We Never Could Understand Why the Black Man Did Not Come to Us”

In the first chapter of The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, Paul Gilroy points out an interesting detail about Columbus's first trip to the Americas: Columbus' pilot, Pedro Nino, was also an African. The history of the Black Atlantic since then, continually crisscrossed by the movements of black people—not only as commodities but engaged in various struggles toward emancipation, autonomy, and citizenship—provides a means to reexamine the problems of nationality, location, identity, and historical memory.1 This assertion emerges as part of Gilroy's challenge to nationalistic and ethnic approaches that attempt to circumscribe the history of the African diaspora to the constitution of a particular identity. Beyond the debatable characterization of Pedro Nino as African, this remark expresses a position that is as suggestive as it is challenging.2 Gilroy proposes that the beginning of the black Atlantic is contemporaneous with the beginning of the modern European colonization of the Americas in 1492. Though his analyses remain mostly committed to ideas and vocabulary that emerge in the context of the European Enlightenment (particularly, the double consciousness that W. E. B. Du Bois proposes as a development and challenge to a Hegelian approach to history) and focus on materials that come from the English black Atlantic, Gilroy seems to recognize here that the history of the black Atlantic covers a wider spectrum in terms of time and regions than the one that he explores in his own reflections (124–25).If the black Atlantic as a “chaotic, living, disorganic formation” (122) that overcomes the boundaries established by modern slavery begins with the so-called discovery of the Americas, it is necessary to recognize that it covers more than five centuries, at least four colonial languages along with their creole variations, and more precisely those political structures, ways of resilience, and cultural exchanges that are not articulated in terms of the emancipatory ideals of the European enlightenment. In addition, a significant number of the texts that emerge in this expanded black Atlantic, particularly those coming from the Spanish and Portuguese empires from the sixteenth through the eighteenth century, were not produced from the perspectives of Africans and their descendants in the Americas but from the perspectives of their masters and/or authorities who despised, condemned, and misrecognized their search for freedom as much as their alternative forms of social organization.3 Therefore, double consciousness as a key concept for understanding the African diaspora should not be rejected but rather adjusted and combined with other concepts in order to face the challenges raised by the analysis of such texts.On the basis of her work on the African diaspora in the French Caribbean, Christine Chivallon has proposed a suggestive approach to Gilroy's ideas, emphasizing the dynamism of the African diaspora as diversity in permanent transformation that offers the possibility of a critique of modernity and, particularly, its mechanisms of objectification: “I understand that diversity as referring to the variety of collective orientations and to their interrelatedness in an open decentered community fabric.”4 Chivallon's emphasis on diversity instead of double consciousness expands Gilroy's black Atlantic in geographical and temporal terms, allowing us to explore the presence of a strong and persistent critique of modernity in texts related to African captives and their free descendants in the Americas.In that context, this article examines a document that offers an approach to a maroon community that emerged in the middle of the sixteenth century in what we know today as Esmeraldas in Ecuador. My aim is to explore the way in which Miguel Cabello Balboa's Verdadera Descripción de la Provincia de Esmeraldas (1583)—referred to hereafter as Descripción—registers the process of constitution of this community and to identify both elements of continuity and discontinuity between Cabello Balboa's book and Gilroy's reflections on the black Atlantic as a system of cultural exchanges that challenges the ethnic and national paradigms of modern subjectivity (5–19).My hypothesis is that Gilroy's reflections make it possible to recognize and highlight in Cabello Balboa's Descripción a set of challenges that a group of African captives and their descendants introduced to counter discourses and practices that conceived the early Spanish colonization of the Americas as a Christian project governed by Spanish rulers and masters. However, it is necessary to recognize in Cabello Balboa's Descripción some dimensions of the constitution of subjectivity that are hardly comparable to those that underlie the strategies and discourses examined by Gilroy in his reflections on the Enlightened English black Atlantic. Therefore, I propose a transformative conversation between Cabello Balboa's Descripción and Gilroy's assertions about the processes of constitution of subjectivity in the black Atlantic.On one hand, Gilroy's reflections allow us to emphasize in Cabello Balboa's Descripción (1) the existence of early African subjectivities that are able to recover and protect their freedom through a number of strategies of organization and negotiation with Spanish authorities to the point of introducing an alternative model of territorial domination, (2) the constitution of mixed subjectivities that challenge the mechanisms of separation between African captives and indigenous people imposed by the Spanish authorities in the new territories, and (3) the appropriation and reinterpretation of hegemonic discourses of power in order to produce a locus of enunciation recognizable through Cabello Balboa's textual mediation. In a few words, Gilroy's reflections allow us to perceive the relevance of a process that transforms African captives into leaders of an African-Amerindian settlement in early Spanish America. Anticipating in many ways strategies of organization that Charles Hale has discussed in his