AETH

Pentecostalism and Afro-Latinity  

Author: Josué Perea

"The correlation between being black and being poor is where the Pentecostal movement has managed to sow a seed of hope and become relevant in people's lives."- Rev. Luis Barrios

Some years ago, while teaching a Bible Institute course on the History of the Christian Church, I mentioned to the class that many of the early converts to Pentecostalism, especially Puerto Rican Pentecostalism, were Afro-Latinos, and that the emergence and growth of the Latino Pentecostal movement in the United States and Latin America would not be possible without Afro-Latino Pentecostals. The students were intrigued and wanted to know more about it, since, as they had learned in class, the Afro-Latinosity of Pentecostalism had never been mentioned.

The blackness of Latinos who were integral to the growth and development of Pentecostalism, not only in the United States but throughout Latin America, has not traditionally been mentioned, but it is important and I personally know the importance of this.

I was born in Bogota, Colombia to my mother, Maria Ofelia Perea, currently senior pastor of Emmanuel Pentecostal Temple in Brooklyn, NY, and my late father Floresmiro Perea Renteria, a writer, pastor and lawyer from Choco. My father's lineage, from which my connection to the African Diaspora stems, is directly linked to Afro-Latino Pentecostals. It is a known family fact that my great-great-grandfather on my father's side was a new convert to Pentecostalism in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. It was there that he gained fervor for the word and sought to spread the Gospel throughout the world. When he began his missionary journey, he somehow ended up in Chocó, Colombia, one of the regions of Colombia most clearly identified with Afro-Colombians (90% of Chocoanos are black). This is important because here he was a black man from Puerto Rico reaching out to other black people in Colombia. It was his fervor for the Gospel, but also his blackness that brought him to Chocó and he decided to settle there and raise a family. 

I don't know if my great-great-grandfather was the first Pentecostal missionary in Colombia or even in Chocó, or how successful his ministry was, but I have no doubt that his blackness is one of the reasons he came to Chocó, converted several people and why I grew up as a Pentecostal in Colombia and then in Brooklyn. It was his blackness that made his message more acceptable to others who looked like him and understood his lived experience as a black man in the world. 

Like my great-great-grandfather, there are many stories of Latinos of African descent who were early converts to Pentecostalism and helped it spread throughout the Americas. These stories are generally not highlighted, but they are important to our understanding of Pentecostalism because they help us to see it as a movement that "has been a home for people's cultures and for marginalized groups" and one of those groups has been Afro-Latinos.Many of the converts of two of the prominent figures such as Juan Lugo and Francisco Olazábal in the growth of Latino Pentecostalism were Afro-Latinos/as. Pentecostalism, whether in the U.S. or in Latin America, includes "proto-evangelical, Catholic, indigenous and Afro-Latino varieties". Evidence of Afro-Latinness in Pentecostalism is present not only in the leadership and membership of Pentecostal churches today, but also in the music and worship practices, which are often distinctly Afro-Caribbean. Understanding that this aspect of the tradition has connections to others such as Afro-Caribbean spiritual practices, as many researchers have mentioned, does not diminish this experience. In fact, it makes Pentecostalism a space that continues to provide Black Latinos with dignity, support and respite from a world that continues to problematize Black bodies and devalue the Black experience. In closing, to quote Rev. Barrios, "Pentecostalism, like other religions of African descent, dismantles the very inequality that devalues the bodily presence of blacks, who can then regain not only power but also a sense of control over their own lives." 

Understanding this will also help us combat the anti-blackness that, unfortunately, is all too often seen in the Latino churches and community. Helping others to realize and acknowledge that Afro-Latinos have been part of Pentecostal churches and many other Latino Christian traditions from the beginning ensures that we properly recognize the totality of the Latino multicultural experience and that the Latino/a church continues to be a space that nurtures the image of God.

1 comment on "Pentecostalism and Afro-Latinity "

  1. Veronica Moreno

    I do not doubt at all the influence of the charisma and effusiveness that represents in the midst of the people of God the African American people since they are always very dedicated to the things they are passionate about, something that I admired in brother Floresmiro. I do not remember many details but his strength and sharing his dreams seemed beautiful to me. I hope and insist that I hope that soon we will seek more to imitate the good of those around us without discriminating for any reason, that we can truly accept that the differences among the people complement us and that we do not have to be equal among us but capable of imitating the author and consummator of the faith, Yeshua. Shalom 😎

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