HOUSTON — Cardi B, Zoe Saldana and Carmelo Anthony are all Hispanic and Afro-Latino.
More than 2 million Black Americans identify as Black and Hispanic. That includes Houston influencer, model, and beauty brand developer Alexa Dolmo of Darling Skin. She embraces her identity and educates others on what it means to be Afro-Latina.
“And that was the term that I use a lot of times in school to really educate people like who I really am,” Alexa says.
It’s a term that she wasn’t familiar with until she was 14 years old when she moved to Houston from Honduras. At times, Alexa felt uncomfortable in her own skin.
“When I was in middle school, high school, for the longest, they will tell me that I wasn't Black,” she says. “They'll be like, ‘Oh, you're not Black, you're Mexican.’ They were confusing... the difference between nationality and race. And I'm like, I'm a Black woman. I (was just) born in a Latin country.”
A Latin country in Central America with a large Garifuna presence – people of Caribbean and African descent, like Alexa’s family.
There’s the food too; a delicious mix of cultural cuisine. A menu reminiscent of home and reflective of her roots.
“We were descendants from West Africa,” says Alexa. “And then from there, we actually migrated to the Caribbean islands of St. Vincent. We were there for a long time, and right after that, we ended up we get it we got exiled from the island by the British.”
“Now, we're all over the world. There's a very large population of Garifuna people in Houston.”
It’s Alexa’s ambition to connect and support her community with her Instagram platform, Garifuna Bosses.
“As a blogger myself, I will always see other blogging communities on Instagram, and I never saw one for my people. And I was just like, ‘It would be nice if I created a platform where everybody will be included, and I can promote their business and free cause.”
“It’s for the love of the culture.”