Bomba is an ancient genre of resistance from Puerto Rico created by enslaved people on the island over 400 years ago. Recently, bomba music has been a staple of Black Lives Matter protests calling back to its roots as a music of resilience.
Latin America and the Caribbean received 95 percent of the Africans stolen during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But what does it mean to be a descendent of those Africans today, in a world where more voices are calling out racism in Latin America?
Witness the unstoppable joy of dancing bomba with sisters Mar and María Cruz. Visit some of the communities where bomba dancing is most vibrant, from the Santurce area of San Juan, to Loíza, the bastion of Afro Puerto Rican culture across the Rio Grande.