L A T I D O S d e m i C O R A Z Ó N

"El alma es como un airecito que está en todo mi cuerpo" -- Rumina, curandera Chatina de Santos Reyes Nopala Juquila, Oaxaca

[africansouljah]

Steve McCurry CUBA. Havana. 2014.

[neoafrican-deactivated20190922]

[jessehimself]

Flo Jo - Florence Griffith Joyner - Pioneer

[computasputin]

Those nails and hamstring muscles tho

[getthickerandthicker]

Flo Jo appreciation post. 

This woman was a legend and yet hounded the fuck out of about doping during her career.  Even a decade after she retired, the coroner wanted to test her for steroids.

Truth? Everybody was just salty a black woman made them look like a pack of sleepy-ass tortoises.

[lightlickerinthedust-deactivate]

[brownskinnedauntviv-deactivated]

But I still want to know what happened to Sandra Bland....

[yvesstmaricon-blog1]

#blacklivesmatter #mizzou #poc rise up ✊🏾

[neutralmilkh0e]

[nopeabsolutelynot-deactivated20]

This post is eveeeeeeeerything

[cloudyskiesandcatharsis]

On the morning of September 4, 1957, fifteen-year-old Dorothy Counts set out on a harrowing path toward Harding High, where-as the first African American to attend the all-white school – she was greeted by a jeering swarm of boys who spat, threw trash, and yelled epithets at her as she entered the building.

Charlotte Observer photographer Don Sturkey captured the ugly incident on film, and in the days that followed, the searing image appeared not just in the local paper but in newspapers around the world.

People everywhere were transfixed by the girl in the photograph who stood tall, her five-foot-ten-inch frame towering nobly above the mob that trailed her. There, in black and white, was evidence of the brutality of racism, a sinister force that had led children to torment another child while adults stood by. While the images display a lot of evils: prejudice, ignorance, racism, sexism, inequality, it also captures true strength, determination, courage and inspiration.

[bellecs]

Here she is, age 70, still absolutely elegant and poised.

[quads-for-the-gods]

she deserves to be re-blogged. 

[pandragolot-deactivated20160710]

she’s so goddamned inspirational

[rivernymph-deactivated20140519]

this makes me want to cry

[scatterbrainmathmatics]

[theoryofmagick]

Moon Phase Cheat Sheet

I wrote a whole giant dossier for the first lesson of Movements of the Moon at the School of Witchery, and I thought you all could benefit from this quick reference writeup!

Disclaimer: This sheet doesn’t include more indepth breakdowns of the phases, such as the gibbous moon, the waning crescent, etc.

Moon Phase Cheat Sheet

WAXING: These are the phases when the Moon appears to be growing. This period is divided into the First Quarter and Second Quarter.

Good For: Drawing things towards you, increasing

New Moon: This is when the moon is just a sliver in the sky (top right). From here, the Moon takes about 14 days to reach Full. It is considered part of the First Quarter.

Good For: New beginnings, potential, starts

Full Moon: This one’s self-explanatory! The Moon  remains looking Full for about 2 to 3 days, though purists choose to work magick only on the peak day. It is considered part of the Second Quarter by some.

Good For: The Full Moon is considered the most powerful Moon, due to it shning at full brightness. Many Witches choose to commemorate the occasion with a ritual or Esbat, and even more use this moon for their main spellcraft.

WANING: The phases when the Moon appears to be dissapearing. This period is divided into the Third and Fourth Quarters, and includes the Dark Moon. The Moon takes another 14 or so days to complete its cycle.

Good For: Removing, drawing away, banishing, and cleansing

Dark Moon: The period of time when the Moon is completely invisible in the sky. For our course, this is considered the last part of the Moon’s cycle (some traditions count it as the first – neither is wrong). It is considered part of the Fourth Quarter.

