Afro-Colombian celebration planned Sept. 19

09/10/2024

SUNY Cortland will hold a “Festival of the Plantain” on Thursday, Sept. 19, centering the banana-like fruit in a celebration of the people of African descent in Latin America and their diaspora.

The festival, or Fiesta del Plátano, will be from 6 to 8 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium.

The event will feature music by the Afro-Colombian music collective Roots of the Mangrove Without Borders, part of larger group of Afro-Columbian visitors to campus. There will also be a performance by the university’s Ritmo Latino Dance Club, exhibits and free food samples including — of course — plantains, a vitamin- and mineral-rich food that plays an important role in meals throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

The focus on Afro-Colombians kicks off a series of cultural and educational activities encompassing the university’s Latiné Heritage Month. Latiné Heritage Month runs from Sunday, Sept. 15, to Tuesday, Oct. 15. All the events are free and open to the public.

Roots of the Mangrove, meanwhile, is more that just touring musicians. It is part of the self-help Association for the Comprehensive Development and Entrepreneurship of Afro-Colombians (AMDAE), a grassroots organization whose members during their extended visit will share the music and cultural awareness of their native country. They also will engage with students in classes and take part in a panel presentation.

AMDAE’s visit includes two public events on Monday, Sept. 16:

Meet and greet: The Clark Center for Global Engagement will sponsor the informal gathering with AMDAE representatives from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Old Main, Room 127.
Panel presentation: The Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee will offer a discussion with AMDAE members exploring the myriad ways education beyond the classroom delivers memorable and vibrant learning experiences and inspires new ideas. The presentation, titled “Open Air Pedagogies,” will take place from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.

This is not AMDAE’s first visit to the U.S., but it is the first time they have hosted a Fiesta del Plátano on a college campus, according to organizer Pilar File-Muriel, an assistant professor in SUNY Cortland’s Sociology/Anthropology Department and a Diversity Faculty Fellow.

A native of Colombia, File-Muriel met and developed a connection with AMDAE founder Daira Quiñones eight years ago. Quiñones’ collective has worked with groups throughout the U.S. for roughly 20 years promoting peace and cultural activism in the U.S.

“The group is a self-help association mainly of Afro-Colombian women who were victims of Colombia’s decades-long civil war and had been displaced from the Colombian Pacific and the Caribbean,” File-Muriel said.

That low-intensity conflict never quite ends, but members acquired farmland near the capital city of Bogotá where they practice a “solidarity economy” and work to defend their cultural identity in the former Spanish colony. AMDAE practices Aulas Vivas, or “living learning spaces,” through its Ethno-Education Project, using an Afro-Colombian style of teaching called Uramba, which is based on the principle of collective responsibility, unity and relationships among humans and non-humans. Its music group performs Afro-Colombian rhythms that highlight ancestral knowledge and folklore and promote African descent connections across borders.

“Many of their projects are about developing initiatives to help them and their families, create sources of income but are also related to celebrating and continuing their Afro-Colombian practices, as well as promoting sustainable and ethical farming practices,” File-Muriel said.

Both mangrove trees and the plantain plants with their many uses are at the heart of Afro-Colombian traditions.

“I am an activist anthropologist, so that means that my research goes beyond academia, and it involves the communities that I am doing research with and students,” File-Muriel said.

Students in File-Muriel’s Social Movements of Latin America class and her Independent Studies in Anthropology course are helping her organize the fiesta.

Lucila Napolitano of Washingtonville, N.Y., a junior psychology major of Peruvian and Italian descent, encouraged Ritmo Latino, the club she dances in, to participate.

Senior international studies major Asha Younas of Woodside, N.Y., is president of the campus chapter of New York Public Interest Research Group. She brings to the project both logistical and international relations skills.

Senior sociology major Grace Galarza of Copiague, N.Y., applied her academic skills to research the origins and context of the group’s mission for the campus community. She’s also helping with event setup, exhibits, informational displays and invitations.

Each year, the campus observes Latiné Heritage Month, also known as National Hispanic Heritage Month, from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of people whose heritage came from Latin America. Sept. 15 was the day Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua gained independence. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on Sept. 15.

Organizers of SUNY Cortland’s Latiné Heritage Month calendar are accepting lecture or program proposals from faculty, staff and students until the deadline of Thursday, Sept. 12. For more information or to submit a proposal, contact AnnaMaria Omilanowicz, director of multicultural life and diversity.

For any questions about the festival, contact File-Muriel.
The Fiesta del Plátano is supported by a Cortland Auxiliary Services Educational Excellence Grant, the Center for Ethics Peace and Social Justice, the Clark Center for Global Engagement, the Cortland College Foundation’s Equity Fund, the Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee, the Institutional Equity and Inclusion Office and the Provost’s Office.

For a slideshow relating to the upcoming festival, select an image below.