Far too often Black people are excluded from the Latina conversation. But one Puerto Rican artist is helping to remedy that problem. In an interview with Remezcla, photographer Valerie Moreno said “you will see boricuas of every color imaginable.” To make these women more visible, Moreno launched the project and Instagram account Afros in San Juan.
Launched in August 2016, the project seeks to show that Afro-Latinas, particularly the ones with natural hair. So far the project has featured women like Juliana Pache, the founder of the #AfroLatinxHistory hashtag. There’s also fellow artist Zahira Kelly, journalist Amanda Alcantara and others who’ve fought to bring exposure Afro-Latinos and Black women in general.
“I try to be kind and stay open in order to learn about how my other brown sisters live their lives and how I can better portray their beauty,” Moreno told #IAmEnough. “It’s not only about the photograph, it’s caring about their stories. Stories about overcoming pressures from society and even those closest to them, pushing them to straighten or relax their natural curls. Each photo is an expression of acceptance of who they are and victory over systematic attempts to make their ‘natural’ = something that needs to be fixed.”
Check out some of the images on the following pages.
