Afro-Latinas: Finding A Place To BelongPosted in Articles, Identity Development/Psychology, Interviews, Latino Studies, Media Archive, United States, Women on 2015-06-12 00:54Z by Steven |
Afro-Latinas: Finding A Place To Belong
New Latina
2012-03-12
Tracy López, Editor-in-Chief
Latinaish: Una Gringa Biena Latina
Identity – It’s something every human being wrestles with at some time in their life – some more than others. For Afro-Latinas, self identifying can be especially difficult. The sense of ignored, unrecognized and invisible, is prevalent among those who identify as Afro-Latinas. The fact that the word itself, Afro-Latino, does not yet appear in most dictionaries only lends credence to the voices calling for recognition.
Today we introduce you to three voices of Afro-Latinas.
- Ivy Farguheson – A Social Services reporter for the Muncie Star Press, Muncie, Indiana.
- Eusebia Aquino-Hughes – Nurse by profession. Blogs at Street Latino.
- Vianessa Castaños – Professional actress. Website: Vianessa.com. Twitter: @Vianessa.
Defining Afro-Latina
“To me, being Afro-Latina means that I am a part of the African diaspora in Latin America, more specifically, my parents were a part of the African diaspora in Costa Rica. This identity gives me the privilege of identifying with the Spanish aspects of Latino culture (such as the foods, the language, the immigrant experience in America) along with the African flavors that have made part of the Latino experience different than those who aren’t Afro-Latino(a) (the music, the dancing, the slave/worker history)…” – Ivy Farguheson “I self-identify as [a] proud Afro-Latina of Puerto Rican/African [descent]. It is an honor for me and many in my family to respect …our African roots…and [I] hope that our Latino community does the same…Our proud African roots have given contributions to our music, foods, arts, [and] language…” – Eusebia Aquino-Hughes “An Afro-Latina is just what the name implies, someone of Latin (or Hispanic) descent that has a predominantly African ancestry…I usually just describe myself as Dominican or Afro-Caribbean. I’ll occasionally identify with Afro-Latina, but never just ‘Latina’… I am 100% Dominican of West African, French, Spanish and Chinese decent. Rumor has it that there is some Taino blood in us as well.” – Vianessa Castaños…
Read the entire article here.