Gaga Pa'l Pueblo: An exploration of an Afro Dominican cultural celebration

• In Event: Identidades en movimiento: Diasporas y Migración Indígena y Afrodecendiente. I

Abstract

Gaga Pa’l Pueblo is an event held during the summer season in the neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City. The summer event fuses music—gaga, a Dominican musical genre centered on the drum—and Afro Caribbean religious rituals attracting nearby residents of all races, nationalities, and backgrounds in general. Through the use of direct observation, participation, and interviews this paper explores the purpose for and the complexities of Gaga Pa’l Pueblo, the ways in which the participants infuse racial themes that center on blackness into their musical sessions. In the end, I ultimately argue that Gaga Pa’l Pueblo is a form of celebrating Dominican blackness, but in a way that is unique to Dominicans.

Author

• Daly Guilamo, Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY