“Negrura: what does it mean to be
an Afro-Latinx?”
- Fabiola Méndez
Negrura
Project Description
Fabiola Méndez's project "Negrura" is an audiovisual storytelling experience that showcases the stories of Afro-Latinx folks from Boston’s Latin Quarter Cultural District. The film aims to create spaces for conversations about colorism, anti-blackness, discrimination, and racism within our own Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latinx community. Music, at the core of the project, connects our voices to provide a space for self-reflection, support, and healing.
Artist Bio
Fabiola Méndez (she/her) is a Puerto Rican cuatro player who is part of a musical movement, crossing over the lines of genres such as folkloric, jazz & Latin. A graduate from Berklee College of Music '18, Fabiola has worked and performed for artists such as: Totó La Momposina, Eddie Palmieri, Puerto Rican Symphony Orchestra, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Cucco Peña, and Pedro Capó, among others. She was a luminary at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and currently works as an independent artist all around New England, collaborating with organizations such as Inquiliños Boricuas en Acción (IBA), Celebrity Series of Boston, Hyde Square Task Force, PR Veterans Monument Association, and Agora Cultural Architects.
“My experience as an RIRJ was so rewarding. The process was full of growth, not only for me, but also for my community. Two of the most impactful moments for me in this process were, first and foremost, giving myself and my community the time to focus on our wellness, discussing what that means for us and how we address it and, second; being able to have honest and respectful conversations with my family about traumas we all carry related to our race and physical identity, and how we can each keep unlearning and deconstructing all these stigmas to continue our personal and collective growth.”
- Fabiola Méndez
These photographs are from our community gathering after all the interviews and stories were properly documented. Photo credits to Steve Osemwenkhae.
More info about Negrura and where/when to stream it via my website:
www.fabiolamendezmusic.com/negrura