Passing as white would make it easier to work in Mexico, she said. White migrant advocates seem to automatically command respect from locals in Reynosa. But instead of passing, [Felicia] Rangel-Samponaro has tried to leverage being biracial.
When she tells Mexican officials about her father, they smile and give her high fives. When she tells them she’s Black, they’re surprised.
“In their minds, Black people don’t cross into Mexico to help others,” she said.
Black migrants usually assume she’s Latina. So she makes a point of saying that she identifies as Black and that, “We are going through the same struggles.”
Molly Hennessy-Fiske, “The woman defending Black lives on the border, including her own,” The Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2021. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-12-27/the-woman-defending-black-lives-on-the-border.
Tags: Felicia Rangel-Samponaro, Los Angeles Times, Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Reynosa, The Los Angeles Times