I have something beautiful to share with you all: give this a listen. What do you think it is?
Ricardo Nudelman · Song · 2013
There's many different versions of this song, just type "Misibamba" on spotify or youtube, and enjoy. It's specifically an AfroArgentinean song, with most of the versions of this song recorded in Buenos Aires. According to african scholars, the song was originally in kikongo, possibly from the Benguela Nation, and it's traditionally sung to call on God (Nzambi Npungu). Some of the words have gone through slight (and not so slight) pronunciation or spelling changes but it's still recognizable for scholars in Angola!
What scholars say about it being originally used to call on God fits our own oral tradition and custom too, it's a religious song. Our elders sing it in times of need, when you need that extra ancestral and divine protection or guidance, and Elders say it was originally sung by our Ancestors in the slave ships as they were crossing the atlantic !!!
And it's not even the only song that remains! there's many other songs in african languages and derived dialects, remembered and sung by afroargentine Elders across the country. After so many years of denial and historical whitewashing, I'm so, so deeply grateful for all the afroargentine and african scholars, and afroargentine collectives and associations, working to preserve our music and dialects, and finally bring them back to the light, to remember and honor our Ancestors.