Latinos In All Colors by Yvonne West

Reppin Our Roots. Marker drawing. 2021

Recently, In The Heights an adaption of the broad way play was released in the theaters. It received positive reviews but some criticism. One was the lack of Afro Latinos in the film. Lin Manuel Miranda made a public apology regarding the complaint over the film's lack of diversity involving black Latinos. Rita Moreno came to his defense on Steven Colbert's Show insisting people "wait awhile and leave it alone". She further more said "There’s a lot of people who are Puertorriqueños, who are also from Guatemala, who are dark and who are also fair. We are all colors in Puerto Rico. And this is how it is, and it would be so nice if they hadn’t come up with that and just left it alone, just for now. I mean, they’re really attacking the wrong person." She spoke highly of Lin Manuel Miranda as someone who introduced the talent of people of color to broad way. Moreno has since been attacked for defending him.

In 2009, I went on a bus trip with students from Community College of Philadelphia where I was enrolled as student, to see In The Heights on broad way in New York. After seeing the show, I along with people on the bus trip organized by the staff at Community College of Philadelphia sat for a talk back session featuring the cast that consisted of Miranda himself who played Usnavi and the play wright Quiara Alegria Hudes. Both Miranda and Hudes shared their experience work shopping the play until it got on broad way and took questions from us. Miranda during the talk back session, announced in a couple weeks he would stop performing in the play to direct the revival of West Side Story on broad way. We all became disappointed but happy that his career at the time was taking off. Several interviews I have seen virally and in documentaries of him share his venture in bringing talent of minorities to the stage. From what I observed of him in person, was his dedication to theater and telling stories not often told of minority youth. This was a man I saw waiting to see the show outside the theater, cross the street in New York almost get hit by a car wearing head phones walking into the theater's doors. During that moment, I recall the seriousness in his face walking into that theater stopping at nothing to bring us Usnavi in Washington Heights a young man with a dream like he had. He shared stories about how there were technical issues with the show during the talk back which was the reason guest were delayed in getting seated in the theater for the show but how he freestyled and did everything to entertain some audience members. The man was making a difference shinning a light on the talent not looked at in show business. He introduced Hamilton featuring a racially diverse cast telling the story of Alexander Hamilton with a mixture of hip hop and singing like In The Heights. Miranda has made statements where people including myself disagreed or agreed with him but the man is respected for what he has done.

There are lots of Latinos different colors in Latin America and not many of us in America in particularly black Americans see that until traveling to the countries or Hispanic communities. Colorism exist in every culture including of Hispanics. It has been a discussion for years. It is evident not enough black Latinos get their chance in starring in well known tele novellas featuring fare skinned Latinos who look white. Hollywood in the United States has black Latino actors and actresses for years starring in film and television productions. The difference is they played African Americans. In America, if a person looks black they are considered black. This was the mindset within entertainment. Casting agencies and productions seek to cast those they feel is the best fit for roles. Afro Latinos entering the entertainment industry acting in film, television or on broad way struggled to get parts due to not fitting the industries perception of Latino's physical characteristics as fair skinned individuals who look like Jennifer Lopez or Eva Longoria. This was the reality for Afro Latino actors such as Faizon Love, Gina Torres and Laz Alonso who have been playing black American roles for years instead of roles playing Latinos. Drawing featured in marker titled Reppin Our Roots shows Latino youths in different colors standing under flags from the country their families came from. They have a connection to American culture like any children of immigrants but show connection to the culture of the country their parents left. Within the film In The Heights, the characters performed a dance singing the song Carnival Del Barrio waving flags of the countries their families came from such as Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico. The youth in the piece stands together representing their Latino roots that is a mixture of African, European and Asian descent. Lin Manuel Miranda did the best he could to show that. He made a difference exposing Latino and black talent years after Rita Moreno who spoke well of him won as the first Puerto Rican actress to win an academy award for her role in West Side Story in 1962 when she was the only Puerto Rican actress playing a Latina from Puerto Rico while the other cast members were white playing Latinos from the island. Miranda and others doing the revival of West Side Story incorporated the music in Spanish and English within the broad way revival of the play sung well by Puerto Rican and Dominican stage actress Karen Olivo who starred in the production of In The Heights. His involvement of having the lyrics to music in Spanish and English in the play is something probably the playwright Arthur Laurents who wrote the play and the directors of the film Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise adapted from the stage play did not think much to do telling a fictional story of tense conflict in an urban New York city neighborhood between Puerto Ricans and Irish Americans. Only way Afro Latinos get more representation they feel they are not receiving is for more people to invest like Tyler Perry or have a vision as Lin Manuel Miranda did forming production companies telling stories of Afro Latinos not often heard. Audiences will learn different perspectives of those under represented who are black from Latin America.