Many know Estelita Quintero for her role on Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, but the Afro-Panameña is taking more than reality TV by storm. We get a glimpse into the actress and singer’s music career on the show, and Quintero is gearing up for the video debut of her single, “Patrona.”
This season also brought its fair share of real moments. In a powerful scene, she opens up about her experience with sexual assault. “In that scene, I was completely messed up for weeks,” Quintero admits. “It brought up a lot of memories.”
We sat down with Quintero to discuss her career, Afro-Latina identity and surviving sexual assault.
The Afro-Latino Festival NYC is kicking off on Friday, July 13! The three-day event includes the Afro-LatinTalks Conference & Awards Luncheon; Liberación Film & Wine Festival in partnership with Tap + Cork; and the Outdoor Concert w/ performances from singer and reality TV star Amara La Negra and rapper Latasha Alcindor, among others.
Don’t have a ticket yet, but want in? Well, we’re doing a giveaway on Instagram! Follow the rules below to win:
Comment beneath the giveaway post (via @aintilatina) why you’re proud to be Afro-Latinx and tag #Representa after your comment.
We will be picking two people at random to attend the Afro-LatinTalks on Friday and two to attend the Outdoor Concert on Sunday. Must be able to attend to participate. Tickets are non-transferable. Winners will be tagged in the comments section of the original post and in IG Stories at 10pm EST the day before.
Over the last several years, Afro-Latinas have used new media platforms to create their own spaces and demand visibility. In-person safe spaces have morphed into online havens where must-needed — and sometimes difficult — conversations, inspirational threads, and an empowered community exist.
As Black women, it’s vital we connect and collaborate to bring forth our stories. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Blossom, a digital content network for and by women of color. Founded by Diamonde Williamson, the platform provides a mix of original and sourced content based on mood and interests.
I’m happy to announce we’ve created ¡Representa!, which showcases the Black Latina experience through several episodes that touch on activism, race and ethnicity, as well as media representation. I speak with journalist and La Galería Magazine co-founder and Editor-in-Chief Amanda Alcantara; Marjua Estevez, Editor, Latin Culture & Content at TIDAL; artist, writer and award-winning cultural critic Zahira Kelly-Cabrera (Bad Dominicana); multicultural marketing professional Arlene Pitterson; educator Dr. Georgina Falú; and yoga instructor, womb healer and professor Dr. Griselda Rodriguez-Solomon.
Ain’t I Latina? founder Janel Martinez speaks with Dr. Georgina Falu and Dr. Griselda Rodriguez-Solomon.
Jessie Woo has climbed the social media charts with her hilarious skits. The Miami-raised Canadian, who is of Haitian descent, has also caught the attention of some for her cultural commentary, breaking down race and ethnicity as it pertained to the questioning of singer and reality TV star Amara La Negra’s identity.
“We are all one,” says Woo on Haitian-Dominican relations. “I think the quicker we realize that and act that way, and stand up for each other, the better it would be for all of us in the world.”
We caught up with the host of BET’s BET Breaks and Set Trippin to discuss her upbringing, debunking Haitian stereotypes, anti-Blackness and what inspires her comedy.
No three words have ever brought me such joy. I can’t explain why but whenever someone would make this comment to me, even after six months abroad, I still found a tension I didn’t know I was carrying being released from my shoulders and a smile covering my face.
I’ve traveled extensively and in each place my identity has changed with it. In India, I was called African, yet in Cameroon (West Africa), I was called mixed (white and Black). In Brazil, I was Brazilian, assuming I didn’t speak. Here in the US, people often assume I’m African American. The underlying assumption being, I recognize something in you but it’s not from here.
People making assumptions about race and nationality has always been one of my biggest pet peeves. Yet for some reason, anytime I heard, “You look Panamanian,” or “It’s because she’s Latina…,” I found myself feeling reassured. It’s a validation I shouldn’t need but one I think I’ve been searching for all along.
My family is from Panama yet I did not grow up speaking Spanish. This was always a goal of mine. One I tried to accomplish many times to no avail. So, finally, I booked a one way ticket to Costa Rica and Panama, enrolled in language classes and said I couldn’t come back until I was fluent. I’m happy to announce that I have since made it back.
It didn’t hit me all at once but I came to realize that my pursuit for fluency was partially a way to validate my identity. I often felt like I had to overcompensate because when you think of what a Latina looks and sounds like you don’t think of a Brown-skinned, English speaker.
