The study investigates contemporary experiences of individuals who identify as Afro Latina/o/x, who address the legacies of anti-Blackness within Latina/o/x and Chicana/o/x communities. By centering these lived experiences, the research foregrounds critical interdisciplinary discussions that challenge the erasure of Blackness within these fields. The analysis demonstrates how AfroChicanx subjectivities operate within and against dominant frameworks, offering a lens through which to interrogate racialized identities across multiple cultural and national contexts.
Central to this work is the AfroChicanx Digital Humanities Archive, conceptualized as both a decolonial intervention and a creative praxis. The archive disrupts conventional academic structures by amplifying historically marginalized voices through oral histories, personal narratives, and multimedia documentation. Its development reflects a reimagination of how Afrochicanx, Afrochicana (o), Afrohispanic, Afromexicana (o), Afromexican, Afrolatino, Blackxican, Blackchicana, Chicano and Black, and White Blaxican identities are articulated beyond imposed racial and national categories, providing a critical space for historical reclamation and resistance.
This presentation highlights insights drawn from engagements with Afro-identified communities in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Tucson, Arizona; and Santa Barbara, California, that demonstrate ways digital humanities methodologies contribute to the ongoing work of historical visibility and epistemic justice. Within the broader scope of Chicanx and Latinx Studies, the research underscores the necessity of examining the political, social, and cultural foundations of Afro-Mexican subjectivities. The findings illustrate how these identities have historically evolved and continue to transform in response to shifting sociopolitical conditions.
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