Art, Artists, and Afro-Latinx authors

Feb 9

February marks the beginning of Black History Month, celebrating Black leaders and heroes that have made an impact on our community. This month we’d like to highlight, J de laVega, Afro-Latinx author of her upcoming release, Wepa! As a writer/artist, we asked her what Black History Month means to her, its impact, and how it influences her work.

1. What does Black History month mean to you?

Race and ethnicity were not conversations I remember having growing up. If I learned anything it was to say, “I’m Puerto Rican, not Black.” It’s a sentiment constantly echoed through communities of Hispanic descent. Our ignorance of race and ethnicity is apparent, our disdain to connect to our blackness burning holes in what should otherwise be a rich history. Even now in 2023, colorism reigns supreme with proximity to whiteness being celebrated.

Unable to hide my skin as a teenager, I repeated my go to line. Unable to hide my hair I chemically abused it into submission. The older I got, the more experiencing racism and my own ignorance weighed on me. After the birth of my first born I began my mission to understand who I was and the process of healing. I began to recognize that I am indeed black; my ancestors just happened to be forced to learn Spanish instead of English. Now I advocate for more expansive representation of Afro-latinx through my stories and artwork. I push back hardest within my own community so we can recognize the results of colonization and the erasure of our indigenous ancestors, as well as our African ones that gave us the backbone of our Puerto Rican culture. It was our African ancestors that gave us rice, that gave us Santeria, our drum circles, and dance.

Puerto Rican History is Black History.

Image of author and illustrator J de laVega

2. How do you approach diversity/identity in your work?

The way I approach diversity in my work is by creating communities of characters that look like my own. When we take a moment to really look outside of the people within our own circles, it is easy to identify diversity.

For some children this may be their only access to positive reflections of diversity outside of what they are told by their families or what the media portrays, so I try to normalize seeing diverse groups to them.

3. How important is it for you to represent both your cultures to your kids and to little ones?

Diversity is immensely important to me as well as culture. We primarily focus on culture through food in our home, because that is my love language, but I really want my children to understand where these things come from and how beautiful it is. Our differences are what makes us unique and beautiful. That is a reason to celebrate, not divide.

When people say things like “there, is no race, we are the human race”, it takes away the lived experiences of each culture, and the amazing feat it took to bring us to this moment in time.

This Black History Month and year round let’s continue to recognize Afro-Latinx voices and their contributions to the world.

J de laVega’s first book with Lil’ Libros is scheduled to release in May 2023. More information on the book will be coming soon.