Shirley Campbell Barr
{{short description|Costa Rican poet, activist and anthropologist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{family name hatnote|Campbell|Barr|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Shirley Campbell Barr
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_place = San José, Costa Rica
| death_date =
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| other_names = Shirley Campbell
| occupation = anthropologist, writer, activist
| years_active =
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| notable_works =
| relatives = Epsy Campbell Barr (sister)
}}
Shirley Campbell Barr is a Costa Rican anthropologist, activist and poet. Her poetic works give voice to her activism set on empowering black women and encouraging them to establish their place in history. Her poem Rotundamente negra (Absolutely Black, 1994) has become a symbol for women in the Afro-descendant women's movements in Latin America for its self-affirming pro-black message.
Early life and education
Shirley Campbell Barr was born in San José, Costa Rica to Shirley Barr Aird and Luis Campbell Patterson.{{sfn|Vasconcellos|2020}}{{sfn|Senior-Angulo|2016}} She grew up in a family of two brothers and five sisters, including Epsy Campbell Barr, vice president of Costa Rica.{{sfn|Ramsay|2003|p=60}}{{sfn|Schweizer|2019}} Both of her grandmothers arrived in Costa Rica from Jamaica and from childhood, Campbell spoke Jamaican English.{{sfn|Ramsay|2003|p=60}} She attended the arts school, Conservatorio de Castella, where she first studied poetry under Ronald Bonilla and Osvaldo Sauma. She recognized that her writing could be used as an instrument to foster change in the perceptions that people of African descent had of themselves and their place in society.{{sfn|Díaz|2019}} While at the conservatory, she began to act in plays and study literature.{{sfn|Ramsay|2003|p=60}} She attended the University of Costa Rica, earning a degree in anthropology in 1993.{{sfn|Ramsay|2003|p=60}} She married fellow Costa Rican, Harold Robinson Davis, and because of his work at the United Nations, moved to Zimbabwe in 1994.{{sfn|Ramsay|2003|p=60}}{{sfn|Lunazzi|2019}} She took post graduate courses in African history and feminism at the University of Zimbabwe of Harare, while living there for two years.{{sfn|Ramsay|2003|p=60}}{{sfn|Capote-Díaz|2020}}
Career
In 1996, Campbell moved back to Central America and spent three years teaching in El Salvador, and working as an activist with the Garifuna people in Honduras, where she lived briefly but left because of Hurricane Mitch.{{sfn|Capote-Díaz|2020}}{{sfn|Ramsay|2003|p=61}} After moving to Jamaica for a time, she lived in the United States, Brazil]], and Panama, building a broad knowledge of the ways in which the African diaspora have been impacted by globalization.{{sfn|Díaz|2019}}{{sfn|Capote-Díaz|2020}}{{sfn|Ramsay|2003|p=61}} Completing her master's degree in international cooperation and development in 2004 at the Catholic University of Santa María in Arequipa, Peru, Campbell then studied and completed her training at the Fundación Cultural y Estudios Sociales (Cultural and Social Studies Foundation) in Valencia, Spain.{{sfn|Capote-Díaz|2020}}
In talking about her writing career, Campbell has said that her goal is to become a role model and to empower black women, allow them to see themselves reflected in society, since they have been historically omitted from representation in academia, media, power structures, and even toys. She considers herself an activist who gives voice to her cause through her writing.{{sfn|Díaz|2019}} Her work has been widely distributed in Latin America and the Caribbean and translated into English, French, and Portuguese.{{sfn|Díaz|2019}}{{sfn|Capote-Díaz|2020}} Her first published book, Naciendo (Being Born, 1988) deals with the discovering one's origins and placing them in a historical and cultural context.