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Teaching Afro–Latin American Culture through Film: Raíces de mi corazón and Cuba’s Guerrita de los Negros

Studies have shown an absence of Afro–Latin American culture at all levels of Spanish instruction. In this essay, I propose the use of film to expand the undergraduate curriculum. Film provides both a visual and cultural narrative for the understanding of Latin American history, culture, and literature, and is an invaluable resource for teaching Afro–Latin American culture and promoting visual and multicultural literacy. This article focuses on Raíces de mi corazón, a short film that deals with the establishment of the Partido Independiente de Color, a political party that called for social reforms for Afro-Cubans and Cuba’s race war of 1912, which led to the murder of over six thousand men, women, and children of color. Raíces de mi corazón spotlights the importance of Cuba’s little known guerrita de los negros and provides a way to expand both the canon and curriculum through the incorporation of minority voices in the classroom.