Good For: Protection, wisdom, and turning inside for wisdom and clarity

- Ash

[mexicotenochtitlan]

[neomexicanismos]

• R A Í C E S •

[theslaybymic]

If hair braiding isn’t taught in beauty schools, why does the government force black women to go (and pay thousands) to get a cosmetology license? What’s worse is not doing so could result in a $10,000 fine and a year in prison. Since the 1990s, the Institute for Justice has been fighting for hair braiders — and a new legal showdown in Iowa could be their biggest yet.

Follow @stylemic​

[hateful-lesbian]

I hate the sound of white men talking to each other

[sleepnoi7es]

I have a little cousin at MU whom I’m trying to contact right now. If y'all know anyone there or if you’re there please do what y'all can to be safe or get them to safety. This is scary.

[africanaquarian]

Whoa can we signal boost this please? People are in danger!

[100493503004422]

friend: how are things me: please don’t make me think about my life

[l-a-t-i-n-x]

PSA for all gringos

Latinx: A gender neutral term for a person or a group of people of Latin American origin.

Carlos was born in Guatemala, they are nonbinary and are most comfortable referring to themselves as a Latinx.

There are many Latinxs living in the United States.

Latino/Latina:Gendered terms for a person who originates from Latin America. [which includes  Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean]

María was born in Ecuador, she is Latina.

Jorge was born in Chile, he is Latino.

Mestizx/Mestizo/Mestiza: This is the term most people mean when they’re talking about ‘latinos’ and/or ‘hispanic people’ as a race. This racial category is a result of colonization, they are a mixture of Spanish and indigenous Latin American ancestry. The typical ‘Mexican’ archetype of being brown skinned but Spanish speaking is a depiction of mestizxs. While this is the correct racial term it is not highly recognized outside of the Latinx community.

Pedro refers to himself as a mestizo, since Mexican is an ethnic group and nationality, not a racial category.

Hispanic*: [adjective] of or relating to Spain or to Spanish-speaking countries, especially those of Latin America. [noun] a Spanish-speaking person living in the US, especially one of Latin American descent.

José was born in Brazil, so he is NOT Hispanic, since his country’s official language is Portuguese, but he IS Latino.

Leticia is a Mexican American who speaks Spanish, she is Hispanic.

*While this term is still used widely, many ‘Hispanic’ people find this term displeasing or even offensive and you should NOT use it unless you’re certain that they’re okay with it.

Mexican: From the North American country of Mexico, NOT a language. NOTICE! not all Latinxs in the US are from Mexico.

Enrique was born in Mexico, so he is Mexican. Enrique speaks Spanish, since “Mexican” is not a language.

Chicano/Chicana/Chicanx: a person of Mexican descent (usually born in the US).

Paolas parents were born in Mexico, so she identifies as Chicana. 

Spanish: Of or relating to Spain, its people or the language.

Alejandro was born in Madrid, so he is Spanish. 

Spanish is the official language of many Latin American countries, this does NOT mean that Latinxs are Spanish.

Quechua, Nahuatl, K'iche, ect: Indigenous languages still spoken in Latin America today that predate colonization and are still in common use.Many Latinxs are bilingual and Spanish may not be their native or their first language.

Itzel was born in Mexico and her family speaks doesn’t speak Spanish, they speak Nahuatl, a common native language.

It’s also worth mentioning that Indigenous Latin Americans should not be called latinx/latino/latina or hispanic, since these terms come from colonization.

[l-a-t-i-n-x]

I edited this so please re-read and reblog!

[fogo-av]

y a mi que me lleve al diablo. 

Where does someone like me, afrodescendiente, non-mestizx. fit into this scheme? 

[l-a-t-i-n-x]

I didn’t make this as an all encompassing list of people and terms associated with Latin America, if I had I would’v added afro latinxs, among others. But this list is specifically for terms that many gringxs, and even people in the latinx community, don’t know the specific definition of.It is not intentionally exclusive.

You realize almost none of these are racial categories right, therefore by definition if you fit one of these are are allowed to identify with it.

