To my mom and sisters, my life has meaning because of you . And for you daddy - no hay pal abras for what you meant to me. Thank you for lov ­ ing me and showing me the ways of this l ife. Thank you for making me th i nk and reflec t. Thank you for be i ng l o max ima and remi ndi ng me of who I was , who I could be , and who I am. Thank you for ra i sing, but dedicaci6n more i mportantly , support i ng me, as la a peruana . Thinking of you always . Te adoro .

16 Representation Matters

Dana Danelyc 0,111111,,,,! v e ,, ,wn as Amara La

Negra , is a s i·,1-, I I II I I ' II I I 'I I, 1 1:11 · 1·~ Iv show Love and Hip Hop: Mi,,11,i . I, I, I, - ,j i I l - 'It ,Ir rasac hil d star on U11· ·•-1-11 ,·,11 , • ,, La Negra , a proud Domii­ ll t ·1, , - , , . •; , " of not be i ng accep t ed a, - 1 ~1:c colc, 1 I·, skin. Her fame in the rec~11· .~, I ' 'I ·.J , ,11,, ,10I c~1ly f, ,, .. -,~, 111.,s i c , but al so

Il l; herd el i bu, ,Ill 11 "·111 discussiori" .ilori sm in the h ll Lat i nx comni .11 11- I , · 1 liel ieve in c r: ,, 111ing to Eurocen- . :I I S O f---1 ~\

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"It's hard because, and I always mention these women. They're amazing women I admire them , I really do . But it's unfortunate that when you talk about Latinos , you talk about Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Sofia Vergara, Thalia . You talk about these women that look a certain type of way but you never mention women that look l ike myself . And there isn't a Latin country where you don't have Afro-Latinos- Colombia , Venezuela , Chile, Honduras, it doesn ' t matter where you go there ' s Black people . But why aren't we portrayed in the magazines? Why aren't we in movies? Why aren ' t we in novelas or soap operas? What's wrong with me? Why can ' t I represent what a Latina woman should look l ike? . .. They make i t seem like we don ' t exist ." - Amara La Negra on the lack of Afro - Latinx media repre sentation on The Real talk show

2 3 ,II AT&T LTE 11:04 PM @t 42% ~ •

Non-black latinxs are anti-black. It's I just had a professor say "this is why Photo been proven over and over again. we don 't study Central America" when < G Saying things like, "At least we work" or talking about Garifuna people since their "we don 't pull the race card" is literally history is so "complicated" lol. Shouldn 't ignorant and racist. And of course you that be more of a reason to study the can't pull the race card when YOU'RE A complex history of CA? Loi I hate davis [::J WHITE LATINX. YOU'VE GOT 6:11 PM 13Feb2018 QO~ PRIVILEEEEGEEEEEE 81 Retweets 318 Likes 23,796 likes 1: :19AM I: "eb2018 • • e-0~ •1. monicastylemuse Q Q #Rant Q Q TAG: EVERYONE!! O• t1.a1 '731a S &4 ~twwts 153 Likes () 3 01). ! ! Let's make something very CLAROOOO!!! The fact that we are now in 2018 and people have the audacity to ask ...)2 (;.M \)153 f3 someone "Are you sure it's not in your mind that your Anti-blackness Thanks to social media. struggle is real!!!! Mira let me tell you something. Oh and btw is so engrained mahj video will be coming soon. Being an Afro latina has always v I am always aware. or been something I've devoted my career towards. I'm very in the Latino @mahJabn ~ better yet. becoming disappointed to see people try to invalidate our struggles. community that ifyourebrownbutfairskinned,youhavean @amaralanegraaln keep doing what you are doing mama!! aware of the world aper- 0 ! •• A-K eep making them mad!! OH AND for those it subjects in- equal responsibility to tackle colourism in our t . d I (cough cough) who think that we are just begging to fit in, in ·1· d - h a mg aroun me. use dividuals to f am1 1es. ont accept comp 11ments on ow . . your big screens and you think we have no right to complain. paleyouare.defendpeoplewithdarkerskin. my- Tell me when was the last time you saw a WOMAN OF othering. Right it daily to update COLOR!! As big as CELIA CRUZ or better yet be the leading reject any idea that paler skin is better. s el f · + I found out actress in Telemundo? Oh and the Celia Cruz show doesn't after the Amara about Amara La Negra on count! I remember being called Charcoal and hating my skin. La Negra contro- 1 ·10 PM - 19 Feb 2018 I remember the little girl in day care who didn't let me use Twitter. her towel because she sa id my skin was dirty. Growing up in versy in mid 15,900 Retv.·eets 41 ,720 Likes • e C, Bushwick i always had to prove I was Dominican and people January. beauty/ -~~ would sit there and tell me I COULD NEVER BE DOMINICAN Q 145 t.l. 16K C) 42K f3 All the Stars are Kosher E : BECAUSE I WAS DARK!! So no it isn't in our heads. No it isn't lifestyle bl og­ •~aoatbarll Lexi a cry for help. We here Baby. Whether you need to be Follow ger Monica Veloz -M Non-black Latinxs mad af at Black Panther educated on the subject or not. WE ARE HERE!!! Cl Iii 1:1Q while Afro-Latinxs showed tf out in support a Q Q ClSo no @cthagod it's not in our heads. Oh and "There will never be unity in the latinx wrote this In­ at theaters. We were overjoyed alongside the @truehollywoodstory women can be bald, can have an Afro community until white and white passing can have braids and still be accepted because thankfully stagram caption . rest of the lam in the diaspora. So please, latinxs recognize and fight against anti­ what comes first is TALENTO!!!!! Oh and here are some when y'all ask for a "Latinx version" of blackness and colorism and anti-indigenous bomb Afro Latino just in case you didn't know we exist. anything black, specify that you mean non­ racism within our communities." @irisbeilin @massy.arias @miss_rizos @peraltaprjct @jveloz black Latinxs. look them up you might learn a few things from Makeup to 1:10PM 8F8b2018 '1 PM ?8F802018 photography to fitness the list goes on and on! Note metas

