This particular moment in history is loaded for myriad folks, but it's undeniable that Black and Brown people are at the forefront of many movements currently taking place in the U.S. and abroad. The turmoil of this period has forced me to take a tropical squint at my own experiences as a Black woman and unclose some uncomfortable truths well-nigh the ways I've learned to subconsciously shrink myself to fit the mold of what I thought would most align me with worthiness. (My hair has had a lot to do with it, which I wrote about here.) It's been emotional and eye-opening and really got me thinking well-nigh what must be coming up for my sisters existing in a variegated part of the African diaspora: Afro-Latinas.
While I'm familiar with Latina legends such as Celia Cruz, who had beautiful melanated skin, it wasn't until relatively recently that I started gaining a deeper understanding of how ramified an experience it can be to claim a mixed heritage that not everyone firmly grasps. But increasingly than ever, those with Afro-Latino roots are refusing to be forced into boxes that tweedle yonder at their expansive and rich identities. It's a trappy thing to witness considering it's educational for us all and considering watching people step into the most pure expressions of themselves, unapologetically and without trepidation, is super profound.
But guess what. There's nothing new well-nigh Afro-Latino heritage! It's quite literally as old as the Eurocentric eyeful standards that have caused many to adopt and strictly pinion to a singular and incomplete notion of what an "acceptable" Latina looks like. To those gainsaying that system, we hear you, we see you, and we have mad love and respect for you.
And gainsaying the system is exactly what Alba Ramos, Christine Cruz, Diana Danelys De Los Santos, Grasie Mercedes, and Monica Veloz are doing. Ahead, meet these five powerhouse Afro-Latina creatives sharing their own stories through art and eyeful and forging a new path of representation for all who identify with their unique perspectives. Get to know all well-nigh them and their experiences in the eyeful industry and beyond, and trammels out the products they count among their favorites.
What does beauty mean to you?
To me, beauty is the whole package. Its having the combination of weft quality and a genuine or unique physical appearance. Both requite pleasure to our senses when experiencing, from internal quality and physical appearance. But the truth is a person is too often considered trappy based on their visitation vacated without categorizing their beauty as a whole. Physical beauty is just a bonus.
What is a misconception well-nigh Afro-Latino heritage/identity that you'd like to clarify?
I think the most worldwide misconception I encounter is that identifying as Afro-Latino ways you are mixed, with one parent stuff Latino and the other stuff African American. This can be true for some, but its not how Afro-Latino is defined. Stuff Afro-Latino ways you come from a Hispanic heritage/culture or country and have beautiful brown skin of all intensities due to your Black ancestry. This refinement is needed considering the thought of a Hispanic person looking like Jennifer Lopez is still unsupportable by many. In my case, I was born in the Dominican Republic. Both of my parents were moreover born there and so were my grandparents. Both my parents have a similar brown complexion, but my grandparents have a mix of parents of African descent and Spanish descent with opposite skin complexions.
How has your individual life wits influenced your beauty philosophy?
As a child, my mother's idea of beauty influenced my own. Thats unchangingly been an issue because, since my mother struggled with her identity and self-acceptance, I naturally well-timed to her wrong perception of beauty. As a child, I used to think I couldn't be in the sun too long considering stuff darker meant stuff less beautiful and that I shouldnt wear sunscreen considering brown people dont burn. I was forced to straighten my hair for every family party or special occasion and was rarely unliable to style my hair in its naturally curly state. These are just some of the wrong beauty ideologies I grew up with, which, thankfully, reverted as I came into my late teens. Most importantly, through unvarying conversations, Ive been worldly-wise to transpiration my parents' philosophies on beauty also.
Have you overly felt othered or excluded from beauty trends or the beauty industry at large? If so, please describe an instance that you can recall.
I used to rarely see myself represented on TV, in magazines, and, surprisingly, plane in Spanish television (which is still a huge problem). My first language is Spanish, and theres unchangingly been an unfair portrayal of beauty in Spanish media. Magazines and novelas largely showed the light-skin, straight-hair Hispanics as main notation in their story lines and excluded brown skin and naturally curly hair from stuff seen as beautiful, too. Ive seen some improvements in recent times, but this is still an issue in the Spanish-speaking beauty industry especially.
Whats something you would like to transpiration well-nigh the beauty industry? How can allies be helpful?
One big transpiration Id like to see in the beauty industry thats personal to me and many women are increasingly realistic persons without giving birth. Celebrities have a unconfined wholesomeness to get when into shape quicker than most of us who have fewer recourses to physical fitness and health practices, so the idea that a womans soul is supposed to shrink when quickly is often seen as the norm when, in reality, it is not. And that pressure is profoundly rabble-rousing to new mothers who should only be prioritizing the superintendency and health of their new baby.
What advice do you have for Afro-Latino humans who may be struggling with the complexities of their identity in the beauty space or the world in general?
