BEING BLACK AND LATINX IS NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE (Black History Month 2022)
As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, we want to highlight the intersection between the Black and Latinx communities. Afro-Latinos have contributed a significant amount to Latin-American and American culture. From the Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz, to renowned author, Miriam Jiménez Román, Black Latinos continuously shape and impact society and culture in the United States and abroad.
According to the Pew research center, a quarter of Hispanics living in the U.S. identify as Afro-Latino. In the past decades, we have seen an increase in self-identification and conversations surrounding the Afro-Latino community. Colorism is prevalent in the United States and Latin America, but slowly as a society, we’ve begun to recognize Afro-Latinos as significant members and contributors of the Latino culture.
We have seen a significant increase in Afro-Latino actors and celebrities speaking up about their experiences being both part of the Black and Latinx communities throughout the nation. The increase in representation and amplification of Afro-Latine voices fight the erasure faced by many Black Latinos in the past.
In our very own state, we have seen the incredible successes reached by Black Latinos such as Veronica Murray and Esperanza Spalding.
Below we highlight both local and national Afro-Latinx trailblazers and their stories.
Veronica Murray
Veronica is currently the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager and Affirmative Action Representative for the Department of Consumer and Business Services. Her role involves providing leadership, creativity, and an innovative approach to attract and retain under-represented individuals. Before this role, Veronica worked at the Oregon Employment Department, responsible for sales and Marketing to Latin America. She speaks English and Spanish and continues to learn Russian and Tagalog.
Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza Spalding is considered by many to be “The 21st Century’s Jazz Genius”. She was raised in Portland by her Welsh, Native American, and Hispanic Mother. In Portland, Esperanza began playing instruments at the young age of five. In 2011 Spalding won a Grammy for Best New Artist from a pool of nominees, the likes of Drake and Justin Bieber. Terri Lyne Carrington, an American Drummer, describes Spalding’s lyrics as poetry, her compositions as everything but easy, and her voice capable of acrobatics, coming together to make her an extraordinary role model for young women in music. Esperanza Spalding is not only an Oregon treasure but is also making strides and beautifully representing our communities in the music industry.
ILIA CALDERÓN
Ilia Calderón is a Colombian journalist working as the news anchor for Univision's national evening newscast. In Colombia, she became the first Afro-Latina to host a national news program. She later moved to the United States and has worked with broadcast companies such as Telemundo and Univision. In 2017 Calderón became the first Afro-Latina to anchor a central news desk in the U.S. That same year she drew headlines for her interview of Christopher Barker, an imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan on the hate group’s property. She won two Emmys for this interview. She is a role model and advocates for the Black members of the Latino community who regularly face discrimination. Calderón’s book, My Time to Speak: Reclaiming Ancestry and Confronting Race, covers her Black and Latino experience in America and Colombia. In an interview with NBC, she says, “One day when more Afro-Latinos reach positions, it hopefully won’t make headlines. It will be the norm. It has to be the norm.
We cannot ignore the colorism within the Latino community. While trailblazers like these have paved the way for a future of acceptance, the Latino community must work to recognize the beauty in our differences and the strength in our unity.