{{sfn|Ramsay|2014|p=142}} Her second book, Rotundamente negra (Absolutely Black, 1994), is an iconic work which is widely known by black women from the Caribbean and throughout the Americas.{{sfn|Capote-Díaz|2020}}{{sfn|Mosby|2016|pp=25–26}} It has become an anthem of sorts for women who participate in the network of Afro-descendant women's groups which have grown exponentially since the 1990s.{{sfn|Díaz|2019}}{{sfn|Mosby|2016|p=32}} The first lines of the poem are an unapologetic and self-affirming pro-black statement: "Me niego rotundamente/ a negar mi voz/ mi sangre y mi piel" [I absolutely refuse / to deny my voice,/ my blood and my skin].{{sfn|Mosby|2016|p=27}} Overall, the work does not objectify or sexualize black women's bodies, but validates Campbell's own perception of her appearance from her own aesthetic sense.{{sfn|Mosby|2016|p=29}}
In addition to writing, Campbell participates in educational events worldwide in an effort to encourage black women to write their own stories.{{sfn|Méndez Montero|2019}} She has presented essays like Asumiendo responsabilidad por la palabra (Taking Responsibility for the Word) at events like a regional seminar for black women hosted by the United Nations Development Programme in Montevideo, Uruguay in 2009.{{sfn|Mosby|2016|p=30}} She has been an invited speaker at the First Meeting of Afro-descendant Writers hosted in 2019 by the University of Costa Rica,{{sfn|Méndez Montero|2019}} and for the exhibition Ancestralidad, África en Nosotros (Ancestry, Africa in Us) held at The Museum of the Institute for Research and Dissemination of Black Cultures in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the same year.{{sfn|Schweizer|2019}} "Her poems have been incorporated into various popular performances in Latin America, such as popular radio soap operas, plays, songs, choral poetry, etc. in Argentina, Spain, Colombia, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, among others".{{sfn|Schweizer|2019}}
Works
- {{cite book |ref=none |last1=Campbell Barr |first1=Shirley |title=Naciendo |date=1988 |publisher=Universidad Estatal a Distancia |location=San José, Costa Rica |language=Spanish |trans-title=Being Born |oclc=23141415}}
- {{cite book |ref=none |last1=Campbell Barr |first1=Shirley |title=Rotundamente negra |date=1994 |edition=1st |publisher=Ediciones Arado |location=San José, Costa Rica |language=Spanish |trans-title=Absolutely Black |oclc=36942708}}
- {{cite book |ref=none |last1=Campbell Barr |first1=Shirley |last2=Meoño |first2=Rodolfo |title=Desde el Principio fue la Mezcla |date=2007 |publisher=Instituto de Estudios Latinoamericanos |location=Heredia, Costa Rica |language=Spanish |trans-title=From the Beginning There Was Mixture}}{{sfn|Germinal|2007|p=14}}
- {{cite book |ref=none |editor-last1=McDonald |editor-first1=Delia |editor-last2=Campbell Barr |editor-first2=Shirley |title=Palabras indelebles de poetas negras |date=2011 |publisher=Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica |location=San José, Costa Rica |language=Spanish |trans-title=Indelible Words of Black Poets}}{{sfn|Solano Rivera|2014|p=372}}
- {{cite book |ref=none |last1=Campbell Barr |first1=Shirley |title=Rotundamente negra y otros poemas |date=2013 |publisher=Torremozas |location=Madrid |isbn=978-84-7839-540-8 |edition=1st |language=Spanish |trans-title=Absolutely Black and Other Poems}}
References
=Citations=
{{Reflist|30em}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin|30em}}