work on current Afro-indigenous communities in Central America, this settlement emerged as a space in which freedom, land, and a narrative of resilience overcame captivity, deportation, and misrecognition.5On the other hand, Cabello Balboa's Descripción challenges Gilroy's views in that (1) the racial and national ideologies proposed by Gilroy as references in his black Atlantic are not similar to the Christian/imperial ideologies that former African captives and their descendants had to cope with during the second half of the sixteenth century in Esmeraldas in order to recover and protect their freedom and (2) the strategies of resistance exhibited by the leaders of the Afro-Amerindian community of Esmeraldas are not articulated by a Hegelian narrative of emancipation and death such as it is exposed by Gilroy (59–71) but rather in terms of a narrative of miscegenation and ambiguity that delays the dialectic confrontation as a privileged strategy of resistance.I thus develop my exposition in three parts. First, I explore the challenges that Cabello Balboa's writing introduces in our approach to the maroon community of Esmeraldas, a community that contributed significantly to the early constitution of the black Atlantic. Second, I discuss the strategies employed by this maroon community to achieve territorial autonomy, emphasizing the creation of a heterotopia that challenged the Spanish and project of a colonization of the I explore the of mixed subjectivities in that heterotopia and were able to produce a that at least for a the of the community to an and Christian of the maroon community of Esmeraldas in the spectrum of the black Atlantic at least one the texts and cultural by of the texts about this and other maroon communities in and during the sixteenth century were not produced by their African from a point of that the of their resilience and organization as communities that challenged Spanish of come from colonial authorities and that to to Spanish in a of of the between three of and and Gilroy proposes what we in of the maroon communities are terms of about what is as an of introducing more and more African captives in Spanish the of the maroon community of Esmeraldas, of the texts are that to to the by who those and on the by and However, has texts by Spanish authorities on of the leaders of the The first is a by the of the maroon de to in his to the indigenous in the and that he not a new to The second is a settlement by de de in Spanish and Christian and to the community to a new be and the Spanish In both the leaders of the maroon community Spanish and their power in the and the of the by in his on colonial texts by in a who to to colonial that those are their points of of the time texts what the authorities to in precisely the way to an in the that the narrative imposed by the group the possibility of of the This not that the texts are to a significant of about the between the authorities and the to we texts the we the of the group the of the that the we that the of a related to a group such as the maroon community of Esmeraldas not in the that it expresses the of the leaders of the community but in the possibility that it us to explore the and the introduced by the of the African captives and their descendants in hegemonic we also to that a such as Cabello Balboa's Descripción particular as an in writing of and offers not only a significant of about the community but a on the of the of Cabello Balboa's to the Balboa's Descripción is the of about Esmeraldas, and it was on the he in the he to the in and In to that to this indigenous and maroon communities the of the Spanish and through his on communities as as on a between and the through the to the in his first Cabello in the Esmeraldas by through the from the of to the of Spanish authorities from as their to the maroon community that its de to their few at the Cabello was able to with and the other leaders of the settlement and to make some for their to of Cabello and his community of their freedom, for their and territorial the of Esmeraldas, as as proposed de as of the In the community had to recognize the Spanish authorities and to its settlement the Though de to Cabello Balboa's during the that he not to the in a for more than three for the of and the other leaders of the he had Cabello along with the other of the to an in his second Cabello to of the that he in his first one to a from to Esmeraldas through the was able to to the of and that he was to the to Esmeraldas through the However, the of the indigenous community of and the of English on the the of the Spanish to the and to to of it by the of the colonial authorities in Cabello the of the for an position that to some to to of the and make the for the of Esmeraldas the document from the of in the of in that the of the has a of the Descripción and that of the book be to to the seems that the Descripción is a that Cabello as part of the attempt to the of to a new to a in which were captives in a of offers a geographical of the and its an of the strategies by former African captives to and and a narrative of his to Esmeraldas along with his own reflections about the that from former captives and their order to make his he proposes an of his that expresses about their and, particularly in the of the first of the of de to the of his community and was a from the of in as a the and to and the of the maroon community Beyond that and his indigenous but also a from de and a former for their and and for the of the it is possible to recognize in Cabello Balboa's Descripción the of a coming in the that the of African and to Spanish was the only way to the new a that as a of the of African-Amerindian subjectivities that challenged such a his Cabello he in his with his of and in order to what he to be an and of the maroon In at the beginning of his of his he he is writing about that he he be to not allow the and of de that and the of his of However, his is committed to the point of of Spanish In other words, he territorial and of the maroon community to Spanish to be the only In that Cabello is not in the point of of the maroon