

Peruvians and the indigenous peoples of Peru in conjunction with the 2001 UN World

Conference Against Racism. I used the Contact Us option on the Afro-Peruvian Forum

homepage to submit a set of questions about the purpose and management of the website. The

web designer and manager of the site, Carlos Schmidt, replied immediately and enthusiastically

with the answers to my questions. The transcript of this interview is below.

Me: How the Afro-Peruvian Forum website created?

Schmidt: It was created out of the need to make our black community visible in the
national and international arena; to offer information about our activities was to
demonstrate that we exist, since little information exists about us; it was also a way of
telling our government and our presidents that we are a people with special needs and

12
problems, many of them derived from existing racism in Peru. In the same way, it was a
way to show and to make visible the contributions of our people in the construction of
our country. In the page of the Forum, we make public, for example, the contributions of
Afro-Peruvians in the wars of independence, the struggles to free us from slavery and we
show that our people were not slaves, but enslaved by force, which is not the same thing.

Me: Whose idea was the website and how long did it take to design and develop?

Schmidt: In the beginning we only knew that we needed the website, but we didn’t
know how to do it. The idea was raised by a personal and institutional interest, based on
a dedication to art, culture and communications. I began to learn a little about web
design with manuals I downloaded from the Internet, so I began to design the site until it
arrived at what it is today. In the future, depending on some courses that I am able to
take and the financing I seek, we hope to incorporate the technology of Flash into our
webpage design.

Me: How is the website financed?

Schmidt: I finance it directly myself. The Web site, as you have seen, does not have any
sponsor. Here in Peru it is very difficult to obtain a sponsor for a site that does not sell
any product and that only offers information and culture.

Me: How much time takes to maintain?

Schmidt: Depending on the information that I can gather, it takes me from 10 to 14

hours weekly, including responses by email to all those that, like you, are interested in
knowing more about the history of our people or about our website. .

Me: Who is your target community?

Schmidt: The target community (or public) of our page in the first place is the Afro-
Peruvian and African-descended community in general. But our information does not
exclude others, since through the Internet and online bulletins that we send periodically,
we share information with the rest of the Peru and some other parts of the world. Each
week we receive and respond to question like yours about the Afro-Peruvian people and
about our website, including some American, Swiss and French students, who have used
our page to sustain their research; at the moment an American Fulbright scholar is in our
country doing research on Afroperuanos. This student used our website to meet the
needs of his research and to show that there is a black community in Peru.

Me: How many members does the site have?

Schmidt: Approximately 40 institutions are members of the Afro-Peruvian Forum and

their works and activities are published on the website.

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 Me: How much traffic does the site have, approximately (daily, weekly, monthly
publication)?

Schmidt: There are approximately 500 subscribers to the bulletins and approximately
100 visits daily, some days more, others less. (Note: A table of traffic statistics shows
that from April 12 – May 9, 2005, approximately 40% of the site’s visitors were from
outside Peru).

Me: How does Afro-Peruvian Forum collect the information that you share with the
public?

Schmidt: As I said before, all is done by me. Information is collected, personal

interviews are conducted, emails are sent to me and as much other things as are within
my reach, including the press, also including some few books and poems of my own
(these can be seen in the Afro-poetry section). I am the webmaster, investigator and
editor of the Afro-Peruvian Forum webpage.

Me: Which are your own experiences and thoughts on the work with the Web site?

Schmidt: I believe that it is very difficult to maintain a web site, especially when it is
not financed by any sponsor. The voluntary work that I do with this website at times tires
me, especially when many times I must begin work on it at dawn. However, my fatigue
is alleviated by people like you that are interested in what I do and they raise my spirit. It
is also pleasing to find out that many Afro-Peruvian children and young people in the
cities are familiar with and read the webpage; also the professors of those zones write me
and tell that they get information from the website to teach their students our black
history, including some who have learned of the memory and recite in the schools my
poems, especially one titled “I am a black of Peru.”

As this interview shows, while there may be “digital divide” problems with large numbers of

people having access to computers and technology, one person with a computer can make a

difference and demonstrate a powerful ability to spread information and network with others

using the Internet. We also see here a firm statement by Schmidt that his target audience for the

website is not limited to blacks in Peru alone. Rather, his site represents an effort to network

across the globe.

In addition to Afro-Peruvian Forum, I also contacted, again from the home page of the

website, the webmaster for Los Cabildos, an Afro-Latin site, but one more comprehensive in its

scope than Afro-Peruvian Forum. The name of the website refers to African ethnic associations

14
formed in Cuba in the 16th century (Howard 1998) and is appropriated as the title of this website.

My email was replied to immediately by Rich Vasquez, the creator and webmaster of this site.

Mr. Vasquez was very happy and eager to answer my questions and tell me of the background of

the site.

Me: How was Los Cabildos created? For example, whose idea was it, how long did it
take to design and develop? How is it funded? How much time does it take to maintain?