2 Ratw, •I~ 2 L1 tet en lo que no te importa! • 878 R.i-tti 2.000 L,~e,; . .. 0 (\ 0 0 2 0 2 s o,, nue vi.o-; B ~·· 4 5 "Hold on. Afro-Latina? Elabo Black and Latino documentary· rate. Are you African or 1s that just because you have an Afro-Latinos getting casted

"I'm Cuban but [people) Afro?" - Young Hollywood "I v:ould f~1:•t rt:<1llv didn't get it because I positive rP,1ct1nns ,lt was also brown-skinned, ,rnditiow, for both On the tv show Love & Hip Hop: Miami. Puert o Rican music pr oducer Young Holly ­ and you usually see a /\fric1n t\rncr 1c111 ,ind fair-skinned Latino. So it wood talked wi th Amara La Negra about a possib l e co l laborat i on . Before any pro ­ I I ,1tino p,irt,. Rut. I was just like, 'Oh, what duc i ng started . Hollywood firs t wanted to change Amara ' s image because he didn't cliclri't look l,ltilw are you? Are you black think "afros can be el egant ." Amara immedi ately ca l l ed him out . at one poi nt l'r7ougll bt'CclU',C of tilt• Are you white?' I didn't feel like I had to saying , " I ' m proud of my color. of the way my hair curls . · and "beca use I ' m dark i-:jl' Cllt l)' h,W. ,llHl thf> : frt:•ck!t",. ,1nd the 110',l make a choice. skinned make me any · whi l e Hollywood ' s ignorance , that doesn't less Latina. ,ind ,ill th,1t ·~tuff . I am what I am." fueled al l of his comments . including "you ' re jus t so intense abou t this whole African thing ,· while mocki ngl y raising his fist . This conversation between Young Hollywood and Amara La Negra is a prime exampl e of why there needs to a grea t er conversation about representa t ion of Afro & lndio-Lat i nxs in media and society . Hol l ywood's comments are al l rooted i n Eurocentric forms of beauty that HUI+ POS'I ,(.~ have i nfil t rated the Latino community , which Amara i s avid l y ag ai nst . ,.

"W hen I beca m e an act ress I q uick ly real ized th at 't he wo rld' liked t heir Lat inas t o loo k Itali an, and no t like m e."

HUH' POST

· 1 could11 ·r :'.~;t ,in dli(lition ,l, d Lc1tiru "You're not one or l'i·oplt· didn"t kno,·J the other . You're v.d1,lt th.it ,·•1cJ·-,, !f11--v both. And you 1u·,t ';,11d. '\'·h·I( our should be proud to '-'i',ior1 of ,1 l ,1ti11,1 innk', be both and not be

rnurl __, Mcxic,111. 01 embarrassed or Ct•11tr.1l /.\rlH · r'C,lfl. or ashamed of it. Sp,H1i',f1. i'..nd th,n 1.·'id', There 's nothing to ,lrl lllli•rt",tlt11', lh'V be ashamed of ." lt.1 L1k,· c111d ',0111,,thirH', LozAlonso thc1t I hc1d to •,tr Ul',)..',I,, v.iith initi,)11·/

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Just a qui ck searc h of the most famou s actor s and actresses in te lenovelas .. .

