Amara La Negra, an up and coming Latin artist is paving the way for Afro-Latinas to be recognized in the mainstream media.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdGJpuIgyH-
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Amara, she came on to the music scene with her breakout hit “Se Que Soy” and now she’s on Love and Hip Hop Miamitrying to make a name for herself in the American market.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bda2cQBA8wJ
Love and Hip Hop Miami premiered on Jan 1st, resulting in an instant boost in the singer’s popularity and she has taken over headlines since. Her overnight success hasn’t been easy for her though, and we’ve seen evidence of her struggles in the season’s premiere episode. During one scene, the Latin artist meets up with fellow cast-mate, producer Young Hollywood for a studio session but instead of focusing on her music he shifted his focus to her look.
This conversation made me so mad. It's sad that people actually think like this. pic.twitter.com/bWofupXgdc
— 𝑰 𝑳𝒖𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅 ✨ (@aVeryRichBish) January 2, 2018
The two minute, cringe-worthy conversation was and filled with back to back microaggressions. Sadly this situation isn’t new to her or to others in the Latinx community.
Amara opened up to Us Weekly in an exclusive interview about her struggles with people understanding her identity and stated,
“I’ve had people judge me so many times based off my looks and not off my talent, and I try to be mellow and try to see their points of view and have them understand my point of view. It wasn’t surprising. It wasn’t shocking because unfortunately a lot of the Latin community has that mentality — not even just the Latin community. I would say the music industry, or the entertainment industry in general, sometimes can have that concept that you have to look a certain type of way in order to succeed, which I am completely against.”
He ended the conversation by referring to her as a “Nutella Queen” which left not only the songstress in shock but he left every viewer in shock as well.
https://twitter.com/HoodSocialist/status/948021476434857985
Young Hollywood reminds me of most people who are ignorant of dark skin beauty it's like he was low-key saying that Amara La Negra doesn't have any business being confident as an Afro-Latina they expect dark skin women to have low-self esteem.. you're sadly mistaken 😒 #LHHMIA pic.twitter.com/XK46pyhM6U
— NOLAB!TCH⚜️ (@pattyplainjane_) January 3, 2018
Wow. Love and hip hop Miami has opened the door of the colorism and racism in the Latino community #LHHMIA
— Jessica Beloved (@jezBtalking) January 2, 2018
Luckily Amara is here to change those negative thoughts on what a Latinx person should look like, and she’s opening doors for other Afro-Latinx people to be taken seriously in the entertainment industry. We look forward to watching her and she’s definitely one to keep an eye out for!
