Kim Haas actively explored Afro-Latino culture and contributions across Latin America for over a decade. Her grandmother planted the seed and took her on a journey that steered her toward her passion and, ultimately, her career.
“My grandmother took me to Acapulco, Mexico. I remember being in the hotel lobby and a stranger came up to me and asked, “Would you like to learn to count in Spanish?” From that moment on, I was hooked,” she tells Travel Noire.
Haas went on to study Spanish in elementary, middle and high school. She specialized in Spanish and traveled abroad to Seville, Spain, where her Spanish family made her feel at home. It was thanks to her studies before going abroad that she became interested in Afro-Latino culture.
“During one of my undergraduate classes, I wrote a paper about slavery in Brazil and compared it to Cuba. Both countries have always interested me. I knew there were Afro communities there.
After graduating and leaving Spain, Haas visited Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic and couldn't believe how stunned she was by what she witnessed.
“All these people look like me, a dark-skinned African-American. I knew about the Middle Passage and how they got there, but it's something to read and learn. It's something else to see it (first hand). I was blown away, and still am all these years later.
Haas says she wanted to learn more about Afro communities – their incredible talent, their history, their heritage and their contributions – so she started finding them. She has since created a public television series, Afro-Latino Travels with Kim Haasdedicated to the discovery of Afro-Latino culture.
Tips for Exploring Afro-Latino Communities in Latin America
So far, his series has aired in Costa Rica and Colombia. She introduced viewers to music festivals named after Afro artists, introduced viewers to the sisters of Costa Rica's first black vice president, and much more. Haas also organizes group trips to showcase the contributions of Afro-Latino communities.
“It’s important to explore Afro-Latino culture because we have so much in common. There’s so much in common that you can find yourself in so many people,” Haas says. “Some of the things that these communities have experienced in terms of fighting for economic rights, visibility, discrimination (…) we have a lot of these experiences in common. We need to know this culture and this history and share it with each other.
Haas says it's the best way to engage with local Afro communities while traveling Latin America is to reach out to black communities in the area, rely on community members to point you in the right direction and even reach out to people in your own community back home who could help you.
“I think a lot of times they are happy to have visits and want to learn. I don't want to speak for these communities, but people have told me about their feelings of invisibility. Only recently have Afro-Latino communities started to be recognized by their communities,” Haas adds.