"I think that anybody who watches Uni vision regularly .. . wi l l no­ t i ce the _white, white space t hat station historical l y has been ," f, she says. "You're not going to see Inda-Latinos, you ' re not going to ... I ' m grateful to not only my family , but my fellow peers at see Afro-La tinos." In fact, she - f Willame tte , for keeping me in check, and reminding me about the priv ­ says, t he Univision landscape is ileges I hold as a white-passing Latina. I am a proud Peruvian and often whiter than main strea m U.S. i there are moments where I feel like I am so Peruv ian but then there are those other moments where I feel like I'm not Latina enough . television. " - Arle ne Davila, pro­ Novelas'are so white because Latinxs are part of such a diverse community, that we all look , talk , fessor of anthropology and Ameri- of a Iii' something called colorism. and celebrate culture differently. Because I'm white, I navigate cer­ can stud i es at NYU. tain spaces in distinct ways , BUT, IT DOES NOTMEAN I AMNOT LATINA.

8 9 Col or i s m has 11way:- be ~n Negro: A docu-series about around so WHYNOW?? Latino Identity

This docu -series employs many professors, histori­ ,. ans, and Afro - Lati nx individuals in the ci t y. Their interviews and experiences embody cathars i s .

"People don' t realize t he blackness of Argentina, the blackness of Peru, the I embrace\~ yil!ATilNA blackness of Bolivia, the "! -, • .,..... blackness of Ecuador. the & my,BL~CKNESS,, blac kness Venezue l a, the • ,., ·· ···--.J \ ~ ..... blackness of Panama_" Colorism is so embedded in the Latinx community, a concept easily Giovann i visible when it comes to those who identify as Afro-Latinx. A significant contributor as to why so many Latinx individuals are colorist is because of popular Latino representation in main ­ "People in America, in the U.S .. do not know stream media . These popular forms of media highlight what we fail there are about the 150 mill i on Afro-Latinos. but to real i ze: Latino representation. whether it be in movies, so­ Latinos do not know that either." - Giovanni cial media , or other entertainment industries, overwhelmingly adheres to Eurocentric standards of beauty and being. The repre ­ sentation of Afro - Latinxs more often than not centers them as the help, or needing the help. Afro - Latinxs are not give the space. nor the types of opportunities to represent Latinidad because of "Being Latino is com­ their skin color. Colonialism enhanced and provided the pathway plex ... the census and for el bl anqueamiento. or whitening , a concept embedded in Latinx check boxing things culture because of the inherent biases and racist ideologies doesn't account for against Black people. Because of the l ack of Afro - Latinx repre­ those complexities." sentation , to be Black and Latino isn't a connection many under ­ Betty st and, or worse, want to understand.

The Amara La Negra v. Young Hollywood controversy is so im­ portant because she has used that moment to star t a larger conversa t ion in pop cu l ture on colorism in the Lat i nx commu­ Al l of t hese cand i d testimon i os hel p unpack and remi nd us nity . that blacknes·s is present in Latin America. The census offers many Afro - Latinos limited options in expressing the i r identities, causing i nterna l and external iss ues.

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1!..RIDE .. . .I

"Seguimos bailando porque intentamos dar a Monica Veloz, aka MonicaStyle Muse. is a first generation Domini ­ conocer nuestra cultura .. . y asi . consolidar can, and popular lifestyle/beauty vlogger on Youtube. Since he r nuestra cultura-consolidar nuestra propia iden­ start, she has never strayed away from the topic of colorism within titdad . como pueblo negro. " - Anai Herrera soc i ety and the beauty industry . She discusses her strugg l e with her Afro-Latina identity and how she can be Black ANDLatina, that "Que nosotros estamos orgullosos de ser negros y there is absolutely no reason to choose one or the other . Veloz i s que tambi~n los transmitamos. " Anai Herrera unapologetic and dedicated to empowering her fellow Afro - Latinos .

The women that make up Obatala are proud Afro-Mexicans who are Velo z uses her Youtu be vi deos t-'d dedicated to learning and performing dances with deep rooted talk about the anti -blackness in connections to their heritage. The Obatala have recognized and f the beauty industry in relation made sure the dances they've chosen to learn and perform rep­ [J to makeup products but also resent their African heritage. , . touches on color i sm on t he en­ -? tire spectru m-for Afro-Lati nos and white passi ng Latinos. She think the Obatala , whether or not their intentions are , • emana and aw.are- t heir determination to learn and perform, include younger generations i n their dances indicate their resistance against systems meant to shut them ~ut . MONICAVELOZ BEAUTYVLOGGER

Weknow colorismexists. let's shinelight into this

12 13 Sticking to the Eurocentric SCAN ME!

standards I see *if your phone isn't updated. this may not work*

Meet Rocio , Fatima , and Hear Monica Veloz speak Pablo-three Afro-Latinx on embracing her identi­ act i vists! ty as an Afro-Latina!

It is so problematic that society operates and progresses through a white-racial framework, which automatically eliminates space for those that don ' t conform to Eurocentric beauty labels.

Learn more about the Watch Amara La Negra talk space whiteness takes about colorism and why it up in telenovelas ! needs to be discussed .

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