Commodifying Black Latinidad in US Film and Television

This article analyzes textual constructions of Black Latinidad and negotiations of ethnic and racial identity in the cultural commodification of Black Latina/o actors. It documents the ambivalent process of cultural commodification for producing polysemic texts of Black Latinidad that counter dominant constructions of Latinidad as "brown" and exists in tension with dominant understandings of US Black identity as static and unchanging. By expanding on research (Balaji, 2009; Saha, 2012; Watts & Orbe, 2002) that positions actors as willing participants in the production and distribution of themselves as commodities that may accumulate capital, this article situates cultural representations of Black Latinidad in mainstream film and television to articulate the conditions under which Black Latina/o actors gain value as commodities through the accumulation of racial capital.