How would you translate…
“Sumak Kawsay (‘Buen Vivir, Vivir Bien’) es un paradigma alternativo al modelo de desarrollo occidental que pone la relación con la Pachamama, y con lo comunitario, en el centro del sistema de valores y significados de la vida”?
“Sumak Kawsay ('Good Living’) is a new paradigm, an alternate scenario to the Western development model, under which the system of values and meanings of life is ruled by our relationships with Pachamama and the community.”
Good Living is a philosophy of life that considers our existence in harmony with the different cycles of Mother Earth, the cosmos and history.
It was first described in the 1990s in Ecuador and Bolivia as part of a movement that aimed at bringing a new meaning to European socialism in line with Latin American indigenous people's philosophies.
Why is “Abya Yala” the oldest known name for the Americas?
According to Modii: “The term Abya Yala comes from the language of an indigenous people called kuna, who reside on territories that today are part of Panamá and Colombia. The word Abya Yala means “land in full maturity” or “land of life.” It is also connected to the word ablys (“blood”), which adds its own translation as “land of blood” and is used in remembrance of the massacre but also the native’s resistance throughout the process of colonization and conquest of the continent.
Abya Yala is the name used by the kuna people to refer to the American continent since way before the European conquest. Although there are several names in the different native languages from indigenous peoples of the Americas, there is a strong international consensus, not only among indigenous and tribal peoples but also among outsiders to their cultures, about the legitimacy of the term.”
Who was Maya Angelou?
Maya Angelou was an American activist for Black people's civil rights. She was also a singer, writer, journalist and poetess, among many other professions.
As an author, she was renowned for her seven autobiographies. In the first one, which earned her international recognition, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (1969), she describes how racial segregation weighed on her during her childhood and teenage years. In it, she also narrates the impact that the abuse inflicted by her mother's boyfriend had on her. After being found guilty in trial, the abuser was murdered. Such a traumatic experience took Angelou's voice for five years.
She was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement and collaborated closely with important historical figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.