Carlota Lucumi and the Triunvirato Rebellion

On November 5, 1843, an enslaved woman named Carlota Lucumi, also known as La Negra Carlota de Cuba, led an uprising at the Triunvirato sugar plantation, located in Matanzas, Cuba. The uprising became known as the Triunvirato Rebellion, and inspired further rebellions among the enslaved in Cuba. Carmen shares the story of Carlota Lucumi and at the end, Cristina shares a brief Bukele update.

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Music Credit: Hustlin (Instrumental) by Neffex

Sources

Working Class History: Everyday Acts of Resistance and Rebellion 
https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/carlotta-lucumi-la-negra-carlota-1844/
https://www.afrocubaweb.com/carlota.htm
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/3/15/1840991/-Black-Kos-Week-In-Review-She-was-a-rebel-slave-leader-a-cold-war-symbol-and-a-modern-icon

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hi everyone. This is Carmen and Christina and this is
another episode of Estoria's Unknown, a podcast where we talk
about Latin American history. Sometimes it's horrible and deals with
heavy topics like racism, corruption and genocide. But more than that,
it's also about resistance, power and community. Let's get into it.
So we are talking about Carlotta Lusumi and the Triunvirato rebellion.

(00:40):
I don't know anything about this. I'm excited, Okay. On
November fifth, eighteen forty three, and enslaved a woman named
the Carlotta Lusumi, also known as La Negra Carlotta Cuba
Cuba in the house. Now we're not like any episodes
about we don't write, I don't think, so this is

(01:01):
the first, I think. And anyway, what a cool way
of being known, right La Negra Carlotta Leguba. Yeah, anyway,
she let an uprising in Matanta, Scuba at the Tri
Birato sugar plantation. Not much is known about Carlotta, but
what is known is that she was an African born
free woman from the Kingdom of Benin in West Africa.

(01:24):
Her last name Lusumi comes from her ethnic group. And
hopefully I'm saying that right too. I was prodouncing it wrong.
They said, Lukumi, Oh, let's start, okay, shard start all
the way over. It's like I always said to sentences, Yeah, yeah, okay.

(01:45):
On November fifth, eighteen forty three, and enslaved woman named
Carlotta Lukumi, also known as La Negra Carlotta Lea Cuba
let an uprising in Matantas, Cuba at the trin Wirato
Sugar Plantation. Not much as known about Cardlota, but what
is known is that she was an African born freewoman
from the Kingdom of Benin in West Africa. Her last name,

(02:09):
Lukumi comes from her ethnic group, the Lukumi people, who
are descended from the Yoruba of present day Nigeria. Wow
Carlotta was kidnapped when she was around ten when she
became a victim of the slave trade, and she was
taken to the Madantas Province of Kuba. Like elsewhere, slavery

(02:31):
in Cuba was extremely harsh, but also by this time
slavery had been abolished in it and was being abolished
throughout the rest of Latin America. Yes, because the Haitian
revolutions sparks revolutions everywhere else, right, that was the first revolution,
like we learned from Haiti. Yeah, so I mean when

(02:54):
people say we owe it to Haiti, like we really do,
because I don't know. I feel like a lot of
people discount Haiti when it comes to the revolution, and
a lot of people tend to like, oh, French Revolution,
the French Revolution. It's like, no, look at the Haitians
right now, that's a revolution. Due to the harsh conditions
and brutal treatment by the Spanish plantation owners, there were

(03:16):
several uprisings by enslaved people throughout the eighteen thirties and
eighteen thirties to eighteen forties, and Carlotta, along with another
enslaved woman, Fedmina, were inspired. Carlotta and Faimina got together
and started to plot a rebellion. Some sources say that
Carota and Fermina were lovers. If that's the case, good

(03:36):
for them, But there's not a lot like evidence out there.
Either there are two besties planning of revolution together, or
they're two girlfriends, and either way, I love them. Either way,
I'm here for it. Yeah, yeah, either way, I was
reading for them the whole time. Same. Unfortunately, A plantation
owner caught Fedimina as she was distributing information about the

(04:00):
rebellion to other enslaved people, and Fedmina was severely beaten
and then imprisoned. I should say, there's gonna be some
extreme violence that we're gonna talk about. Not like too much,
you tell, but like a little bit. Okay, yeah, worse
than this then yeahn get worse Okay. A different source
said that Femina was imprisoned for participating in a prior

(04:23):
rebellion that happened earlier in the year in August, but
that didn't deter Garrota, and she continued to organize the uprising.
Garota used the music to communicate and sent coded messages
to nearby and slave people to coordinate the rebellion, and
to be specific, Gadlota and her co conspirators used done

(04:44):
duns or talking drums to coordinate their attacks. Wow, have
you heard of talking drums? No? I'm assuming it's the
drum that's used in a lot of like music, but
I don't know what the talking part is. It's because
it mimics like voices. Voice. Yeah, so talking drums are

