Natalia Barrera Francis, 26 years old, born and raised in the Breña neighborhood, near the historic center of the capital of , has become a reference for a generation of young people in her country who debate and dialogue about . “I am a publicist and content creator on social networks. I have worked as a model since I was 15 years old and I am also a cultural manager of ”, explains Barrera in a cafe in Lima where she had her first “job” or job, when she was 18 years old. All her work is crossed by feminist and anti-racist activism in a country where . “I cannot do anti-racism without promoting feminism, and I cannot carry out these struggles without focusing on where everything originated, where the first great wound was created,” she adds.
The first great wound that the young woman of African descent speaks about is the colonization of Peru, which began in the mid-16th century. The arrival of the Spanish to the territory of the Inca Empire not only meant the subjugation of indigenous peoples, but also the transfer of enslaved people from Africa to exploit them as day laborers or domestic workers. At the end of the 16th century there were about 4,000 Africans, a number that increased to 20,000 in the mid-17th century. That story is fundamental to Barrera’s work on social networks and in local organizations. “We cannot continue explaining what these struggles mean, without talking about the , because the past and the present are closely linked,” he says in this cafe in the Miraflores neighborhood, adding that one cannot “think about decolonizing without ‘depatriarchalizing’.”
In creativity we find new forms of resistance
His talent and activism on social networks, especially with the project (an anti-racist audiovisual medium created by her in 2016), attracted the attention of the producers of AJ+ Spanishthe digital version in Spanish of the media conglomerate Al Jazeera Media Network. In 2019, she was hired to host Decolonizea documentary series that has had an impact in the Latin American region. This is an audiovisual project of eleven episodes recorded in seven countries in the region (Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Mexico) where Natalia interviews people who question concepts, ideologies and ways of seeing the world imposed from outside. Latin American figures such as, Argentine and indigenous Mapuche social leader; Emerson Uýra, artist and scientist from the Brazilian Amazon; , the first transgender representative of the São Paulo Assembly and , Puerto Rican singer, They spoke with the Peruvian presenter about other possible paths for the continent, built through collective work. “In creativity we find new forms of resistance,” highlights Barrera.
Decolonizing, in the end, means questioning what has been assumed to be correct based on the knowledge and practices of the colonizing countries. “For example, in the first season we touched on the topic of beauty and how it is necessary to reflect in depth on who has established the standards to measure it. We have also talked about the decolonization of feminism to question white hegemony in the movement,” explains Barrera.
Rescuing the living experience of all our ancestors is an exercise in decolonizing minds and recovering our identities that have contributed so much to the nation project of this country.
The young woman emphasizes that the place she occupies today is the result of a collective effort of generations. She is the youngest of three daughters of a hospital assistant, originally from Breña, and a taxi driver, from Collique, on the outskirts of Lima, who have represented for her an example of effort and resistance. They taught him what it means to be Afro in Peru and about the “hits” of racism he would receive in life. “I don’t arrive alone, the face I have is the face of my parents, the reflection of my sisters, genetics and knowledge that represent who we are at an ancestral level,” she comments.
For the second season of Decolonizewhich will be released in March 2025, the Lima activist has had to go live in Mexico for a while. The series will now explore the plundering of natural resources, the struggles of the territories and will feature “very powerful voices and stories of all ages,” emphasizes Barrera, who is confident that it will be as successful as the first season. “Today, with quick formats, we want to capture people so that they can understand social struggles with reels o TikToks”, explains. “But the bet of Decolonize It is different, more human, deeper, from identities, bodies and own experiences,” he describes.
Barrera does not believe that the “decolonizing awakening” of some Latin American countries is a fashion among young people, as he has heard people say. “It is important that this is talked about, that the conversation has left the academies and that the movements, the groups and especially the young people take ownership of this word and the change of vision it represents. This issue is here to stay and other people’s time telling our stories is over,” he says. In December, Peru celebrated the bicentennial of independence, which was achieved with the battle of Ayacucho in 1824. But, 30 years had to pass before, in 1854, slavery was finally abolished in the nascent republic and, in the 21st century , activisms like Barrera’s continue the Afro-Peruvian struggle for their rights. “Rescuing the living experience of all our ancestors is an exercise in decolonizing minds and recovering our identities that have contributed so much to the nation project of this country,” he concludes.
