Puerto Rican amplifies Afro-Latino voices
Gloriann Sacha Antonetty Lebrón’s desire to create was homegrown.
The multihyphenate launched Revista Étnica, the first publication in Puerto Rico dedicated to amplifying the voices and stories of Afro-Latino people across identity, intersectionality and generation.
The magazine, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in December, is her way of paying tribute to the community she grew up in.
Antonetty Lebrón never encountered the beauty she saw in the women of her family, her friends and herself in the magazines available to her. She made her dreams a reality by drawing inspiration from the explosion of creativity she witnessed in the ’90s, in which Black people were making things of beauty across music and television.
She says it’s been gratifying to have the opportunity to create a platform dedicated to “capturing the essence and memory of a Black community” by way of words, images, music and stories in the face of racism.
Antonetty Lebrón is the USA TODAY Woman of the Year for Puerto Rico. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Question: Who paved the way for you?
Answer: My path was carved by those who came before me, my first line of family members. Many of them, like my father, are now ancestors and those that remain, like my mother, provide a pillar of strength and support. She is the first to hear my ideas, easily extending her full support. I also have the fortune of relying on blood sisters and found sisters who are there, holding me up.
My work team, made up of strong Black women and people, show up every day. They have believed in the vision of Étnica since the beginning, creating and promoting work that supports our continued efforts to showcase our movement on our platform.
I have had the ability to count on elders, people who serve as my guides and my mentors. I have to recognize my godfather, who I regularly consult for all work-related projects.
What is your proudest moment? There have been many moments … so many moments. But most recently, we (Revista Étnica) celebrated our fifth anniversary. We threw a party because we love to party. We threw ourselves a ball, dressing like belles, elegantly in black and white. We danced, we ate, we embraced and greeted one another.
I would say that the creation of the environment, at the party, was a source of great pride – recognizing that we are reclaiming our joy, radical joy, as Black people on a consistent basis. And ultimately understanding that, obviously, we need time to create as much as need time to rest and celebrate. It was very beautiful. And now we want to throw a party like the one we had every year.
Is there a guiding principle or mantra you tell yourself ?
I use a few that are almost like my signature, used to close conversations and even appear in my emails. Signing off with “grateful” is a way to present constant gratitude for what’s to come, whether good or bad. The other one is “We continue. We continue to celebrate, we continue to heal and we continue to work towards the future,” giving me the strength to believe that we continue and will continue on.
How do you define courage?
I believe that courage, for me, is arriving at moments of great vulnerability and recognizing that we can overcome the challenges that lay ahead of us. It's coming to a point of major vulnerability and finding the strength to continue on in the face of adversity is how I define courage. You can’t be courageous without vulnerability and without fear.
What piece of advice would you give your younger self ?
To a younger Gloriann, I would say, “Listen to your intuition more. Do not allow people, in the moment, to extinguish your dream and visions.” I would also tell her to pursue, return to and continue to do what makes her happy.