- {{cite book |last1=Capote-Díaz |first1=Virginia |editor-last1=Jaramillo |editor-first1=María Mercedes |editor-last2=Osorio |editor-first2=Betty |title=Poemas y cantos |url=https://bibliotecanacional.gov.co/es-co/colecciones/biblioteca-digital/poemas-y-cantos/Paginas/02-prologo.html |chapter=Rotundamente negra. Un acercamiento a la producción poética de la costarricense Shirley Campbell Barr [Absolutely Black: An Approach to the Poetic Production of the Costa Rican Shirley Campbell Barr] |accessdate=21 September 2020 |chapter-url=https://bibliotecanacional.gov.co/es-co/colecciones/biblioteca-digital/poemas-y-cantos/Paginas/03-ensayos.html?id_poeta=Shirley_Campbell |publisher=Ministry of Culture, Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200921181616/https://bibliotecanacional.gov.co/es-co/colecciones/biblioteca-digital/poemas-y-cantos/Paginas/03-ensayos.html?id_poeta=Shirley_Campbell |archivedate=21 September 2020 |location=Bogotá, Colombia |language=Spanish |trans-title=Poems and Songs |date=2020 |url-status=live }}
- {{cite news |last1=Díaz |first1=Doriam |title=Shirley Campbell, escritora costarricense: 'Yo sí quiero que me etiqueten, yo sí quiero que digan esa es la poeta negra' |url=https://www.nacion.com/ancora/shirley-campbell-escritora-costarricense-yo-si/LCY4QJJBNNDVBCTKOTWVSSALVU/story/ |accessdate=20 September 2020 |date=19 May 2019 |newspaper=La Nación |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113002301/https://www.nacion.com/ancora/shirley-campbell-escritora-costarricense-yo-si/LCY4QJJBNNDVBCTKOTWVSSALVU/story/ |archivedate=13 November 2019 |location=San José, Costa Rica |language=Spanish |trans-title=Shirley Campbell, Costa Rican Writer: 'I do want them to label me, I do want them to say that is the black poet'}}
- {{cite news |last1=Lunazzi |first1=Eduardo |title=Habla Shirley Campbell: como siempre, 'rotundamente negra' |url=http://www.xn--elisleo-9za.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18353:shirley-campbell-qrotundamente-negraq&catid=39:cultura&Itemid=82 |accessdate=21 September 2020 |date=13 October 2019 |newspaper=Diario el Isleño |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200921180948/http://www.xn--elisleo-9za.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18353:shirley-campbell-qrotundamente-negraq&catid=39:cultura&Itemid=82 |archivedate=21 September 2020 |location=San Andrés City, San Andrés and Providencia |language=Spanish |trans-title=Shirley Campbell Speaking: As always, 'absolutely black' |url-status=live }}
- {{cite web |last1=Méndez Montero |first1=Andrea |title=Poet Shirley Campbell: 'We have to rewrite our history' |url=https://www.ucr.ac.cr/noticias/2019/09/01/poeta-shirley-campbell-tenemos-que-volver-a-escribir-nuestra-historia.html |website=Noticias |publisher=University of Costa Rica |accessdate=21 September 2020 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200920171138/https://www.ucr.ac.cr/noticias/2019/09/01/poeta-shirley-campbell-tenemos-que-volver-a-escribir-nuestra-historia.html |archivedate=20 September 2020 |location=San José, Costa Rica |date=1 September 2019 |url-status=live }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Mosby |first1=Dorothy E. |title=Traveling Words: A Reflection on "Rotundamente negra" and Afro-Descendant Women's Cultural Politics |journal=Meridians |date=2016 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=25–45 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.2979/meridians.14.2.03.pdf |doi=10.2979/meridians.14.2.03 |accessdate=21 September 2020 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham, North Carolina |jstor=10.2979/meridians.14.2.03 |s2cid=151672380 |issn=1536-6936}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Ramsay |first1=Paulette |title=Entrevista a la poeta Afro-costarricense Shirley Campbell |journal=Afro-Hispanic Review |date=Spring 2003 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=60–67 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23054469 |accessdate=20 September 2020 |trans-title=Interview with the Afro-Costa Rican Poet Shirley Campbell |publisher=Vanderbilt University |location=Nashville, Tennessee |jstor=23054469 |language=Spanish |issn=0278-8969}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Ramsay |first1=Paulette A. |title=Shirley Campbell's Ideology of Historiographic Legitimation |journal=Hispania |date=March 2014 |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=140–153 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24368752 |accessdate=21 September 2020 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press for the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese |location=Baltimore, Maryland |doi=10.1353/hpn.2014.0001 |jstor=24368752 |s2cid=145489705 |issn=0018-2133|url-access=subscription }}