“No, my parents are Panamanian,” I would explain to others. Only to be met with an incredulous face.
“What?”
“But how?”
“So, you’re mixed then?”
“Do they speak English there?”
“Why is your last name Henry?”
At times these questions also came from other Latinas and it would quickly get tiring having to re-explain hundreds of years of history. Fighting ignorance sometimes felt like a full-time job.
Award-winning web series Brooklyn. Blue. Sky., which debuted on BET.com last November, chronicles the story of two distant exes, Skylar (played by Jenelle Simone) and Blue (played by Michael Oloyede). The two reluctantly decide to come together to create a script for a Netflix and Chill TV Pilot competition. But before they submit, they have to untie the binds that held them captive to their youthful love.
Juicy, right?!
We caught up with Simone to discuss our complex, yet important narratives, identity and navigating love.
The eight-episode series was created and written by filmmakers Rhavynn Drummer and Dui Jarrod, and executive produced by Jenya Meggs. It is the first acquisition of a web series for BET’s online interactive space, BET Digital.
Afro-Latinas made headlines in 2017. While Afro-Latinas, or Black Latinas, have been changing the game through activism, art, business and entertainment, among other spheres, for decades, the digital space has furthered the visibility and awareness for our community globally in 2017. Between Belcalis “Cardi B” Almanzar’s major wins to seasoned journalist Ilia Calderón becoming the first Afro-Latina to anchor a news desk on a major network in the United States, our narratives are reaching new heights.
With the year nearly over, it’s only right we celebrate how Afro-Latinas changed the narrative, created a space for greater visibility and did so unapologetically in ’17.
1. Cardi B Broke All Barriers
Who had a better year than Cardi B? I’ll wait.
We included the Bronx-bred rapper on last year’s list, but 2017 became her breakthrough year. The Dominican-Trinidadian artist earned a historic first on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart: She became the first woman to chart her first three entries (“Bodak Yellow (Money Moves),” “Motorsport,” a collab with Migos and Nicki Minaj, and “No Limit,” G-Eazy’s track) on the list in the top 10, simultaneously. Cardi became the first Dominican artist to reach No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 and the first woman since Lauryn Hill in 1998. She’s also graced the cover of Rolling Stone and New York Magazine; snagged a shoe collaboration with Steve Madden; got engaged to Migos’ Offset, and nominated for two Grammys for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.
Who’s working as hard as her?
(Image: ‘Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)’)
2. Ivy Queen and Cardi B Meet At Soulfrito Urban Latin Music Fest
Ivy Queen and Cardi B met for the first time, and we’re still gathering our edges. Iconic!
(Image: Vivala)
3. Amara La Negra Joins the Cast of ‘Love & Hip Hop Miami’
We’ve been huge fans of Amara La Negra since first hearing her song, “Asi,” in 2014. It’s why we included her in our 2015 roundup, but now la dominicana is reppin for Afro-Latinos on VH1’s reality series Love & Hip Hop. She revealed she’d be joining the cast in our interview with her:
We can’t wait to watch her on our screen!
4. Erica Buddington’s Geography Remix of ‘Bodak Yellow’ Goes Viral
Erica Buddington, a sixth-grade teacher at Capital Preparatory, Diddy’s school in Harlem, and her students went viral after she uploaded a clip to Twitter of her and her students rapping a Geography remix to Cardi B’s hit “Bodak Yellow.” “I was shocked that it went viral. I put it up before I went to sleep to get a few educator reactions, from folks that follow me, and woke up to it being viral,” said the poet, author and educator, who is of Cuban and Jamaican ancestry, to HuffPost Black Voices.
5. 4-year-old Daliyah Marie Arana Makes News for Reading More Than 1,000 Books
Daliyah Marie Arana, who is part-Mexican, part-African American, has read more than 1,000 books, including some college-level texts. “I like to check out books every day,” Daliyah told the Gainesville Times. You go, girl!
(Image: The Cut)
6. Ilia Calderón Becomes the First Afro-Latina to Anchor Major News Desk in U.S.
Journalist Ilia Calderón made history in November when she announced she will be taking the seat vacated by María Elena Salinas on Noticiero Univision in December. She’s the first Afro-Latina to anchor a news desk from Monday through Friday on a major network in the United States. “It’s a great responsibility knowing that I’m opening doors for other generations, not only for journalists, but for other girls and women who want to succeed at what they do,” said Calderón to People.com.
