Welcome to Blacktina Magazine
Welcome to Blacktina Magazine! We’ve been M.I.A., but we are BACK! Read what our Founder and Editor-in-Chief has to say about her vision for the magazine…
Hola Afro-Latinas!
Welcome to Blacktina Magazine, a magazine created by an Afro-Latina for fellow Afro-Latinas. I know that we have been M.I.A. for a while, but we had to take care of some things on the backend in order to bring you a great platform.
I am an Afro-Latina of Panamanian and Colombian descent. I'm Panamanian on my Mother's side, Colombian on my Father's side, and the first (and so far only) generation American on both sides! When I tell people that I am Latina, the first thing I hear is“but you don’t look Latina, I thought you were Black – you’re so dark-skinned!” I think I’ve heard that response more than any other in my entire life. My Spanish is not perfect, and I don’t have a Spanish last name, but I am Latina – Afro-Latina!
I was born in Brooklyn, and grew up eating arroz con pollo, mondongo, patacones, and tamales. I've spent many summers in Colón, Panama playing with my cousins Nancy and Zolangy, and eating guinep on mi Abuelita’s porch. My favorite summer memory is swimming with my cousins Malka and Laura in the Tutunendo River in Quibdó, Colombia. Any song by Willie Colón, Rubén Blades, The Fania All-Stars, or Joe Arroyo serves as my soundtrack to growing up in the 1980s. I had a quinceañera, and a sweet sixteen. If all that doesn’t make me Latina, then I don’t know what does.
It has always been my dream to create a platform that celebrated Afro-Latinas – women with unique cultures and mixed backgrounds. Afro-Latinas are often overlooked and ignored, or dichotomized as either 'Hispanic' or 'Black.' It is my hope that Blacktina Magazine adds to the many conversations around the complexity of the Afro-Latino identity, especially when anti-blackness is still prevalent in the Latino community.
Blacktina Magazine offers readers the opportunity to celebrate, to unite, to be inspired, to be informed, and to be entertained. My mission is to infuse readers with a sense of Afro-Latina pride and history, and to build an international community of Afro-Latinas.
I hope you enjoy.
Best,
Julia
Photo credit: © Peathegee Inc/Blend Images/Corbis
Author Bio:
Julia Christie is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Blacktina Magazine. You can follow her on Twitter: @JuliaChristie15 and on Facebook: @Julia Christie.