community in their for freedom and territorial he de as a power is on and and that he to his and his power the indigenous Cabello is able to in of the Descripción the between his and those by de and his In he existence of a space between and the that to and the of that he is on of the Spanish In order to that Cabello proposes narrative strategies in his First, he offers an of de a and is able to a settlement out of the of Spanish the Cabello from a toward a more to to his power in the and his in to Spanish Second, he explores the of and the that with the of his community as as other about the that to the of of narrative strategies Cabello Balboa's it is that his in the of the Spanish and points of as a for his his textual of a subjectivity that both and us to recognize the existence of a point of that challenges that In this the Descripción offers an early and of the maroon community of Esmeraldas and the that its existence produced for the Spanish the Cabello that the community is able to the Esmeraldas and, particularly, to Spanish from the of their of de to and of his to the Cabello de black us his that he had from the of his The Esmeraldas not only a African captives their freedom but also and mostly a strategies of by the Spanish during the sixteenth century were by the leaders of the community in order to protect the freedom of their Cabello this appropriation a way to his that this is an characterization of the in Esmeraldas, Cabello the strategies that and the leaders of the to the and the indigenous that in the Descripción that African and the that was from from in de a la the of to However, their for freedom that had to face an as as that not Though the were able to from a indigenous group at first to the and some from had to the the group of the a of this Africans along with of the indigenous The of the to the from their settlement the face of this the African to to and to the the of the the indigenous of the and the leaders of their to Cabello the This strategy at the of the death of of the Africans that the group of their first and three this first of to the Therefore, as a way to their and the group to the indigenous group de such that is only from and only the number of people the African group the community that a new de Cabello Balboa's of to be a the of as the way to of the established and with other indigenous and African that Esmeraldas with the that for and to a de a a la la de a a de de de a to be with one of in the to as he was he was a of the Spanish in the of and in the of the Therefore, indigenous people to and a indigenous as his was the of an with as part of their strategy to their to power and black and indigenous de in Cabello Balboa's as a who was able to the community and who as a who be able to to Spanish a his power the by and the of a indigenous group he also in the of African in the who had in the by also Spanish that to and from in his position as of the maroon community with de in the of from the settlement of the maroon community In his of he and the that time that he to the settlement and that it be to a by both Spanish authorities and he was by the way particularly the indigenous to the in order to his own it is not for the indigenous that Cabello Balboa's of the strategies by African to the we of the Spanish their in the during the sixteenth century, we that strategies by the African leaders of Esmeraldas were not The of and to the indigenous people was a persistent strategy in the early colonization of the In in his Descripción Cabello that to the of Esmeraldas particular about the of Balboa's then, are related to the of and more to who and the of that In other words, what Cabello is that African employed Spanish strategies of colonization to a community that out of of the Spanish and the The of that through Cabello Balboa's that the strategies of colonization employed by the African in Esmeraldas the constitution of a heterotopia as heterotopia as an alternative space that challenges the and established in space by strategies employed in that space but with an alternative and de were who had in were to the Americas that Cabello as Therefore, were with strategies employed by the Spanish to in the in strategies to a that was out of and of the Spanish This was a not a with the aim of freedom for African and their along with indigenous communities that to in the of imposed by Spanish This space emerged through the of strategies of that African captives had from the Spanish The appropriation de of strategies produced a that at least for a the of the power of the Spanish authorities in the that the constitution of this maroon heterotopia be an early in the constitution of the black Atlantic. Though Esmeraldas was not in the ideals of freedom related to the to that in a way at the of the eighteenth century, it as an of an early emancipatory space in an This emancipatory space was to protect the Africans and their descendants rather than to an that freedom for In Cabello that de some as a that he to black de de de de as a my and I one in for and a of black that of The of a former African of a maroon to a Christian that he it is possible to that the of Africans in the was not an in the early Spanish Atlantic it is to that his freedom and the freedom of his community as a a that he had to a in which as free that in de a to for as a and for for his he was not about the of the community to Spanish he was on the that Spanish authorities were to the This as a to the community it an the of the land, and an to to and a heterotopia in which freedom and were possible for a group of former African captives and their descendants in the early Spanish in the of a set of between the that in the which Cabello Balboa's In his of the that in Esmeraldas the of the African he an of the and of that possible the of the of in Cabello Balboa's of the strategies employed by the maroon Africans to the of Esmeraldas in his approach to the social that possible the of the African and their that the miscegenation between African and indigenous people has produced a group of who he as and as Cabello the to the of the African with the