I see myself in the future getting my career together, you know, getting my cooking style together and then from there using my cooking as a way to tell a story and a way to let people know how Africa has influenced not just Mexico, but all of Latino America. ¡Si soy mexicano!

~ Finnie

I wanted to sort of reconcile those two halves in a way that I thought was fitting. And through art I was able to kind of see the beauty and my heritage and make a lot of progress towards my reconciliation.

~ Lauryn

I was excited to share my story, to give my perspective and lend my voice to something that I think is so important to me just because I grew up here, you know, with these two identities and really this rich identity that not only is, you know, not just this binary of Mexican and Black American, but, you know, all of the things that we grew up with in culture and in where we come from.

~ Jasmine

Same thing with my students at work at the high school. We talk about how I want them to be comfortable talking about skin color. That idea of “I don’t see color” just doesn’t make sense. We see color. I think it’s more important to acknowledge it and not let color be the basis for bias or prejudice. And so from that point of view, I’m constantly affirming skin color and skin tone and doing it in a way that shows pride and respect.

~ Corky

We have African blood. Where do you think all the slaves that were brought in, against their will, what do you think happened to them? Did they disapppear? Did their bloodlines disappear? Para mi el término “Chicano” incluye ser indígena, negro y europeo (en varios grados).

~ Luis Nacho

Usually people think that I am, I’ve heard two things. I’ve heard that people think I’m Black right away and if they don’t know, they think I am Puerto Rican. …I pretty much identify as Chicano all the time when they ask me. Well that, that unlike most cultures, there’s a very fine line between being Latino and being Black…

~ Franklin

But I’ve always understood that I had some relationship to Blackness. However undefined it was, until it was. And so I would say that and I say this all the time I’m 100% Mexican-American and 100% African-American all the time, in every way I’m living my life. I mean, there’s no separation, there’s no boundaries. There’s no division of labor. It doesn’t exist for me. It really doesn’t.

~ Linda

…que somos gente orgullosa. Ahí de la Costa (Chica de Guerrero y Oaxaca, México) que.. que es bueno ser orgulloso de donde eres. Que tienes que saber de dónde vienes para saber dónde quieres ir y eso es todo.

~ Maury

So then I started to go by Afro-Latina and it’s still an ongoing experience of like learning. I heard the other day, black Chicana, and then I said, that lands in my body.

~ Desiree

It’s a complicated relationship with Mexico and, it’s not always bad or, like, bad situations. But I realized, and I came to terms with it, that someone who is just Mexican, like from northern Mexico, most likely will not understand me culturally.

~ Emily

I am Black and I don’t care if you don’t like it or not. I always have this saying that I would tell myself, it’s Black Power with a little Brown Pride on the side.

~ Joseph

So we got to acknowledge, acknowledge our cultures and have like pride in them, but also be able to understand other people, if that makes sense. But I genuinely do feel so proud to be a white Blaxican. And yeah, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

~ Allegra

I don’t know, I guess kind of just that like being somebody, I guess that’s like triracial is like, that it comes with its own battles that are not the same battles as somebody that’s like fully African-American or fully Mexican-American.

~ Esme

I’m just really grateful to be a part of both communities and really just like, get wisdom from people in both because I think like, I think that being black in America and being a Mexican in America, like people definitely have a lot of overlapping experiences. And so like being able to like, be a part of both and sometimes even bring both together has been like a very rewarding life.

~ Jolie

Soy Diana, soy mexicana, pero soy afrodescendiente. Soy una mujer afrodescendiente, porque mi abuela es una mujer negra en México. …Para mí todo lo que hago está fuertemente relacionado con una historia de vida que no solamente es la mía, es la de mi mamá y sobre todo de la de mi abuela, que es una persona que es un eje en mi vida.

~ Diana

Cuando estaba joven, que mucha gente no me creía que soy mexicano porque hubo un tiempo cuando tenía como unos 20 años, me dejé crecer el pelo y ahorita el pelo lo tengo corto, pero cuando me lo dejo crecer se me hace un afro, pero gigante.

~ Gavino

I feel like I haven’t found someone who’s like me, like I don’t think I found another Black Mexican who’s not a family member and I’d just like to find that someday.

~ Barbie

I know that a lot of my family is from Mexico and that part from my dad’s side, his ancestors were from a part of Africa. I remember that somebody once asked me if I was Black or, like, if I was African…I looked at them…do you think I’m African or Black?…I’m Mexican too.

~ Lindsey

It’s very important to me because there’s not a lot of Afro-Latinos or Latinas in Santa Barbara, so I try to educate myself on what I can.

~ Nahsia

Afro-Latino. Afro Mexican. Afro-Caribbean. There’s mixed blood along the lines.

~ Bobby

I was telling my brother, “this is beautiful. This needs to be done more in the community, you know?” And some of us are not comfortable or we’ve been told by the society that it’s not okay, you know, for us to get together and pass down certain things. I love, I remain teachable.

~ Lorena