NICH is Belize’s premier cultural institution dedicated to the safeguarding, promotion, expression, conservation and sustainable development of culture in all its diversity in collaboration with the people of Belize.
The National Kriol Council (NKC) in Belize is a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting, preserving, and developing the Kriol culture and language, focusing on the social, cultural, and economic advancement of the Kriol population in Belize through education and unity; essentially acting as a champion for the Belizean Creole community and its heritage.
Vielka Cecilia Hoy's "Negotiating among Invisibilities" (The Afro-Latin@ Reader, 2009) reflects on the lived experience of being Afro-Latina—of Nicaraguan and Panamanian descent—within racial and ethnic frameworks that often render Black Central Americans invisible. Drawing from family memory, diaspora theory, and personal narrative, Hoy examines the complexities of Afro-Latinx identity formation in California, where Latinidad is often defined through Mexicentric and non-Black paradigms. Through scenes of community gatherings, census debates, and classroom encounters, she explores how Black Central Americans negotiate U.S. racial logics, nationalist ideologies from their countries of origin, and the erasure of Afro-Latinidades in both.
Launched in 2010, the NEGRO docu-series examines the African Diaspora, colonization, the casta system, and the racist foundations of Latinidad. Through historical analysis and interviews with Afro-Latinx individuals, it unpacks how colonial legacies continue to shape race, class, gender, and colorism across Latin America and its diaspora.
The Network of Afro-Latin American, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women is a space for the articulation and empowerment of Afro-descendant women for the construction and recognition of democratic, equitable, just, multicultural societies, free of racism, racial discrimination, sexism and exclusion, and promotion of interculturality.
Idalia Wilmoth's "Neva Fah Get Home" (PhD diss., Indiana University, 2023) examines how Black Roatánins construct and negotiate their racial and cultural identities within the historical and geographic context of Honduras and the broader diaspora. Centering a population often overlooked in Afro-Latin American and Africana Studies, Wilmoth uses narrative inquiry, podcasting, and interviews to explore how first- and second-generation Roatánins experience race, nationalism, and displacement, particularly as their identities are reshaped through migration to the United States. Grounded in Black geography, the dissertation identifies themes such as cultural memory, spatial belonging, triple consciousness, and the enduring impact of colonialism on Black identity formation in the Bay Islands.
Nydia Taylor (b. 1953, Corn Island) is a patchwork artist, poet, community organizer, and sociologist whose arpilleras (textile artworks) vividly depict the everyday lives, labor, and care practices of Black women on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast. Raised by her grandmother, Taylor learned to sew and crochet in childhood, skills that would become central to her artistic and political vision. Her life has encompassed revolutionary activism, feminist leadership, and cultural work, including organizing women’s groups on Corn Island and serving as the island’s political secretary during the Sandinista era. Taylor’s arpilleras foreground scenes of communal care, domestic life, and regional autonomy, offering an Afro-Mosquitian feminist vision rooted in embodied survival and historical memory. She is also the author of Mangoes in the Morning (2019), a bilingual children’s book illustrated with her own patchwork and based on her childhood on Corn Island.
Hugo Sujo Wilson's Oral History of Bluefields (Managua: CIDCA-UCA, 1998) is a bilingual collection of oral testimonies that traces the rich and complex history of Bluefields, Nicaragua. Through the voices of its residents, the book explores the city’s origins, early inhabitants, pirate legends, and architectural heritage, as well as everyday life, dress, recreation, and popular beliefs. It also delves into key historical moments—including the presence of U.S. Marines, Sandino’s influence, and the 1926 revolution—while documenting community institutions like the UNIA and local lodges. With reflections on race relations, migration, folk medicine, and cultural practices, this volume offers an invaluable portrait of life on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast.
ODECO focuses on the development and empowerment of Afro-Honduran communities. They work towards social justice, economic development, and the promotion of cultural heritage. ODECO has been active in advocating for the rights of Afro-Honduran youth and has called for greater political participation and representation.
