From Despair to Glory, and Back: The Rags to Riches to Rags Story of Antonio Cervantes, Kid Pambelé

Abstract

Born on December 23, 1945, in the village of San Basilio de Palenque, Antonio Cervantes, aka Kid Pambelé, epitomizes the extreme nature of the marginalization of the population of African descent in Colombia. His career evinces the extent to which social and cultural conditions inhibit sustained prosperity among Afro-Colombians, condemning them to structural poverty. Cervantes was the first Colombian boxing international champion, successfully defending his title 16 times while keeping it for almost eight years throughout the 1970s. Following the writings of Ignacio Ellacuría, this text argues that Cervantes's experience embodies the structural failings of a system bent on violence against Afro-descendants. His story is one of martyrdom, sacrificed for the sake of a society unwilling to address underlying inequities and collective prejudice.