Santos Arrascaeta, Beatriz (1947–)
Santos Arrascaeta, Beatriz (1947–)
Uruguayan performer, writer and civil-rights activist. Name variations: Beatriz Santos. Born Beatriz Santos Arrascaeta, Jan 20, 1947, in Montevideo, Uruguay; niece of Juan Julio Arrascaeta, the "Langston Hughes" of Uruguayan poetry.
Championed racial and economic justice as well as appreciation of Afro-Uruguayan cultural contributions through work as performer, writer, educator and activist; worked as singer and theater performer, eventually joining Afro-Uruguayan dance group, Odín; began giving lectures on customs, history and folklore of blacks in Uruguay; founded and served as president of Cultural Center for Peace and Integration (CECUPI) to combat discrimination; starred on stage in El desalojo de la calle de los negros (Blacks Out on the Street, 1995), written by Jorge Emilio Cardoso; ran for political office on Colorado Party ticket but lost (1996); received Lolita Rubial Foundation Morosoli Prize for contributions to Uruguayan culture (1999); writings include Historias de vida: Negros en el Uruguay (Life Stories: Blacks in Uruguay, 1994), El negro en el Río de la Plata (Blacks in the River of Silver, 1995), and La herencia cultural africana en las Américas (African Cultural Heritage in the Americas, 1998).