Title: What is Latinx — Latinx Activists
Headings: Why Is the Term "Latinx" So Important?
Why Is the Term "Latinx" So Important?
Four Latinx activists talk about community, identity, pain, and unity.
What does Latinx mean to you?
I define Latinx, broadly, as anyone with a familial, cultural connection to Latin America.
What conversations are being had among the Latinx community?
What topics need to be addressed and dealt with among Latinxs?
The shooting at Pulse placed the Latinx community at the center of current affairs conversations. How did you feel about the shooting?
How do we strengthen solidarity between black people and Latinxs?
We also need to realize that black and Latinx aren't mutually exclusive categories.
Lighter-skinned Latinos get treated differently than dark-skinned Latinos, by non-Latinos and Latinos ourselves. We've seen this colorism affect Afro-Latinos the most. What are your views on colorism within the Latinx community?
How do we as Latin Americans continue to unify?

Content: It's very open to interpretation, as is the Latinx identity. Ultimately, we come under this umbrella of a community that I feel is really interested in justice. The term wouldn't exist if it weren't for an invested interest in justice. It was born out of the idea of dismantling patriarchy. It was born out of the idea that we are going to start tackling gender roles and tackling oppressive structure. Bianca Laureano: People, especially women, non-conforming people, and trans people, felt the term "Latin@" was excluding them. [ The] Romance languages are rooted in gender narrative, so using the "x" includes queers in the language. It's about inclusivity. It's about broadening the language, and reminds us that language has limitations, usually rooted in isolating the most vulnerable people in our communities.