Latinx Heritage Month

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month As A First-Gen Afro-Dominicano

Dominicans say “Cójelo con take it…

“My mom is a woman of color even though she might not be readily identified as such and I feel like because of that, she always gave me space to explore my identity; get in touch with who I am. She understood the void…

“Cuban-American or Latin-American, that’s not a race; that’s an ethnicity. My race is Black.” — Laz Alonso

“I’m more than what a lot of people think that I am — or will be.” — Cardi B

“The idea of Blackness among Latinos isn’t really discussed as much as it should [be] and it’s tragic because so much of that African culture is so dominant.” — Mimi Valdes

“I was told early on that I could not audition for Latina characters because I’m Black. And as much as I adore Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek, there are many amazing Latinas who don’t look like them. Afro-Latinxs also…

“I’m Cuban but [people] didn’t get it because I was also brown-skinned, and you usually see a fair-skinned Latino. So it was just like, ‘Oh, what are you? Are you Black? Are you white?’ I didn’t feel like I had to make…

“Clearly we’re not there yet, but to be able to bring forward the world as we see it, as I see it and as I saw it growing up and all the voices — women, Afro-Latinos, Latinos, Asians. We all inhabit the world, we all…

“I believe if we only are talking to people who agree with us, we are failing in some way to understand our world and our country.” — Gwen Ifill

“I don’t think about art when I’m working. I try to think about life.” — Jean-Michel Basquiat