This is the second part of a profound interview with graduate student and Afro-Caribbean writer Dorothy Bell Ferrer. To refresh, Dorothy is studying her master’s degree in Literature from the Hispanic Studies department at the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras. She has contributed in the book White Latino Privilege and created the initiative La Tinta es Negra como mi piel.
Dorothy’s prior questions revolved around themes such as Afro-Feminism, as well as spaces for Black and Afro-Descendant women in the Caribbean in the midst of oppression. She continues to share her perspectives and ideas via the continuation of this interview.
What are your perceptions on the link between standardized beauty and race in Puerto Rico in contrast to the rest of the Caribbean?
This is a difficult question for me to answer. I would just go straight through and say that whiteness is glorified here. It is, but this is layered in a very Caribbean mulatos/negros/trigueños/jabaos context which isn’t really tan-tan. This is difficult to answer because in my personal experiences as a negra I am fetishized and hyper-sexualized for my body, my stature, and, of course, my hair. People call me beautiful and I do feel beautiful, but not because of them or the following statement. I get calls from modeling agencies and invitations to model a few times a month. For me, beauty isn’t defined in modeling, though I do very much respect the craft and I have modeled before. A lot of those calls and job offers are based on this objectification of my body or an inauthentic exoticism. To be clear, I’m not exotic. There’s nothing so incredibly unique about my body that you couldn’t find here or in Cuba or Brazil or Colombia or anywhere else, really, but the fact of the matter is negritas parejeras como yo are good for el chingoteo only but not exactly up to par to bring home to introduce to Mami y Papi. This may sound irrational to some people, but many of the men who have desired me or who have ridiculously claimed that I am so incredibly beautiful are ironically married to white women. They have no desire to truly love me. They believe themselves to be either well experienced or special to the point where they feel it probable that I would engage sexually with them. No one talks about this theme, so I’m at risk for being public about this, but it’s a valid experience that many women like me face.
I have not lived in the rest of the Caribbean, so whatever contrasts I can give you would more than likely be off. White supremacy is the same in every country; it manifests differently but it was born on this side of the world outside of chattel slavery. We are still socialized under the social implications of chattel slavery. I suggest that, again, black women are objectified within the praxis of whichever culture they are in. In Puerto Rico, whiteness is still heavily glorified and blackness is hyper-sexualized and it happens within a Puerto Rican context. In the Dominican Republic, this happens within a Dominican context. In Jamaica or Martinique or Cuba it happens under the appropriate context.
Standards of beauty in a complex country such as Puerto Rico is obviously a very complex concept that must be discussed carefully with fetishism taken into consideration. I speak on personal experiences because I haven’t really bothered with cogiendo lucha con la belleza.
In what organizations/projects have you collaborated during your professional/literary career? How have they contributed in your personal and/or professional growth?
I have written for La Respuesta Media, La Galería Magazine, and Afrofemininas of Spain. I have been interviewed and featured in Latina Magazine and I have been featured and invited onto radio programs and to universities to give presentations. Each of these platforms have allowed me to reach a diverse audience of readers and culture critics in which we exchange ideas. I am constantly learning from others and navigating my way through challenging situations. Race is a very taboo concept in Puerto Rico because white people in Puerto Rico do not have the population necessary to withstand black enlightenment and national enlightenment on afro-descendance. Being involved in different platforms has allowed me to work on my delivery in dealing with diverse communities. I don’t always fit in with different organizations, so I created my own organization La tinta es Negra como mi piel.
Tell me more about your first incoming memoir-novel.
I’m not keen on giving out information about personal projects. Here’s what I can share: It is authentically met, it is Black, it is Caribbean, it is diasporic, it is ancestral, it is a part of afro-caribeña feminist discourse, and it is resilience.
Aside your memoir-novel, what other incoming projects do you have?
I am currently working on my initiative called La tinta es Negra como mi piel, which is due to provide classes on constructing Caribbean narratives in Guayama and in Mayaguez this year, and a few friends and I have constructed two spaces for feminine healing which we project to address the issues we face as women in Puerto Rico. One group is open to people of all identities and experiences, while another is exclusive for Negras or in the context of Puerto Rico those who are “evidentemente negra”. We plan to allow the two groups to dialog between each other so that we can come up with resolutions and learn from each other. I have several literary projects in the works, collaborations in different countries and universities that for now don’t need to be announced to the public.
What final message would you like to convey to our readers?
Thank you for taking the time to read. Racism is a difficult concept to dissect in Puerto Rico, but it is NOT a concept limited to the United States. It baffles me when people accuse me of imposing ideas that come from the United States in Puerto Rico when they are actually ideas that are currently being worked in Mexico, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Maritinique, etc, and to be clear these ideas are being contextualized so that they are socially and politically adequate for those various countries. That type of discourse typically comes from the bourgeoise “leftists” who refuse to admit their social status in the colony and use logical reasoning behind the things that they say. Many of their beliefs come from an absurd reformist praxis that even has characteristics of neoliberalism. If it is ok to study Karl Marx or Michel Foucault, it must be just as ok to study, reflect and analyze, conceptualize, and contextualize the work of Aime Cesaire or Malcolm X. The anti-racism movements in the United States are to be regarded with proper respect, but so are the ones in Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, and even other countries. And as the anti-racism or a Negritud movement is to be born in Puerto Rico, that, too, must be regarded with respect on an international level. Colonialism has two main functions: capitalism and racialized capitalism. We must work to deconstruct them all regardless of comfort.
If you are interested in contacting Dorothy Bell Ferrer, you may reach her via the following contact information:
E-mail: insurgentprieta@gmail.com
Twitter: @insurgentprieta
Instagram: @insurgent_prieta
Facebook: La tinta es negra como mi piel
Website: insurgentprieta.wordpress.com