Saint Martin de Porres “The Black Saint of the Afro-descendant community in Quito-Ecuador”: Between segregation, racism, and black resistance

Abstract

In the neighbourhood Caminos a la Libertad, located in the north-western part of Quito, every November, a group of Afro-Ecuadorian women called the Community of Saint Martin & The Martinas pay tribute to Saint Martin de Porres “the Black saint of the Afro-descendant community.” This celebration is relevant in a context in which the Afro-Ecuadorian inhabitants of the neighbourhood suffer segregation, racism, and discrimination. What happens in the microcosm of Caminos a la Libertad is, in part, a reflection of the experience of the whole Afro-descendant population in the capital: A city which has historically created an image of itself as white-mestizo, and where the presence of Afro-descendants has been systematically rejected. Based on ethnographic work, participant observation and semi-structured interviews, in this article I analyse how this community uses the image of Saint Martin de Porres and his celebration to combat racism, promote social cohesion and ethnic and gender empowerment in the neighbourhood, by creating “places of enunciation” and “spiritual citizenship.”