Why Centering Blackness Matters
Written by Michael Lopez, Jr.
A few months ago, the Colombian artist J. Balvin was named the “Best Afro-Latino Artist '' of 2021 by the African Entertainment Awards USA. Instead of choosing empowering AfroLatine artists, such as ChocQuibTown, the awards chose an artist who curated anti-Black depictions of women in his most popular music video this year. “I am not an Afro-Latino,” Balvin professed when accepting the award. The controversy is emblematic of an all too common lack of recognition and erasure of AfroLatines. Representing Black Latina women as “perras” leashed to a man of light complexion is deplorable on multiple levels and exacerbates the harm of unconscious bias against and prejudice towards AfroLatine peoples.
There are many reasons why this happens, but chief among them is a lack of understanding of who we are talking about when we discuss someone who is AfroLatine. The most complete definition of AfroLatines is found in the introduction of The Afro-Latin@ Reader. It states that AfroLatines are “people of African descent in Mexico, Central and South America, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, and by extension those of African descent in the United States whose origins are in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
It is of paramount importance to understand who we are highlighting when we talk about AfroLatinidad. The term Latinidad, which is not accepted by all, gives us a pan-ethnic term that includes various ethnic and social groups including a large segment of Afro-Descendent people. The majority of the enslaved Africans who were kidnapped and taken to the Americas, were taken to what we refer to today as Latin America, or as the Kuna people of Panama call it ‘Abya Yala.’ This, along with the African influences in Spanish culture, because of the centuries that the Moors ruled Spain and Portugal, create the condition through which there are many huellas of Africanity within Latine culture.
For many people, of many cultures, someone who is considered Latine is not usually identified as someone who is also Black. One can identify as either Black or Latine, but not both. It is this false dichotomy of the understanding of Latinidad that ensures a failure to grasp the totality of Latine identity. Culturally we live with an assumption that AfroLatinidad is a novel concept and has not been a part of the Latine identity since the beginning, therefore in popular representations of Latinidad people who are clearly of African or Native descent go missing. This is not by mere oversight or by ignorance; sadly, this is the result of centuries of racist and white supremacist ideologies that have plagued Latines and have been internalized by Latines both here in the United States and in our countries of origin due to the pigmentocracy that has always emphasized mestizaje and whiteness over Blackness and Indigeneity.
This is why it is important to highlight AfroLatines, so that Latinidad can be whole. For example, the recently released Disney movie, Encanto displays a diverse family, one that proudly has members who are of clear African, and also Indigenous, descent. This didn't happen only on the screen, many of the musicians who played Colombian instruments, such as Maestro Morris Cañate, who scored all of the drum portions of the movie, are AfroColombian. This representation highlights and includes AfroLatines, but also allows people to understand how Blackness is central to Latinidad. Whether it is in our food, music, sports, poetry, or art, Blackness is something that has bolstered all aspects of Latinidad. As Dr. Zury Inirio shared this past HHM on twitter “There is no Latinidad without Blackness,” it is important that we continue to embrace, affirm and center AfroLatinidad.
How do we do that? By centering Blackness when we discuss Latinidad. Showcasing the works of AfroLatine visual artists, such as AfroCuban artist Harmonia Rosales, emphasizing the importance of written works such as those of AfroLatina, Elizabeth Acevedo, or by covering and discussing issues that Afro-Latinos face, such as the lawsuit against the NFL by Brooklyn Born Garifuna Brian Flores for anti-black discrimination. When we take these actions, we will be able to fight anti-Blackness within Latinidad and encourage our children to do the same. This Black History Month, we encourage all of us to center Blackness in our discussions of Latinidad.
