Omaris Zunilda Zamora: Showcasing Afro-Latinx Invisibility

The Afro-Latinx identity is oftentimes overlooked or forgotten in both the U.S. and in Latin America – Dr. Zamora sat down with me to talk about the Afro-Latinx experience, media representation, and her research on "Love and Hip Hop" as a Afro-Latinx platform.

(Dr. Zamora and colleagues at “Love and Hip Hop - People of Color and Reality TV.” Source: Terra Brister. From left to right: Dr. Nicole Hodges Persley, Cat Harper, Dr. Omaris Zamora, Terra Brister, Dr. Ayesha Hardison, Charlesia McKinney, Anthony Boynton.)

“To me, being Afro-Latinx means that I am a black Latina woman.”

It seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? However, this idea seems to be difficult for some people to grasp. Why is that?

Well, Dr. Omaris Zunilda Zamora, a transnational Black Dominican Studies scholar and University of Kansas professor from Chicago, has spent her academic career studying this phenomenon, as well as many topics within the realm of Black and Latino Studies.

In the process, she has worked to bring more representation of the Afro-Latinx community, which has remained almost completely absent from both United States and Latin American media.

The Afro-Latinx identity refers to Hispanic or Latino individuals of African descent. Afro-Latinx individuals are visibly black and they typically have darker skin tones and coarser hair textures than the lighter-skin Latinos who are normally represented in the media.

However, this is only one definition –– Afro-Latinx identity is complex and nuanced, and consists of a variety of unique experiences characterized by both “joy” and “pain.” One common experience among the Afro-Lantinx community is invisibility.

“My experiences of being a black Latina women have a lot to do with how I understand myself, how I move around the world, and how I am perceived. But it also comes with a lot of work and a lot of pushing for others to see me, and for others to see people like us,” said Zamora.

As mentioned, Afro-Latinx individuals have had to push for visibility and representation –– this lack of acknowledgment is due to a variety of reasons, some of which Zamora discussed with me.

Zamora mentioned an article by a woman who had recently started embracing her Afro-Latina identity. From this article, it could be assumed Afro-Latinx is a relatively new identity people are beginning to adopt. However, this is not necessarily the case.

Zamora described how Afro-Latinx is more recent as a term in mainstream culture, but within academia, it's been a term that has been used for decades.

She said the woman in the article has always been Afro-Latina. Her experience of being Afro-Latina has existed since the moment she came into consciousness; however, she most likely did not have a term to define her experience until she became aware of – and began to embrace – the term “Afro-Latinx.”

“I think it's a moment of awareness that she says: ‘Oh, now I have this way of identifying the things that I have been living.’ It's putting a name to your experience,” Zamora said. “It's not that your experience hasn't existed. I think some people might think that this Afro-Latinx thing is new, but it's not new. It has existed for centuries. It just means that we have a way of talking about it.”

Zamora said this could play a role in the lack of representation of Afro-Latinx individuals; however, the root of the problem goes much deeper than ignorance.

A large aspect of the invisibility many Afro-Latinx individuals feel derives from feeling excluded from both the black community and the Latinx community; basically both aspects of your identity are constantly being questioned.

For example, in the U.S., many people consider African-Americanism as the only form of blackness. Many do not consider there are people of other cultures or ethnicities who come from African descent –– oftentimes, people forget there are black people in countries other than Africa or the United States.

“Being Afro-Latina in a black American space, and then the moment that they find out that you are Dominican and that you are from a Spanish speaking country, you're no longer black. You can’t be black because you're Dominican. You have to be African-American to be black,” Zamora said. “Physically, you are fitting into the party until you started saying something in Spanish or until it was revealed that you're actually not African-American, but you are Dominican, or you are Haitian, or that you are Afro-Brazilian.”

Zamora said she wants people to understand that blackness is a transnational concept; therefore, anti-blackness is also a transnational concept.

She discussed how racism and colorism, a type of prejudice or discrimination based on skin-tone that occurs among people of the same ethnic or racial group, are both prevalent issues in Latin America, as well as most countries around the world.

She revealed that, similar to the U.S., in Latin America, black communities are typically the poorest communities, or darker skinned individuals are least likely to be chosen as for a job, and so on.

She even mentioned how there is a concept in Latin America called “Mejor De La Raza,” or “to better the race,” which means individuals should not marry or have children with darker-skinned individuals.

“The concept is really we’re going to mix to the point that we basically mix out the black,” said Zamora. “So then it's like if we’re saying we're all mixed and black doesn't exist within the community, that means that the moment you step into the room as a black person, you don't exist. You don't belong here. So why are you here?”

Moreover, black individuals are even less likely to represented in Latin American media. Zamora mentioned how most Lantinx individuals in the media are blonde and blue-eyed or olive-skinned with dark hair. Basically, most Latinx people in media (in Latin America and the U.S.) look like Sofia Vergara or J-Lo.

“The lighter or proximity to whiteness that you have, the more desirable people find you,” Zamora said. “I mean, beyond being super talented and gifted, there's an extra reason why Beyoncé is more successful than other dark skin black women who are artists.”

When darker-skinned individuals are casted, they typically play stereotypical, problematic roles such as a maid, a gangster or even a prostitute. Either that, or they must audition for African-American roles, leaving out the Latinx aspect of their identity.

If and when Afro-Latinx characters are present in entertainment media, their stories are typically left out of the narrative. Audiences may know they are black and from Cuba –– but that’s it. They will rarely display the specific experiences the individuals have as Afro-Latinx people.

However, recently, one potentially surprising show has become a major platform for Afro-Latinx individuals: “Love and Hip Hop: Miami”.

Since last year, Zamora has been extensively researching for a book project that, according Zamora’s profile on the University of Kansas website, “engages the theoretical formation of Afro-Latina feminist epistemologies through an analysis of transnational Dominican women’s narratives in literature and performance.”

Zamora revealed that in the last chapter of her book, she focuses on a “Love and Hip Hop: Miami” cast member who has acted as a major player in the quest of more Afro-Lantix representation and awareness.

Diana de los Santos, better known as Amara La Negra, which means “love the black woman”, is an Afro-Latina musician from the Dominican Republic. She became a breakout star in the U.S. after her role on “Love and Hip Hop."

In Zamora’s book, she discusses how Amara La Negra uses her platform on reality TV, social media, and in music to bring more representation to Afro-Latinx individuals, and to highlight many of the experiences and struggles the community faces.

For instance, Zamora referred to a specific example in the show which characterizes the way in which Afro-Latinx individual’s identities are oftentimes questioned or invalidated.

In the clip, Amara La Negra was speaking with a producer who told her in order to be a successful musician, she needed to "look a little bit more Beyoncé and a little less Macy Gray." Amara La Negra responded by asking "All the girls look like J-Lo or Sophia Vergara or Shakira ... where are the girls that look like me?”

In a separate interview, Amara La Negra was asked why she tolerated that behavior, to which she responded “Unfortunately, I almost feel that because I’ve heard it so many times, there was this part of me that felt like I don’t even want to be mad at you, I just feel like I should educate you about it.”

Similar to Amara La Negra, Zamora hopes to use her platform as an Afro-Latina professor and author to educate people and bring more representation to Afro-Latinx identity and experiences. She has presented and will continue to share her research at many conferences, lectures, and roundtables –– her most recent being an event held at KU in March called “Love and Hip Hop - People of Color and Reality TV.”

“I'm just trying to let the world know that we're here,” Zamora said.