Credit: EbonyBailey.com

When Ebony Bailey was in the process of making “The Afro Mexpats,” she had one question in the back of her mind. How does she acknowledge the experience of African Americans wanting to move from the United States to Mexico, without participating in the behaviors of settlerism? 

Although African Americans sometimes have historically fled the U.S. because of anti-Black racism, ithe recent migration to Mexico has spurred conversations within the Black expat community about the role and responsibility of African Americans in Mexico. 

Her documentary film follows the lives of three African American women who sought refuge in Mexico, after the COVID-19 pandemic and global uprisings in response to the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and the complicated nature of their presence in the country, where Mexican nationals are organizing against the rising rents and higher prices caused by their presence. 

Bailey, of Blaxican, or Black and Mexican, heritage, who moved to Mexico in 2016 to complete her graduate studies at National Autonomous University of Mexico, has documented the lived experiences of People of the African Diaspora, throughout her filmography. 

“Life Between Borders: Black Migrants in Mexico,” her 2017 documentary film, highlighted the lives of Haitian migrants who were stuck at the U.S.-Mexico border. “Jamaica y Tamarindo: Afro Tradition in the Heart of Mexico,” her 2019 documentary film, focused on the lives, history, and heritage of Afro-Mexicans, and their challenges of not being seen as “Mexican enough”. 

Her latest film is the newest addition in a documentary trilogy that speaks to the ongoing conflict and battle that many African Americans face about wanting to leave their country of origin, due to ongoing political turmoil and debate. Bailey spoke to URL Media about the selection process of the documentary’s participants, the relationship between African Americans and Afro-Mexicans, and Black migration across the Americas. 

URL Media: I’m a multi-generational Texan. I have a lot of Afro Mexicans in my family, both living and dead, so I felt a tie to the film. One thing I admired is how the trio of Black women that you picked had a different perspective and viewpoint of what it means to be an Afro expat in Mexico.What drew you to them? Why did you want these three Black women to center the film? 

Ebony Bailey: I was looking for folks from two regions, the U.S.-Mexico border area and the capital city [of Mexico City], because those are two regions that I’ve lived in. Patricia [Ann Talley], the woman who lives in Guerrero, came up later. I started thinking of folks who represented my own experiences living in Mexico. That’s why Jené [ Etheridge] , who is Black, lives in Mexico City, and is a DJ, resonated with me. We met biking in Mexico City.

I was extremely interested in knowing about her experience as someone who has a similar background as me, a Black woman who went to Mexican to reconnect with her own roots, and found community there. 

With Kamara [Love], I was looking for someone who was at the border region. What intrigued me about Kamara was that she has a family in Mexico. Looking at that dynamic of what it’s like to have a family, living in another country, with some of your family on the other side of the border, and navigating that I thought was really interesting. She founded a group, Black Experience in Tijuana (BENTJ).I liked that kind of viewpoint of her being involved with the Black expat community in Tijuana. 

I knew Patricia for at least four years on Facebook. I lived in Mexico City for five years and, when I was in Mexico City, I got  involved with the Afro-Mexican community.

URL Media: Jené’s move to Mexico to get in touch with her Mexican heritage reminded me of the Year of Return, which was a campaign by the Ghanaian government to encourage African Americans and People of the African Diaspora to the continent, in response to 1619, the date where enslaved Africans were first brought to Jamestown, Virginia. There are elements of the film that are rooted in your own personal experience. Could you tell me what resulted in your move to Mexico?

Bailey: I moved to Mexico in 2016. I was living in Mexico City for five of those years. I studied abroad in Spain.  It was one of my first times out of the U.S.

I loved that experience of living outside of the US. After undergrad, I lived in Peru and did a photo internship at a non-profit organization. I had that bug very early on wanting to live outside of the U.S. I wanted to live somewhere that I have roots in, so Mexico kept popping up for me, in terms of somewhere that I wanted to live and experience and get to know more of my own cultural roots, even though my mom isn’t from Mexico City.

That’s where the curiosity of wanting to live in a place that I have roots in and wanting to know more of my Mexican heritage. I grew up in a predominantly Mexican American area in central California. I grew up with my mom’s side of the family.

