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Angela Salazar’s legacy: Recognising the Complex History of the Diverse Black Colombia

Walking with the victims, you learn to listen. This phrase was one of the most distinctive phrases Angela Salazar used to say. Until her death, she was the only Black woman truth commissioner, and before that, was a women’s rights defender. Born in Chocó, Colombia, Salazar lived most of her life in Apartadó, Antioquia, where she began her career as an advocate of Black people’s and women’s rights. Salazar died in the first week of August from COVID-19. During her work as a truth commissioner, she understood that the history of Black people (including Raizal and Palenque ethnic communities) was a priority for the Truth Commission (TC). On various opportunities, Salazar asserted that Colombian national history neglects the critical input of Black people’s culture and history in its narrative. The TC would be a tool to depart from these silences surrounding Colombian Black history. This Snapshot shows Angela Salazar’s legacy within the Commission, reflecting on how the TC is dealing with Black history in the context of the internal armed conflict.