[fogo-av]

But this list is specifically for terms that many gringxs, and even people in the latinx community, don’t know the specific definition of it.

Afro-Latinx is a term that many gringxs and people in the latinx community don’t know specific definitions of. “It’s not intentionally exclusive” but it still is because We have to constantly fight to even be recognized in the Latinx imaginary. You not intending to be exclusionary indicates how we are not even considered. Am I really allowed to identify with it if I’m not explicitly included into your definitions? 

You do a good job at using Mestizx to typify racialization of Latinx. You even write “This racial category is a result of colonization, they are a mixture of Spanish and indigenous Latin American ancestry.” Not once mentioning the history of slavery and the millions of enslaved people brought all over Latin America that are are also included in racializing Latinxs. This is exclusionary, be it intentional or not.

You also take the time to, very importantly, distinguish some indigenous groups and languages. Even making the very important disclaimer that many indigenous groups would rather not be identified and categorized as Latinx because of colonization. This is great. But what’s missing is MY people in this PSA

In your PSA you talk about Europeans, Mestizxs, and indigenous groups. Not one mention of Black people, who have been in the hemisphere since the beginning of colonization of the hemisphere. 

This PSA doesn’t help my people. Doesn’t provide info to gringxs about my people. It certainly doesn’t fight against the erasure of my people from non-Black Latinxs, in fact it continues it. So who is this PSA for? 

You can choose to do better, or you can continue to ignore our people. Afro-Latinos, Afro-descendientes, Black people of Latin America, have to fight for representation, have to fight for land rights, have to fight for cultural preservation and have to fight against anti-black racism which leads to erasure. 

**I could add other erased groups here but I am Afro-Latinx and feel more comfortable talking about my people but others please feel free to tag in. 

[l-a-t-i-n-x]

I’m going to start off by saying that I live in the U.S and this list is very much based off of my personal experiences with gringxs, I’m also going to address everything in the order that you said it. Yes afro latinxs have always been historically erased from Latin America and this is something that still happens very often within our community. However in my definitions [referring to Hispanic, latinx, latino/latina, Mexican, Chicanx] I didn’t specifically mention any racial group as being the only one allowed to identify with it, I gave a broad direct definition that would hopefully be easy to understand, so yes if you fit the definition of one of those words you are allowed to identify with it, I never made them exclusive to a single race, though I’m sorry if you perceived it that way.

Latinx is almost synonymous with mestizx. You have to keep in mind that you as a black person are not perceived as a mestizx, and therefore you do not experience life as one.You don’t deal with the erasure of your racial categorization. You can tell someone you’re black and they’ll know what you mean. If I told someone I was a mestiza they would have no idea what I meant, however people know I’m a latina by looking at me. So yes while the terms latinx/latina/latino are not specific to a single race, it is used to mean mestizx because we have no other widely known term to describe our race. This is also why non mestizxs have to add their race before latinx, afro latinx, asian latinx ect., they have to clarify their race, while we simply say latinxs because we have no other term.

I mentioned the fact the mestizxs are a result of colonization because it’s relevant, why else are we predominantly brown skinned and dark featured yet we speak Spanish and uphold many European ideals. I didn’t mention the history of afro latinxs b/c 1. that had little to do with the definition of mestizxs  and 2. this post was suppose to be relatively short, if I had wanted to go into deep explanations about the effects and changes of racial demographics as a result of European colonization I would do it in another post.

I took the time to mention some of the indigenous groups and languages b/c gringxs often have the idea that Latin America only consists of Spanish and Portuguese, which is very untrue and unfair to groups of people who existed on this land for centuries before any other groups of people.

I also added the mention of Europeans b/c again, it was something that needed to be cleared up. Gringxs assume that mestizxs are Spanish b/c we speak Spanish, however this can obviously be viewed as offensive to mestizxs which is why I included it.

