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By Abraham Landa, 2024 CLLAS Graduate Grantee<\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n Thanks to the support of CLLAS, I was able to complete preliminary fieldwork for my dissertation, Black Mexico: Music, Dance, and the Construction of Afrodescendencia in Costa Chica<\/i>, and successfully advance to PhD candidacy. This research, which explores how Afro-Mexican communities in the Costa Chica region use music and dance to assert cultural identity, was made possible by the funding I received through the CLLAS Graduate Student Research Grant. The grant enabled me to spend the summer of 2024 conducting interviews, attending festivals, and documenting performances in both urban and rural areas of Oaxaca and Guerrero.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The CLLAS grant was pivotal in helping me clarify the scope and direction of my dissertation. The experience not only deepened my understanding of the cultural forms I study, but also helped me build meaningful relationships with artists, cultural organizers, and local institutions. These connections were instrumental in shaping my dissertation proposal and in refining my methodology, which combines ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, and performance analysis<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n One of the most memorable aspects of the research was witnessing how music and dance serve as platforms for articulating Blackness and belonging in a region where Afro-descendant identity has often been marginalized. From community festivals to drag performances incorporating traditional chilenas<\/i>, I saw firsthand how cultural expression becomes a site of memory and resistance. Engaging with these layered performances helped me reconsider prevailing narratives about national identity in Mexico and foreground Afro-Mexican voices in academic and public discourse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I am especially grateful for the flexibility and encouragement that CLLAS offered throughout the research and presentation process. I hope that my research will contribute to raising awareness of the complex histories of Afro-Mexican communities and help support ongoing struggles for recognition and social justice in Mexico. By documenting and analyzing cultural practices that are often overlooked or folklorized in national narratives, I aim to amplify voices from the Costa Chica and highlight the intellectual and artistic contributions of Afrodescendant communities in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n
PhD Student in Musicology (specialization in Ethnomusicology)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\u201cOne of the most memorable aspects of the research was witnessing how music and dance serve as platforms for articulating Blackness and belonging in a region where Afro-descendant identity has often been marginalized.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\u201cI saw firsthand how cultural expression becomes a site of memory and resistance.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n