COLOMBIA
San Basilio De Palenque
African Resistance in the Caribbean

Four centuries ago, a group of blacks enslaved by the Spanish Crown in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) fled to the interior of the country in search of freedom. They founded San Basilio de Palenque, a town that would eventually become the first free territory in colonial America. Today they keep alive their traditions and, with them, their African roots.
By Yaiza Martín Fradejas

Cartagena de Indias is one of the most visited cities in Colombia. Undoubtedly, the most sought-after photograph by tourists is the image of the "palenqueras", those women dressed in the colors of the Colombian flag and carrying all kinds of fruits on their heads with incredible dexterity. In addition to charging for photo souvenirs, they sell homemade sweets, such as the famous "alegrías". Although these women are related to the colonial city, their name indicates their authentic origin: San Basilio de Palenque.
In this village, located about 40 km from Cartagena, there are neither colonial monuments nor large buildings, but traditional houses made of mud and palm leaves. Here the streets are not asphalted and on the dusty roads motorcycles, adults, children, dogs, chickens and even pigs circulate with the same freedom.
From the courtyard of one of these humble homes emanates the sound of drums and a catchy refrain: "Joy with coconut and anise.... I bring homemade joy... buy me! That's how the palenqueras shout in the streets of Cartagena...", intones Leonel Torres during a rehearsal of the group Estrellas del Caribe, one of the most representative of palenquera music. Among the instruments used is the tambora, of African origin, handmade and one of the symbols of the champeta criolla, the musical genre par excellence of this territory, launched to stardom by Shakira herself in the 2020 edition of the Super Bowl.
Musical strength
Despite having only 4,500 inhabitants, San Basilio de Palenque has a proliferation of musical groups, some with international projection, such as Estrellas del Caribe, but also Kombilesa Mio Sexteto Tabalá. In this Afro-Colombian corner, music is present in every corner and serves to vindicate the origins of their ancestors. Scenes of men playing the tambora, the joyful drum or the marimbula, combine with the image of women and children dancing barefoot with frenetic energy.
For the Palenqueros, music is a means of communication and expression that they carry to the grave. When they say goodbye to one of their own, they do it with the famous lumbalú, a ritual of their African ancestors that includes chants and dances typical of their identity. ¬John Salgado, the guide who accompanies us during this journey through time and space, explains that "although we are Catholics imposed by the Spanish Crown at the time, the passage of time has not made us forget our main ritual. At a wake you can see Catholic images and, at the same time, hear chants of African animism," he says.
The lumbalu is a very peculiar way of saying goodbye to the dead, since it takes place in the midst of a festive atmosphere to "celebrate" the passing of the loved one to another world. Normally these events last nine days and nine nights, which correspond to the nine months of pregnancy. In their prayers, the Palenqueros evoke the orishas, African protective spirits. Although it is a religious ritual, the lumbalú has in its origin a resistance component, since the enslaved blacks sang and danced in order to counteract the pain of the humiliation inflicted by the Spanish colonists.    
First free people
The Spanish Crown brought here the first blacks to be enslaved in the 16th century. They came mainly from Congo, Angola and Guinea-Bissau, the main countries of origin of the Palenqueros. The main port of entry was Cartagena de Indias, where an anti-colonial movement began around 1600, in which people with African roots began to show their desire for independence and liberation. The first escapes of the cimarrones -fugitive enslaved blacks- were aimed at founding a free territory, a "palenque", which actually means "settlement of fugitive blacks and their descendants, escaped from the slave regime during the colonial period". The only one that has remained to this day and where the African legacy is maintained is San Basilio, founded more than 400 years ago by Benkos Biohó, leader of this revolution, the first to flee from the clutches of colonization and reach the territory in the early seventeenth century.
In 1603, this maroon signed an agreement with the Crown by which he could supposedly walk freely through Cartagena de Indias, an event that was the genesis of the recognition of the freedom of the palenque. "In reality Benkos was deceived and when they called him to go to Cartagena he was captured and hanged by the Spanish yoke," Salgado indignantly recounts in front of his statue, which dominates the town's main square. It was not until 1713 that the Spanish Crown recognized Palenque as the first free town in the Americas. During the liberation process, a priest of Italian origin, Antonio Maria Cassiani, who carried the image of Saint Basil, was of special importance. For this reason it was called Palenque de San Basilio or San Basilio de Palenque.
It was at that time, and because of the need for understanding, that the Palenquero language emerged, a creole language created from Spanish and elements of native African languages. "The objective was to create a common language among all the enslaved people, since although they were originally from Africa, they came from different countries. Here we say uepa to say 'hello', or asi nawue, which means 'so it is'," Salgado teaches us.
However, other, more discreet and original means of communication also emerged: hairstyles, which at the time also carried a message. Our tour guide tells how "women's hairstyles traced maps and marked the route for prisoners to escape and find the palenque. They also took advantage of their luxuriant hair to hide gold and seeds," he adds. Today, the Palenqueros still remember the importance of this communication technique that helped so much in the creation of their territory. Proof of this is the famous song "Los Peinados" by Kombilesa Mi. 
  

