The Art of Showing Off

Posted on January 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

This is the Monument at the entrance to Parque Porras. Statue of Belisario Porras is in the center.

 As I walked to school I had started to experience for the second time in my life  something I felt every kid I was seeing that morning felt deeply in the pit of his stomach.  I walked briskly noticing the early morning crowd of kids dressed mostly in white uniforms as I had done the year before, some of them members of the various schools in the area. We were all to gather at our respective schools to organize ourselves in readiness for the big parade. Continue reading →

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Posted in Instituto Nacional de Panamá

The Silver People Law – Join Us to Defend Our National Patrimony

Posted on January 20, 2012 by | 3 Comments

Image: One of the helpful functionaries at Participación Ciudadana explaining to me the series of steps our Proyecto de Ley would go through.

Our Bill or Proyecto de Ley #348 will be up for a very important debate next week and we are calling for people to support us with their presence.

This past Tuesday morning I was cited by the Asamblea Nacional de Panamá Permanent Commission to appear on next Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 10 A.M at the Budget Commission (Comisión de Presupuesto) to make a presentation defending our projected Law# 348 (Proyecto de Ley #348) Declaring Patrimonio Histórico the 3 cemeteries on the Banks of the Panama Canal and Black Canal Zone, Corozal (Silver), Gatún, Mount Hope (Monte Esperanza) in Colon. Continue reading →

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Posted in Intangible Cultural Heritage, West Indian Panamanians

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As Sharp as an American General

Posted on January 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment

This is an army jacket cut in the Eisenhower fashion, very similar to the way ours was cut, only ours was much more stylish.

In our last post we discussed the deep nationalistic sentiments inherent in most of us children from Panama’s barrios.  But it was especially the Institutores who acquired the reputation for leading the Third of November marches in displaying their patriotism. Continue reading →

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Posted in Instituto Nacional de Panamá

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Patriots of the Nation

Posted on January 9, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Not as widely known Colon also had its martyrs.

We insist that the youngsters who were martyred on January 9, 1964 were not delinquents, nor rabble rousers nor vagabonds as many would have the world believe in an effort to blot out their memory. Continue reading →

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Posted in History of the Panama Canal Zone, Panama Canal

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Our Conversations

Posted on January 8, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The published article, “On Who’s Backs,” generated a lot of attention and many important and valid reactions.  This is a healthy sign for us as people who, in the past, had great difficulty communicating with each other as well as with their own children.  Fred Brooks accentuated this when he said, “This was the same divisive privilege that created a divide to this day…”  I might add that the divisiveness often took the form of rejection and disdain for having our eyes wide open.  I suffered it in the flesh for many years during my childhood. Continue reading →

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Posted in Silver People of Panama

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“On Who’s Backs”

Posted on January 3, 2012 by | 3 Comments

The following article was written by Fred Brooks, a member of our Facebook group Afro-Heritage of Panama.  We loved it as it embodies the same sense of urgency we feel about recognizing the contributions of our Silver People of Panama.  We thank Mr. Brooks for permitting us to reprint his essay here on our Chronicle.  Please read it and share with as many people as possible. Continue reading →

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Posted in Panama Canal, West Indian Panamanians

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