Fr Glyn’s ministry in Mexico moved beyond church walls

By Fr Stephan Alexander

General Manager, CCSJ and AMMR

On March 7, Fr Glyn Arthur Jemmott began his 50th year as a Roman Catholic priest. Shortly before that date, I had the privilege of hosting a small delegation of four Mexican visitors to Trinidad and Tobago from March 1 to March 6. Their journey was a pilgrimage of gratitude, to honour and pay homage to this Trinbagonian priest whose ministry transformed communities far beyond our shores.

Among the visitors were Carmelite Sister Ruperta Palacios Silva, born and raised in the community of El Ciruelo, and Professor Pedro Sergio Pañaloza Pérez, former President of the Association ‘México Negro’, two individuals who collaborated closely with Fr Glynn during his years of ministry in Mexico. Their presence highlighted how the life and ministry of this Trinbagonian priest became closely intertwined with the long and ongoing quest for dignity, recognition, and justice among Afro-descended peoples in Mexico.

Fr Glyn was ordained a priest on March 7, 1977, in Rome. Shortly thereafter, he began missionary work in Mexico, where he would spend the greater part of his priesthood.

What began as pastoral service soon developed into a profound commitment to social justice, cultural affirmation, and the empowerment of communities that had long been ignored.

Many of us in Trinidad and Tobago grow up in a society where African heritage forms a visible and integral part of national life. Our festivals, music, religious life, and cultural expressions reflect this reality.

Yet Fr Glyn encountered a very different situation when he arrived in Mexico in the 1980s. He encountered communities of African descent who, shaped by generations of marginalisation and negative social attitudes toward Black identity, had little awareness of their African heritage and seldom identified themselves as Afro-descended.

Fr Glyn first lived in the city of Oaxaca and later served at the parish of Santiago Apóstol in Pinotepa Nacional. Eventually he moved to the Afro-Mexican community of El Ciruelo.

There he began a pastoral ministry that extended far beyond the walls of the church. His work combined evangelisation with advocacy, community organisation, and cultural recovery.

Drawing on his experience growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, Fr Glyn brought with him a deep awareness of the importance of defending the dignity and rights of Black peoples.

In Mexico, however, he encountered communities experiencing marginalisation, and structural discrimination. Afro-Mexicans were often stereotyped and excluded from social recognition.

He observed that in several regions, particularly along the Pacific coastal areas of Oaxaca and Guerrero, there existed communities of African descent whose presence had been largely overlooked within the national narrative.

Fr Glyn confronted this reality with creativity and determination. Through grassroots initiatives he helped communities organise themselves economically and culturally. Projects included family farms, savings cooperatives, goat-rearing programmes, bakeries, and workshops in cooking, embroidery, nutrition, and painting. These initiatives strengthened community life while nurturing pride in Afro-Mexican identity.

Education was another key dimension of his ministry. Through preaching missions and charity initiatives he secured resources that allowed him to construct at least three libraries. These spaces became centres for learning, reflection, and community development. He also promoted the creation of a popular preparatory school and supported the preservation of traditional cultural expressions of dance, music, and art.

Fr Glyn’s efforts also helped to catalyse a broader movement. In 1997, the First Encounter of Peoples of African Descent was held in El Ciruelo, bringing together communities from the Costa Chica regions of Oaxaca and Guerrero. From that gathering emerged the civil association México Negro, a pioneering organisation within what would become the Afro-Mexican movement.

Through advocacy, research, and community organising, the movement worked to combat racial discrimination, strengthen Afro-Mexican identity, and secure national recognition.

Today, Fr Glyn is widely regarded as one of the founders of the Afro-Mexican movement and a leading authority on the history and culture of Afro-descended Mexicans. His work contributed significantly to the inclusion of Afro-descendant identity within Mexico’s national census and ultimately to the constitutional recognition of Afro-Mexicans as an ethnic group in 2019.

Yet perhaps the most powerful testimony to his legacy is found in the communities themselves. People who once felt invisible now speak with pride about their heritage and their contribution to Mexican society.

That legacy continues to unfold. In September 2024, the Afrouniversidad Politécnica Intercultural was established in Oaxaca—the first Afro-university in Mexico. For many who worked alongside Fr Glyn, this institution represents the flowering of seeds planted decades earlier through pastoral accompaniment, community organising, and cultural affirmation.

The visit of our Mexican guests earlier this month reminded me of something important: social justice heroes rarely set out to become heroes. They simply respond faithfully to the needs they encounter.

Fr Glyn saw a reality that many people in Trinidad and Tobago take for granted—cultural affirmation, and the recognition of African heritage—and he incarnated a ministry among a people for whom these realities were absent. Through faith, courage, and perseverance, he helped awaken a movement that continues to shape lives and communities today.

As we celebrate his ordination anniversary and reflect on his witness, we are reminded that the call to justice is never abstract. It is always rooted in concrete people, real communities, and courageous disciples who choose to stand with those on the margins.

Knowing and celebrating such figures is not merely an exercise in nostalgia. Their lives challenge us. They invite us to ask a simple but profound question: where, in our own time and place, is God calling us to stand for justice, dignity, and truth?

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