Learning about Afro-Latinos During the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action

By Astrid Alvarado-Sieg

In Spanish 1 at Thurgood Marshall Academy, students learned about several Afro-Latinos during the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

We started with a definition in Spanish of the word "Afro-Latino" and then did a gallery walkabout several Afro-Latinos from the United States in Spanish. I found some famous Afrolatinos students are familiar with to ease them into the topic.

In the classes that followed, we read short texts in Spanish and watched videos about several Afrolatinos from Latin America.

My favorite class was the one about the Colombian band Chocquibtown. Students read a text about the band and their music and then listened to a song about the band’s heritage and experiences with discrimination and stereotypes. Even though students have a limited vocabulary in Spanish 1, they were able to understand parts of the song and connected with the message and the music.

The students were engaged in the lessons and enjoyed talking about Afrolatinos. They made connections to the African Americans they learned about in other classes and particularly enjoyed the music video.