The Realities of Living as an Afro-Latina in America

If you happen to be Afro-Latina or of another group that hasn’t been seen or represented throughout most of history, know that the God of the universe made you with intention and purpose.

Growing up between New York City and the Dominican Republic, like in most typical Latino/a households, I spent my television time watching novelas (soap operas in Spanish). And when watching those I would always see Mexican actresses, but it wasn’t usually the Mexican women I was used to seeing in my neighborhoods in New York City. But instead, these women looked White-American or European, yet they were indeed Mexican women. Now, that’s a whole other conversation for another time in another article but this is why representation matters. Because I was a young Latina girl confused as to why I spoke the same language as everyone in the show but looked like no one in these novelas.

So who are Afro-Latinos/as? We are the non-novela-looking and non-Afro-American people that happen to be both Latino/a and Black.

But how are some Latinos Black? Well, let’s take a look at how this happened historically. Colonization happened (and honestly still does) and the first country Christopher Columbus stepped foot on was Isla Hispanola, which we now know as two separate countries on the same island—the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Let’s break down those two countries to help us see some things. Most people, if they meet a Haitian will immediately identify that person as Black, regardless of their skin tone. Then there are Dominicans: most people that meet a Dominican will simply label them as Latinx or Hispanic instead of affiliated with a race. The reason I’m mentioning race is that Latino/a is not an actual race. It’s a compilation of people from different ethnicities that make up a bigger cultural group—often affiliated with speaking Spanish and being from a country in Latin America. But here’s the kicker: Haiti is in Latin America as well as Jamaica, Grenada, and the other countries in the Caribbean that don’t speak Spanish. Brazilians also don’t primarily speak Spanish but they are called Latinx people. So, what does all this tell us?

It’s complicated! And the social construct that is ‘race’ can make things confusing sometimes.

“What colonialism does is cause an identity crisis about one’s own culture,” – Lupita Nyong’o. Could Lupita say it any clearer? If you’re really wondering, most people that identify as Afro-Latino/a connect or fall under one or more of these things:

1. They have curly or coily hair.
2. They have brown or dark skin.
3. They have African facial features.
4. They can trace the African ancestry in their family (which is rare due to colonization and the erasure of family genealogies through the transatlantic slave trade).

But know this: when someone is saying they’re an Afro-Latinx, it’s the equivalent of saying they are a Black Latinx. They are saying their race is Black.

Now back to representation. This is something that plays a big role in how we see ourselves in life. First, in the area of identity. Personally, I didn’t claim the label “Black”  growing up because I didn’t know Latina wasn’t a race. I only affiliated the term “Black” with African-Americans at that time. So, others would call me Black (usually in a bullying kind of way) but I wouldn’t receive it or like it until one day someone said it in a non-bullying kind of way. Now I proudly say I’m Black.

Ralph Ellison, the author of The Invisible Man, once said, “When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” This notion is a profound way to communicate how we can live in bondage when we don’t know who we are—part of who we are is our race and culture. It makes up our traditions, how we talk, the way we live and think, how we celebrate or don’t celebrate holidays, and how we connect with others within humanity. 

Knowing ourselves provides us with confidence, a strong foundation in our identity, and helps us have compassion for the rest of humanity. Jesus picked all of our races and cultures. He picked our hair and height. He chose all of this before we existed.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” – Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)

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