The African Presence in Mexico: Carnival in Yanga

"During the colonial period, the Spanish and indigenous populations coexisted uneasily with the black Africans of San Lorenzo. There were reports that the Spanish invaded lands and burned sugar mills and the blacks' liquor production installations because they were market competitors for colonial Spanish society. Gradually, mestizaje [racial mixing] occurred in spite of ordinances that solely allowed black Africans to settle in the town. During the 18th and 19th Centuries, the population of San Lorenzo was mostly brown and it had many indigenous and Spanish residents. In 1930, San Lorenzo changed its name to Yanga, Veracruz. Its black population has blended but it is not difficult to see African characteristics in the population's phenotype.

"Carnival is one of the most important events in the city of Yanga. It is the celebration of the victory of the cimarrones over the Spanish and the celebration of the founding of "the first free African town in America." The carnival attracts visitors from other communities and many migrants take advantage of this time to return home from the United States. During the carnival, the peace of this little city is suddenly shattered. Townspeople recall the events of the past, almost four centuries ago, and the reenact the scenes in a carnival celebrated on the 10th of August, Feast of Saint Lorenzo. This celebration is different from carnestolendas or Mardi Gras. The carnival festivities include: open-air dances, horse races, cockfights, bullfights, dance and crowning of the Reina y Rey Feo [King and Queen of Fools], fireworks, a costume parade, and cacophonous music. The festival closes with a mass and procession in honor of San Lorenzo, martyr and saint and, on this day, no other "pagan" activity takes place. Between the sacred and the profane, the carnival is a moment of chaos before returning to the normal order of everyday life.

"Today, carnival has taken on a new meaning: it is a celebration dedicated to black African culture. The setting in which Yanga supposedly lived together with the cimarrones who founded San Lorenzo de los Negros is recreated. During the carnival, a spirit of negritud [blackness] emerges. Yanga, the black African slave, the man who led the first anti-colonial rebellion in America, and founder of the city, appears as the main character. Knowledge of Yanga as a symbol and as a black hero is somewhat vague and confused among the people, but that is certainly not the case with regard to his importance as a symbol. Yanga is the black leader, the catalyst of freedom in the Americas."

The African Presence in Mexico, pg. 30.