The life of an African jewelry peddler
Sep 5th, 2007, 12:14 am
I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon ever since I moved from the neighborhood of Palermo to Once (pronounced “Own-say”) about a month and a half ago: the African jewelry peddler. You see a bunch around here, either staking out a piece of sidewalk and setting up shop or walking around and trying to find customers. Well, there really aren’t that many, but they just stand out because Argentina is so damn white. I don’t know where they’re from, but since many (many being a vague number) Senegalese have come to Argentina in recent years, Senegal would be a good guess. And I’m pretty sure they’re not Brazilian, Uruguayan, or whatever because their accents are unmistakably West African and not Spanish or Portuguese. And it’s even more unlikely they’re Argentine because the native black population is almost nonexistent. Based on my observations, they’re all young men in their 20s and early 30s. Given the nature of their work, it’s no surprise they came to Argentina without their families.
While I was sitting in a cafe on Sunday afternoon, two peddlers entered and approached me and other customers, opening their small suitcases full of gleaming rings, watches, and necklaces. One of them was wearing a velour suit and a gold chain with a large 50 Cent pendant (I love seeing how hip-hop culture has manifested itself around the world). Because I didn’t feel like getting blinged out, I kindly told them “no gracias” (”no thanks”).
I could look past their smiles and tell they were brave men living rough lives in a foreign land that probably doesn’t want them. I wanna know their stories. Of all the countries in the world, how did they end up in Argentina?
How did all these guys get into selling jewelry? Do they actually make much money from that? Isn’t there too much competition from all the other Africans selling jewelry? Do they work together to pool their profits?
They don’t limit their sales to just Once. I’ve seen them scattered around the city of Buenos Aires. I even saw one by the bus terminal in the capital of Jujuy, a province known for its Andean indigenous heritage, when I headed northwest in July.
Unfortunately, I could only find one article about Senegalese immigrants in Argentina, and it’s a PDF file in Spanish. Here it is. Perhaps I should ask the Senegalese brothers I’ve met at the mosque what the deal is. Yeah, that’s a good idea.
