Shaun Bush: "One thing that characterizes African-descendants is our perseverance and dedication in what we do."

After the opening ceremony and the opening words of the IV Afro-Descendant International Colloquium, the first thematic table "Identity, language and spirituality: Essence of resilience, pervivience and good life of Afro-descendant Peoples" began, which was coordinated by Ana Isabel Marquez, anthropologist, master in Sustainable Tourism Management Sciences, professor linked to the Caribbean Headquarters of the National University of Colombia. In addition, it was attended by Raphaelle Servius-Harmois, Shaun Bush and Marco Antonio Ramirez.

For teacher Shaun Bush, a board member of AVOCENIC, Nicaragua, "talking about this topic fills my soul, the fundamental thing about society is families and black families have managed to convey identities."

In this sense, and referring to the belonging and identity of the Afro community, Shaun Bush stated that "thanks to our language we have survived over time; how can we say that we are Creole or garífuna if we lose a fundamental part of our identity, which is language, our language speaks about our history of survival."

"We must practice our language and our spirituality, for in this way it keeps us strong as a people, once it disappears we die as a people. The new Afro generation depends on us, let's give him the tools to continue the path," Bush exhorted.

For her part, Raphaelle Servius-Harmois, founder of the INTERRMUN' language center (Guayana), stated that "the repeated forms of verbs and codes of musical bodily expressions that have been followed since the freedom and encounter of ancestral languages, is part of black identity".

Finally, Marco Antonio Ramírez, president of Ashanti-Peru, mentioned that "throughout history the Afro-descendant people, African philosophy since the recognition of identity as a source of wealth and contribution to society, have been possessed".

Teacher Deborah Bush, who is general moderator of the IV Afro-Descendant Colloquium, explained that the use of the Zoom platform is due to the context of the pandemic, ensuring that like many other events "It has cost us... but if there is one thing that characterizes Afro-descendants, it is our perseverance and dedication in what we do!"

Avocenic is a center that works to transform the reality of afro-descendant peoples in the Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua, and has as its strategic axes of work the vindication of the aspirations of African children, children, young people, women and men in cultural, political, socio-economic and environmental contexts to achieve their own well-being.