Mestizaje Undone: A Qualitative Social Media Analysis of Afro-Latinx Identity & #BlackLivesMatter Activism

What does it mean to exist as a Black person in a community that is notorious in its anti-Black reputation? In the U.S., those who identify as Afro-Latinx, do so at the intersection of a Latinx community that often rejects them and an African American community that often does not understand them. This work examines the relationship between Afro-Latinx identity and the #BlackLivesMatter movement via social media. My research questions include: How do Twitter users utilize this platform to assert and affirm their identities? I use a combination of hashtag coding, content analysis, and in-depth interviews with social media users to pursue these questions. For Afro-Latinx individuals experiencing “ethno-racial dissonance”, social media provides an essential avenue to disrupt the anti-Black discourse that surrounds Latinidad. The data suggest that online participation is an impactful component in the development of their Afro-Latinx identity. Through their participation in online discourses and activism, Afro-Latinx individuals are able to build up protective factors in the face of continued anti-Black messaging and erasure.