For those struggling with their own identity as a Hispanic, something that helped me is the realization that stuff Latina is not a raceits my heritage. I didnt unchangingly know that, and Im sure its still a struggle for many today. I moreover want to encourage you to not be wrung of having these respectful conversations with your parents, cousins, friends, aunts, and uncles considering thats when true transpiration happens.
What does beauty mean to you?
Embracing my flaws and imperfections is what beauty means to me. I suffered from bad acne growing up, and now, I'm left with so many scars considering of it. For a long time, I was too red-faced to show my shoulders out in public considering I was scared people would ask well-nigh it. I would unchangingly imbricate them and skip out on wearing dresses that would show my shoulders. It started to really stupefy me, and it wasn't until without my upper school prom that, for the first time, I felt beautiful with my shoulders out. From that point on, it's been a resulting back-and-forth with myself to learn to fathom my imperfections. Some days, it's nonflexible to not be insecure well-nigh them, but most days, I think it's truly beautiful to embrace what we may not like well-nigh ourselves. No one could overly tear you down.
What is a misconception well-nigh Afro-Latino heritage/identity that you'd like to clarify?
There's no unrepealable squint to a Latino. We all come in variegated sizes and shades. Just because I may be a light-skinned woman, it doesn't make me anything less than an Afro-Latina.
How has your individual life wits influenced your beauty philosophy?
Makeup has been so therapeutic throughout the last few years of my life. Sometimes if I've had a bad day, I'll sit at my vanity and play my favorite playlist and just do my makeup. I truly enjoy my transformation. I'm a pretty confident girl, but everyone has those days where maybe you're not feeling your best. Makeup has been there to help me get through some bad days and good days.
Are there any beauty standards or trends you ignore?
I don't believe that people with problematic skin shouldn't wear makeup or that perfection is beauty. I think it's the imperfections that make beauty raw and beautiful.
What inspires you to share your gifts with the world?
I just want to share that I go through the same challenges most of us go through. I just want to be transparent well-nigh my journey and show the world we're all just taking it day by day. How can I grow as a creative if I don't share my knowledge with others who can goody from it?
What translating do you have for Afro-Latino humans who may be struggling with the complexities of their identity in the eyeful space or the world in general?
The translating I would requite is to take time and really learn well-nigh yourself and where you come from and embrace it. It's okay to be different. As long as you are yourself and genuine, people will gravitate to you.
What does eyeful midpoint to you?
To me, eyeful is stuff 100% yourself. Stuff in love with and truly confident in yourself allows you to be trappy in a way vastitude what shows on the outside. Stuff as kind to others as you are to yourself and permitting yourself to grow and be a largest version of you every day, that is eyeful to me.
What is a misconception well-nigh Afro-Latino heritage/identity that you'd like to clarify?
That we have to identify as one or the other.
Are there any eyeful standards or trends you ignore?
I ignore the idea that natural hair cannot be neat or professional. My afro and natural hair are a staple of my roots and a part of who I am. How could anyone not winnow the hair that grows out of my own head?
What inspires you to share your gifts with the world?
My mom crossed the Mexican border. She immigrated from the Dominican Republic. I was taught to stand up for what I believe in, work hard, and value family. Once I realized that I can use my voice and influence to uplift others, I knew it was what I wanted to do for life.
Whats something you would like to transpiration well-nigh the eyeful industry? How can allies be helpful?
I would love to transpiration the false expectation of perfection. I think social media has made people think that they have to squint a unrepealable way to be trappy or accepted, but the most trappy thing well-nigh this industry is that every product, style, etc., looks totally variegated on everyone. Beauty is not meant to be uniformit should be unvigilant and expressive and unique.
What translating do you have for Afro-Latino humans who may be struggling with the complexities of their identity in the eyeful space or the world in general?
I teach fellow members of the Afro-Latino polity to find pride in their roots. Find and support the eyeful brands that create their products with you in mind.
What does eyeful midpoint to you?
As cliché as it sounds, to me, eyeful comes from within. If you don't finger beautiful, you won't exude beauty. If you are internally beautiful, then I will only see eyeful regardless of what you physically squint like. I love trappy people and surround myself with them. My friends and family are all beautiful, kind, generous, loving, giving people, and I count my blessings that I have them in my life.
What is a misconception well-nigh Afro-Latino heritage/identity that you'd like to clarify?
The term Afro-Latinx is a newe one, so a lot of people outside of the Latinx polity have no idea what it means. I've had people think it meant that one of my parents is African American and one is Latinx, and I plane had one person think it was the term used for a Latinx person with an afro. (Ha! Nope.)
But I can't totally vituperation them since the history we are taught in this country excludes very facts virtually New World colonization and the African diaspora. So I'll requite you a quick history lesson on the matter: White Europeans (Spanish, French, Dutch) colonized islands in the Caribbean (present-day Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, etc.). There were once Native Indians on these lands, and the Europeans brought African slaves with them. Since only European men did the colonizing, they sooner starting raping the African and Native women, which began a lineage of "mixed" people. These people span the spectrum of skin hues and European, Native, and African features, which is why today's Latinx are so diverse! Lesson over. Both my parents are from the Dominican Republic. I was born here in the states in Brooklyn, so I'm Dominican American. Both my parents are Afro-Latinx, meaning they are Latinx with African features and brown skin, and I squint just like them. We are all racially Black and ethnically Latinx, increasingly specifically Dominican.
