TikToker Tally Dilbert shines light on underrepresentation of Afro-Latinos in Hispanic communities
Tally Dilbert (@tally.dilbert) and her family moved to the United States in 2016 from their hometown of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Dilbert was 19 years old when she came to the country and quickly began attending college at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).
As a native Honduran, there were several things she had to adjust to, especially in a college setting. Dilbert didn’t know the slang, the dances or many of the popular songs played at parties.
“I was like, ‘Oh, God, I want to go home. I feel so left out. Like, why does everybody know the lyrics?” she told In The Know by Yahoo.
Yet aside from learning the lyrics to Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares” or how to dance to Yung Nation’s “Work Work Don’t Stop,” Dilbert’s biggest adjustment came from the people around her not understanding that she was from a Latin American country, spoke Spanish and grew up in a Hispanic culture — while also being Black.
Dilbert is Afro-Latino, which is a subsection of Latinx and Hispanic people who are also Black. Out of all Latin American countries, Afro-Latinos are the majority in only two: Cuba and the Dominican Republic. There are other countries and territories in which Afro-Latinos make up a significant majority, but in many cases, they are significant minorities.
Since 2020, Dilbert has used her platform on TikTok to create awareness about Afro-Latinos, especially after several instances of having to explain her identity to people.
“I would have moments where, say I went to the grocery store and I’m speaking Spanish with my siblings or something. People will literally stop us and be like, ‘Oh my gosh, how did you learn Spanish?’ And I’ll be like, ‘We’re Hispanic,’” she said. “A lot of people didn’t know that. So it was just something that I had to share.”
In her videos on TikTok, Dilbert discusses how Afro-Latinos can sometimes be made to feel as if they aren’t Hispanic enough because they are Black or don’t speak the language.
“Happy Hispanic Heritage month to all the girlies who have not felt Latina enough, the people who don’t speak Spanish,” she says. “You are also worthy of celebrating this month because it’s your culture.”
In 2022, 6 million adults identified as Afro-Latino in the United States. However, Dilbert feels that this number is the source of one of the United States’s biggest misconceptions about Afro-Latinos — which is that they don’t exist.
“People are not aware of our culture as much, and they don’t know better. It’s not much for them to even think about,” she said. “I met people that thought that Black people only lived in the U.S. And I was like, ‘Wow, y’all need to read.’”
There are a few instances of Afro-Latinos stepping into the mainstream limelight. In 2017, Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse featured the character Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), an Afro-Latino teenager who is half Black and Puerto Rican that resonated with many viewers.
“For some children, their first image of Spider-Man will be of a Black and Puerto Rican teen who saves the world — and even alternate universes — in a hoodie and limited edition kicks,” Jada Gomez wrote for Bustle in 2018.
Although Dilbert has gripes about the way Afro-Latinos are treated in the United States, she doesn’t think things are significantly better in Latin America.
“People don’t take us seriously. I just feel like we’re the butt of the joke all the time,” she said. “People don’t respect us like they should.”
Dilbert also mentioned that she’s seen people in Honduras take pictures with random Black children, treating them as a novelty and using those photos to post on social media.
“They would go to the beach and they come back and I see their Instagram and they have pictures with Black kids,” she said.
Instances like that are why Dilbert feels as if she has to advocate for Afro-Latinos whenever she can.
“I just love everything about it and that’s why I don’t shut up about it,” she said. “I’ll talk about it until I die. …I’m going to sound like a broken record, because why not?”
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