Neighbors hug without knowing one another. And amid the destruction, people help each other survive.“ We( are) united in solidarity. We( are) happy to be alive,” Palacios said. Her message to the African diaspora is simple and carries the weight of a long history of neglect.
“ We ask you to not abandon us.”
For Chocó, the earthquake may eventually fade from the headlines. But for the people who live there, the challenge is not only to overcome the damage done by the earthquake, but to overcome the longstanding disparities they have been made to suffer – and which are now impossible to ignore. n
Morelys Urbano, a former Center for New Media fellow and a 2026 graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, is currently a Caribbean community correspondent for Documented NY, an independent, non-profit newsroom dedicated to reporting on immigrant communities in New York City.
Map showing Choco region
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