National Black L.U.V. Festival Embraces Hispanic Heritage Month
Posted on VidaAfroLatina.com on September 15, 2008

Latinos and other people of African descent have a shared history. From Africans’ introductions into the new world of slavery and colonization and the destruction of much of our indigenous culture and history, all the way up to modern times with the mutual formation of hip hop, our stories have overlapped.

We comprise nearly the entire prison population in some areas, lead in every social ill category, live in the same poor, but gentrifying neighborhoods, enjoy various aspects of each other’s music and culture yet look upon each other with contempt, completely different and foreign. Our ignorance has contributed to our common oppression and blinded us to the true value of Black and Brown unity. This has allowed our shared history and the very existence of Afro-Latinos to be largely ignored.

No longer. The National Black L.U.V. Festival is a free, one-day, multicultural event that uses cultural arts as a vehicle to inform and enlighten communities of color in Washington, D.C. For the first time since its inception in 1997, the Festival will focus on the history of Afro-Latino culture in the Americas. It will take place during Hispanic History Month, on Sept. 21, at 4 St. and Pennsylvania Ave. in Northwest D.C.

The National Black L.U.V. (Love, Unity and Vision) Festival was established by artists devoted to social change and upliftment in D.C.’s historic U Street community. With escalating violence and rising cases of HIV/AIDS disproportionally affecting both the Black and Latino communities, it is the mission of the National Black L.U.V. Festival (NBLF) to serve as a common platform to highlight these inequities and launch initiatives to address them. As the largest annual AIDS mobilization in the nation’s capital, we also feature Stop The Violence Music Award presentations to deserving, nationally recognized artists.

The greatest communicators on the planet are music and art. One only needs to hear and see the carnivals in Brazil and Columbia to know that the separation of our cultures is a fallacy. NBLF believes that art and education not only compliment each other, they go hand in hand.

It is from this position of empowerment and world community awareness that we intend to share our spot light with Afro-Latino heroes in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month. We intend to do this not only by words, but by actions. Former congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, along with her Afro-Puerto Rican running mate Rosa Clemente, a hip hop activist, will speak truth to power from our Black and Brown solidarity stage.

In addition, every embassy of a Latin American country with a significant African population will be invited to participate in what D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has officially proclaimed as Black L.U.V. Day. Latino bands are scheduled to perform, art exhibits exemplifying our commonality will be displayed, little known facts of Afro-Latino culture will be featured and much more.

NBLF is known for making bold statements and for making festival-goers more conscious about their surroundings and communities. This year’s theme is A.C.T. On the Red, Black and Green! A.C.T. stands for Accountability for your health, Change in our community and Take Control of your environment. All three are necessary to create an enlightened and informed community of solidarity.


Papi Kymone Freeman, writer of the Larry Neal Award-winning play “Prison Poetry,” is the founder and director of the National Black L.U.V. Festival. Freeman can be reached at kymone@Blackluvfest.info.