Vasquez: Los Cabildos was launched in the beginning of 2005. It's an off-shoot of my
efforts at Las Culturas.com. Las Culturas originated when I got a job with About.com in
1999 to run their Latino Culture sub-site. Just after “911” in 2001 they closed all of the
culture sites and so I put my content up independently. Throughout the years, I've always
focused on the diversity of Latino Culture - running stories on Japanese Latinos, etc.
Since I'm part African American (mother) and part Puerto Rican (father) I've always had
a keen interest in focusing on the interaction between Blacks and Latinos and the various
histories and I've been wanting to do the project for quite some time. Las Culturas was
funded by me and continues to be so. This is the first year I haven't incurred a personal
negative expense on the projects. If I were doing as much as I want, it would take about
an hour a day of normal maintenance and more as I add a new subject or article.

Me: Who is the target community of Los Cabildos? How many members does the site
have? Approximately how much traffic does the site have (daily, weekly, monthly)?

Vazquez: The target community and topic is: Latin Americans with African ancestry;
Latin Americans interested in the African impact on Latin Cultures; U.S. blacks
interested in the African presence in Latin America and the Afro-Hispanic influence and
presence in colonial US under Spanish colonialism; anybody interested in Black culture
and history in the Americas as well as the interactions between Latino cultures and Black
cultures in the Americas.

I consider the site to be an educational one and that has been proven to a reasonable
model. As a result, my other site is chock full of academics and students as well as
service professionals (health, etc) who need to learn about their community.

Los Cabildos has less than 10 members and averages about 35 visits by individuals a
day. That said, we're new and I haven't taken the formal effort to publicize it in my usual
ways. That should come in the next few weeks. I also haven't submitted to search
engines, nor have I announced it to the Las Culturas site members. Once I properly
announce and cross market, I expect a large balloon of participation. Since I do this all in
my personal time, I've been hesitant to open the flood gates, but the time has come ;-}.

Me: How does Los Cabildos collect the information it shares with the public (articles,
etc.)?

15
 Vazquez: I do regular searches on key words and subscribe to a lot of news sources and
skim them. These are the ones externally. The articles I create are done like any school
paper might be done. I make sure all of the information is verifiable (usually online) or
else I qualify it with disclaimers. I keep my eye on Public Domain materials and am
starting to consider Creative Commons material as well as making the web site a Creative
Commons source of information. (A license model strongly promoted by Chuck D and
the Afro Brazilian minister of culture and pop star Gilberto Gil). I see this also as a way
to help the site grow and expand the availability of information. A lot of information of
interest simply hasn't been translated and made available to English speaking Blacks. My
Spanish is actually limited - right now I'm working on expanding my Portuguese and
Spanish to a working level. Over time myself or others will be able to offer more
multilingually.

Basically, if it’s original content, I research, write and maintain it. I try to provide only
quality, informative links so I review each one and try to get the best on a subject or a
diverse set.

Me: What are your own experiences and thoughts about working with the website?

Vazquez: It's satisfying. The model of Los Cabldos has been different from Las
Culturas in that I chose a free software package that allows others to submit content
easily. Both sites can grow if others are willing to contribute.

Well, we're just getting started so it gets better form here. My focus is on Africans in the
Americas - but Africa is of interest too (and there are unrecognized Spanish and
Portuguese speaking African people often excluded from the conversation).

Feel free to contact me with any more questions. If you ever want to share some of your
research or promote a related event, I'm a willing audience.

Both of these websites emphasize the “black” experience, focusing on black history, culture and

social conditions. While a textual analysis of these websites might have led the reader to draw

this conclusion, actual interviews with those who design and maintain the sites provide even

more insight into the purpose of these websites and the types of identities these websites serve.

It is reasonable to question whether these two independent webmaster actually reflect the values,

opinions and discussions of a “community.” However, both of them provide evidence on their

websites of both local and global interactions and feedback from visitors that share a common

16
value system with the webmasters themselves or that see the websites as valuable sources of

information..

Conclusion

Miller and Slater studied the virtual Trinidadian community and the way the Internet has

been used as a tool to enhance a sense of belonging to a Trinidadian community that is both

virtual and global. They note that “Trini” chat rooms in cyberspace seem to reinforce a

Trinidadian identity by defining what it means to be Trinidadian on a transnational level,

independent of residence patterns. Accompanying the discourse in cyberspace is also a strong

sense of nationalism that Miller and Slater argue is, in some ways, made even more intense in

focus because of the “global encounter” of the Internet (2003, 55). In the same way, a study of

the websites of various organizations provides a detailed examination of the discourse within the

black Diaspora, as well as its concerns and its opinions. Although early social network analysis

did not focus on virtual communities in cyberspace it is apparent that these are another type of

exchange networks that “serve as a survival mechanism for the poor, and influence positively the

family dynamics of those involved” (Llanos et al 1999, 253).

Globalization scholar Appadurai, in his popular description of “ethnoscapes” and

“mediascapes,” also noted the role of media technologies in creating these newer playing fields,

asserting that, “Electronic media decisively change the wider field of mass mediation because

they offer new resources and new disciplines for the construction of imagined selves and

imagined worlds” (Appadurai 1996, 3). One of the stated goals of both Afro-Peruvian Forum

and Los Cabildos is the continued development of a dialogue that calls for the end of the

socioeconomic, social, political and economic exclusion of African-descended people from

mainstream society. Transnational flows of communication due to increased access to

17
technology make it easier than ever before to be heard. The World Wide Web, in particular,

provides a valuable and powerful example of the ways in which new media technologies allow

communities to speak for themselves through online self-representations.

18
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