At the start of Latino Heritage Month, El Barrio Latin Jazz Festival hosted its 2nd annual festival honoring Latino music pioneer Tito Puente at Marcus Garvey Park. Attendees listened to the sounds of The Mambo Legends Orchestra, who headlined the festival. Originally known as The Tito Puente Orchestra, The ensemble of award-winning played with Puente for decades.
Ain’t I Latina? reporter Major Nesby spoke with Mambo Legends’ Mitch Frohman, break-out musician Jeremy Bosch and Casandra Rosario, event producer and CEO of The Rosario Group, about the origin of mambo, the role it plays within Latin music, and the importance of El Barrio Latin Jazz Festival.
On Saturday, September 23, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute held Trade/Itions: Honoring African Spiritual Traditions, a conference to celebrate the various African religions of the diaspora and build community around these different entities. Knowing the amazing dedication that the CCCADI has to empowering and preserving the knowledge and history of these spiritual communities, I knew this event would be genuine and interdisciplinary. As a first-generation, Latinx woman, it is important to me to learn and respect the history and culture of African religions and traditions that are embedded in our heritage but often erased and ostracized due to Anti-Blackness. Attending Trade/Itions was a way for me to honor the community that gave so much of itself to Latinx history and society.
In June 2011, I, along with my Latin American and Caribbean Cultures class, had the privilege of studying abroad in Havana, Cuba. Dr. Alyssa Garcia’s class was where I learned about intersectional feminism, but, more importantly, I learned to question the narrative that whiteness had created of Latin America and the Caribbean. What has stayed with me since my academic trip to Cuba was the concept of syncretism of Catholicism and Yoruba-based religion of Santeria. As a class, we discussed how syncretism was a tool for the Spaniards to strip African and Indigenous people of their identities, forcing them to assimilate. But the African and Indigenous people also used this same tool as a way to preserve their traditions and culture, however, in secrecy. Although this trip was over six years ago, I go back to it to reiterate the experience of a Latin American country that is engrained in African culture, yet masks itself in a colonial identity. Because of this, Dr. Garcia was intentional on teaching her class from a bottom-up point of view, rather than using an “exploratory and Ivory tower” view.
At Trade/Itions, we saw Summer of Gods, a film by Eliciana Nascimento. The film portrayed various Yoruba traditions without exposing too much about the process of initiation into Yoruba-based religions. It was absolutely beautiful and made me think of Cuba, especially considering that Nascimento was Brazilian born but initiated in Cuba. I had the chance to speak to Nascimento during Trade/Itions. Nascimento expressed that “syncretism was actually a form of survival for our ancestors”, where people “hid their orishas inside of Catholic statues”.
The Annual Festival Santiago Apóstol de Loíza in El Barrio, better known as Loíza Festival in El Barrio, commemorated 50 years of infusing Afro-Boriqua flavor into New York City on July 28-30. The three-day cultural event included traditional African diaspora costumes, music, dance, handmade crafts and food.
“This festival pays homage to our African ancestors and those forefathers and community leaders who paved the way and dedicated their lives to claiming their negritud so that we are able to preserve and celebrate today our Afro-Boricua roots,” said Dra. Marta Moreno Vega, founder and president of CCCADI, one of the festival’s organizers.“It is an important time to be an Afro-descendant, as our culture continues to provide safes paces, at a challenging moment when our Black and Latino communities are under attack. Spaces like the Loiza Festival connect us to our history of political resistance and struggles for civil rights. It strengthens our resolve to continue organizing as a community, defending our people, culture, and place in history.”
That Sunday, the Ain’t I Latina? team hit the festival streets to talk culture, identity and race with Afro-Boriquas. Check out what these Afro-descendantwomenshared, below:
Interviews by Major Nesby and Francis Carrero.
Important note: Hurrican Irma and Hurricane Maria, a powerful Category 4 hurricane, left Puerto Rico with no power, meaning there’s no water, limited food, fuel, and cell service. If you’re able to support current efforts, consider donating to organizations like CCADI, Fondos Unidos de Puerto Rico, Caritas Puerto Rico and Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico, among others. Puerto Rico needs our support.
