In Search of African American Space

Title: In Search of African American Space Edited by: Lars Müller Publishers “What is African American space? It is a concept perhaps best understood in its simplest incarnation as environments that allow Black communities to thrive. They are spaces that remedy cen- turies of precarity and enclosure, which have limited the capacity for our people to realize their potential to live unbounded lives. They are spaces that refuse cultural, political, or economic circumstances that diminish, degrade, dehumanize, and destroy Black life. The creation of African American space is, at its core, a practice of refusal.” ¿Qué es el espacio afroamericano? Es un concepto que quizás se entienda mejor en su encarnación más simple como entornos que permiten a las comunidades negras prosperar. Son espacios que ponen remedio a siglos de precariedad y encierro, que han limitado la capacidad de nuestra gente de realizar su potencial para vivir vidas sin límites. Son espacios que rechazan las circunstancias culturales, políticas o económicas que disminuyen, degradan, deshumanizan y destruyen la vida de los negros. La creación del espacio afroamericano es, en su esencia, una práctica de rechazo. The first enslaved Africans were captured and transported to North America in 1619. More than two and a half centuries later, the Constitution of the United States of America declared slavery illegal, except for the exception of imprisonment. As is well known to all, this constitutional declaration does not mean equal rights for all people, for all those of African-American origin will have to struggle to this day to finally bury centuries of oppression and unjustifiable violence. Sadly, the news almost every week reminds us of the long road that still lies ahead to eliminate all forms of discrimination. Millions of people continue to suffer every day from the violence of colonialist thinking that used the enslavement of people to exploit their labour force.