Who We Are
The Afro-Latinx Project of California State University, Northridge (CSUN) brings together students and faculty from different disciplines to create digital and physical resources to make visible the histories and achievements of Afro-Latinxs. It also aims to make the CSUN campus more inclusive to the needs of Afro-Latinx students, help address the needs of a group of students who can’t easily find others with similar backgrounds, and provide a platform that serves as an informational and educational resource. To accomplish all this, the team of this project told the diverse stories of Afro-Latinx, Black-Latinx, and Afro-Latin American identity. We decided to use the term Afro-Latinx—with X—to be inclusive of non-binary people.
At CSUN, about half of the students enrolled identify as Latino as of Fall 2020. And according to a Pew Research Center survey, about a quarter (24%) of U.S. Latinos identified as Afro-Latinos. This project on Afro-Latinidad also helps to make Afro-Latinx students visible at the university and everywhere else by showcasing the intersection of Black and Latino identities.
The Afro-Latinx Project results from the team effort of the CSUN Bradley Center, professors and students in Art, Geography, Journalism, and Theatre, and it included an event with Blaxican filmmaker Ebony Bailey, director of Jamaica y Tamarindo. Support for the students was possible thanks to a CSUN Diversity & Equity Innovation Grant (DEIG). CSUN recently launched the campus-wide $500,000 DEIG initiative to support new programming promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and social justice among students, faculty, staff, and community members.
Meet the Whole Team!
CSUN students and faculty in Art, Geography, Journalism, and Theatre joined this Afro-Latinx Project
Students from IntersectLA—a CSUN student-operated and faculty-managed full-service brand + creative strategy agency—planned and conceived the website, creative, branding, and visual art components to give the Afro-Latinx Project digital presence an original and visually attractive look for a younger generation of college-age youths. Art student Alejandro Rincón was the lead project coordinator, and other participants include Frida Campos Torres, Miguel Crisanto, Daeja Thomas, & Sol Lopez.
Graduate Geography student Zihui (Kelly) Lei researched and created a Storymap titled, “Searching for the Afro-Latinx Community Identity.” This original research and creative project covers several topics—Afro-Latinx identity, origins of mix-race identity, cultural and historical Afro-Latinx achievements, the current status of this new identity, as well as challenges and systemic social justice issues faced in Afro-Latinx communities in Southern California.