Date of Award

5-2026

Degree Type

Thesis-Restricted

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Program

History

Department

History

Major Professor

Kathryn Dungy

Second Advisor

Scott Pentzer

Third Advisor

Andrea Mosterman

Fourth Advisor

Roberto Barrios

Abstract

Beginning five years after the revolution, with the essay La Raza Cosmica, cultural and intellectual legacies of the Mexican Revolution have influenced scholarship that mythologizes mestizaje and erased blackness from the Mexican national identity. Despite being erased, this paper argues that Afro-Mexicanos navigated the revolution and displacement in Costa Chica through the building of community and familial ties. Focusing on Afro-Mexicanos living in Cuajinicuilapa between 1910-1920, the conversation between oral histories from contemporary people and correspondence from Carrancistas and Zapatistas constructs a story of Afro Mexican navigating the chaos and violence of the revolution. Contributing to the debate on the Mexican Revolution and mestizaje, this study explores the crucial role of shared ancestry in the strengthening of Afro communities. Afro Mexicanos left Cuajinicuilapa to join the revolution or escape its violence, eventually creating new families in other pueblos in Costa Chica. The story places Afro identity in a prominent place in Mexico’s revolutionary legacy.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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