IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 2 ENGLISH | Page 59

the social imaginaries in which the answers for
each one of our countries are anchored.
As CIR representatives, we twice have had the
opportunity to visit the most important cultural,
political and historic places in the Colombian
Caribbean. Our visit to Cartagena de Indias was a
window onto the Afro-Colombian community’s
principal mobilizing scenarios, via political and
social platforms like the Movimiento Nacional de
Derechos Humanos Cimarrón [National Movement for Cimarron Human Rights], Fundación
Santa Rita para las Mujeres Transgénero [Santa
Rita Foundation for Transgender Women],
Cátedra de Estudios Afro de la Universidad Pública de Cartagena [Afro Studies Program of the
Cartegena Public University], and the Casa Afro
de Aiku [Aiku Afro House], where Cartagena’s
black civil society creates work agendas to represent the black population’s political desires.
The visit to San Basilio de Palenque and the Human Rights Department, which was coordinated
by Claudia Ayola, was a wonderful opportunity
with which to explore the ideological limits that
prevent us from unrestrictedly imagining our different identities.
As ambassadors of Cuban civil society in the Colombian Caribbean, this visit afforded us an opportunity to learn about the educational work
done by FUNDSAREP, an organization created
in 1987 to promote social development and advancement. It chooses to contribute to community
advancement and work on the humanization and
complete development of the Afro-Colombian
community for the defense of life and dignity.
The organization’s initiatives concerning interculturalism contribute to the exercise of human
rights, construction of active citizenship, and the
kind of social mobilization that causes political
repercussions.

FUNSAREP supports the promotion and complete development of people from the working
class and the strengthening of Afro-Colombian
identity and culture with a view to a more just,
democratic and participatory society for them,
just like Casa Aiku and the Cabildo Gavilanes.
In Colombia, Palenque and Raizal women have
decisive roles. Many of these leaders who participate in these organizations’ processes are now
utilizing their participatory citizenship by offering workshops for working-class women.

Visit and exchange. San Basilio de Palenque,
Colombia
This is how to build a citizenry, propose local development projects and acquire knowledge about
the importance of their black bodies and how to
move them to rhythm, expressing them corporally.
The spaces in which these Afro-Colombian
women are participating are beginning to make a
difference. Black women’s platforms like the
Consejo Consultativo de Mujeres [Consultative
Council of Women], Mesa Diversa de Mujeres
[Diverse Table of Women], Iniciativa de las Mujeres Colombianas por la Paz [Colombian
Women for Peace Initiative], Red Nacional de
Mujeres Kambiri [National Network of Kambiri
Women], Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres

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