(05:04):
hourglass shaped instruments from West Africa. I know you've seen
pictures of it. I'm sure. Yeah, well I'm picturing the
ones you hit with your hands. Are those not it?
Well yeah, but there's like different shaped drums, but yeah,
they hit them with their hands, and so yeah, they're
from West Africa, so Carlota would yeah, yeah, you know
which ones? Yeah, uh huh. So Carlotta would have definitely

(05:27):
used them in her youth before she was taken from
what is modern day Nigeria. Finally, on November fifth, eighteen
forty three, Carlotta, along with other tribal leaders named Philip Naziso,
Manuel Ganga, and Eduardo, initiated the uprising, which is now
known as the Dumirato Rebellion. But first they liberated a

(05:50):
dozen slaves who had been imprisoned, including Femina Oh Good.
Carlotta and her co conspirators brandished macetas the weapon to
the people, my favorite kind of soreed whatever it is.
I've been thinking, like, why don't I have one? No?
Where does one get one these days? I don't know? Actually, anyway,

(06:14):
they brandish much of this, and along along the way
they played the drums, calling other enslaved people to join
them in code. How beautiful riots and it's like music
was always used in this way. I'm so obsessed right
now because when you watch Sinners, oh my god, are
you serious? You will see the music that like how

(06:39):
it's portrayed in the movie and just I mean the
way it really was and is still today, but just
specifically in the movie. When you hear the music, you're
gonna be like, oh my god, like I had, Jill's
I cried. We were talking about Sinners right before we
started recording that. Yeah, because Christina just watched it and
I'm going to watch it later on this week. Yes,
especially Okay, there's like there's one scene. You'll see it

(07:00):
because it kind of it's what transitions the first act
of the movie into the second act of the movie,
so you'll see it right away when I'm talking about it.
But there's one scene first that the guy, the main character,
he sings so beautifully, like literal, like wow, what a voice.
But he's performing in their club that they opened, what

(07:22):
are they called Duke Joints, So he's performing in the
Duke Joint and that song when you hear it, you're
gonna know what I'm talking about. It's just it's insane
the way it was made like crazy. I don't want
to tell you more, Okay, I'm excited. So yeah, they
were using these talking drums to communicate and to get

(07:42):
other enslaved people to join them, and to the white
slave owners, this sounded like a ceremony being held by
the enslaves, so they suspected nothing amazing. Carlotta and the
rebels are burned down the house that was used to
torture them, and they killed the Overseers daughter, forcing Julian

(08:03):
Luis Alfonso, the owner of the plantation, to flee. But
then I saw other sources that said the overseers daughter
survived Carlota's attack and was later quoted saying that the
black women had shouted to other slaves that they should
hit her harder because she was still living. So I
don't know what's true because different sources said different things,

(08:24):
and it's hard to know because you know, it was
in terms of history that we talked about, yeah, a
little longer ago than what we're usually talking about. Carlotta
and the group then went to the Asana Plantation, a
neighboring plantation, and killed as many white people as they
could find. They kept going and and I think that

(08:46):
I don't know if people don't think about it, but
like back then, these people were there, like anyone white
to them is someone that the slaves them exactly exactly so,
because then they're like why do you have to be
raised into it? Like please? This is the dumbest topic
to say that too, So I shouldn't have preemptively defended that.

(09:10):
But you know what I mean, like some people don't
get it. Yeah, yeah, they kept going to neighboring plantations,
plantations and farms to free other enslaved people. In Toto Carlotta,
and the rebels destroyed five sugar plantations and an unknown
number of coffee and cattle estates. Initial reports of the
rebellion focused on the violence and the quote savagery of

(09:34):
the rebels, course of course, because early reports were written
were written by Spaniards, but a modern examination of the
records would show that the rebels possessed sophisticated military knowledge
and often outstarted the Spaniards and like historians compare it
to laggitty tactics from now, Oh I love it, I

(09:56):
love it. And in fact, many of the enslaved who
are anticipated in the rebellion were former soldiers before they
were captured and sold into slavery. Oh like back in Africa. Yeah,
ultimately the Spaniards with assistant from guess where, the US. Yeah, well,

(10:19):
it's because if the US let this go on to them,
it would threaten their own enslaved populations here, because that's
just inspiring. Of course, if you see the same people
as you standing up somewhere else, you can be hey,
they can do it, I can do it too, right,
And they were trying to stable like it was the

(10:39):
best quill to quell. Yes, exactly. So yeah, ultimately the
rebellion was quelled with assistance from the US. A few
sources differed regarding how long the rebellion lasted. One said
that authorities weren't able to quell the uprising until the
next year, but other sources said the rebell was squashed

(11:00):
the next day. So I'm not sure. I wonder. Yeah,
I think it did last until the next year, like
little uprisings here and there. Yeah, either way, A for
sure and known fact is that for her role in
the rebellion, Garlotta was tied to four horses and torn apart.

