The struggle/strength of Garifuna women in the Caribbean of Nicaragua
Networks of life and power systems in La Fe
The interviewees in this essay are Garifuna women activists from the Nicaraguan Afro-Garifuna Association (AAGANIC) from La Fe, one of the five Garifuna communities located in the Pearl Lagoon basin on Nicaragua's Southern Caribbean coast. Geopolitically, it is situated in an autonomous region of Nicaragua, meaning that the community, its territory, and resources are governed by a constitutional-level legal framework known as the Statute of Autonomy or Law 28.
This dialogue was facilitated and this essay written by Eveling Carrazco López and Jessica Martínez Cruz , two mestiza women from the Pacific region and members of the Aula Propia collective, a feminist reflection space that promotes actions and dialogues with Black, Indigenous, and peasant women, activists, and some academics. The work they present stems from pluralistic and critical perspectives among women who conceive of development as something that arises from communities and is not imposed by the nation-state. These debates are framed within decades-long Central American discussions rooted in Black perspectives.
Eveling Carrazco López is a self-organized feminist, activist, researcher, and educator working both within and outside academia, in networks and collectives with migrant, peasant, Afro-descendant, Indigenous, and working-class women in her country and elsewhere. Her thinking and practice are grounded in non-hegemonic social and feminist critical theories (decolonial, anticolonial, Black, antiracist/Caribbean, community-based, etc.) from Abya Yala, the Global South, and the Global North. Central American/Caribbean thought, processes of knowledge dialogue, prevailing colonialities/colonialisms, mestizaje, rurality/peasantry, Black/Indigenous epistemes, history/memory, exile and political narratives, the dynamics of Northern hemispheric politics in the region, and acts of resistance are all part of her research and educational curiosity.
Jessica Martínez Cruz is a feminist activist researcher who has worked independently, at the University of Nicaragua, and in non-formal educational processes within various social groups. She is a member of the feminist collective Aula Propia. Her research interests lie in the historical dynamics of colonialism, modernity, and Euro-American imperialism; Indigenous philosophies; feminist epistemologies of Black and women of color; and the politics of memory, violence, and resistance.
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