Venezuela has designated the month of May, the same month as the historic African Liberation Day, as Afro-Venezuelan Month. Afro-Venezuelan communities have been historically marginalized and forgotten in Venezuela. However, the country’s Bolivarian Revolution has increasingly seen this sector of the population organize and effectively impact progressive policy measures. The Institute for Policy Studies’ Foreign Policy in Focus project and Cimarrones-Howard University invites you to a brown bag discussion with Roraima Yurimar Gutierrez Moreno and John Daniel Morocoima Gudino. Both will be speaking about Afro-Venezuelan culture, education and social movements in Venezuela, particularly among the country’s youth.

Roraima Yurimar Gutierrez Moreno was born in Maracay, Venezuela. Her family comes from an African-descendanded village called Cumboto. Self-recognized as Afro-Venezuelan, she is of Afro-indigenous ethnicity. She is a musical artist singer for a group called Tamboriprimo, and is a member of the Afro-Venezuelan Network (ROA). Twenty-five years old, she recently completed a degree in Education with a concentration in Social Science.

John Daniel Morocoima Gudino born and currently lives in Caracas, Venezuela. He is a twenty-six year old student at the Universidad Central de Venezuela(UCV) and studies English and Portuguese. As part of the Hip-hop group Pieles Negras, Juan address issues of daily life through his art, which expresses the consciousness of young people and social movements. Juan is interested in learning more about African-American culture in the United States.