Caribeños

"Caribeños," a personal project that explores migration, xenophobia, and racism in Chile through my history and connections with other people from the Caribbean who live in this southern territory.

"My home is my dad, the hustle and bustle of Luyano, the place where I was born," Mimy says when I ask her where her home is.

I understand her feelings, my home doesn't have walls either. It is the living memory of my grandmother Josefa, a black woman who, decades ago, abandoned her life in the Dominican Republic to emigrate to Venezuela. It is also a sea with a demonym: the Caribbean.

Mimy and I are Caribbean, living in Chile; she is Cuban, and I am Venezuelan. Together with Wiki, Martina, and Matanaki, we are part of the almost one-and-a-half million migrants in this country by December 2021.

Migration, especially from Caribbean countries such as Venezuela, Haiti, and

Colombia has experienced a notable increase in recent decades, contributing cultural wealth and diversity to Chile. However, insufficient immigration policies have exacerbated racism and xenophobia in a country that still underestimates its indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant communities.

On social media, the term "caribeños" has been used pejoratively to refer to migrants from this region. But how can something that fills us with pride be an insult?

"Caribeños" is recognizing myself in the migrant and black history of my grandmother, and it is also a search in others for the ties we share. Resignify the word that defines us and claim dignity in the diversity of our bodies and memories as we face the racism and xenophobia of this southern territory that we inhabit.