Performative Blackness: Amara La Negra Tried It With Zahira Kelly
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Lately “black power” has come into play among Black Latinos, especially those who only ‘recently discovered they were black.’ Some of us have always known and it’s on full display every day of our lives. But alas- everybody ain’t woke and apparently the ones who have now seen the ‘black light’ are still having issues finding their black ass way.
Enter Amara La Negra. Amara was boosted to semi-relevance as she became the poster child for the plight of Black Latinos on VH1'’s ‘Love and Hip Hop Miami”. It was a storyline that was beaten to fucking death. You see when you have lived this experience your entire life and have been speaking out against this specific topic for years; it can be exhausting. I’m not saying it didn’t need to be addressed but the audience for whom the show was intended, shouldn’t have been the target. Other black people have said that afro-latinos were black for decades. And finally at black latinos’ insistence that they weren’t (specifically with reference to Dominicans in this case), other diasporans conceded.
Now before the “not all Dominicans” crybabies come with the shits- if it doesn’t apply; have a seat.
With Amara’s newly-found fame, she was, often, seen crying for having it so hard because she was “afro-latina.” That’s, admittedly, true but she has never directly said what black latinos, who fight this fight daily, know and say: “Latinos are racist as fuck!”
Including the ones from where black folks are abundant in their respective countries.
She often alludes to racism (this isn’t colorism) by saying, “I feel like I’m not good enough or educated enough because of my color.”
“A lot of people like to box me in because of my look or because I’m dark-skinned, but that doesn’t make me less Latina. I am 100% Latina and proud…. I am extremely proud of my brown skin, I’m proud of my color, the way that my hair curls. I am proud of who I am, and no one is going to take that away from me.” said Amara.
Phrases like ‘dark-skinned’, ‘brown skin’ and other ambiguous ways of describing blackness are often the responses of black latinos who really don’t view themselves as black but deny who they are.
I have to say that I’m not as active on Twitter as I’d like to be because of life and shit. But now and then, I come across some hot bullshit in Twitterville. Yesterday was that day. The people I follow on Twitter reflect my blackness. They are educated, unapologetic in their black skin, and will set your ass straight if you get reckless.
Zahira Kelly aka “Bad Dominicana” is a proud Black Dominican artist who criticizes anti-blackness on both sides- American and Latino. She does her part to bring awareness to people who may not know with a side of shade and intellect. Kelly ain’t for the faint of heart. But neither is the struggle so there you have it.
On August 3rd, Kelly tweeted: “waiting on the article on how amara la negra is appropriating her reggae-tinged tracks from white colombian reggeatoneros.”
Now any black person with an ounce of sense and awareness of their blackness could clearly see that the tweet was sarcastic. But not Amara. She responded lamely: “Get over yourself.”
Many of you may not know that Kelly was a diehard champion of Amara La Negra so I’m sure the misdirected response was a blow to her. I reached out to Zahira and she stated, “It’s pretty interesting to see that she would come for me and I have no power [especially being another Dominican woman.] So many people have come to know her through me. Because for the last decade, I’ve been talking about her…. I’m over her.”
I get it that when a person is in the public eye people may come for him or her on the daily but in the event he or she recognizes the mistake- apologize. Nothing more or less. Amara didn’t do that. And there were those who were encouraging the singer to acknowledge the error of her ways. There were also those, including myself, who weren’t for the games. Amara doesn’t get a pass. There have been plenty of times when she was actually disrespected and insulted and she remained silent.
Take this raggedy ass cover of People en Espanol. The two white latinas lookedas hot as they are going to and Amara, who’s known for being uber sexy, looks like a Mammy in that frock of a dress. She’s not even standing tall. It’s as if she tried to diminish herself. They, literally, dressed her the fuck down as not to outshine her pale, white counterparts. Where was her clapback for that? She gave this wack portada the ‘all clear’. Yet, she was super quick to come back on a tweet that was clearly boosting her up. Ta’to, Amara!
Here’s the thing. We have enough niggas shucking and jiving. Amara is known for singing and dancing but not for taking a real stance on the shit that matters with reference to black people. Blackness isn’t for show. An afro and a big ass does not a black woman make. Amara has yet to call out white latinos not even the anti-black Univision where she got her start as a singer and a dancer. We don’t know where she stands on brutality of diasporans or the disproportionate economic hardships we face. Hell, even Cardi B has spoken up about these issues. We don’t need any more niggas who sing and dance. We need black latinos who are going to take a stand and bring racist latinos to task.
Originally published at Negra With Tumbao.
