Ariana Allen, Founder of Educated Latina (EDL), graduated with her B.A. in Women’s Studies from Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles in 2008.
While in college, Ariana was inspired by conversations with her friends about their struggles navigating the ins and out of college. Curious she decided to turn these experiences into a paper for her Feminist Methods class. Through interviews, surveys, and research, she discovered that it wasn’t just her friends who struggled; it was a wider spread issue than she imagined. Inspired to do something about it, Ariana combined her love for media and her Latino community by launching EducatedLatina.com, an online destination for college Latinas to turn to for inspiration, information, and empowerment.
In the Summer of 2017, Ariana was featured in BeVisible’s Top 10 Latinx Founders in Online Media You Need to Know. She also presents Educated Latina’s How To Make College Work For You workshops for High School Juniors and Seniors.
A New York native and proud Dominiriqueña (Dominican/Puerto Rican), she currently lives in Inglewood, California with her awesome husband, Michael. When she isn’t working on EDL, Ariana is either watching her favorite TV shows or reading mysteries. She is passionate about traveling, cruising in particular, and is a self-proclaimed Francophile.
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I moved to Los Angeles from New York in 2004 to start my Freshman year at LMU. It wasn’t long before I discovered that I was the only Dominiriqueña from New York on campus. At first, I’ll be perfectly honest, I was thrilled to stand out in this way. My curly mane, my mocha skin color, and my NY accent became my image at school. I welcomed the attention, the confused looks, the questions, like, “What are you?” “Are you Black and Mexican?” “Where are you from?"
By my 2nd semester of freshman year, I had had enough. The thrill was gone. I became frustrated with the confused looks and the constant questions. I was completely homesick, craving tostones, someone to understand my accent, and someone I didn’t have to explain myself too.
I was so exhausted, I stopped introducing myself with my ethnicity first. I didn’t want to stand out anymore. I just wanted to be myself, not the boxes everyone was putting me in.
It was time for me to decide how to respond when they asked, “What are you?” But I struggled for years during and after college to find something that fit. I tried Dominican and Puerto Rican, I tried Latina, I tried Caribbean Latina, I tried Black Latina, I tried Dominican, but none of them felt just right.
As I continued to research, I found this term, Afro-Latino being used so I dug deeper. Then it was like the clouds opened up and the Angels sang: that’s it! I am Afro- Latina. As I look back on my journey of self-identity, I realized it took for me to leave my comfort zone to uncover my Afro- Latinidad. When I slipped it on, it was and is the most comfortable I've ever been.
Follow Ariana
https://www.instagram.com/educatedlatina/
https://www.instagram.com/arianachristina7/
https://www.facebook.com/EducatedLatina/
https://twitter.com/educatedlatina
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Sandra Garcia Lowery is a Sales and Marketing professional with over 10 years of industry experience, during 4 of which she managed her own event planning agency simultaneously. Today, she manages her own Marketing Agency, Encounter Marketing & Public Relations (EMPR) where develops and executes strategies and partnerships to help elevate the presence of small to mid-size businesses and non-profits.
Prior to becoming a full-time entrepreneur, Sandra was part of the Marketing Solutions team at Clear Channel Outdoor where she helped with the strategic development of marketing programs that merchandised data driven products for use by sales to grow revenue. Before Clear Channel, she held a Product Marketing and Digital role at Time Warner Cable Media where she implemented digital strategies and go-to-market plans that differentiated the brand from the competition as a Product Marketing expert for all digital products: Online, Mobile, Social, Search, Addressable, and Video On Demand. Prior to returning to TWC Media, she spent time at PEOPLE.com where she worked on long-term marketing plans for advertisers, integrated deals with PEOPLE Magazine and PEOPLE Stylewatch Magazine. Before PEOPLE.com, she worked at CNNMoney.com, the financial website for CNN and the online destination for FORTUNE Magazine and Money Magazine.
Identifying as an Afro-Latina from Honduras and cognizant of the group’s underrepresentation and the impact it had on her self-identification process growing up, Sandra birthed a passion project, Afro-LatinaBeauty.com. An online destination for stories of other Afro-Latinas, and a place to see and hear from others sharing the same intercultural experience.
Sandra is the current NY Chapter President of N.A.M.I.C (National Association of Multi-ethnicity In Communications), sits on the Board of Influencers for Digital Diversity Network (DDN), and the Young Leaders Board for America Needs You. Sandra was a Forbes 30 Under 30 2016 finalist, and in 2012 was awarded by Latino Leaders Magazine, a Top 25 Future Latino Leader (ages 25-35).
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Becoming loud and proud of my Afro-Latina identity is something that took time and years to happen. This is primarily because as I kid, I constantly had to defend and explain it. Because of this, I launched my Afro-Latina Beauty Blog a few years ago.
