Without discussing the reasons why Latina magazine felt it was just to “crown” Beyoncé an “honorary Latina” (none of which are valid or make sense), here’s a reminder of what’s at stake when you name someone like Beyoncé your own, in a climate riddled with anti-blackness no less.
.@Latina might wanna start acknowledging & addressing Afro-latinidad in our own communities before you start appropriating celebrities 💅🏾
— yeah, ok. (@melancholera_23) April 26, 2016
There’s this thing called erasure. The black woman has long been the most neglected and undervalued person in America. Dubbing Beyoncé “Latina” strips her of her very identity when she is raising her voice against white supremacy and unapologetically owning her blackness.
Mrs. Carter made it crystal clear that she’s a Texas Bama on “Formation,” an ode to black life and black sisterhood. Her Lemonade album only further echoes these sentiments by explicitly displaying a spectrum of blackness (black women of all shades and pedigree).
.@Latina As an Afro-Latina, frequently IGNORED as Latina, let me stop you there. Beyonce is a Black woman, straight up. Don’t erase that!
— Frenchie/Fro Dameron (@lafemmeluna) April 26, 2016
It doesn’t mean that being black and Latino are mutually exclusive — our lineages are linked and have been speaking to each other for eons, which brings me to the crux of it all: let’s first celebrate blackness/ black people/ black Latinas in the Latin community.
@Latina just honor the Black Latinas that already exist… How about that?
— Sankofa NYC (@Coldsun3000) April 26, 2016
Let’s not make hunch punch out of Bey’s lemonade. Cool?
@Latina erasure of Beyoncé’s blackness, why?
— goodass green juice (@meowwcydnee) April 26, 2016