Identity in the Afro-Latin Community

Dr. Marimer Berberena Alonso works to build epistemological, cosmological and cultural bridges between Latin America and Africa. Her doctoral dissertation in Africology, from Temple University, focused on the retention of African culture in Puerto Rico, observing the cultural continuity from Kemet, its transfer to various African ethnic expressions, and their historical legacy in the Caribbean. Her MA thesis, from the Graduate Center of CUNY, explored the Gagá/Rara in New York City. Dr. Berberena has taught Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Sociology, Criminology, and Africana Studies undergraduate courses at different universities like Temple University. She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Lehman College of CUNY and at Tennessee State University.

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Yesenia Escobar Espitia
Yesenia Escobar Espitia is an Afrocolombian teacher, writer and lawyer. She holds a Master degree in Literary Studies at Universidad Nacional de Colombia and nowadays she is studying a PhD in Spanish at Temple University, USA. An active member of Red Elegguá, a Colombian NGO interested in researching and fostering an antiracist education based on the study of Africa and the African diaspora. Her academic work has been combined with a sensitive poetry and narrative that reaches children as well as adults.
Instagram: @yesi_poeta