Traveling Abroad is a Good Thing for Black American Men! 8/16/2022

I remember leaving the country for the first time in my life at age 24. I participated in a student travel abroad program while a graduate student at Grambling State University in December of 1994. We went to Mexico to live with host families and attended college classes in Saltillo for about three weeks. During the fourth and final week of our visit to Mexico, we spent a couple of days in Mexico City where we toured the city’s landmarks and government offices. It was in Mexico City where I first began to notice darker skin toned Mexicans. I was like, “Wow, in the American media, only the white looking Mexicans are presented as being the only people of Mexico.” At the end of the second day, our group hopped onto a train late that night to travel six hours over night to the city of Acapulco which is in the state of Guerrero.

When we arrived in Acapulco, I was like, “Gyattt damn! Look at all of these curly head, froed out, dark skinned people in this city speaking straight Spanish. I was awestruck to say the least. Yes. The southern part of Mexico is definitely where it’s at if you are black and want to see your reflection. However, I’ve learned over the years that Africans were dropped off in countries and islands all over the Caribbean. I have not traveled out of the country very much over past 26 years with exceptions of a trip to Cancun that I took about five years ago and a trip to Jamaica that I took three years ago as a gift to myself for my 50th birthday. However, I do plan to do better. Wherever I travel to in the future, I will definitely make my way to the black side of that country or Caribbean Island.

I hope to run across another cutie like Maria whom I met on the beach and Isabel whom I also met briefly at one of the restaurants on the beach (she’s in the standing photo) while in Acapulco all those years ago. I really wished that I could have extended my stay after having met those two beautiful, feminine, sweet, chocolate smooth skinned young senoritas, mainly Maria. Being there those two days brought out feelings of peace and tranquillity. In the hour and a half that I spent with Maria on the beach just vibing with the little Spanish I knew, I was thinking, “Damn, I need to move here or somehow sneak her back to Grambling in my luggage!” Yes. It was like that.


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