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Photo: Unsplash/ Steven Van By Sofía Aguilar February 07, 2025 – 11:00 Black History Month is celebrated every February as an opportunity to center and spotlight the contributions, history, and culture of Black communities. Afro-Latinxs are often ignored and excluded when it comes to celebrating Latinx history, art, culture, and identity. The community faces different levels of oppression, marginalization, and erasure, often at the hands of other Latinx community members. That’s why we wanted to put together this list of documentaries about various Afro-Latinx documentaries across the LATAM diaspora. Because when we know our own history, the better we can be about fighting for change across society and politics. This is not an exhaustive list but is a select round-up of Afro-Latinx-centered documentaries centered on Black culture, experiences, and history. Read on to learn more about 17 documentaries about Afro-Latin American history to stream this Black History Month and all year round. Black in Latin America (2011) Black in Latin America is a documentary series based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Henry Louis Gates Jr. In each episode, he demonstrates the history that caused the cultural collision between Africa and Europe, and later Latin America and the Caribbean. Focusing on Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru, viewers get a rich survey of the region and an insight into the life and stories of Latin Americans of African descent. Stay connected! Subscribe now and get the latest on culture, empowerment, and more. SIGN ME UP! This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and Google Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service . Thank You! You are already subscribed to our newsletter Black in Latin America is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube. Sugar Cane Malice (2021) Sugar Cane Malice is a groundbreaking documentary that reveals the historical and current horrific conditions of Haitian workers on a sugar cane plantation in the Dominican Republic, one of the largest in the world. Owned by the powerful American Fanjul family, the plantation not only requires workers to cut and plant cane for hours and for a low wage, but also to live in a basic barrack without electricity, clean drinking water, sanitary services, or civil rights. Viewers learn the stories of several workers on the plantation, the modern slavery they are forced to endure, and how they hope to fight back. Sugar Cane Malice is available to watch on Kweli.tv. Tango Negro, The African Roots of Tango (2013) Tango Negro is a documentary that reveals the deep historical ties between traditional African music and the tango which is said to have originated in brothels in Buenos Aires. With musical performances and interviews with locals, musicians, and scholars, the film gives credit to the rarely acknowleged history of tango as an invention by slaves who were taken to South America, including Argentina and Uruguay, and who wanted to maintain a sense of culture and dignity through dance and music. The Invisible Color: Black Cubans in Miami (2017) Directed by Cuban writer and director Sergio Giral, considered the Father of Afro-Cuban Cinema , The Invisible Color centers on the Black Cuban exile community in South Florida, who fled the island as political refugees in 1959. Discussing the revolutionary aftermath and the community’s presence in the state, the documentary celebrates their contributions to local Miami culture through verbal testimonies and visual documentation. The Invisible Color is available to watch on Vimeo. Negrita (2023) Negrita is a documentary film that explores the prejudice and assumptions that people hold about Afro-Latinas in the U.S. Told through the eyes of one Afro-Latina, a self-described negrita named Magdalena Albizu, the film highlights the conscious and unconscious anti-Black attitudes in the U.S. and Latin America, othering Black communities as undesirable. Using family picture, childhood videos, and interviews, Albizu demonstrates how her story is one of many throughout the Black and Latinx community in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Honduras, and Panama in order to accept and celebrate themselves as both Black and Afro-Latina. Afrolatinos: The Untaught Story (2020) Afrolatinos is a documentary series that focuses on the history and culture of Black Latin Americans throughout Central and South America. Despite the fact that there are 200 million Afro-Latinos in the region, the show demonstrates their lack of political and economic power and the need for deep, revolutionary social change. The documentary features interviewees from both Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries including Brazil and Cuba. Afrolatinos is available to watch on Vimeo. Negro (2010) Negro began as a film project in 2010 and has since become a groundbreaking look at identity, colonization, colorism, and racism experienced by the Black communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through interviews, class and color complex are placed front and center in order to tackle long-held harmful attitudes surrounding race, color, self-identification, and social interaction. Negro is available to watch on YouTube. Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories (2000) Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories follows the history and everyday lives of a single Afro-Cuban-American family, who immigrated from Jamaica to Cuba and finally, to the Bronx. Showing a racially and ideologically different Cuban American experience than is often highlighted, the documentary reveals the family’s growing political awareness, efforts to stay safe from city dangers, and journey towards embracing their Afro-Latinidad. It also tackles issues of immigration, race, class, and diaspora that have historically excluded Black and Afro-Latino experiences. Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories is available to watch on Kanopy. Jamaica and Tamarindo: Afro Tradition in the Heart of Mexico (2019) Jamaica and Tamarindo is a must-watch for food lovers, especially those of us who love the jamaica agua fresca and tamarind candy. Though celebrated as iconic ingredients in Mexican cuisine, their history as traditional African flavors are often forgotten. Through interviews with five key Black Latinos, this documentary shows the long history of African heritage in Mexico City that has yet to be acknowledged or celebrated by the racial and ethnic majority. Jamaica and Tamarindo is available to watch on Kanopy. Cimarrón Spirit (2015) Set in the Dominican Republic, Cimarrón Spirit showcases the little-known communities of “cimarrones,” meaning “maroons,” a term for independent communities of African slaves who escaped from Spanish plantations as early as 1512 and survived for centuries, either living with the Indigenous Taíno people or on their own in the remote jungles of Hispaniola. Isolated from mainstream Dominican society, they have become resilient and resourceful, developing a vibrant culture including celebrations that mock the society that enslaved and branded them. Traveling from Elias Pina to Barahona, the filmmakers showcase their many traditions including the ritualistic fire burning of the masks and costumes of important religious figures. Ultimately, it’s a moving story of power, community, and resilience. Cimarrón Spirit is available to watch on Vimeo. On Our Land: Being Garifuna in Honduras (2012) On Our Land is an important documentary that explores the lives of the Indigenous Garifuna people in Honduras. It highlights the many historical, cultural, social, and transnational struggles they have faced and continue to face throughout Central America, including lack of acknowledgement or support from the national government. Upon its release in 2012, it received an honorable mention at the Bronze Lens Film Festival. On Our Land is available to watch on Vimeo. Life Between Borders: Black Migrants in Mexico (2017) Life Between Borders is a 15-minute documentary that features Black Haitians who were stuck or left stranded at the U.S.-Mexico border wall and Africans in Mexico City. The film shows the long history of Black migration to Mexico and the communities who have lived on the land for centuries since the time of slavery. Ultimately, this is a significant and critical look at the Mexican immigration crisis through the perspective of Black communities, migration, and identity. Life Between Orders is available to watch on Vimeo. Afro-Latinx Revolution: Puerto Rico (2020) Afro-Latinx Revolution is a documentary that explores the lives of Afro-Latino communities and families living on the island and U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Exploring culture, history, government, music, dance, family, and queer identity, this is a must-watch for anyone wanting to learn about diverse Latinx experiences. It is available to view in English and Spanish. Afro-Latinx Revolution: Puerto Rico is available to watch on YouTube. Afro Argentines (2021) Afro Argentines tackles the inherent anti-Black and anti-Indigenous attitudes of many in Argentina, including those who are of Black and/or Indigenous descent. It highlights the lesser-known history of forced African migration to Argentina by slaves and the attempted erasure of Afro-Latinos in modern day. They are often treated as foreigners, despite often being born and raised in the country. It also touches on Argentina’s larger history of music and dance, as influenced by African cultures. Afro Argentines is available to watch on YouTube. The Garifuna Journey (1998) The Garifuna Journey is another documentary to watch about the Garifuna people, who have faced and continue to live with the trauma of genocide, exile, and persecution. Descendants of African and Indigenous people from the Caribbean, the film shows how they fought to keep their land on the island of St. Vincent, resisted slavery, and were ultimately exiled to Roatan in Honduras by British forces in 1797 as punishment for their uprising. Through first-person accounts and interviews, the documentary uplifts and celebrates traditional Garifuna history, language, food, music, dance, and spirituality, including activities such as fishing, cooking, dancing, cassava preparation, thatching a temple, spiritual ritual, and ritual music. This is an overlooked but critical examination of the connections between Garifuna and African Caribbean history. The Garifuna Journey is available to watch on Vimeo. Zest for Life: Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz (2012) Zest for Life is an exploration of Afro-Peruvian performance arts and its influence on modern Latin jazz. Through interviews and videos of traditional stage performances in Peru, this is a hugely important educational resource to learn about Afro-Peruvian communities and the links they share with African Americans in the U.S. Zest for Life is available to watch on Vimeo. Play Jankunú Play (2006) Play Jankunú Play is yet another essential documentary about the Garifuna, known for their presence throughout Central America as people of West African and indigenous descent. This film focuses on one of their rituals known as wanaragua, a three-fold system of masked Christmas processionals called Jankunú. Blending African, European, Arawak, and Carib influences, this is a beautiful tradition that expresses social and cultural identity through music, dance, and costume. Play Jankunu Play is available to watch on Kanopy. In this Article afro-latino history afro-latinx history Black History Month documentaries documentary Featured More on this topic Culture Ashley K. 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