The San Andrés and Providencia Archipelago, long entangled in British, Spanish, and Colombian territorial claims, is home to the Raizal people—Afro-Caribbean descendants of enslaved Africans, Jamaican settlers, and maritime communities with deep ties to the western Caribbean. Historically linked to the Mosquitia and Central America, the islands were first settled by English Puritans and enslaved Africans in the 1630s as part of a short-lived colonial experiment that gave way to privateering, migration, and resistance. Over the next two centuries, San Andrés and Providencia became hubs in a transnational Afro-diasporic network stretching across the Caribbean basin. Although officially annexed to Colombia in the 19th century, local autonomy and Protestant, English-speaking identities persisted. Since the 1950s, however, Raizals have been displaced by mainland Colombian migration, extractive tourism, and assimilationist policies that threaten their land tenure, language, and cultural practices. In response, Raizal communities have organized across the archipelago and diaspora—from Marcos Archbold’s UN appeals in the 1960s to AMEN-SD’s sovereignty movement—asserting their rights as a distinct Afro-Indigenous people. Despite demographic marginalization, Raizals continue to preserve collective memory, oral traditions, and cultural resistance across local churches, schools, and elder councils.
BCA is a platform dedicated to amplifying Black Central American history, culture, and scholarship. Through curated content, innovative programming, and collaborative initiatives, we explore the collective memory, cultural and political organizing, and creative place-making practices of Black Central American communities across the isthmus and its diasporas.
