Black Movement Militancy in Panama: SAMAAP's Reliance on an Identity of West Indianness

Abstract

The community of West Indians in Panama represents the presence of another identity within Hispanic space, one contrasting with the mestizo national identity of that space. Over time these Caribbean migrants built their own entities and structures to ensure their livelihood and wellbeing. This article examines this context focusing on the one major West Indian Panamanian organization that is most prominent today, the Sociedad de Amigos del Museo Afroantillano de Panamá (Society of Friends of the Afro-Antillean Museum of Panama) or SAMAAP. Members are extremely proud of their Caribbean roots and heritage, and stress the socio-economic and industrial achievement of West Indians whose labor gave rise to the monumental Panama Canal and who are well-recognized for their distinguished contributions to key areas of society. They advocate West Indian rights and promote colorful displays of West Indian culture as one branch of African heritage. They continue to stress their legacy of difference, privileging things West Indian, thereby setting the community apart from the local Afro-Panamanian population and marking a clear distinction between their own Anglophone Caribbean background and the local Hispanized space they now call home.

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