Ode to "The Black Woman"

[Xipe Totec]

One of the instantly recognized songs from Mexico, Son de la Negra.

Inspired by an unrequited love for a dark woman, Albina Luna Perez, born in 1911, died 2000.

Albina Luna "La Negra" was born in the city of Tepic in 1911 in what is now known as colonia H. Casas.

Possessor of singular beauty, she was raised in a middle class family. She showed interest in dance and acting from a very young age. The nickname "La Negra" came from thew color of her skin; the darkest of her family.

Her life was tragic and complex; kidnapped at 19 years of age, forced to marry her kidnapper. Escaped at age 22 and followed a military officer, Felipe Flores, during the Mexican Revolution. Many times Albina witnessed firefights, executions, and piled corpses which she had to cleanse for burial. History says she was famous because she and her new husband reopened several churches which they found shuttered in Irapuato, acts which earned her acclaim as a woman of bravery and strong character.

Fidencio Lomelí was her youthful neighbor and eternally spurned lover, who wrote this song for her.


Nayarit in Mexico City, "Son de la Negra":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2wgaQjGLUM