My Latinidad Is Enough – Natalie Warren

My name is Natalie. I am a 26-year-old Afro – Latina and Afro-American woman. My mother’s side comes from the Dominican Republic & Puerto Rico. My father’s side is African American, originally from the south. I grew up in the south with my mother where there were not too many Afro Latinos. I grew up around many non-black Central Americans, non-black Mexicans, and African…

Growing Up Afro- Latina – Zoe Boynton

Hello, My name is Zoe Boynton. I am an Afro Latina and I am Panamanian! Growing up I struggled to accept my Latina identity because only one side of my family is Afro Latino (My mom’s side) with my dad’s side being African American. Growing up I only identified with being Black. It was easier…

I am Called Negra – Luz Mack |

I Am a Complex Mixture With a Rich History of Survival—birthed From the Colonizer’s War That Destroyed All Traces of Taino Origins but Not Before Raping and Enslaving Them. They Created a New Generation While Erasing All Memories of the Past but a Future Marked by Mixed Skin, Fallen From God’s Grace, and an Unknown…

Y no soy negra? – Sharee Yveliz

Cuando me pusieron desrizado y rolos abajo la secadora?  Cuando un estilo “simple” coge mas que una hora? No soy negra?  Cuando le gente se quedan en sorpresa escúchame hablar la idioma ? O que una mujer piel blanca puede ser mi mamá?  No soy negra ? Cuando me preguntan “ju speak eSpanish?” Y me…

Reclaiming My Afro-Mexican Identity – Chey Charvis

My story is going to be unlike many other Afro-Latinas because I wasn’t able to really “Grow up Latina.” I was adopted when I was just a baby (1.5 years old) and was raised by a Jamaican family. But, even though most of my experience growing up was through the eyes and arms of another…

Gordita Si, Fea No – On Being a Plus Size Afro-Latina – Marlena M. Matute

While I identify as Afro-Latina today, my parents never really bothered to explain the race component of our background.  I find that to be interesting, considering they are both of African descent, thanks in part to the Afro-Antillean migration in Panama for the construction of the Canal, and my mother is of the Ngäbe-Buglé (Guaymi)…