(11:21):
Oh I hate the Spanish same, They were truly the
savage Fermina was also executed. Later on. She and four
others who participated in the rebellion were shot and killed
in March eighteen forty four that year. In eighteen forty four,
it was brutal for the enslaved, since slave owners punished

(11:41):
all of the enslaved for the rebellion, even those that
were involved, and even those that were free were punished.
Eighteen forty four came to be known as the Year
of Lashes in Kubab. Oh my god, that sounds terrible right.
This was also an attempt to intimidate others to control
them at discouraged for their uprisings. But even with the

(12:04):
Year of Lashes, slave owners weren't able to stop the
word of Carlota's bravery from spreading throughout Kuba, and her
actions inspired various subsequent uprisings. The various uprisings that happened
after the Triumvirato rebellion became known as lascallera or the
ladder rebellions. This name came from one of the most
common methods of torture used against the enslaved. I found

(12:27):
a description of the ladder though it says, but here
they call it a raq. It says, it's a torture
device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame. Well, it
looks like a ladder. It has a roller at one
or both ends. The victim's ankles are fastened to one
roller and the wrists are chained to the other, and
then a handle and ratchet mechanism attached to the top

(12:51):
roller or used to very gradually retract the chains, slowly
increasing the strain on the prisoner's shoulders, hips, knees, and
elbows and causing excruciating pain. Oh my god, damn wow.
And this must have been so wighly done that it
was then rebellion was named after this method of torture. Yeah.

(13:13):
The thrum Birato Rebellion and Lascallera rebellions marked the peak
of uprisings, and rebellions didn't pick up again until the
beginning of Kuba fighting for their independence against Spain in
eighteen sixty eight. Slavery continued in Cuba until eighteen eighty six,
when slavery was abolished. And I think I read I
forgot to note it here, but Kuba was one of

(13:35):
the last places in Latin America to abolish slavery. Wow.
I didn't know that. I want to say they were
second to last, and I don't remember for sure, but
I think Brazil was the last last. Yeah, I think so.
In present day, there's a monument of Carlotta Lukumi at
the trim Birato Sugar Milt to honor her legacy. Oh wow,

(13:56):
that's amazing. That's wild that it still took so long
for them to abolish ye slavery from her, like the
time of her death. And obviously these things aren't they
don't just happen. It is like all these extra of
rebellions and the literal rebellion that forces their hands. They're
not just saying all right, well let's free everyone. Yeah, okay,

(14:24):
well thanks for those notes. Again, I don't know if
we announce everything, but we're doing short notes to catch
up so we can be back to like weekly and
it's good to mix it up every once in a while.
We don't always have the longest notes, okay, they can
They can't all be one hour and a half long
or one hour you know, so yeah, thanks for sharing.

(14:48):
I do have a short bullshit segment, thank you, so
one just I guess overall update in general, but gi
mad Abrego Garcia was moved out of SECO into another prison.

(15:09):
But as if we've said many times on East Tonia's
unknown and if you're an OJI listener, you know by now,
although e Echo is the worst of the worst prisons,
the rest of the prisons are still terrible. And yeah,
people are dying, people are being tortured and abused, and
even in these prisons, right, so while people are out

(15:30):
here screaming sick, sick, SICKO, the other prisons are not
all of the prisons. Yeah, yeah, it's all of the prisons,
and so people are celebrating that, and I just want
to reiterate that all the prisons are bad. And yes,
again Secho is the worst, and supposedly, allegedly it was
like only it was the prison made for gangs specifically,

(15:50):
and there's only men there and supposedly all gang members.
And while the other prisons are where the all the
other people, uh, non gangs, non gang members, all the
innocent civilians and activists and teachers and dissidents, that's where
all they're all being arrested, and children included. And again,
torture and abuses happening in all these other prisons. They're

(16:13):
already all overcrowded, So he's just moving out of one
terrible place into another terrible place. And I believe that
the other people that we know that were sent there
and they're still in Techo, like all of them. So
I love Venezuelans, yes, and speaking of Venezuelans, but could
I propose a deal that would free the disappeared Venezuelans.

(16:34):
And how does he all of a sudden have the
power to make these deals when before he was saying
that he didn't have the power to return any of them. Ridiculous, right,
it doesn't make sense. But he said he would free Venezuelan,
said that Trumpetvertatian deported to and San Raloa if Venezuela
released the same number of prisoners, including members of the opposition,

(16:57):
people against Venezuela. I guess, yeah, like against Maluo regime. Yeah, okay,
so yeah, he said, I want to propose a humanitarian
agreement that includes the repatriation of one hundred percent of
the two for the two Venezuelans who were deported in
exchange for the release and surrender of an identical number
of the thousands of political prisoners you hold. But that's

(17:19):
rich coming from Bucla, who was also holding political prisoners.
I know, I was just gonna say that, like, look
who's talking. Yeah, so yeah, I have been enjoying I've
seen more and more post on TikTok of people saying
that they fail for bukheist spell and are now opening

(17:41):
their eyes. Do I wish or happened to nor? Yeah,
but you know, better late than ever. I guess, agreed, agreed,
and yeah that is the Buka bullshit segment today. All right,
I guess that brings us to the end of the episode. Yes,

(18:02):
we hope that this was one last historian unknown for you.
Bye bye,