Remedies for pain
In 1612, the Inquisition arrived in Cartagena with the supposed purpose of punishing enslaved people, accused of having supernatural powers to cure the sick. This phenomenon was considered witchcraft in the eyes of the Spaniards. The Palenqueros also have their own methods of healing.
In Palenque there are several healers, but the most famous is Rosalina Cañate Pardo, an octogenarian full of wisdom. She welcomes us in a very humble but cool house despite the excessive heat, where pigs and chickens walk around like members of the family. A wrinkled face and clear, almost crystal eyes, tell convinced of the power of her "secret", passed down from generation to generation. "If you come with a pain, I massage you with my plants and heal you. I also know the technique to stop the blood from flowing from a wound," he says. The combination of medicinal plants with a particular belief make these traditional doctors the most reliable and effective for the health problems of Palenque's population. The famous ñeque, an alcoholic drink made from sugar cane, is used not only for regular consumption, but also for curative purposes. Mixed with certain herbs, the best medicines are obtained for the inhabitants of this land.
However, the most dangerous ailment for them is the evil eye, which can only be removed by one of these healers. Rosalina assures how her santiguos and prayers "protect the body from the evil eye".
A parallel community
In addition to remedying their illnesses in their own way, speaking a unique language and possessing a characteristic culture, the Palenqueros also organize themselves in a particular way. Their ancestral territory is administered by a community council called Ma-Kankamaná, which is the highest authority of local organization and administration. Its objective is to improve the living conditions of the 4,500 people who live there and to promote an integral development according to their needs. This can be read in one of the many books in the library of the Hotel San Basilio de Palenque, at the entrance to the town, run by Elías Antonio Sierra Fernández, a lawyer and sociologist who is an admirer of Palenque society. "The community council functions as a chamber of deputies where decisions are made at the political and administrative level," he explains. "In addition, this council is governed by its own values, which are responsibility, honesty, tolerance.... All while always respecting the Palenquero culture and identity," he adds.
Ma Kankamaná was created with the intention of administering the collective ownership of the lands, which in reality belong to the whole community. In fact, they speak of a community council because the Palenqueros insist that they are a community. This particularity is reflected, for example, in the concept of collective ownership: although the land is obtained by inheritance, it actually belongs to the community so that any of its inhabitants can cultivate the land, without paying anything in return.
At a particular level, from adolescence onwards, each palenquero is part of a social organization called kuagro; these are groups of people of the same age in which their members give each other mutual help of any kind, whether economic or sentimental. "Your kuagro can help you pay a debt or find a partner. It is a more concentrated nucleus than the family itself, it is one more family", explains Elías Antonio Sierra Fernández from his hotel, whose walls are full of paintings in honor of the negritude of Palenque.      
Dishonor as punishment
One of the most surprising parts of the Palenquero organization is undoubtedly its security system, and that is that the Colombian police cannot enter the territory of San Basilio de Palenque except for extreme cause, and having requested a permit. The Palenqueros have their own agents, the Cimarrona Guard, which is based on a traditional security system. "They are volunteers, they are not paid by the government. The idea is to have an independent security system to maintain our tradition," Salgado clarifies. "They are very respected people. They enforce the laws by the persuasion of their members. It's a direct inheritance from their ancestors," he says.
The most curious thing about this unique system is that the sanctions are moral, and are reflected in social behavior. "Whoever steals, is socially punished and the community itself sets him aside. This generates shame; it is a system of values and not of repression, like the traditional ones," explains Elías Antonio Sierra.
The particularity of the territory of San Basilio de Palenque has meant that "the Colombian government itself regulates it as a community without intervening directly," says Sierra. "The Palenqueros have a special regime, allowed by the national authorities, which they see as a way to compensate for the damages caused during the slavery era," he explains. "Colombians feel indebted to San Basilio de Palenque and its community for everything that happened in the past," he acknowledges. Today, San Basilio does not qualify as a municipality, but the Colombian government is making efforts to declare it a "special municipality" in order for the communities to gain more budgetary and political autonomy, which would bring significant improvement, for example in infrastructure.
The four-century struggle of the Palenquero people has been a manifestation of resistance that once marked the path to freedom for the other enslaved black people spread throughout the Americas. Through their own beliefs, a different language, their music and even their own systems of government and security, this "piece" of Africa, declared in 2005 by UNESCO as Cultural and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, resists in the middle of the Colombian Caribbean.
Forgiveness heals the wounds caused by resentment and renews individuals, families, communities and social life. Forgiveness is the key to our relationships with God, with our neighbors and with ourselves Forgiveness is a necessity. If I do not forgive, I cannot be forgiven. Forgiveness is a process, that is, a continuous growth towards inner freedom. Let us not forget that some experiences are so painful that they require a lot of time spent in forgiveness.