Black Blood Brothers

"A well conceived and researched study that makes a significant contribution to central discussions in a growing field of Mexican history—the Afro-Mexican experience. It adds to our overall understanding of how complex racially, ethnically, gender, and class based societies socially develop and to our understanding of the Afro-Mexican experience within the context of the broader colonial Mexican society."—Patrick J. Carroll, author of Felix Longoria's Wake Bereavement, Racism, and the Rise of Mexican American Activism

"A unique and exhaustively researched institutional study that opens up the social dimensions of religious life amongst Afromexican populations, this book challenges us to rethink the process of racial assimilation in Mexico. It powerfully argues that Black diasporic religious practices need not always be thought of as marginal, magical, or deviant, but can be seen as 'mainstream' in ways that helped uplift peoples of color into the social world of the dominant classes."—Ben Vinson III, author of Before Mestizaje: The Frontiers of Race and Caste in Colonial Mexico

“This volume contributes significantly to the long-standing discussion of issues of race and class in New Spain.”—American Historical Review

“The importance of von Germeten’s book stems in large part from her proof that Mexico has an African heritage and that Afro-Mexicans, in turn, adopted Hispanic culture and values. . . . She has established without a doubt that Afro-Mexicans played active roles during the colonial era.”—Hispanic American Historical Review

“Afro-Mexican religious practice has, until now, barely appeared in the literature on the African Diaspora. Von Germeten’s exhaustively researched study both accounts for that gap and begins to fill it in.”—Religious Studies Review