Marta Gómez is a talented singer from Colombia who offers us a song called “Negrito,” or “(cute) little black boy.” In most parts of Latin America, it’s perfectly fine to call a person negrito, the diminutive of the word negro. The song by Gómez is based on a real negrito of her hometown of Cali, who in the hope of living a better life and finding work, drank Clorox to become white.
The boy lived to see another day after he was treated in hospital after drinking the disinfectant.
In Gómez’ song, the boy paints himself white but then regrets what he did.
She says that Negtrito’s heart felt cheated and even the devil prayed that the little boy would turn black again. “The little black boy even lost his appetite repenting what he did.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84U6iyCjIJY&feature=player_embedded#!
Migrant Tales thanks William Rivera for sharing this song with our readers.
Category: Enrique