More than 200 Afro-Mexican communities lie nestled between Acapulco and Puerto Escondido, in what is commonly known as the "Costa Chica" area of Mexico. Many once lived in redondos, round, wattle-and-daub houses with conical, palm-frond roofs. The redondo pictured here is believed to be the last one in the state of Oaxaca.
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Doña Julia Magallón Noyola lives in the largely Afro-Mexican community of San Nicolás, where for a long time there were only dirt roads. "So, yes, I've experienced discrimination because I'm black," she said. "We had nothing."
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Students from a local primary school in the Costa Chica learn a dance in preparation for a national holiday. The first school opened in this community about 20 years ago.
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Alicia Acoste Reyes and her granddaughter in Santiago, Tapextla, an area in the Costa Chica.
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Juan Benny Vega relaxes outside his DVD rental store in the town of Huehuetan, a Costa Chica community.
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Paulino Noyola Rodríguez prepares to do roof repairs at home in Santiago, Tapextla.
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Appearance-wise, Afro-Mexicans, much like African Americans, run the gamut but with a Mexican flavor. A good number of people look quite African, a few like quite light-skinned mestizos (mixed) with more European and indigenous ancestry. And there’s every variation in between. They may or may not consider themselves black.
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Most Afro-Mexicans in the Costa Chica are descended from people imported in the 16th to 18th centuries as slaves. Here, Filemón Marín Magallón is pictured with his family.
9 of 9 Development has brought change. Just after World War II, the Costa Chica town of Cuajinicuilapa was 90 percent Afro-Mexican, and everyone lived in African-style redondos. Today, it's a bustling market town that's about 65 percent Afro-Mexican.
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