Ayanna Legros
DRECCA (Fundacíon para el Desarrollo y Reivindicacíon Etno-cultural de las Comunidades Afrodescendientes)
Cali, Colombia
It is incredible how quickly time flies. In six days, I will officially complete my first month in this country. On average, I would say that my life here is quiet but social, and simple but complex. Probably my favorite thing to do here is converse with Afro-Colombian women, particularly the women who make up the staff of the DRECCA team. They are incredibly smart, diverse, and radiant.
The human rights struggles of the Afro-Colombian community here are incredibly diverse and often revolve around narratives of migration, violence, and silencing. I think the most crucial part of their work is recognizing that women in particular experience the most brutal part of war and that community organization and rehabilitation must come from within.
From my conversations with people here and from reading the news, it is clear that Colombia is increasingly becoming a more peaceful place in comparison to how it was the past three decades. Though many attribute this to Uribe’s administration, corruption is still a huge issue here. I was told by a friend that one of his initiatives for ending the war was to give a monetary reward to those who captured guerrilla men, which in turn caused the military to capture young boys randomly, place them in boots and “guerrilla clothing,” and then take a photo of the “enemy.” Disproportionally, young mestizo and black men of lower economic backgrounds were affected by this because they were the most believed to be involved in the conflict. The racial undertones of conflict are still very present in this nation.