“How do we honor the Blackness within Latinidad? We don’t. Power doesn’t negotiate. That’s one. Power does not like to be shared. That’s two. And power is all consuming. — Dash Harris, Multimedia Producer, Filmmaker It’s no secret that Latinidad has a fraught relationship with Blackness. Black Panamanian Dash Harris says that after centuries of subjugation, a racial caste system called “pigmentocracy” (pdf) and government-led efforts to “lighten the race,” Black people have no space within a Latinx framework. “There has been no consideration for Black people,” Harris said. “We have been targeted and and relegated and categorized as a problem to be snuffed out.” In a recent essay for Refinery29, the activist created a compelling and cogent argument for why she refuses to honor Latinidad. In sum, Harris has no love for a culture that doesn’t love her—an unequivocally Black woman. “I came Black out the womb,” Harris said. “It wasn’t if, and, or but. That’s what it was... We are Black. We gon’ die Black.” In this episode of La Negritud, The Root chats with Dash Harris, a multimedia producer and director of docuseries, NEGRO, about why she will always center her Blackness. See the entire video above.