- {{cite news |last1=Schweizer |first1=Melina |title=Ancestralidad, África en Nosotros. Un encuentro con Shirley Campbell Barr. |url=https://acento.com.do/cultura/ancestralidad-africa-en-nosotros-un-encuentro-con-shirley-campbell-barr-8717616.html |accessdate=20 September 2020 |date=16 August 2019 |newspaper=Acento |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920164859/https://acento.com.do/cultura/ancestralidad-africa-en-nosotros-un-encuentro-con-shirley-campbell-barr-8717616.html |archivedate=20 September 2020 |location=Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |language=Spanish |trans-title=Ancestry, Africa in Us: An Encounter with Shirley Campbell Barr}}
- {{cite book |last1=Senior-Angulo |first1=Diana |editor-last1=Knight |editor-first1=Franklin W. |editor-last2=Gates |editor-first2=Henry Louis Jr. |editor2-link=Henry Louis Gates, Jr. |title=Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0-199-93580-2 |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199935796.001.0001/acref-9780199935796-e-382?rskey=2AlwUO&result=1 |chapter=Campbell Barr, Epsy (1963– ), activist, economist, and politician}}{{subscription required|via=[http://www.oxfordreference.com/ Oxford University Press]'s Reference Online}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Solano Rivera |first1=Silvia Elena |title=El giro identitario en la poesía de Shirley Campbell Barr |journal=Repertorio Americano |date=January–December 2014 |volume=2 |issue=24 |url=https://www.revistas.una.ac.cr/index.php/repertorio/article/view/7937/8972 |accessdate=21 September 2020 |trans-title=The Identity Twist in Shirley Campbell Barr's Poetry |publisher=Universidad de Costa Rica |location=Heredia, Costa Rica |language=Spanish |pages=371–393 |oclc=1171329018}}
- {{cite web |last1=Vasconcellos |first1=Ellen Maria |title=Desde que eu tenho memória, de Shirley Campbell Barr // Tradução |url=https://arribacao.com.br/2020/06/11/desde-que-eu-tenho-memoria-de-shirley-campbell-barr-traducao-de-ellen-maria-vasconcellos/ |website=Arribação |accessdate=20 September 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811081123/https://arribacao.com.br/2020/06/11/desde-que-eu-tenho-memoria-de-shirley-campbell-barr-traducao-de-ellen-maria-vasconcellos/ |archivedate=11 August 2020 |location=Maceió, Brazil |language=Portuguese |trans-title='Since I Have a Memory', by Shirley Campbell Barr // Translation |date=11 June 2020 |url-status=live}}
- {{cite journal |ref={{harvid|Germinal|2007}} |author= |title=Libros: Desde el principio fue la mezcla |journal=Germinal |date=October 2007 |volume=XIX |issue=183 |page=14 |url=http://www.campus.una.ac.cr/ediciones/2007/octubre/2007octubre_pag14.html |accessdate=21 September 2020 |trans-title=Books: From the Beginning There Was Mixture |publisher=University of Costa Rica |location=Heredia, Costa Rica |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200921163410/http://www.campus.una.ac.cr/ediciones/2007/octubre/2007octubre_pag14.html |archivedate=21 September 2020 |language=Spanish |url-status=live }}
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Category:People from San José, Costa Rica
Category:University of Costa Rica alumni
Category:University of Zimbabwe alumni
Category:Catholic University of Santa María alumni
Category:Costa Rican anthropologists
Category:Costa Rican women poets
Category:20th-century Costa Rican women writers
Category:21st-century Costa Rican women writers
Category:20th-century Costa Rican poets
Category:21st-century Costa Rican poets
Category:Costa Rican people of Jamaican descent