By Tashi McQueenAFRO Employees Writertmcqueen@afro.com
Afro-Latino leaders throughout the U.S. are utilizing their platforms to handle points distinctive to their communities and construct a extra inclusive future. From media to politics, their work is rooted in cultural delight and a drive for visibility.
The cultural intersection of being of African descent and Latino–two marginalized identities within the U.S.–creates distinctive challenges. This Hispanic Heritage Month, the AFRO spotlights Maryland Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Md.-39), North Carolina State Rep. Jordan Lopez (D-N.C.-112) and Janel Martinez, an Afro-Latina author and speaker.
Every chief shared what being an Afro-Latino chief means to them, how they’re at present serving their communities and their hopes for the following era.
Maryland State Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Md.-39)
Acevero, 34, was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, a twin-island nation within the West Indies, on Oct. 23, 1990, to a mom who’s Trinbagonian and father who’s Afro-Venezuelan.
“I used to be raised to embrace each of my identities,” stated Acevero. “I’m pleased with my Hispanic heritage my African heritage, and I don’t depart any of it on the door.”
Acevero makes some extent of bringing that intersection into his work on the Maryland State Home. Since 2019, he has served within the Maryland Basic Meeting as the primary brazenly queer Afro-Latino elected to the state Legislature.
He has served on the Appropriations Committee, a 2020 Work Group to Deal with Police Reform and Accountability in Maryland and has served as vice-chair of the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus since 2024.
Through the 2025 Maryland Basic Meeting session, he championed Home Invoice 1473, “Equal Entry to Public Providers, which mandates that Maryland businesses create a language entry plan that can assist residents get state data in a language they’ll perceive. The invoice, three to 4 years within the making, takes impact Oct. 1.
“It can have a big impact on our neighborhood’s capacity to entry public companies,” he stated. “We all know Black individuals are underserved and underrepresented, and it’s even worse for those who’re a Black immigrant and you might be scuffling with that language barrier.”
“We’re solely as robust as our most susceptible members,” he added.
For him, Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to rejoice and be taught.
“It’s persevering with to attach with my Hispanic heritage,” stated Acevero. “Studying extra, not nearly Venezuela, however the historical past of African folks in Venezuela–each pre and put up colonial instances–in addition to the cultural contributions, the political contributions of Afro-Venezuelans.”
In a local weather the place race-specific initiatives are being divested in and discouraged, visibility and perseverance is extra vital than ever.
“This work has at all times been a battle, particularly for folks like us, but it surely shouldn’t function a disincentive,” he stated. “Future generations are relying on us to do the work as we speak.”
North Carolina State Rep. Jordan Lopez (D-N.C.-112)
Photograph Credit score: Photograph courtesy of Fb (meta)/Jordan Lopez
Lopez, 27, is the youngest legislator and first Afro-Latino to serve within the North Carolina Basic Meeting. He started serving the 112 District of North Carolina in January.
“Strolling into that constructing, figuring out that I’m the primary of what’s going to be many extra to come back over the course of this state’s historical past, it means rather a lot,” stated Lopez, whose mother is Black and pop is Puerto Rican. “It additionally implies that I wish to do that proper. I wish to be sure that I get up for the individuals who despatched me to Raleigh, N.C.”
Lopez stated he needs to make sure that, whereas on this seat, he’s doing significant work that retains the door open for different Afro-Latinos to have the chance to step into positions like his.
His legislative priorities embrace housing entry, meals safety and marijuana legalization as a supply for neighborhood reinvestment.
“We now have a housing scarcity in North Carolina that I imagine we have to deal with on the provision aspect,” stated Lopez. “We’ve obtained to be constructing extra houses of a wide range of sorts, whether or not they’re single household houses, townhouses, duplexes, triplexes, complexes, flats–we want extra of all of it.”
In accordance with the North Carolina Housing Provide Hole Evaluation by Bowen Nationwide Analysis, the state faces a five-year housing hole of 764,478 items. Nearly all of this hole, 422,118 items, pertains to for-sale properties, highlighting a necessity for extra dwelling possession choices over rental items.
Janel Martinez, a author and speaker
Martinez is founding father of the award-winning weblog, “AintILatina?” the place she celebrates and amplifies Afro-Latina voices and experiences.
“What it means to be Afro-Latina is to be a Black lady who occurs to be of Latin American descent,” stated Martinez, a Honduran-American of Garifuna heritage. “That id shapes how I navigate the world.”
The Garifuna are descendants of Africans who survived shipwrecks close to St. Vincent and intermarried with the indigenous Carib inhabitants. Pressured out by British colonizers, the Garifuna dispersed and settled alongside Caribbean coasts in Central America.
When she was youthful, Martinez felt she needed to over-explain her id. Now, she merely states it, unapologetically.
“Being Garifuna is a wealthy historical past and tradition, and I’m proud to share it,” stated Martinez.
By means of her writing, Martinez makes positive to heart Afro-Latinas which might be doing impactful work.
“Whether or not it’s by way of my very own platform, journalism or publishing, I’ve had the chance to heart voices that aren’t usually heard,” stated Martinez. “Our neighborhood exists as a result of so many people are doing our respective work to amplify Afro-Latina voices.”
Martinez provided recommendation for the following era.
“For those who don’t see your id represented, that’s your invitation to guide,” she stated. “Use your voice, take up house and know that you’re worthy.”