This post was entirely based around the most common problems gringxs have in association to not understanding Latin America and latinxs. I never claimed it was an exhaustible list, I never once said this covers all latinxs. Also the majority of people immigrating from Latin America to the U.S [the Western world in general] are mestizxs, and this posts intent was to clear up the very basics of the confusion that surround us, after all afro latinxs aren’t mislabeled as Mexicans or Spanish, people may question as to whether you’re latinxs but they don’t question which label to put you in. Of course when I wrote this I knew it was exclusionary, I knew I couldn’t possibly cover everything, and again it was predominantly about mestizxs, I didn’t mention asian or jewish or even white latinxs. My posts intent was not to be all inclusive, because there was no way to do that without making this post too long. You’re right that this post doesn’t necessarily help your people, but it wasn’t specifically about your people. It was mostly suppose to be about my people and how often we’re mislabeled.

[fogo-av]

I’ll respond in the order you put things in too. 

Your assessment that “Latinx is almost synonymous with mestizx” is the most basic and flawed statement you’ve made yet. I live in a place in the United Sates where latinx is synonymous with being Afro-Latinx. I live in a place where MILLIONS of people are aware of their Black ancestry, and that is part of their Latinx identity. I don’t know where you pull this assessment from but it’s simply untrue. it’s false. I am not perceived as a mestizx person because I am not one, but I STILL AM LATINX at least I hope to be. But you and your arbitrary definitions make it clear that we are not. hmmm. 

You say “You don’t deal with the erasure of your racial categorization” and you are doing it with this post! I go through this everyday! Don’t speak over my oppression. 

“This point was supposed to be relatively short” is a sorry excuse for erasing my people. If you weren’t going to make an effective post you should have titled this post as “PSA for all gringos about Mestizx Latinxs and indigenous people of Latin America.” But that’s not what you put. 

“This post was entirely based around the most common problems gringxs have in association to not understanding Latin America and latinxs.” THIS IS SILLY. how are you going to negate the fact that gringxs have a hard time accepting Afro-Latinxs as Latinxs as even a thing? You should have said “This post was based around the problems I have with gringxs…” because If I were to tell you my biggest problem with gringxs, it is not even being recognized by as latinx, the same thing non-black Latinxs do. 

“we predominantly brown skinned and dark featured yet we speak Spanish and uphold many European ideals.” Again, many “Brown” Latinx are afro-descendiente. But you ignore that. 

“My posts intent was not to be all inclusive, because there was no way to do that without making this post too long.” I thought you said you tried to not make it exclusionary? Which one is it? 

“It was mostly suppose to be about my people and how often we’re mislabeled.” again, you should have said that from the get. If you would have made a post and titled it “A PSA for Gringos in understanding Mestixs,” this might have been better, although still missing key points. 

Oh and to backtrack on the worst thing you did yet, “I’m sorry if you perceived it that way.” which translates to, I refuse to take responsibility for what I wrote and am not sorry about the impact of the post. You’re not sorry. Like you said, this post wasn’t about all Latinxs. So since you don’t care about us, you don’t consider us, then you wouldn’t be sorry. I don’t expect you to be. 

OR if you really cared and wanted us to identify with your flawed definitions of Latinx, then you would have acknowledged your errors, and included us into your post. 

[nativenews]

“Latinx” being “almost synonymous with mestizx” has been a purposefully-engaged campaign for centuries to deny culpability in slavery and colonialism and the continuing impoverishment and violence against Afrolatinx communities, while situating themselves on the land via universal claims of Indigenous ancestry. 

There are plenty of Latin American Natives who also identify as Latinx, being Latin American in origin and/or also being at intersections with non-Indigenous and non-Black cultures in Latin America. We’ve also never heard of any legitimately Indigenous Latin Americas finding the term Latinx pejorative. The argument that that “these terms come from colonization”, again seems to reiterate either that Latinx is a racial term (it is not) or that mestizxs are Indigenous (which Latin American Native bloggers on here have told us they are not).

[autremondeimagination]

Oficialmente hemos llegado a la parte “no quiero estudiar más” del año.