Afro-Latinidad (explained)
Afro-Latinidad is a term that is used to acknowledges the African roots within Latin American history, culture, and identity. It refers to the experiences of individuals (and entire communities) whose lives sit at this beautiful intersection of Blackness and Latinidad. while the diversity of Latin America is often celebrated, Black identity is frequently erased or marginalized in conversations about what it means to be of Latin descent. In this piece, I will refer to it as “Afro-Latin descent” or “Afro-Latin” for a more simplified and uniformed translation.
Historical Foundations
The story of those of Afro-Latin descent begins with [surprise!] the transatlantic slave trade, during which millions of Africans were stolen, enslaved, and forcefully brought to Latin America and the Caribbean. the enslaved Africans carried with them languages, spiritual practices, music, and agricultural knowledge. today, places like Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico are home to some of the largest Afro-Latin descendant populations. they also brought resistance and a will to fight. across Latin America, enslaved and free Black people organized revolts and established quilombos (Brazil), palenques (Colombia), and cimarrón communities (Panama), all of which being settlements of people who escaped slavery and actively fought for freedom. that legacy of their struggles is what’s central to Afro-Latinidad: it is not only about surviving colonization but about actively resisting it. these communities have preserved and reimagined African traditions while surviving the colonial systems built on racial hierarchy. in simple terms, Afro-Latin descent emerged from the blood of natives/indigenous, africans and those of the colonial power (usually spanish or french); which as previously stated has a long history of survival, resistance, and cultural innovation.
Cultural Contributions
Afro-Latin culture is everywhere, from music, food, religion, language, and art. when it comes to
music genres such as samba (Brazil), cumbia (Colombia/Carribean), son (Cuba), bomba and plena (Puerto Rico), and reggaetón (Panama and Puerto Rico) which are deeply rooted within african rhythms and call-and-response traditions. even globally popular forms like tango (Argentina/Uruguay) and salsa (New York, but born of Afro-Caribbean migrants) trace their origins back to Afro-Latin creativity.
religious traditions such as santería, candomblé, and vodou blend african spirituality with catholicism and indigenous practices. the African spiritual systems survived colonization through syncretism. In Cuba, Yoruba traditions merged with Catholicism to form santería (which is the case for many Caribbean islands i.e. Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, etc.). In Brazil, Candomblé flourished, while in Haiti, Vodou developed from a fusion of West African spiritual practices and Catholic saints. These religions provided enslaved people with sources of strength, community, and resistance. Many found this as a form to retalliate against those who were in power.
Afro-Latin food reflects African agricultural knowledge with staples like plantains, okra, yuca, black-eyed peas, and rice-and-bean combinations which travelled in the minds of those who were stolen as a taste of home. so many iconic afro-latin dishes such as feijoada in Brazil, mofongo in Puerto Rico, or arroz con coco in Colombia are direct inheritances of Afro-descendant cooking techniques.
when it comes to language, many word in Spanish that’s spoken in communities of Afro-Latin descent are “loan words” from african languages. a few examples from Bantu which is a language family which forms a larger family of over 500 african languages (including: Xhosa [shosa], Swahili, Zulu, Kongo) are responsible for words like boungu (bongo), ci-mpenzi (chimpance), and imamba (mamba). there are truly so many more to look into (and i advice you should)!
Identity and Visibility
Afro-Latin descent is more than heritage, it’s identity. For many, claiming Afro-Latinidad means affirming both Blackness and Latinidad in spaces where the two are often separated. Anti-Blackness, colorism, and systemic inequality continues to affect Afro-Latin people across the Americas. At the same time, movements for recognition, equity, and representation are growing stronger. Writers, scholars, communities and activists use Afro-Latinidad as a framework to highlight the realities of Afro-descendant communities and demand visibility in politics, media, and education. Here are a few communities you should look into:
Afro-Mexican communities which are concentrated in Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Veracruz, which have been long ignored in the national narrative of mestizaje.
Jamaican migrants in Limon, Costa Rica
the Garífuna people in Honduras, Nicaragua, & Belize
Loíza and Afro-Boricua identity in Puerto Rico
Quilombos & Bahia in Brazil
to conclude…
while Afro-Latinidad is not new, it is something that is new to being socially destigmatized, which challenges history but of contemporary relevance. black voices have always been silenced or forced down, we hear that in the voices of Celia Cruz who used her brown skin as an extra layer of courage to speak out on abuse of Black women, and Joe Arroyo for singing the hurting history and continuos lamentations of Afro-latinos (especially in Colombia). as more Afro-Latin voices gain visibility in politics, academia, and culture, Afro-Latinidad continues to grow as both a personal identity and a collective movement. It is a reminder that the story of Latin America—and of the Latin diaspora—cannot be told without Blackness at its core.