indigenous by some the terms and to such terms be the in the to also the that African maroon leaders with the and the de to protect the community as a one that the of the Spanish and the However, through his it is possible to perceive the process by which a of and was that the community is not a that Cabello expresses his of the that Esmeraldas The of indigenous with and free had Spanish authorities from the of the and colonization of Spanish America. between the authorities to that the separation at the of the between maroon community of Esmeraldas challenged by with the indigenous that had In was not the only African who of with the indigenous of the Cabello group of African captives that from a that was from through of on Cabello Balboa's Descripción allow us to that this is a group of African by the African that to the of Esmeraldas the existence of between Africans and indigenous people as a persistent in the maroon Cabello that in Esmeraldas as a an indigenous from with he had and of de that he was in their that between de and were he in the first he with de were that in a settlement and not In what as an attempt to his the in of Cabello Balboa's of to to their settlement and make come to with Cabello that be to the of was for the second between and Cabello Cabello to to to de to the of the for their to Spanish to Cabello la la la a la de and the Spanish a the of the black de not and the indigenous people the black and his de the of the in a of the us to that the that the settlement was a mixed community in which Spanish was not the its to remain out of the of the Spanish Though the leaders of the community de and were who had of the Spanish as Cabello to the as a way to with the indigenous as as to protect their communities from the Spanish to the miscegenation between the Africans and indigenous Cabello the between de and the and the de who one Cabello expresses strong toward on of their with However, Cabello Balboa's words, it is possible to the of of and between and the maroon Though were only possible in the context of the early Spanish colonization of the Americas, the and between and that Spanish authorities in the expresses his for who he as a as a who that his in his the indigenous people of the and in However, it seems a in many of the related to Cabello Balboa's to In in some Cabello that both de and de the maroon community that de along with the other and indigenous leaders of the maroon not to the for the to the Spanish authorities through Cabello Balboa's This is a at the of the Descripción that to in the part of my exposition toward the of a that challenges the that Cabello Balboa's three of for a with de and of his Cabello to to the of along the and the that he and other of the not to the for his to the Spanish Cabello that were only proposed during their to la that the it allow to propose what be the point of of the maroon which he to for the of his a possible of the maroon community in which the other maroon and the indigenous de not to Cabello Balboa's The suggestive part of Cabello Balboa's is the set of that the community proposed to Spanish as as the of and that the First, to the that Cabello de not to the freedom that he has to his power as of the maroon Second, are and people who to and only has to that he is his to from the of the Christian who to the as a is a to the a new to Therefore, has to Cabello Balboa's he he it and not be able to the The conversation in a de a de de a a de a a a la the of to and come and be able to but to that for it for are our we and us by our and in the of and as and we be free that to and our in and In this Cabello Balboa's writing are on is not an textual of an but a on the of his that the of a and the of a that expresses the that emerged in the early black Atlantic. This introduces a in the by the of the views by Cabello about the maroon that the of the as the that writing toward its own I propose that Cabello introduces the of a maroon that only his as and of the Spanish and in understanding it possible for to in writing a point of that he as a of his to Esmeraldas, he not This produced in the writing as way to the in Esmeraldas, proposes at least three ideas about the maroon community that with assertions Cabello in the this as the of the maroon is to who is to de be de one of an indigenous of the not The are on the the community as a to Cabello Balboa's the proposes an alternative of the by Cabello in the other of the Descripción the to the by the Spanish authorities this we know that the community has a history of resilience in the of and the by the Spanish that to the This alternative history the of the community to its by its various the of the Spanish The strategies that Cabello in other of the Descripción are in terms of resilience and the and of that Cabello had in to a of and The maroon community that its a history of for freedom that This for freedom the constitution of that allow for the of de as of the community instead of as a This that the community for the that he has to it and at the time that it has as it is able to not to to the Spanish to Cabello by not to the Cabello Balboa's of his it is possible to the of the of a in the and Christian that the colonization of the Americas at that This is the of the challenges introduced by a mixed community in which indigenous and a with European a heterotopia out of of the Spanish This heterotopia the of African-Amerindian subjectivities in the of the mechanisms of and cultural that the separation between indigenous people and African captives as part of a Spanish and Christian model of colonization of the the of African to be the of the of de and his However, as his he to recognize the of his approach to the and in his own to understand the that de and his community to his of to the Spanish la de understand the black not come to to in a conceived as part of a strategy of us to Cabello Balboa's Descripción as a that its own the early resilience of a community both political and resilience, through the that through Cabello Balboa's be a of one of the of the black Atlantic

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