Professor Micaela J. Díaz-Sánchez to speak about bomba on May 2

As part of the "Race Matters" series, UCSB Chicana/o Studies Professor Micaela J. Díaz-Sánchez will speak about the Afro-Puerto Rican musical tradition of bomba at the Multicultural Center Theater on Tuesday, May 2, at 6 p.m.

Employing the Afro-Puerto Rican musical tradition of bomba, this presentation focuses on discourses of sexuality and gender in relation to race and coloniality among contemporary practitioners with particular attention to musicians and dancers of the bomba diaspora in the United States. Invoking the communitarian context out of which bomba has developed this presentation interrogates the point of entry of female practitioners who challenge gendered and racialized positionalities with regard to drumming and dancing.

Focusing on the critical interventions of these practitioners, ​Professor J. Díaz-Sánchez explores contemporary performances of bomba in the diaspora as a tradition in which feminist and queer sociopolitical histories and aesthetic practices thrive.