In its third year, the Afro-Latino Festival pulsed with vibrant, melodic sounds that can be found throughout Latin America and mapped back to "the mother land." Beyond food, language and history, there's no better way to trace culture ties than with music.
Panamanian Anthony Palanco author of Verses from the Diaspora: A Poetic Tale of the African Diaspora sat down with Latin Post and spoke about his mixed Panamanian roots, his upbringing in the United States of as a Spanish-speaking Latino with a dark complexion, and Panama's gaParze when it comes to skin politics.
Blackness complemented by Spanish-ready speech is confusing for many, and it immediately prompts questions of nationality, language, status, and ethnicity. Afro-Latinos in the U.S. and abroad are often approached with skepticism and exoticism; their skin-tone and speech forcing them into a position of "other" ...and often, they gain discrimination from both the Latino and Black communities.
