Cultura afrobarroca mexicana: Soberanía negra en las calles de la Ciudad de México, 1610.

This article studies Afro-Mexicans’ Afro-baroque culture and sovereignty in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through an analysis of the description of two performances with Black kings found in the 1610 “Account of the Great Festival Held in Mexico City for the Dedication of La Profesa Church and the Beatification of Our Holy Father Ignatius.” The purpose of the analysis is threefold. First, to distinguish festive Black kings from the alleged Black rebel kings of colonial Mexico. Second, to expose the Afro-baroque culture that Afrodescendants developed in colonial Mexico, highlighting their cultural, social, and political agency in the formation of that culture. Finally, in light of that triple agency, a theory of Black sovereignty is put forth, where that triple agency reflects the autonomy and freedom Afro-Mexicans enjoyed in shaping their creole culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]