Tracing the histories of Afro-descendants in the Americas reveals wide variations and powerful connections.
In the world today, over 200 million people of African ancestry live outside of the continent of Africa. The majority trace their roots back to the violent forced migrations of the transatlantic slave trade, which over three centuries carried over twelve million men, women, and children from Western and Central Africa into the Caribbean, Brazil, the Spanish Americas, and North America. The stories of Afro-descended populations in the Americas show us struggle and survival, cultural creativity and community formation, new alliances and new identities. Pitt is home to leading specialists in Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean, and African American history, with emphases on issues of race, politics, labor, and migration.