Viva Latina

Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Eva Mendez and Sofia Vergara are the women representing the Latin American community around the world. These women are renowned for a similar beauty comprised of light skin and straight hair—a beauty that undermines the diversity of the Latin community. With these women in the spotlight, a single image of Latin beauty is created that fosters a degree of colorism within the community with the emphasis of light skinned Latinas in media.

Recently in media the term Afro-Latinx has made a huge breakthrough, with woman after woman blogging about their life as an Afro-Latina. Rosa Clemente, a PhD candidate in the W.E.B. Dubois department of UMASS-Amherst identified that “Afro-Latino is not about being black and Latino, Afro-Latina means to be a black Latina/Latino,” and goes on to say that “often in the U.S., black becomes synonymous with those that are African-Americanwhich then does not take into account the millions of African descendants, black people globally that are in the world and in the USA.”

Within the past year the term Afro-Latinx became popular in the media as the Latin community argued about its use and meaning as well as the authenticity of those using it to identify themselves with. Latinx is a relatively new term, created as a way to include individuals that do not define themselves within a certain gender norm. But, when referring to the gender-neutral term Afro-Latinx it represents people of African ancestry with a Latin American heritage. This long-overdue breakthrough for the Afro-Latinx portrays the unseen racial tension within the Latin community, in which the very use of this word to identify oneself with is set to break boundaries and the demeaning done within this community because of the color of one’s skin.

Clemente herself has faced a struggle when trying to assert to people that she is indeed a black Boricua, the Tiano term for Puerto Rican, and that being from a Latin American country doesn’t erase the history of her ancestors as people of the African diaspora created through slavery.

The Caribbean and South America were some of the most exploited regions in this world due to colonization. Millions of slaves were brought through the Middle Passage (the phase of the slave trade where millions of slaves were transported across the Atlantic Ocean) for more than 300 years. Many of us have African roots or traditions mixed deeply with those that derive from West African tribal culture. Latinx racial ambiguity stems from this mix and is why Latinxs from different countries and islands like to rep their ethnic countries so hard to create a sense of community.

“While colorism is a dividing force in the Latin community, something that unites us is culture. Latinas are known as some of the most fierce and resilient women out there.”

But not all Latinxs accept their roots. My own Dominican father has never identified himself as black, as a matter of fact when we point out that he is, he denies it. Latina women may also deny it because it doesn’t look good socially. As a result they resort to skin lightening products because brown isn’t what society wants. Harvard PhD candidate Miari Stephens states, “colorism in Latin America is contingent upon different histories of the various nations andcommunities in the region. Anti-blackness is global which, of course, affects how Black women across the globe identify.” Stephens continues by recalling the words of a light-skinned Puerto Rican woman saying, “I have black ancestry but I am not black.” She was saying this to acknowledge that while a lot of Latin American people have African ancestry, they most certainly do not all suffer from racism and colorism in the same way and that is important to acknowledge in this conversation about afrolatinidad (identifying as Afro-latinx). Having very light-skinned and Latinx people who can pass for white being the only ones representing afrolatinidad identity reinforces colorism and overshadows dark-skinned black Latinx people and communities and material realities that they face.” This strengthens the tanned, bronzed skin ideals when thinking of what a Latina looks like—thank you to all the telenovela stars for setting this precedent!

While colorism is a dividing force in the Latin community, something that unites us is culture. Latinas are known as some of the most fierce and resilient women out there. We’re beautiful and strong, raised in families full of other headstrong women with values taught over years passing from one generation to the next. Yet, what defines and differentiates us from one another are all of the microcultures that exist within the Latinx community. Being from a lower middle-class family in New York City living among a Latinx community constituting of individuals of different colors freely representing different Latin American countries, I never noticed how these very same Latin American societies discriminated against each other until I moved to Miami in 2016.

In Miami, Latin culture is evident throughout every neighborhood, yet there will be reproach if an individual doesn’t look like the typical Latina one sees throughout the media. There is a set beauty norm within the city of Miami because of the Latin American influence—silky, long, highlighted hair, curved bodies and golden glowing skin are the go-to, and breaking from this norm will definitely get yourself attention with people thinking that you are from out of town.