It is an online destination with Afro-Latina representation, a place where I capture the stories of other Afro-Latinas and Latinos, as well as highlight celebrities who are Afro-Latinos so people can see that we exist as a subset of overall Hispanic culture.
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Nadia Guevara, Panamanian and Afro-Puerto Rican, was named Associate Artistic Director of New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad, California last July. Nadia is a performer, teaching artist, director and choreographer with a passion for social justice, inclusivity and activism through the arts. As producer of Teatro Pueblo Nuevo, this new community outreach initiative was created to honor the existing presence of Latinx culture and history in the North County San Diego region, while curating Latinx-themed programming and featuring Latinx artists at New Village Arts.
Nadia produced, directed and choreographed the first Teatro Pueblo Nuevo production, CINDERELLA EATS RICE AND BEANS: A Salsa Fairy Tale by Karen Zacarias and Deborah Wicks La Puma. She also wrote and directed EL ENCUENTRO, a bilingual, community-inspired performance piece for The Old Globe Theatre’s Arts Engagement. Favorite performing roles include Celestina del Sol in CLOUD TECTONICS, Carla in IN THE HEIGHTS, and Lydia in LYDIA. She will direct GUADALUPE IN THE GUEST ROOM by Tony Meneses at New Village Arts in the fall, and was recently featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune where she was described as a “rising local theatre force”.
“The iconic movie-musical West Side Story, as inspiring and life-changing as it was for me as a young child, has created some unfortunate ideas of what it means to play Latinx in theatrical roles. Even today, over fifty years later, in stories where ethnicity is a central component, there have been many instances where roles are cast with a fair, non-Latinx dark-haired girl in the role of a Latinx while passing on completely viable and authentic Latinx actors. The excuse for using white actors in Latinx roles is usually blamed on lack of turnout at auditions. Well I have to disagree with that. Theatrical producers of predominately white institutions have a responsibility to acknowledge their implicit biases if they seek to tell stories of marginalized cultures.
I’m very passionate and vocal about inclusivity and diversity because I have seen it and experienced it firsthand both professionally and personally. The remedy is to create dialogue with the theatrical community, and create art without tokenizing. I am looking forward to the day when I direct West Side Story and cast a beautiful and dark Afro-Latinx to play the role of Maria to expand representation of Latinidad and create a dialogue about these damaging prejudices.”
Follow Nadia
Instagram: @nadia.g.g
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I came up with the idea for this story in December 2016. I was so excited to bring this project to life. I wanted to yell it at the world- "Hey world, I am Dominican and I know I am black, lets all pick up a book and be happy and black together!"
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But then life hit me. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. My body shut down. My left hand wouldn’t open and I lost my ability to walk. I lost myself. At that point, it didn’t matter what color I was on the outside, because I was now losing a battle on the inside. As I felt myself giving up. I knew I needed a purpose. The only sense of self I had was my creativity.
Naturally, I went back to the story festering inside of me. Like I stated, I only had one working hand. However, it didn’t stop me. I used my one working hand and I began typing one letter at time. The product was a hyper dramatic story mirroring my life. Needless to say, I needed help. Once I was healthy enough to wobble my way around, I went to Atlanta. I collaborated with a badass writer, Chazteir Martin. In one day, we shared our insecurities and our stories. We embraced our colors. It oozed out us.
This kind of story is long overdue. I returned to New York and kept working on this beautiful art that I hold so dear, while simultaneously working on my own story called trying to survive. Now I am in the chapter of bringing this art into fruition. I wholeheartedly believe Complexity can bring forth awareness and self love to those who were once in my shoes. Those who see one thing in the mirror, yet only identity with what they are told. Lets create a discussion and help lead it to change.
Complexity Series
Instagram
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From Muslim and Latino poet Mark Gonzales comes a touching and lyrical picture book about a parent who encourages their child to find joy and pride in all aspects of their multicultural identity.
Dear little one,
…know you are wondrous.
A child of crescent moons,
a builder of mosques,
a descendant of brilliance,
an ancestor in training.
Written as a letter from a father to his daughter, Yo Soy Muslim is a celebration of social harmony and multicultural identities. The vivid and elegant verse, accompanied by magical and vibrant illustrations, highlights the diversity of the Muslim community as well as Indigenous identity. A literary journey of discovery and wonder, Yo Soy Muslim is sure to inspire adults and children alike.
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Visit Es Mi Cultura's Accessory store on Esty. You can purchase tote bags and order custom flag earrings!
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Es Mi Cultura is published every first Monday of the month by Tamika Burgess. Tamika is a Afro-Panameña, California based Writer. Learn more about her by visiting TamikaBurgess.com
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