Sadly, there is still a lot of colorism in the Latinx community, as we've been brainwashed to think that whiter is better. For this reason, a lot of Afro-Latinx don't use the term and denounce their African heritage. It makes me sad, but I think it's starting to change, and hopefully, wares like these will unshut increasingly people's vision to our trappy diversity.
How has your individual life wits influenced your eyeful philosophy?
My mom has gorgeous skin and does not age, so all my life, I've looked up to her eyeful and makeup routines. She has unchangingly kept it simple, and I do the same. I only wear heavy makeup for auditions, but my daily makeup squint consists of mascara, blush, brow powder, and a lip balmthat's it! For skincare, I've stepped it up over the last few years, but my major rule that I moreover learned from mom is to never go to sleep with makeup on. I've been wearing makeup since upper school, and I have never once fallen unconsciousness with it on!
What inspires you to share your gifts with the world?
When I think of young Grasiethe painfully insecure little girl that was too shy to squint anyone in the eye until her early 20sthat inspires me to get to work. I'm a storyteller, and whether I'm telling stories via vicarial or writing or directing or blogging or podcasting, I love to tell stories! And I want those stories to be for women, for Black girls, for Latinx girls, for all BIPOCs, for the LGBTQ community, and for those who are disabledfor anyone who's overly felt "other" or "less than." That's why I tell stories and do what I do. I want to inspire little girls and boys to embrace their uniqueness and not finger red-faced of it or like they need to transpiration or standardize to exist. Representation matters, and I aspire to do everything in my power as a storyteller to make sure everyone's stories are told.
Have you overly felt othered or excluded from eyeful trends or the eyeful industry at large? If so, please describe an instance that you can recall.
Yes, all the time. Expressly when I'm on set as an two-face and the makeup person has to mix two shades of foundation to match my skin verisimilitude or when they can't match it at all considering they just don't have unbearable wits with brown skin. Or when the hair person takes one squint at my curls and is unmistakably intimidated. The eyeful industry needs to diversify its verisimilitude palettes. And while some companies are doing that, there's still a ways to go. There are levels to our brown and Blackness with variegated undertones of yellow or red, and makeup brands need increasingly variety, and makeup artists need to be trained to work with all skin hues. As far as hair, that's a big topic we can dedicate flipside whole vendible to. But I'll say this: I've had so many bad hair experiences on set that now when I typesetting a job, I send the producers images of my hair curly, straight, and wavy and ask them how they would like my hair washed-up so I can show up that way and, hopefully, stave increasingly nightmare situations. This shouldn't be the case, but it is for so many Black and Brown actors. It needs to change.
What translating do you have for Afro-Latino humans who may be struggling with the complexities of their identity in the eyeful space or the world in general?
Embrace your Blackness and your Latinidad! Don't shrink to fit into white spaces and know that you are beautiful!
What does beauty mean to you?
Beauty means to love yourself vastitude words while moreover unsuspicious your flaws regardless of what anyone thinks of you.
What is a misconception well-nigh Afro-Latino heritage/identity that you'd like to clarify?
That, because I embrace stuff an Afro-Latina, I'm denying my Blackness. When I say I'm Afro-Latina, that is a statement stating I am a Black woman first and nothing can overly transpiration that!
How has your individual life wits influenced your beauty philosophy?
I was unchangingly tabbed names well-nigh my complexion, and people would roll their vision every time I spoke Spanish considering they thought I was trying to prove that I was Dominican. Growing up, it was nonflexible to deal with that feeling of not knowing who I was and what the world wanted me to be. Now, I use all those memories to fuel and encourage others to live their truth regardless of what society wants them to be.
Are there any beauty standards or trends you ignore?
I honestly don't believe in beauty standards. I believe that beauty is endless, and it's up to that person to define beauty whichever way they see fit.
What inspires you to share your gifts with the world?
I guess you can say I've unchangingly enjoyed speaking with people, and I believe I'm a part of a narrative that is so necessary for our Latino community. I wish, growing up, I saw increasingly people who looked like me loving themselves.
What advice do you have for Afro-Latino humans who may be struggling with the complexities of their identity in the beauty space or the world in general?
If you have tha little voice in your throne telling you to be self-ruling and live your truth, do it! I remember when I first started my YouTube channel how many people thought it was wacky for me to speak Spanish. They wanted me to create a whole other channel, but I said, "Why? I'm a bilingual/Spanglish channel." And now, that's what people know me for. So just live your truth. It's unchangingly scary at first, but the reward of having the self-rule of stuff yourself is so worth it.
Up next,10 Latina Fashion Editors Share the Brands They're Excited Well-nigh Right Now
This post was originally published at an older stage and has since been updated.