Latinx youth activists are breaking down a tradition of anti-Blackness one year after the racial justice uprisings

“Tu lucha es mi lucha.” Your struggle is my struggle. Among the sea of signs held by protesters during last summer's racial justice uprisings, this expression of solidarity from the Latinx community could be spotted throughout the crowd.

As the country grappled with addressing institutional racism, many within the Latinx community turned their focus inward. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, some Latinx activists began to mobilize to address anti-Blackness and colorism within their own communities.

Now a year after the racial justice uprisings, Latinx college students in Washington are working to dismantle colorism within their community. Through educational events, community conversations and even social media posts, these young activists are shedding light on anti-Blackness within Latinx circles and breaking a longstanding tradition of ignoring this issue.

Ingrained in Latinx culture is a history of racism, colorism and inequality that still exists. Colorism is prejudice or discrimination that favors people with lighter skin over those with darker skin. This discrimination often takes place within a racial or ethnic group.

Common phrases like “mejorar la raza,” which means “improve the race,” are used to encourage younger generations to marry and have children with a person of a light complexion so their children have lighter skin. Globally, Latinx communities have a hyper-awareness of skin color that has existed for centuries.

“I think it goes without saying that in Latin America we are not a monolithic group,” said Yaritza Aguilar, the facilitator of the Georgetown University Latinx Leadership Forum. Aguilar is a third-year student at Georgetown majoring in American studies with a minor in Spanish.

About one-quarter of all U.S. Latinx adults identify as Afro-Latinx, Afro-Caribbean or of African descent with roots in Latin America, according to the Pew Research Center.

How Afro-Latinx individuals view their race, however, is unique. Of those surveyed in the Pew Research Center study, 18% said their race was Black and 39% identified as white alone or white in combination with another race. Another 24% reported their race, or one of their races was Hispanic, and only 9% identified as mixed race.

Because anti-Blackness views are held by some in the Latinx community, when told to mark off a box for race, many will choose white, said Noemi Enchautegui-de-Jesus, a professor of psychology at American University who is from Puerto Rico and identifies as Afro-Latina

“In Puerto Rico, we have people of different skin tones, and there is a tendency to not call people Black because somehow we have been socialized to see or think of the term Black in a negative way,” said Enchautegui-de-Jesus.

“Honestly, the issue of colorism is definitely one that is prevalent in my own personal life with different people in my family. The Dominican Republic has a very racist history,” said Nalia Medina, the president of Alianza at George Washington University. Alianza is an organization that aims to uplift Afro-Latinx women around George Washington’s campus.

“When I first started in the organization, I felt like the community was very divided. It was like, you had to either identify as Latinx or you had to identify as Black, but you couldn't be both,” said Medina, a third-year student studying political science and American studies.

“Now we are kind of bridging the gaps between the Black community and the Latinx community at GW,” Medina said.

This February was Alianza’s first time participating in the Black Heritage Celebration at George Washington. Alianza hosted an open mic night to communicate Black students' experiences through poetry, music, photography and other art forms. “It was really monumental for us,” said Medina.

Medina attended Black Lives Matter protests in the summer in her hometown Lawrence, Massachusetts. The uprising showed her the importance of returning home and addressing colorism in her community, Medina said.

Georgetown’s Latinx Leadership Forum started in 2014 and brought student leaders from across campus together for events and activism opportunities. The organization began to push the university administration to create a Casa Latina, on-campus housing for Latinx students. Aguilar said they count the Black Leadership Forum and the Asian-Pacific Islander Leadership Forum among their campus allies, along with 12 other organizations.

In June, the forum put out a statement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Within this statement of solidarity, students addressed the discriminatory issues within their own community.

“The Latinx community must come to terms with the racially prejudiced and discriminatory rhetoric against the Black community that has been promoted by our previous generations,” said the statement. “We must break this generational cycle of perpetuated racism that has been instilled in our communities and families.”

Despite a year of online learning and a global pandemic, Latinx student activists have found ways to continue the conversation in the months following the summer protests. Following their statement, the forum hosted events to discuss Latinx, Black and Afro-Latinx identities and hosted a talk on cross racial solidarity.

The forum's current focus is on establishing a minor in Latinx studies to educate students on Latinx culture and history.

“At my time at Georgetown, I realized that a lot of the history that we study centers predominately white upper-class men, and not enough representation is given to Latinx populations,” said Aguilar. With the help of the community they have built, the forum garnered over 100 signatures for a petition to support the minor.

Latinx college student activism is not just confined to college campuses. It also takes place in their neighborhoods.

Rosa Reyes, an immigrant from Guatemala, moved to Washington in 2015. That same year she became involved with the Latin American Youth Center, a non-profit based in Washington that works to empower youth.

Now, Reyes, a senior at Trinity College studying health and wellness with a minor in community education, is the health promotions youth developer at LAYC.

Reyes creates the health promotion curriculums, facilitates the Sexual Wellness Advocacy by Teens (SWAT) program and a gender justice program called Manhood 2.0 for young men to learn about healthy relationships and toxic masculinity. Reyes also leads LAYC’s COVID-19 vaccine education efforts.

“I have seen anti-Blackness in the Latinx community, but I have also seen support for the Black Lives Matter movement,” said Reyes.

Around Washington, Reyes has seen other young activists push boundaries and expand their activism to include the Black and LGBTQ+ community.

“Youth voices need to be at the very center, and that's what we try to do at LAYC,” said Reyes. “When you think about it, a lot of the times youth never get the chance to feel that they have a voice and that what they say matters.”

After joining the Latino Youth Leadership Council in high school, Reyes and her peers created bilingual “Know Your Rights” workshops for immigrants after noticing a lack of information and support for the immigrant community available in Spanish.

Reyes also co-authored a book with 15 other Latinx students called “Voces Sin Fronteras: Our Stories, Our Truth,” to share their immigration stories. Reyes still attends author talks to discuss the book and its significance.

“Seeing the impact of the things I do is what motivates me and keeps me going,” said Reyes. Through sharing her story, she has been able to help other young Latinx immigrants going through similar experiences, she said.

Enchautegui-de-Jesus believes that it is the younger generations — the children and grandchildren of Latin American immigrants — who will become activists and bring change, along with “a lot of energy to the movement of recognition of Black identity.”

“They will be like the conduits of change in the conversation with the older generation from Latin America,” Enchautegui-de-Jesus said.