American history was never meant to center Latinxs. It was never meant to tell Black stories and share Black narratives. If you are Afro-Latinx in this country, you are denied twice. Or make that thrice, when you factor in the anti-Black bias and colorism that exists within the Latinx community. However, facts remain facts – there is no Latinx history without AfroLatino history. In the effort to learn about our past – our complete, often untold story – we compiled this list of five important books that center Afro-Latinidad. Let’s get into it.
Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality by Tanya Katerí Hernández
Publisher AK Press’s description of Tanya Katerí Hernández’s Racial Innocence points out a huge problem within the Latinx community – “that it’s possible for a historically marginalized group to experience discrimination and also be discriminatory.” Instead of being a unified front fighting white supremacy, we are an ethnicity beautifully made up of several races, but fragmented. Katerí Hernández, an Archibald R. Murray Professor of Law at Fordham University, uses her expertise in antidiscrimination law, comparative law, critical race theory, race, and social justice to inform her readers on all the different ways anti-Black bias affects Black Latinx lives in this must-read on AfroLatino history.
Women Warriors of the Afro-Latina Diaspora edited by Marta Moreno Vega, Marinieves Alba, and Yvette Modestin
If BIPOC narratives are underrepresented, those of WOC are even more so. That is why we need books like Women Warriors of the Afro-Latina Diaspora. Published by Arte Público Press, “the oldest and most accomplished publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by US Hispanic authors,” the book shares eleven essays and four poems from Afro-Latina perspectives. Because the past is more than just facts, figures, and dates, we need personal stories like these in our history books.
A History of Afro-Hispanic Language by John M. Lipski
Mofongo. Chévere. Merengue. Did you know that these Spanish words come from Africa? Language shows how communities hold onto their identity, have other identities forced upon them, and create new ones when cultures mix. Linguist and Penn State Edwin Erle Sparks Professor Emeritus of Spanish Linguistics John M. Lipski takes a deep dive into the African influence on both Spanish and Portuguese in A History of Afro-Hispanic Language. Reading this is another way to decolonize what you know about Spanish, while leaning into and appreciating how African cultures have contributed to it.
The Afro-Latin@ Reader: History and Culture in the United States Edited by Miriam Jiménez Román and Juan Flores
When were you ever taught the history of Latinxs in the U.S.? How about AfroLatino history specifically? My guess is never. The Afro-Latin@ Reader: History and Culture in the United States is what we all should have been taught in high school. The book was edited by Miriam Jiménez Román and Juan Flores, and features over 60 contributors, including Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, Piri Thomas, and Willie Perdomo. Added bonus? The collection mixes “scholarly essays, memoirs, newspaper and magazine articles, poetry, short stories, and interviews” to get its points across.
Remixing Reggaetón: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico by Petra R. Rivera-Rideau
When learning about cultural history, it’s good to strike a balance between reading broad/general accounts that introduce you to a subject, and specific/niche books that allow you dive deep on a particular topic. If you are looking to take a closer look at the musical genre that is reggaeton, then an essential book to check out is Remixing Reggaetón: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico. In it, Petra R. Rivera-Rideau puts the focus, usually placed on white Latinx artists, back onto Afro-Latinxs, who pioneered the sound. The Associate Professor of American Studies at Wellesley College is also the author of Fitness Fiesta!: Selling Latinx Culture through Zumba and the co-editor of Afro-Latin@s in Movement: Critical Approaches to Blackness and Transnationalism in the Americas.
