Los Afro-Latinos

Jun 12

How I Did It: Kim Haas Speaks at America Means Business

Kim Haas, President of Haas Media LLC and Founder of Los Afro-Latinos, will be speaking at America Means Business (AMB) tomorrow, Wednesday, June 13 from 2:00pm – 3:00pm.

Kim will talk about launching and growing her business, as well as developing Los Afro-Latinos. Her interviewer will be Ramon Ray, Editor of Small Biz Technology.

The event takes place at America Means Business headquarters (125 West 18 Street, New York, New York).

For more information about this event and to get tickets please click here.

Jun 11

Kim Haas on WRFG-Atlanta (TODAY)!

Tune in TODAY at 2:30pm to WRFG-Atlanta to hear Kim Haas (President of Haas Media LLC and Founder of Los Afro-Latinos) on “The Tambor” with host Bruno Gaston! Read more

Jun 6

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Clemencia & Francia: In Their Words

By Kim Haas

Part Two of Los Afro-Latinos La Toma Feature

Here we invite you to listen to the interview with Francia Márquez and Clemencia Carabali in Spanish.

Aquí les invitamos escuchar la entrevista con Clemencia Carabali y Francia Márquez en español.

Have you ever felt so committed to a cause that you were willing to risk your life defending it? For most of us, it’s hard to imagine being so strongly dedicated to an ideal, principle or mission. Read more

May 25

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Gold Rich La Toma in Turmoil

Part One of Los Afro-Latinos La Toma Feature

Today’s headlines are focused on Colombia. Stories regarding the U.S. Secret Service’s prostitution scandal in Cartagena during last month’s Summit of the Americas have brought the South American country to the forefront of international news.

But the scandal you’re not hearing about revolves around La Toma, a small Afro-Colombian community in Cauca, a gold-rich, mountainous region in Colombia’s Pacific southwest. With the price of gold soaring, foreign mining companies are swooping in and forcing out the Afro-Colombian community that has inhabited La Toma for centuries and used small-scale mining for sustenance. Read more

May 17

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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

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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