Continuing with our series of short reports on research carried out by CAPAZ-associated researchers, in the framework of the education and science diplomacy project, our one-pager # 3: “Black People tell their history. Collective memory, struggle for territory, and peacebuilding in Northern Cauca”.

On this occasion, Axel Rojas and Vanessa Useche from the Taller de Etnografía research group at Universidad del Cauca tell us about the processes of resistance, land tenure, and territorial-community development of the black people of northern Cauca.

Through a participatory methodology that trains young people from the region to undertake future research, this work contributes to the transformation of universities and their academic processes, which are often alien to the problems and initiatives of the communities. The study explains how struggles for the recognition of ethnic rights, collective titling, and the governance of ancestral territories must take place within the framework of legal limitations and conflicts associated with the use and control of land and subsoil. In this context, multinational companies, private investors, illicit economies, and armed actors round out a complex scenario that exacerbates these struggles.

Read this new document which takes us on a historical journey to highlight the black population that works and fights for their rights in northern Cauca.

Download the one-pager here.