In its third year, the Afro-Latino Festival pulsed with vibrant, melodic sounds that can be found throughout Latin America and mapped back to "the mother land." Beyond food, language and history, there's no better way to trace culture ties than with music.
The Afro-Latino Festival moved from borough-to-borough in its third year, showcasing impressive demonstrations, stellar music performances, collective culture, African roots, and the colorful manifestation of the diverse Latino community.
An early introduction to rich flavors inspired Raquel Dailey-Parham to open the Puerto Rican restaurant Maracas in the heart of Chicago's south side Bronzeville neighborhood, an area that's predominately African American, but not before she and her sister, Rebecca Dailey-Wooley, launched Boriquachicks.com.
In a conversation about blackness and being Panamanian, Anthony Palanco's grandmother spoke about her mother, who had fair skin, and her father's dark skin and features that's traditionally associated with blackness.
Panamanian Anthony Palanco author of Verses from the Diaspora: A Poetic Tale of the African Diaspora sat down with Latin Post and spoke about his mixed Panamanian roots, his upbringing in the United States of as a Spanish-speaking Latino with a dark complexion, and Panama's gaParze when it comes to skin politics.
"(1) Drop: Shifting The Lens On Race," a project headed researcher Dr. Yaba Blay and photographer Noelle Théard, examined culture, ethnicity and attitude about race and questioned the perspectives of 58 people who identified as being some degree of "Black."
In 2012, sales of skin lightening creams in India alone totaled 258 tons, and the global market for skin lighteners is projected to reach US $19.8 billion by 2018 based on sales growth primarily in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, according to Andrew McDougall of CosmeticsDesign-Asia.com. Many of these skin-whitening products use active ingredients (such as mercurous chloride) and hydroquinone, which can be harmful. In fact, hydroquinone is banned in Europe; and skin lightening creams available in Nigeria has caused mutations in bacteria, proved to be possibly carcinogenic.
Afro Latino music claims the voice of African and Latin people, and bellows heritage and pride. It is music that details pain, regret and difficulty. It communicates soulfulness and resiliency, broadcasting the strength of its collective people.
Nuyorican prize-winning poet and children's book author Willie Perdomo is Spanish Harlem's El Barrio-born and a native to all things awe-inspiring. He has been published in New York Times Magazine and Bomb. The writer of Clementine!, Where a Nickel Costs a Dime, Postcards of El Barrio, The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon, and Smoking Lovely, he's won a number of literary awards and notable mentions, recognized for his incredible creative contributions to the world of poetry.
Blackness complemented by Spanish-ready speech is confusing for many, and it immediately prompts questions of nationality, language, status, and ethnicity. Afro-Latinos in the U.S. and abroad are often approached with skepticism and exoticism; their skin-tone and speech forcing them into a position of "other" ...and often, they gain discrimination from both the Latino and Black communities.
Panama is the southernmost country of Central America, bordered by Costa Rica and Colombia. Its inhabitants' ethnic makeup is Mestizo (mixed white and Native American) 66 percent, Blacks/African descent 16 percent, white 8 percent, and Amerindian 10 percent; the Amerindian population including seven indigenous peoples. Panama's second largest population, Panamanians of African descent, are targeted for discrimination at multiple levels, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The Dominican Republic, the Caribbean country also known as Quisqueya, has recently declared that the children of undocumented Haitian migrants are no longer entitled to Dominican citizenship -- enraging and affecting tens of thousands of people.
Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes was the third member of the hip-hop/R&B trio TLC before dying in a tragic car collision in Honduras during the spring of 2002. The two surviving members, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozanda "Chili" Thomas, disbanded. Now, after all this time, they've decided to reform the group, and in recent interviews, they've taken time to discuss life after Lopes and the future of TLC.
Gina Torres and Laurence Fishburne, actors and couple, were honored by The Harlem School of the Arts last week in the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Christina Milian and Mark Ballas were eliminated from Dancing with the Stars this week after receiving the night’s top scores, and severe criticism from guest judge Julianne Hough. The 32-year-old Afro-Cuban songstress expressed that she was saddened and shocked by the results that pulled her and her partner from the competition.
