What does beauty mean to you?
As cliché as it sounds, to me beauty comes from within. If you don’t feel beautiful, you don’t breathe beauty. If you are beautiful inside, then I will only see beauty no matter what you look like physically. I like beautiful people and I surround myself with them. My friends and family are all beautiful, kind, generous, loving, generous, and I rely on my blessings as I have them in my life.
What is a misconception about Afro-Latino heritage / identity that you would like to clarify?
The term Afro-Latinx is newer, so a lot of people outside of the Latinx community have no idea what that means. I have had people who thought that meant that one of my parents is African American and the other is Latinx, and I even had one person who thought that was the term used for a Latinx person. with an afro. (Oh no.)
But I can’t totally blame them since the history we are taught in this country excludes the real facts around the colonization of the New World and the African diaspora. So I’m going to give you a little history lesson on the subject: white Europeans (Spanish, French, Dutch) colonized the Caribbean islands (now the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, etc.). There were already Native Americans on these lands, and the Europeans brought African slaves with them. Since only European men colonized, they eventually began to rape African and indigenous women, which gave rise to a line of “mixed” people. These people span the spectrum of European, Native and African skin tones and characteristics, which is why Latinxes today are so diverse! Lesson finished. Both my parents are from the Dominican Republic. I was born here in the United States in Brooklyn, therefore I am an American Dominican. Both of my parents are Afro-Latinx, which means they are Latinx with African features and brown skin, and I look like them. We are all racially black and ethnically Latinx, more specifically Dominicans.
Sadly, there is still a lot of colourism in the Latinx community because we have been brainwashed into thinking that whiter is better. For this reason, many Afro-Latinxes do not use the term and denounce their African heritage. It makes me sad, but I think that is starting to change, and I hope that articles like these open the eyes of more people to our beautiful diversity.
How has your individual life experience influenced your philosophy of beauty?
My mom has gorgeous skin and doesn’t age, so all my life I have admired her beauty and makeup routines. She has always kept it simple, and I do the same. I only wear heavy makeup for auditions, but my daily makeup consists of mascara, blush, brow powder and lip balm, that’s it! For skin care, I have stepped it up in recent years, but my major rule that I also learned from mom is to never go to sleep with makeup on. I have been wearing makeup since high school and never fell asleep with it!
What inspires you to share your gifts with the world?
When I think of young Grasie – the painfully insecure little girl who was too shy to look anyone in the eye until her early twenties – it inspires me to get down to business. I am a storyteller, and I tell stories by playing, writing, directing or blog Where podcast, I to like tell stories ! And I want these stories to be for women, for black girls, for Latinx girls, for all BIPOCs, for the LGBTQ + community and for people with disabilities, for anyone who has ever felt “other” or “less than”. “. That’s why I tell stories and do what I do. I want to inspire little girls and boys to embrace their uniqueness and not be ashamed of it or like they need to change or assimilate in order to exist. Performance matters, and I aspire to do everything in my power as a storyteller to make sure everyone’s stories are told.
Have you ever felt “different” or excluded from beauty trends or the beauty industry in general? If so, please describe a case that you will remember.
Yes all the time. Especially when I’m on set as an actor and the makeup artist has to mix two shades of foundation to match my skin tone or when they can’t match it at all because they don’t have everything. just not enough experience with brown skin. Or when the hairdresser takes a look at my curls and is clearly intimidated. The beauty industry needs to diversify its color palettes. And while some companies are doing it, there is still a long way to go. There are levels of brown and black with varying undertones of yellow or red, and makeup brands need more variety, and makeup artists need to be trained to work with them. all skin tones. When it comes to hair, this is a great topic that we can devote a whole other article to. But I’ll say this: I’ve had so many bad hair experiences on set that now when I book a job I send producers pictures of my curly, straight, wavy hair and ask them how they would like my hair be done. so I can present myself that way and hopefully avoid other nightmare situations. It shouldn’t be, but a lot of black and brown actors do. It has to change.
What advice do you have for Afro-Latino humans who may be grappling with the complexities of their identity in the beauty space or the world at large?
Embrace your Blackness and your Latinidad! Don’t shrink to fit in the white spaces and know that you are beautiful!