I had this desire of wanting to get better with my Spanish. When I was younger, I had a big complex of wanting to prove to people that I spoke Spanish because a lot of folks didn’t see me as Mexican or my brother, the folks that looked like us.

In elementary and middle school, I felt a way but I was starting to kind of grow out of that belief of saying I’m Mexican too. I want to be seen, and be bullied for looking different, but at the same time identifying as Mexican too, but them not seeing me as Mexican and feeling bad about that. 

 I grew up with this internal battle of wanting to prove my Mexicanness to people and wanting to improve my Spanish. By the time I was actually looking into living in Mexico, that feeling faded. There’s always a little bit of that in there. 

Now, I’m completely firm in my identity and if someone doesn’t see me as Mexican, then that’s on them. That’s not on me. That’s kind of the reason why I wanted to be more immersed in my culture.

I was able to study at grad school in Mexico. I appreciated that because I feel like I’m someone who needs an external factor to make a move, so moving there by myself as a digital nomad, I don’t think was in the cards for me at that moment.

It was nice to have that structure, somewhere to go every day and getting to know more about the Mexican education system.

URL Media: The perspective of Patricia shines through the film. A lot of existing reporting on Mexico City has made note of the tension between Mexican nationals and digital nomads. There has been extensive reporting on the anti-gentrification protests in Mexico City, because of the uptick in rental properties. The film does an excellent job of balancing the reasons why African Americans have sought refuge in Mexico, while discussing their privileges as American citizens. In my opinion, Jené was a good example of the anxiety that African Americans feel of wanting to implement the ideals of settler colonialism, but also thinking of Mexico as a safe haven from the anti-Black violence of the United States?

Bailey: I made the film for Black Americans who are thinking about moving to Mexico and, including all of those different experiences in the film, 

It’s been really interesting for me to see different takes and reactions of the film, depending on who watches it. For example, a Black American versus a Mexican national who lives in Mexico. I think it’s important for them to watch it and be aware of these nuances and the impact that migration from the US generally, not even just black Americans, can have on the Mexican community and Mexican nationals. 

Be aware of where you make community and be cognizant of how you support locals. I tried to show that in the film or a little bit of that perspective. In the Black American groups that I’m in and the different kinds of WhatsApp groups that I’m in I feel like that black Americans are more cognizant of that in general. 

My deepest fear, when I was making the film, was I don’t want Black people to turn into settlers.

I don’t want us to repeat the same patterns that have been done to us. I had that statement in the back of my mind as I was making this film, acknowledging the real experiences of wanting to move from the US or move to another country as a safe haven.

URL Media: In the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a mass exodus of Americans, specifically African Americans, outside of the United States to countries such as Mexico, but also Thailand. I would like to hear from you about your perspective on this increase in Black migration patterns. 

Bailey: I understand wanting to leave the U.S., especially with everything going on in the US at the moment and historically that’s gone on in the US.I’m thinking about historic Black expat movements with James Baldwin and other folks.

I understand that. I get it. I’ve lived it. It’s really hard to be in the U.S., but  at the same time, I feel like there’s been  a historic narrative of it’s going to be better or racism is going to be better in other countries.

I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. It’s alluded to in the film but there’s always conversations going around social media and, and in collective spaces that anti-Blackness is global. I feel that the narrative of racism will be better in other countries. I think it comes from a lack of knowledge of the history of racism in said country.

There’s a level of privilege with being American citizens. We talk about in the film of [the privilege] we might not experience as much discrimination. For example, in Mexico, Black Americans might not experience discrimination at the same level as an Afro Mexican does. Or as a Black Colombian or a Black Haitian migrant does, because we do have the privilege of being American citizens in Mexico. 

There is an erasure of Afro Mexicans in the history of Mexico, in addition to the reporting, media, television and film that is about Mexico City. Because of that lack, I feel as if the average African Americans may not be familiar with their movements for justice.

Bailey: That’s why it was really important to me as we were developing the film to include Patricia. The last two films that I’ve done, one of them specifically focuses on the efforts of Afro-Mexicans, and the other one is about Black migrants. When I was thinking of this film, I was thinking, I don’t know if I can make a film about Blackness in Mexico without acknowledging Afro-Mexicans or, highlighting the Afro diasporic relationship between Black Americans and Afro-Mexicans.These connections do exist.

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