Finding the Cause: Indigenous and Afro-descendant Contributions in the Americas

2. Individually, think about the interview with Susana Harp and try to answer in your notebook the following questions:

a) Can you identify the main topic and the objective of the interview?

b) Can you identify the types of sentences to express likes, dislikes, and compliments?

c) Did the interviewer and the interviewee switch roles at some point in the interview?

d) Did they use a script all the time, or did they improvise at some point?

3. Work in pairs and discuss respectfully your answers with your classmate. Do you agree with the answers?Do you disagree? Explain your conclusions to the class.

Finding the Cause

In Mexico and, in general, in America, people from Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities have boosted production in societies, and they have also been important agents that have potentialized historical changes.

During the Colonial period in Mexico, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities sustained agriculture and mining production. They also sustained life in small towns and cities, and rebelled against the impositions of colonial authorities by being part of resistance struggles, such as Gaspar Yanga or Jacinto Canek,in Mesoamerica, or Micaela Bastidas, Túpac Amaru II, Bartolina Sisa, and Túpac Katari, in The Andes. Some others participated in independentist movements, such as José Maria Morelos or Vicente Guerrero, in Mexico, or Juana Azurduy and Toussaint Louverture,in Colombia and Haiti. In the 20th century, they rebelled against dictatorships, defended the national territory, and protected the environment. They fought for human rights and kept sustaining agriculture, contributing to the formation of big cities, at the time they opposed permanently to the domination system. It is fair to point out that even though people of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities have contributed greatly to Mexican and Latin American societies, it has been more difficult for them to have access to education, art, or political positions.

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