The slave trade touched nearly every corner of the Americas, from the United States, throughout the Caribbean and South America It is often thought of as a history of only the Atlantic and Caribbean coasts, but this horrific legacy reached the Pacific coast as well, and lasted in Peru until 1845. Today, descendants of these African slaves live in villages and cities along Peru's Pacific coast while their music, rhythms and dances all trace their roots back to West Africa.

t was in one of these villages, El Carmen, where the group Peru Negro was formed on the 26th of February, 1969 by Ronaldo Campos de la Colina. El Carmen lies about two hours south of Lima by car. The town looks much as it did nearly a century ago, an old colonial village with a park in the center, a large Spanish church facing this square, and about 20 blocks of pastel pained stone houses divided by dusty dirt roads. Today, as always, music in the village of El Carmen is something that you won't find in concert halls. Instead, you'll find people in this predominantly black village singing and dancing in the streets and in corner bars. Campos' mission was to both preserve and develop Afro-Peruvian music and dance. Three decades later, the group is recognized around the world as one of the leading exponents of Black Peruvian culture. They are no longer based in El Carmen, having moved to the megalopolis of Lima, a city almost bursting at the seams, full of traffic, shopping malls, slums, old Spanish architecture, picturesque balconies, and spectacular ocean vistas. Lima is the new center for Afro-Peruvian music. In this city of contrasts, amidst the trendy neighborhood of Barranco is the upscale nightclub Manos Morenos (Avenida Pedro de Osma 409). On most weekends, this is where you can find the legendary Peru Negro.