Black History Month

It’s Black History Month. We celebrate Black and Latinx history and culture in my house everyday because it’s what our family is.

I’m Dominican and my husband Trevor Rozier-Byrd is Black.

My kids are Black and Dominican.

We listen to salsa, reggaeton, bachata, cumbia, merengue, hip-hop, R&B, jazz, the Encanto soundtrack, In the Heights soundtrack, and Earth, Wind and Fire (my daughter loves the song “Shining Star”).

We eat a range of food during the holidays from collard greens and Trevor’s Mac and cheese to my mother’s pernil and platanos.

We’re always having conversations about what it means to be what and who we are.

We talk about the present and the past.

My kids ask us how could White people ever treat Black people differently just because of skin color.

They don’t understand why.

They get scared.

These are conversations we have had with our kids and will continue to have as they get older.

I will always recognize my privilege as a lighter skinned Latina. (Colorism is a serious problem in the Latinx community and we do not talk about it enough).

And I will always be here to honor and celebrate the Black community.

Today, I’m honoring the legacy of Malcom X, whose words ring just as true today as they did years ago.

“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” – Malcolm X

#bhm2023 #blackhistory365 #peace #freedom