CULTURA NEGRITA: THE LAYERS OF AFRO LATINX CULTURE
WE HAD A SIT DOWN WITH HARTFORD BASED VISUAL ARTIST, LINDALUZ CARRILLO TO DISCUSS HER MANY INTERSECTING IDENTITIES AND THE INFLUENCE OF BLACK CULTURE THROUGHOUT HER LIFE AND THE CITY SHE GREW UP IN AMID HER EVENT SERIES CULTURA NEGRITA.
LINDALUZ CARRILLO is a Peruvian graphic designer and visual artist, who for much of her life up until her early 20s, (battled) with her identity as an Afro Latina since the world she was in saw her differently.
We began our conversation talking about LindaLuz’s event, CULTURA NEGRITA, an event series that seeks to emphasize the presence of Black Culture that exists within the Latin American community here in Hartford. Which is ultimately what we hope to do with this piece.
Bizzie: “I guess we can start there on what CULTURA NEGRITA is and its importance.”
Lindaluz: “Yeah so, CULTURA NEGRITA it was a celebration that interestingly enough started in 2017. Elijah (Hilliman), myself and Jeremy (Grier), we were talking about the demographic in Hartford. In the south end; it’s not just Puerto Rican, there’s Colombian, Portuguese, Peruvian and then you’ve got Ecuadorian. So there’s a large amount of multicultural South American and Central American communities in Hartford. At the time there wasn’t much going on consistently in the city, so we thought it would be cool to start something that’s unique not only to Hartford but also to the individual communities like Frog Hollow, Barry Square and so on.
We got together and started off on what things we wanted to highlight within what CULTURA NEGRITA represents which is, Black Culture in Latin Americas. We wanted to start off with our roots, that being whatever traditional dance forms, foods and sounds that are part of each culture and then bring it back to modernized style with DJ’s. So it really just started off with just representing food, culture, sound and dance. The first one was pretty successful so we continued doing it and then Covid shut us down. But we’re back! This year 2022, I wanted to bring back some of the artists we’ve worked with in the past; Bomba De Aqui, who are a very well known batuplena group that has performed a lot within Hartford for years and we had Nelson Bello, a very well known and established Latin Jazz artist. Then we had Xavier from Free-WiFi who we’ve had before as well. Lastly, we included someone new, Sonia Sol another DJ from Hartford. We added a mural this time as well.”
BIZZIE: Can you talk more about what is was like coming to the realization about the vast culture that exists here in Hartford?
LINDALUZ: “Growing up being Afro Latina, I’ve always felt, not out of place but just different. I’m not your traditional Peruvian looking person. I’ve happened to always mingle and have friends who feel the same in other cultures. We were always talking about it and so I’d ask, ‘What do we wanna do?’ Not only personally but what do we want to bring to Hartford. There has always been such negative connotations of Hartford. So we wanted to really highlight the positive and beautiful parts of our cultures. I grew up with a lot black and Puerto Rican folks and always gained so much inspiration from them and my family, whether it’s food, music - it’s always about celebrating and honoring one another. I realized the more we start to bring people together from different backgrounds and expose people to more of the commonalities rather than the divisions we can break the norms and stigmas that surround us.”
BIZZIE: I really want to dive deeper into what CULTURA NEGRITA means to you and your intersecting identities as an Afro Latina.
LINDALUZ: “CULTURA NEGRITA just means Black Culture. In a lot of Latin American communities, Negrita is a term of endearment. My family always calls me Negrita. It was translated into Spanish to make it more relatable to those who are Spanish speaking and to connect that bridge that ‘oh we also are a part of this,’ and we have that lineage to Black Culture.”
BIZZIE: I think that’s beautiful, I’ve identified as black my whole life, ya know. So I’ve always found it interesting, those intersecting identities of being Afro Latino. What was it like growing up as an Afro Latina on what could be considered that thin line between White Latino and Afro Latino?
LINDALUZ: “Yeah, it’s interesting because I was always in the middle. I’d go to school and connect with the black girls naturally. But then I was never dark enough to be seen as black, even though my dad is black. So it was always weird trying to explain that, I’m Peruvian and people would be like, ‘What’s that?’ It was a lot of over explaining myself that I had to do, until I finally was able to come to the conclusion that, ‘Hey I’m Afro-Latina!” People, including myself, we’re finally able to make sense of who I was, which didn’t come about until my mid 20’s. For a long time I’d just say I’m Latina or that’s what people called me and I didn’t like that. Doing that made me feel like I was eliminating the blackness from my dad’s side of the family and the history of that. Even now, at my current age I’m still kind of discovering more about both my dad’s and mom’s side of the family. I’m also realizing that unfortunately there is a stop about how far back I’m able to go. That’s something I’ve always felt in common with the black community, I felt like I was able to relate to extent with not knowing exactly where my ancestry goes back to. But what I do know for sure is that I come from a family of warriors and creators. I don’t want to ever erase or feel like I’m ignoring my blackness. I spent so much of my life not being sure where I belonged. It was always this weird conversation of belonging and not belonging, what side am I representing, but…here we are.”
This was only a portion of all that we talked about. Perhaps another piece that delves deeper into LindaLuz’s artistry and why she creates will follow. But for now, I hope this piece gave you a greater understanding of the vast cultures that exist within Hartford and yourself. Maybe this will even push whomever reads this to talk to your families to see how far back you can trace your roots.
Peace, Bizzie <3
To keep up with LindaLuz’s content, art and events check out her website https://www.lindaluzcarrillo.com or follow her on Instagram @aiir.is
