LatiNegr@s Project: An Update

We started this project February 1, 2010 aka Black History Month (BHM) and many of the contributors have written about various topics about the African Diasporas and the intersections with the Caribe y Latin/Central America. There are over 90 submissions to the LatiNegr@s Tumblr page and you can always submit something.

I'd like for everyone to know this:

The LatiNegr@s Project is year round, 365 days 24/7.

We began on BHM but we will NOT end on BHM, as it should be for every community, identity, testimonio. The LatiNegr@s Tumblr page is still going to accept submissions. It will still be available for people to visit, learn from, and build curriculum or produce knowledge as each person's pace/need/ability. This is a project that centers affirmation, recognition, and love.

I know personally, I will continue to post on the project in various ways and will still use the "LatiNegr@s Project" tag so you can find additional posts throughout the year. With March being Women's Herstory Month, September-October Latino Heritage Month, y other featured times/places/events, I will continue to post something about the project and from my perspective. My hope is that each one of you will continue to do the same, find ways to share your testimonio with those in your life and help us continue to build upon the LatiNegr@s Project!

A multitude of thanks and gratitude I send to each of you who submitted to the project, who wrote and shared posts from your virtual homes with us, and who spread the word, even if in a simple "retweet" of a post, to sending your students to us, to agreeing to be interviewed, to shamelessly plugging the project! This was and is a success because of all of you.

There is still an enourmous space to grow this project beyond what it is at currently! Perhaps someone is interested in making a Facebook fan page, a Twitter page, or an event of some sort. I know there is an upcoming video that I will be posting about the project that was shot in a series for a larger TV episode on Afro-Latinos. Be on the look out for that!

A special thank you to my co-conspirators Anthony Otero from Inside My Head, Prof.Susurro from Like A Whisper, Hugo from Chronicles Of The American Pupusa, who each were extremely willing to become a part of this without hesitation and who were committed in ways that fill me with joy every time I think of the amazing work that has been produced.

I'll leave you with a video of one of my favorite Cuban Hip-Hop groups: Obsesion at the 2005 Hip-Hop Festival in Cuba.