Why Amara La Negra’s Conversation is Crucial

Amara La Negra is a Dominican-American artist, who has been rising in the Latin industry and is now hoping to make it in the American market. She took over the headlines after the infamous confrontation between her and producer Young Hollywood, which was the start of her standing up for Afro-Latinos, such as herself.

(Image from Celebrity XO)

Unfortunately, there are many like Young Hollywood who are ignorant, or just straight up don’t understand the situation and the struggles that the Afro-Latino community faces. Not necessarily racism, but colorism, which Time defines as “prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their color.”

Before America became the United States, crazy categorizations were made, primarily based on the color of one’s skin. Within those categorizations, you had the ‘superior,’ which are the white-light complected, and the ‘inferior,’ which are the darker complected. Even though times have changed, the roots of this problem still stem, especially in the entertainment industry, which VICE News covered briefly and to the point.

Amara’s overall message, which goes toe-to-toe with the fight for Afro-Latinos, is, as she said in an interview with The Breakfast Club, “Don’t ever feel as if you need to change who you are or the way that you look in order to succeed.” She has done many other interviews where she goes deeper into the subject, recently on #GirlChat with The Real.

I am not Afro-Latina, but I am Latina. My skin is lighter, so I do not face the problems Amara does, and I do not pretend to know how it feels because I don’t. However, as I’m growing and learning about all these things, I noticed the problems of colorism; not only in the American culture but also in the Latin culture; therefore, I do agree and believe that it’s important to break these ‘norms’ and appreciate the beauty in EVERYONE.

(Image from Pinterest)