Description
Book SynopsisThis book begins with a simple question: why do so many Dominicans deny the African components of their DNA, culture, and history? Seeking answers, Milagros Ricourt uncovers a complex and often contradictory Dominican racial imaginary. In doing so, she also delivers an inspiring message on how multicultural communities might cooperate to disrupt the enduring power of white supremacy.
Trade Review"A necessary book to rethink Dominican racial identities. Ricourt challenges the hegemonic national imaginary and brings forward alternative discourses and practices highlighting the presence of Dominican Black identities and culture." -- José Itzigsohn * professor of sociology, Brown University *
"By reconsidering Dominican Vodou as the living legacy of Indigenous-Black liberation projects, Ricourt manages to make sense of how Dominican history and culture create and sustain both black 'denial' and black 'existence.' I cannot emphasize enough how powerful, radical, and important an argument this is." -- Ginetta E. B. Candelario * sociology and Latin American & Latino studies, Smith College *
"Ricourt challenges the long-held idea of black denial in the Dominican Republic by highlighting examples from Afro-Dominican religion and other cultural practices where the African past is present. This book continues to move us forward in the ways race and blackness are discussed in the Dominican Republic." -- Kimberly Eison Simmons * Anthropology and African American Studies, University of South Carolina *
"A much-needed intervention in the historiography of Dominican racial and national identity." * Hispanic American Historical Review *
Table of ContentsPreface
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Border at the Crossroad
Chapter 3 The Creolization of Race
Chapter 4 Cimarrones: The Seed of Subversion
Chapter 5 Criollismo Religioso
Chapter 6 Race, Identity, and Nation
NotesBibliographyIndex
