One important thing I learned in Peru, and have carried with me ever since, was how objectively Peruvians viewed history. Maybe because it’s an ancient land, whose ancient people somehow managed to retain their visibility, perhaps because vast areas were only hospitable to them? I don’t know that that’s the answer though, because the conquistadors were AMAZINGLY brutal. On the other hand, the Spaniards, unlike the British, were not historical revisionists. History is history. We were on a tour of the Cathedral of Lima, founded in 1535—and our Indigenous guide stopped here, at this first photo. She said it was a painting of all the monarchs of Peru. I remember her pointing out that the early monarchs were Indigenous, and then abruptly they are European. “That’s when we were conquered” she said matter of factly. Someone of us asked her how she felt, knowing this history and seeing the visual representation of the change. And I know she was a tour guide, but she stopped for a minute and said “well, it’s life. Someone is always being conquered. And if it hadn’t happened that way none of us would be standing here.” Later that day at the National AfroPeruvian Museum, I marveled at the detailed charts of racial mixing and the carefully preserved history. I think I learned more about slave routes from Africa in that one afternoon, than I did in my years in America. #ilovePeru #peruismorethanCusco #festejoperuano #festejos #afroperuano #blackfolkeverywhere #whereverweare #weareus #afroindigenous #indigenousAmerica #history #youshouldtravelmore #tenyearsofphotos #endofthedecade #lookingback #instaphoto #olympusphotography #retro #2010 #2009to2019 (at Lima, Peru) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6tqOa6BJqA/?igshid=ldz127dk28ko