Luckily, there’s a new icon ready to break barriers and beauty norms for Latinas. Embracing her blackness while exerting her Latin culture, Amara La Negra has come to the forefront today to break the mold and become a new, inclusive Afro-Latina idol.

Hailing from Hialeah, Florida is Dana Danelys De Los Santos, also known as Amara “La Negra.” Amara La Negra, which literally translates to Amara “the black girl,” was born in Miami to Dominican immigrants. She has been singing since she was a little girl and has been on various Latin American music shows. Amara has become a huge Afro-Latina icon in the past year, using her role in Love & Hip-Hop: Miami as a platform to talk about the discrimination she and other Afro-Latinas in the entertainment business face and to raise awareness for the Afro-Latina identity.

Amara is now trying to cross-over into the American entertainment business, but not without obstacles. Amara juggles feuds with other rising Miami entertainers and newfound fame all while trying to keep her Afro-Latina identity and beauty intact. Amara has faced quite a bit in the show’s first season. Viewers of Love & Hip-Hop: Miami know that there is always drama occurring between cast members. The show is notorious for highlighting inner city problems faced and overcome by the influencers and musicians they present each season. But the issue of beauty and identity acceptance by those around her that Amara has been facing throughout the early episodes portrays the reality of discrimination among the Latinx community and within the entertainment industry.

“Less Macy Gray, more Beyoncé,” Amara was told by producer Young Hollywood when she tried to begin working with him. Amara’s look is her individual style with her perfectly rounded Afro, brightly colored clothing and makeup that make her skin glow beautifully. Young Hollywood found her look to be “too black” for Amara to be capable of a crossover as a Latina, and when she presented herself as Afro-Latina, he certainly did not like her association with it, seeing it almost as a disadvantage for her. In an interview with radio show The Breakfast Club, Amara discusses how nappy hair and Afros aren’t seen as elegant and how she was pushed to change her style to become more popular with different audiences—when will people learn that hair doesn’t define a person, let alone diminish their talents and make them less beautiful? This discourse Amara has brought up on Afro-Latina beauty has made her famous on social media recently, gaining her interviews with Vice and the New York Times to talk about beauty as a dark-skinned woman, but no matter what she is working on Amara always finds the time to promote awareness of the Afro- Latina community.

Prior to Amara, there was Celia Cruz, one of the biggest Afro-Latina singers and entertainers from Cuba. She was the “Queen of Salsa” and one of the

biggest Latin American artists of the 20 th century, obtaining 23 gold albums in her lifetime. In 1950, she became lead singer of La Sonora Matancera, a notable Afro-Cuban band, but even faced criticism then because she wasn’t considered pretty enough or up to par with the woman she succeeded in the role. Nonetheless, her voice changed the minds of everyone and surpassed this short-handed criticism.

Cruz’s music and rhythm found within her songs honor both her African roots and maintain her strong Cuban culture. In the song “Santa Barbara,” she portrays the depth within Cuban culture of Santeria, which is a mixture of African Yoruba religion and Catholicism created during colonization throughout the Caribbean. Saint Barbara, who is known as the Yoruba deity Chango, has become a highly idolized saint in Cuban culture and throughout the Latin American world through other forms. Cruz’s intersectionality is best represented in “Quimbara” where she makes up a word to create an Afro-Cuban rhythm that breaks language barriers and became one of her biggest hits; even taking her to Africa in 1974 to perform. Many looked up to her and still do. But while Afro-Latina women should look up to the women in their lives, the grandmothers, mothers and tías (aunts) that have made the Afro-Latina strong and persistent, there is a need and there will always be space for another strong influence like Celia Cruz.

Time will tell if Amara La Negra makes it as big as Beyoncé or Celia Cruz one day. However, as a household name in Latinx homes, she travels to schools around the United States to speak to students about race and gender-equality, which may influence young Latinx and Afro-Latinx minds to speak up and share their stories to gain momentum and make a difference on the adversity and inequality in the Latin American community.

BY CASSANDRA OVALLE

ILLUSTRATED BY SOPHIA FOERSTER