My dissertation thesis, "Critical Visibility in Colombia: Victimhood, Reparations, and the Challenge of Visibilizarse," was awarded the best doctoral thesis by the Asociación de Colombianistas in 2019.

As Afro-Colombians, Maríalabajenses emphasize that violence began with colonization and their forcible displacement from the African motherland and continues into the contemporary war that plagues their communities. Through visibility acts and performances that often reference the broader African diaspora, such as woven tapestries, music, or displays of their calloused farming hands, Maríalabajenses make themselves visible while also highlighting broader connections between war and histories of racialized, classed, and environmental violence that fall outside of the purview of state-led reparations. In this way, victim communities have transformed the burden of making themselves visible into a tool for teaching the national and international community about the historical and intersectional identities that frame their understanding of victimhood and visions for future reconciliation.

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