Afro-Latina Beauty del Chocó region en Colombia and Life in El Chocó

Afro-Latino beauty. Que Rica!!! Jaaaajaaaajaaaa!
The photo above is of Lina Ochoa (she is my second cousin). She was crowned Senorita el Chocó.
She's one of the many beautiful brown Colombianitas back home.
When I first came here, I was taken back by "shock greet"I was met with when a Black American would hear me and someone else speaking Spanish - especially in places like Nevada and here in North Carolina. A man once said to me, "My God, it is weird to see a person who looks like me speak a language like that."
I quickly realized that to some people, we (brown Latinas) were rare or odd. When I showed them pictures of my family or they met members of my family who spoke no English but looked like them, they were shocked. Seeing Africandos and Brown Latinas in Colombia speaking Spanish was, to them, like spotting a Leprechaun in South Compton.

Ah si, we come in all shades of brown and we're breath-taking beautiful.
Our skin tones range from Brown (Morena), Cinnamon/Brown (Canela), Olive (Trigueño) and Dark White (Blanca Oscura).

So, indeed, we are a colorful, spicy people and the richness of our culture can be found far beyond our outer beauty. If you are fortunate enough to befriend or love one of us...you'll know what I mean.

Back en Colombia, our country is separated into regions y departments. We can usually tell by your accent what department or city you are from, just like in the U.S. you can tell a Southerner from a New Yorker.

If you're from Bogotá you're a Rolo. Medellín, you're a paisa. Cali = Valluno. Natives of Barranquilla are costeños and the department my great-grandparents hailed from, Departamente el Chocó, is el Pacífico and you're el Chocóano o Chocóanita; Llanero, Santandereano.

The featured modelas y actores are from Peru, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Brazil y Mexico.

The video is a whos who of the Afro-Latina modeling world: Kalimba Marichal, Tais Araujo, Zaire, M'Balia, Johana Santos, Lázaro Ramos, Antonio Jimenez, Avril Guerrero, Jair Romero, Claudia Abrantes, Aniel Rodriguez, Adriana Riascos, Zoe Saldaña and more. The song playing in the background is one of my all-time favorites: "Cada Vez" by Negrocan. This is music we play at home. Enjoy.



The video below shows El Valle in Departamente el Chocó. This is where much of my family (from my Abuelito's side) lives in Colombia. We're in Putumayo, Tolima, Bogota, Novita, Leticia y Valle. And some in Cartagena.
Which should explain why we (in the States) work so hard to bring at least two of them every year: for a chance at a new life.

We are poor and may not have much, but we have each other. Family bonds are tight en Colombia but in Valle, they're stronger than oak. Valle y Novita are home...it's simple living: we don't always have electricidad (or anything else) but what we do have, we cherish. I miss the simplicity of life back home at times and when I return, I remember why it is important to cherish the everyday nuances we tend to take for granted.



Here's another beauty of home: El Monos --The monkeys. We have monkeys for pets like el gringos have el gatos and dogs. They're so sweet and cute; almost like a baby. El gringo tourists love feeding the monkeys.