[George Floyd\Black Latin America]
Yvette Rodríguez: “When I walk into a room, my Blackness walks in before my Latinism. “When it comes to Black Lives Matter, I can’t say, ‘let me go help them’ because ‘them’ is me. I am Black.”
Photo: YouTube
Latino communities are now confronting racism against Black Latinos.
Amid national dialogue about racism after the recent killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police, many non-Black Latinos and Afro-Latinos have seized this moment in history to call out the anti-Blackness rhetoric rooted in Latino communities — in order to truly stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
In a comprehensive conversation on racism within the Latin space, it’s important to understand that Latinos are hardly monolithic and represent a culturally, demographically and geographically diverse group. According to a 2014 survey by the Pew Research Center, 24 percent of the roughly 54 million Hispanics living in the United States at the time self-identified as Afro-Latino.
For Afro-Latinx, the Black Lives Matter movement is personal and parcel to their struggles in the U.S., says Yvette Rodríguez, who co-founded Afro-Latino Professionals of Miami.
“When I walk into a room, my Blackness walks in before my Latinism,” she explains. “When it comes to Black Lives Matter, I can’t say, ‘let me go help them’ because ‘them’ is me. I am Black. It’s our call too.”
Since the killing of Floyd on May 25 in Minnesota, peaceful demonstrations have taken place across the nation, with protestors holding signs that read “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace.”A go-to protest sign for Latin self-described allies reads: “Latinx for Black Lives Matter.”
For the rest of this Billboard story log on to: https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/9415836/latinx-communit-black-lives-matter-racism
