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.

LatiNegr@s Project: Prof. Susurro

For the last week of Black History Month and for the LatiNegr@s Project, I've decided to send out some questions to LatiNegr@s in my life who I've learned from, been mentored by, and have built community with and share them with you all. I thank each of them for agreeing to share their lives with us and to share them publicly. Today's interviewee is someone I'm very proud to have entered my life via social media as a source of affirmation, support, and mentorship: Prof. Susurro

Q. How do you want to be identified?

A. [Prof] Susurro. Like a Whisper Blog. decolonized anti-racist feminist blogger & queer pop culture critic

Q. What identities do you embrace/have/claim?

A. radical woc activist - the rest you can glean in context

Q. Do you have a preference regarding the terms LatiNegr@, Afr@-Latin@, etc? If so, which one and why?

A. I prefer Afra-Latina because "negra", though descriptive in nature has often been used to differentiate between "good" and "bad" qualities and/or people or to mark difference, & tho we pretend it has no real racial meanings those meanings are always there and more acutely so to transmigrants who travel between racial systems and thus are often exposed to their hegemonic practices in ways that ppl born here or there are not.

Q. What images/texts/narratives were available to you growing up about Afra-Latina?

A. I think this question is complicated. There are tons of Afr@-Latin@ images, both positive and negative available in most countries with high percentages of Afr@-Latin@s outisde of the U.S. but positive images, with the exception of Celia Cruz, were not always marked as Afr@-Latin@. So for instance, you don't call previous presidents or revolutionaries who ousted colonial rule Afr@-Latin@ presidents or leaders, but if someone is running for president who is Afr@ Latin@ and the establishment doesn't like them you call them "black" and wonder about their real origins . . . So I would say that I could think of positive examples/images of Afr@-Latin@s in music, sport, medicine, education, the government, literature, etc. but that they were not associated with "blackness" nor was the term Afr@-Latin@ ever applied to them with few exceptions.

Q. Is there a specific or pivotal time in your life that stands out as being imperative to your consciousness as a Afra-Latina?

A. No. I am biracial (or multiracial if you prefer) so blackness has always been a conscious identity in my family; my family is pretty political about all of our ethno-religious and racial identities come to think of it. There was never a time we weren't taught to be proud of all of the mezclado and since my parents and grandparents are all pretty political folks, there was always discussion about cultural struggle, history, and intersectionality going on at our house. It was nice.

Q. What are your thoughts about the lived experiences of Afra-Latin@s all over the world having similar experiences with those living in the US (i.e. HIV rates).

A. diasporas are like trees, the limbs may be distinct but the roots are one. In that way we are all connected and our positive experiences and cultural expressions come from that connection. Unfortunately, colonialism is also like that in the sense that any given place has a specific colonial history through which racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, etc. get enacted but ultimately marginalization of certain identities are born from the root of that poison tree, & this is why we also share things like poor health, higher death rates from curable diseases, larger unemployment, etc.

Q. What symbols/rituals/etc. are important to you for maintaining community (locally, internationally, virtually) with other Afra-Latin@s?

A. This seems cheesy but certain favorite foods of mine, and the way they are eaten, are often key to feeling connected or creating connection after long absence as is old school music. I can't tell you how many times students have drifted into my office b/c they hear a particular song playing on my computer that reminds them of "home".

Q. Were there any lessons/ideologies/norms that you had to “unlearn” as you evolved into your identities? If so, will you share some with us?

A. Nope, see question 5. I feel very lucky about this b/c I spend a lot of time with people in my personal life, social service work, and academic life who have so much to unlearn or who don't know it is ok to believe black is beautiful and love themselves.

Q. Is there a book/image/quote/artifact/etc. that is important to you to symbolize your identity? If so, will you share one with us?

A. There are far too many to list and the funny thing is they represent a wide range of identities, places, and world views; I think people would be surprised @ what they'd find on my list.

Q. What else would you like to share with readers?

A. Cheesy as this is: know your history/ies, trust that you are beautiful, strong, and intelligent, and spend your energy on building community, justice, and your own self-esteem rather than raining down the hateration or reacting to others who do and you will be surprised at what you will learn about your culture/s, communities, and self.

Q. Is there a way readers can reach you through social media?

A. I blog @ Like A Whisper & have twitter & occasionally I answer formspring but mostly not.

Many thanks to Prof.Susurro for sharing! Please go find her on the web and visit her virtual homes. Don't forget to visit the LatiNegr@s Tumblr Page and consider submitting something. The page will be available year-round as people are welcome to submit as often as they like.

WTF John Mayer?

If you are not in the "loop" or if you are a White sexologist who has NO clue how to discuss what is going on with Mayer's racist, triflin, -ism ooozing comments you need to take some time to sit and read the following analysis:

Over at Like a Whisper there are several posts that analyze this hot mess. First start with:

Ode To White Men Who Think They Are Black
follow that up with the most recent article:
John Mayer Apologizes for "Trying To Be Clever."

Read my homegirl AJs piece over at Racialicious called: When Racefail Meets Playboy: The John Mayer Interview.

Then check out John Mayer: A Black Woman's Response: A letter to the singer & his "white supremacist" penis

I'd also like to remind people that Playboy is the same space that when interviewing rapper Lil Wayne who shared his history of sexual abuse and rape which writers described as "how he's been a playa since his childhood days playing board game."


As more analysis appears I'll add to this list.

Operation Ignore John Mayer is in effect see more below



Added on February 15 from my homegirl (PC I didn't ask how to quote you but it's YOU) via twitter is Margaret Cho's response Mayer.

foto credit: Thumbs Down Picasso Painting by Yvonne Ayoub

LatiNegr@s Project: Week One Roundup

As you know, Black History Month (BHM) has begun and so has the LatiNegr@s Project. Here are several pieces that have been written and shared throughout the virtual homes of several contributors:

*Poet and Author Anthony wrote two posts this week. The first was a call to action for the LatiNegr@s Project and the next his memories and connection to the legacy and life of Roberto Clemente.

*Activist Liza Sabatar has pulled a few highlights from her decade of writing about her identity as a blatina and shares them with us. She is also one of the few (if not the only) LatiNegra who was included on The Root's Black Twitter: A Starter Kit.

*Prof.Susurro continues her highlight of community members for BHM (something you need to read on a weekly basis) and updates her site weekly. Her first posting including LatiNegr@s is on performance artist/activist Josefina Baez. She also has features on Dr. Marisa Richmond, the first Black trans woman to win a Tennessee election.

*My homeboy from back home, Hugo, shares his connection to and experience with the late Jean Michel Basquiat on his virtual home Chronicles of the American Pupusa where his muses focus mainly on popular culture and musica.

*Efrain Ortiz, Jr. had share information on Arturo Alfonso Shomburg on his virtual home Efrain's Corner and on our Tumblr page.

*Our project was also featured this week on Global Voices in a feature story "Latin America: Celebrating The Contributions of Afro-Latinos" to much support.

Please don't forget to visit the LatiNegr@s Tumblr Page and submit something! Please note the submit page is a different site address.