Growing up I always knew I looked different, from the texture of my hair to the color of my skin. The intersection of Latinx and Black identities run deep, yet Latinas who look like me aren’t front and center in popular media. As a woman who proudly identifies as an Afro-Latina, I’m here to say…
Tag: cultural identity
Mabel Guzman; Being Black & From DR
Dominican Republic. The motherland that I couldn’t be prouder to represent. The food, the music, the heat, the enormous amount of people in my family, are just a few aspects of my country that make me love it. But what about culture? It’s probably the first thing people mention when talking about their own…
Cultivating Divine Gratitude by Gabrielle Greiner
Once again, Thanksgiving has come upon us and so many of us are unsure how to respond to this holiday of thankfulness. Most of us are struggling with something at the moment, such as with financial issues or relationship problems. Our government seems to be falling apart as we helplessly watch the systems so…
Brown Sugar & Canela
By Keyanna Gotay- Growing up as a young girl, I never thought of myself any different from others. That changed when my family and I moved down south from New York. Besides people constantly asking where I was from because of my then New York accent, people couldn’t seem to wrap their mind around the…
AM I AFRO-LATINA ENOUGH?
Afro- Latina speaks community of empowering individuals. It represents a culture of those who Celebrate traditions that deeply root back to the motherland. It signifies the rich Sounds of our ancestors who carried the musical rhythms of Africa with them. It preserves our expression of dance, songs, religion and literature with a Latin twist without neglecting our African roots. It crosses barriers from SudaAmerica to Centroamerica along to the coast of Puerto Rico. It flows through all facets…
Soy Afro-Panameña –A Personal Story of Afro-Latina Identity and Pride
Tamika Burgess is a Writer and Educator. She produces the monthly Afro-Latina focused newsletter, Es Mi Cultura. Follow her on twitter @TameeksB By Tamika Burgess —“I thought you were Black!” This is the response I sometimes get from people when they find out my parents are Panamanian. Looking down at my arm in a sarcastic…
Child of the Diaspora: Being Afro-Latina in America
By Kae Ramirez Lashley — My mother is Afro-Panamanian (her mother is Black, her father mestizo) and my father is Bajan (from Barbados). I identify as Black, Afro-Latina, simply Latina, West Indian, or Caribbean. I know who I am. I never try to deny my African roots. I am not more Black than Latina. I…
1 Year Blogging Anniversary!!
By Jenay Wright — I have this voice and I had this dream. It so happened that they both connected through destiny and it was interesting how faith kept them going. Doubts are danger. Doubting is dangerous. I say that twice to reiterate the message that doubts can get in the way of what you…
Vida en Panamá
By Jenay Wright —Before I was aware of the term Afro-Latina, I just said I was Black and Panamanian and this is exactly what I told people when asked what I was. It was verbatim of what represented me. I find when I say I am Latina people would give me the same “Girl stop…
Zaira Miluska Funes : An Afro-Mestizo’s Journey
By Zaira Miluska Funes — I’m Salvadoran-American and growing up in Los Angeles I always knew, from a young age, I looked different from my Mexican friends, they were fair-light skinned with straight/wavy hair and had more Eurocentric- standard Mestizo features. While I, on the other hand, had thick curly hair, darker skinned tone, and…
