losafrolatinos

May 17

A Cuban Grandmother Reunites with Family, Preparing a Dinner to Savor

By Kim Haas

As Yesenia Fernandez opened the door to her apartment, I was greeted instantly and affectionately by her mother, Mercedes Crespo. Mercedes was welcoming, warm and friendly. I liked her immediately. She has that inviting, infectious personality that puts you at ease. Mercedes radiates a certain warmth and hospitality that often characterizes Cubans.

Although she calls this apartment in West New York home, she’s only been living here for a couple of weeks. Originally from Havana, Cuba, she was reunited with her daughter Yesenia, and Yesenia’s triplets (los trillizos) at the end of April, a day shy of her 57 birthday. Read more

May 11

The Afro-Latino Kitchen

“Food is everything,” we were once told. At Los Afro-Latinos, we couldn’t agree more. It’s food that binds us across countries and generations. That’s why we’re starting The Afro-Latino Kitchen.

Once a month, we’ll post about a chef, cook, restaurant, ingredient or Afro-Latino dish. The best part is we’re asking you to share your food memories with us by suggesting favorite restaurants, kiosks, festivals and more. Whether you live in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil; Cartagena, Colombia; or Chicago, Illinois, or anywhere else in the world, we’re asking you to share your food and stories.

With any luck, we’ll be able to cover your favorite Afro-Latino dishes and cooks and share them with our community.

Check back at losafrolatinos.com monthly for a new story from Afro-Latino Kitchen. And send us suggestions on Facebook and Twitter.

Kiosko El Boricua outside of Pinones, Puerto Rico. They’re cooking alcapurrias de jueyes (crabmeat fritters). Many kiosks like this one have been run by the same family for generations.

May 4

3 Comments

Mayra Santos-Febres Talks Black Beauty and the Power of Words

By Kim Haas

“I was born with a particular sensitivity to words. Some people are very good with math and sports… I wasn’t but I could feel words.” Perhaps this early relationship with words explains a certain sensuality that characterizes not just her literary works but also Mayra Santos-Febres, the woman. Read more

Apr 16

42 Comments

Meet Margot

By Alessandra Hickson

Finding authentic, delectable Dominican food is as simple as taking the 1 train. Sure, everyone boasts they’re the best. But only Margot Restaurant has been hailed time and time again — in magazines and on Yelp comment boards — as the best Dominican food in the greater New York area.

Margot Restaurant was featured as the place to get Dominican cuisine in a September 2007 Gourmet article [Special Collector’s Issue, Latino Food: America’s Fastest-Rising Cuisine] titled “He’ll Take El Alto” by Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Díaz.

“Margot’s is so addictive that people from the Bronx and Brooklyn will pay for cab service just so they can get their sancocoho delivered to their door. That’s how slamming they cook at Margot,” said Diaz, adding, “Their rice, their beans, their gandules, their pollo guisado, their sancocho are all cooked to island perfection…”

When you hear high praise like that — from a Dominican-American no less — you need to investigate. Read more

Mar 30

6 Comments

Q&A with Miriam Jiménez Román

In February, Latina magazine listed “6 Afro-Latinas Who Are Changing the World.” Naturally, Miriam Jiménez Román was second on the list.

Her work as a writer, professor and head of the Afro-Latin@ Forum has educated the world about the Afro-Latin experience and made her an authority on the subject. Her latest work, The Afro-Latin@ Reader: History and Culture in the United States, has been hailed for critics for its diverse portrait of Black Latinos in America.

Jiménez sat down to speak with Los Afro-Latinos about the book, Afro-Latinos in the media and bridging the gap between African Americans and Latinos. Read more

Mar 22

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Afro-Peruvian Jazz & Cuisine Meet at Tutuma Social Club

If you’re ever wandering down Manhattan’s East 56^th Street you may have noticed a little sign that reads “Tutuma Social Club.”

Blink and you’ll miss it. But tap down the staircase to what appears to be nothing more than a basement and you’ll be greeted with incredible Jazz music. It’s the Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet playing jazz music, which transitions smoothly between sweltering and upbeat to slow, calming and intimate. Read more

Mar 14

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CLOSED Daughters of the Stone Giveaway!

Hello readers! It’s giveaway time!

Remember when we said there was a little surprise in the works? Well, this month Los Afro-Latinos is celebrating Women’s History Month. And we’re giving away the book Daughters of the Stone to celebrate one of our most popular Q&A’s with author Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa! Read more

Mar 9

Notes from the 16th Annual Arturo A. Schomburg Symposium

Afro-Latin@ Film: Invisibility and Presence was the title of this year’s 16^th Annual Arturo A. Schomburg Symposium held at Philadelphia’s Taller Puertorriqueño, a nationally recognized youth arts workshop established in 1974 to serve the city’s Latino community. Read more

Mar 9

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{Gallery} 16th Arturo A. Schomburg Symposium

Los Afro-Latinos’ photos from the 16th annual Arturo A. Schomburg Symposium held in Philadelphia, PA on Saturday February 25, 2012. Read more

Feb 24

Q&A with Global Links’ José Henríquez

As the Program Officer to Central and South America, José Henríquez works with Global Links to improve public health and strengthen regional healthcare in Latin America and the Caribbean. Recently, Global Links and Henríquez have focused on Honduras’ Garifuna communities –descendants of Carib, Arawak and West Africans — to provide health care.

Henríquez engaged in a Q&A with Los Afro-Latinos via email to speak about Global Links’ work, Garifuna communities and how we can help Global Links advance healthcare for those in need. Read more