The Silver People Chronicle

Bea’s Rundon
I was settling down for another one of our chats as Bea said to me, “See Son in our days there was many water holes, where big fish them just was ready to be fished out. So we would plan and make a game out of everything.Going and fishing wa ...
To End All Ideas of Being a Banana Plantation Worker
The meal had been Bea’s idea, her way of thanking me for being such good company. It had taken her way back into a part of her that she had thought was lost forever.As I slowly finished my lunch Bea came and sat with me again keeping her hands ...
My Last Days in Bocas Del Toro
For a few days I did not visit Bea but kept making rounds around the town doing some work for folks on their yards. Some people paid me and others never did, but I felt good about doing Bea’s yard. (more…)
Women in Areas Built by Westindian Work Men
So far, we have opened windows to the past, a past witch links us all as Panamanians to the experiences of workingmen who lived over a century ago. We have relived the times when Westindian laborers were introduced into those parts to be the sole wor ...
Women and the Rise and Fall of the Boom Days in Bocas
Image As I mentioned in the previous post, there were three recognizable groups of women who lived side by side with their men in the frontier areas of early Bocas. The first large group of women to follow men into this remote outpost, as we have s ...
From Bocas: The Call for Strikes Up-The-Line
Clipart provided by Classroom Clipart The call to “Stop the Work!” went out up-the-line from Bocas del Toro and spread like wild fire through Chiriqui and the plantation areas of Costa Rica, even reaching remote points in Central America. ...
The Supportive Women of Bocas del Toro
West Indian women would remain in their role of supporters to the working men of the plantations. Even I had seen women living the life of wives and temporary live-in women for some men. (more…)
The End of the Boom Days in Bocas del Toro
After the big strike of 1918-1919 and the general work stoppages that followed, the Chiriqui Land Company would be forced by political pressure to increase the pay of workers on their plantations. The agreements called for better housing and working ...
The Saga of the United States Canal Begins
Image As we get closer to our story of how the American Canal and Canal Zone was built, and how such constructions led to the creation of segregated areas for the Black Westindian worker, we will pause to review the scenario. The 1900′s would ...
The Saga of the United States Canal: The Great Fear in the Colonialist Mind
Image The great fear of the colonialist mentality which we would attribute to the Europeans and to the Yankees, because of centuries of their proclivity towards exhibiting such behavior against people of color in this hemisphere, would have continuit ...

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

Posted on January 20, 2012 by CobraLady | 2 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 24^th, 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

Tagged Asamblea Nacional de Panamá, National-Historic-Patrimony, Silver-cemeteries, Silver-People-Law

As Sharp as an American General

Posted on January 13, 2012 by CobraLady | 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

Tagged 3rd of November Parade, Instituto-Nacional-de-Panama, National Institute of Panama, patriotism

Patriots of the Nation

Posted on January 9, 2012 by CobraLady | 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

Tagged 9 January 1964, Ascanio Arosemena, Floyd Britton, martyrs and heroes of Panama

“On Who’s Backs”

Posted on January 3, 2012 by CobraLady | 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

Tagged disunity-amongst-Panamanian-Westindians, Panama-Silver-employees, red-tank-cz

A New and Blessed Year Coming for 2012!

Posted on December 31, 2011 by CobraLady | 2 Comments

Today we put behind us another eventful year. Some of us have experienced more adversity than joy this past year but, “there is a season for every purpose under heaven.” That too shall pass. Continue reading →

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Posted in Silver People of Panama

Tagged fundraising, non-profit organizations, on-line shopping