381: Anti-Blackness in Latin America, the Mestizaje Myth & Visiting Equatorial Guinea with Dash Harris

Episode Summary

Hear travel stories from Equatorial Guinea to Brazil & how Dash works to dismantle anti-Blackness in Latinx communities. In Part 2 of this conversation, Peabody Award–winning producer and historian Dash Harris unpacks the ideology of mestizaje and explains how narratives of racial mixing have obscured anti-Blackness across Latin America and its diaspora. She discusses why she rejects the umbrella identity of “Latina,” drawing on Black feminist scholarship, her workshops on dismantling anti-Blackness in Latinx communities, and her own experiences traveling and researching Afro-descendant cultures around the world. Dash tells stories from visiting Equatorial Guinea—the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa—and compares Afro-diasporic histories across continents. She also shares observations from Salvador, Brazil about tourism, memory, and the politics of Black cultural spaces. Finally, she recommends some of her favorite music—from Afro-Cuban traditions to Afro-Colombian and Brazilian sounds.

Get The Maverick Show's

Monday Minute Newsletter

Unsubscribe at anytime. You can read the
Privacy Notice and Terms of Use here.

Get 3 recs from Matt for travel, culture & living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds a week.

About the Guest

Dash Harris

Dash Harris is a Peabody-award winning multimedia producer, activist, world traveler and public historian focused on AfroDiasporic stories, identities, histories and futures. She is the co-founder of AfroLatinx Travel, which facilitates group trips centering Latin America’s African roots that are led by Black Latin American locals. She is also the producer and director of Negro: A Docu-Series on Latinx Identity and its deep-seated race, color, and class complex. Born to Black Panamanian parents, she grew up in Bed Stuy Brooklyn, NY, and today she offers trainings, workshops, and coaching on dismantling anti-Blackness in Latinx communities.

What You'll Learn

Why Dash Harris rejects the umbrella identity of “Latina” and how the ideology of mestizaje can obscure anti-Blackness in Latin America
What traveling to places like Equatorial Guinea and Salvador, Brazil reveals about shared histories and cultural continuities across the Black diaspora
Recommendations for Afro-diasporic music—from Afro-Cuban traditions to Afro-Colombian and Brazilian sounds.

Links From the Episode

Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. If you click through any links and make a purchase, you should assume that Maverick will receive financial compensation (at no additional cost to you). We greatly appreciate you using our affiliate links because it helps to support the show and cover production costs of the podcast.

_____________________________

GET THE MONDAY MINUTE – Matt’s weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders that you can read in 60 seconds.

FOLLOW THE MAVERICK SHOW AND DM MATT on Instagram

_____________________________

WATCH NEGRO DOCU-SERIES ABOUT LATINX IDENTITY 

READ DASH’S ARTICLE NO, I’M NOT A ‘PROUD LATINA’ 

CONTACT AND FOLLOW DASH

LOCATIONS WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE