El articulo ** muestra, con base en la investigacion de archivo, la critica literaria y los estudios culturales, que Candelario Obeso debe ser considerado, no solo como el iniciador de la poesia afro en Colombia, sino como un gran intelectual afro descendiente que, en medio de un ambiente de racismo, eugenismo y de dificultades economicas, trato de dar forma estetica a la realidad de la Colombia de finales del siglo XIX. PALABRAS CLAVES Intelectuales, racializacion, ciudadania, nacion, afrocolombianos, bogas, literatura, Colombia, Caribe. ABSTRACT The paper shows, based on archival research, literary criticism and cultural studies, that Candelario Obeso should be considered not only as the initiator of afro poetry in Colombia, but a great intellectual of the African-descent, in an atmosphere of racism, eugenics and economic difficulties, took from his aesthetic bet the social, cultural and political reality life of Colombia in the late XIX century. KEY WORDS Intellectual, racialization, citizenship, nation, afro-Colombians, bogas, literature, Colombia, Caribbean.
