Yvette Modestin (Photo: Margarita Persico)

By Margarita Persico

Yvette Modestin remembers the feeling of isolation that came from claiming two cultures but being embraced by none.

Modestin came to Boston from her native Panama in the fall of 1986 to attend Emmanuel College, where she would pursue a degree in psychology. When she got here, she encountered something she never experienced back home — trouble fitting in.

Some Latinas she met didn’t acknowledge her presence because her skin was too dark.

“Pero tú eres negra,” she said the girls would tell her in Spanish. “But you are black.”

And even though her dark tone was closer to the blacks she encountered, they didn’t welcome her either, because she spoke Spanish.

Other people of dual African and Latin descent, or “Afro Latinos,” who have endured similar experiences in the U.S. have “decided to only live a black life,” according to Modestin. But she did not want to choose one aspect of herself over another, and she could not tolerate the racial injustice any more. So she decided to do something about it.

“My journey has changed,” Modestin says. “It started because of my own pain.”

(Photo courtesy of Yvette Modestin.)

Yvette Modestin remembers the feeling of isolation that came from claiming two cultures but being embraced by none.

Modestin came to Boston from her native Panama in the fall of 1986 to attend Emmanuel College, where she would pursue a degree in psychology. When she got here, she encountered something she never experienced back home — trouble fitting in.

Some Latinas she met didn’t acknowledge her presence because her skin was too dark.

“Pero tú eres negra,” she said the girls would tell her in Spanish. “But you are black.”

When Yvette Modestin came to Boston from her native Panama in the fall of 1986, she encountered something she never experienced at home — trouble fitting in. Some of the Latinas she met didn’t like her because her skin was too dark. Some of the black people didn’t like her because she spoke Spanish. Her journey of self-discovery and acceptance led her to found an organization that helps other young Afro Latina girls to “see their own strength” and beauty. (Photo courtesy of Yvette Modestin)

Modestin (right) and poet, veteran and activist Askia M. Touré pose for a photo. Through her organization Encuentro Diaspora Afro (“Gathering the African Diaspora” in Spanish), Modestin works to provide young Afro Latinas a space to explore their dual African and Latin heritage, discuss issues like racism, history and body image, and perhaps most important, learn how to relate to each other. (Margarita Persico photo)