I just want to make this clear. Too many people have been asking and questioning why we use Afro-Latino/Afro-Latinx.
We say “Afro-Latinx”, and other similar terms, not because we see ourselves as less Latinx then anyone else, but because we have consciously decided to do all we can to reinforce our embracing of our African heritage. The term is as much political as it is cultural (and it’s certainly not just one culture). We choose to embrace our African heritage, our herencia Africana, our Blackness, in order to combat the antiblackness that plagues Latin America, the U.S. And the rest of the world.
There are those that say that Latino already implies African heritage, but I don’t want my Blackness implied. I want my blackness at the forefront of my latinidad because that’s who I am in every space I go to. The “Afro” in the Afro-Latino connects me to other Black Peoples around the world. We aim to forge connections with other black peoples, people from the continent of Africa and people around the globe with African heritage/ancestry, to make connections, and to celebrate the vast and beautiful diversity of blackness.
**Especially when the way we exist in the world is shaped by the way our African heritage is presented on our skin, language, hair, etc.
