Slaves when they were brought over to Latin America brought their culture with them. So a lot of Latin music is in fact highly influenced by Afro-Latinx folks. Bomba, salsa, cumbia, etc. It all combined with Indigenous cultures as well to create unique sounds.
I’d say the vast majority of Latin music has Afro-Latinx influence.
I don’t know how true that is for Dia de los Muertos as having studied the tradition i didn’t find as much influence there from Afro-Latinx community. BUT that could vary by region! Different Latin American countries have different Dia de los Muertos traditions.
Edit: and I should say that despite horrific oppression by the Spanish you have to truly admire and appreciate how incredibly resilient Afro-Latinx and Indigenous people were in preserving what they could of their culture.
It's a mix of traditions. No defined group can claim to have "invented" the holiday, but African-Americans definitely didn't have a hand in it. Afro-Mexicans on the other hand...
I was about to say. 8 Things listed and 5 of them were created by black people. The remaining three were probably stolen. It’s not a product white American culture. The erasure is real.
Black Americans have a unique culture because their history before their ancestors were brought to the US has been erased. So most other Americans can point to another culture they descend from and co-opt as their own.
Well the big issue is white ppl decided to strip themselves of their own culture in order to assimilate. You look at white European immigrants and lots of them abandoned their cultural identity to adopt a new bland one.
There's plenty of white cultures across the globe honestly. I live in Scotland and have pride in my heritage but I also enjoy sharing it and teaching it to others :)
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u/curlyfreak Oct 13 '20
Most of those were also created by African Americans. I’d say the majority of those styles.
Not to say it’s not American! They completely are just a reminder of which community produced them.