Dreams travel far and wide for the brown community of Latin descent and the lack of representation in the media causes some of those dreams to fall flat, and go unheard. But not anymore.
José Tenoch Huerta Mejía – or simply Tenoch Huerta as he likes to go by – has grown in popularity in recent months because of his prominent role in the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
A Mexican native of Mesoamerican descent with dark brown skin, he stole many a scene in the film as he represented those who look like him. His character, the Mesoamerican god Namor, and his role to protect his people and culture was something few Latin folks had ever seen on the big screen. Especially since he was accompanied by a fully immersive Latin cast. The film and his character paid authentic homage to the ancient Mexican and Mesoamerican cultures, the Spanish and Yucatec Mayan languages, and especial highlightedo the discrimination and slavery Central American people faced in history.
Huerta’s role in the blockbuster Marvel Studio film franchise has not only stolen the hearts and the passion of the brown community, but also big name companies and has earned him awards. He landed the cover of Rolling Stone magazine’s español edition, an appearance on Saturday Night Live, and has given interview after interview. Huerta won an NAACP Image Award in February and also received support for an Academy Award nomination for his performance (he wasn’t nominated).
But one thing that people didn’t know is that Huerta has been fighting the same battle he fought in that film, outside of the fantasy world for a long time with books, YouTube channels, TED Talks and more.
What Representation Means Closer to Home
On a special Thursday evening, I walked into the movie theater in Reno with a group of cousins – all of us of Salvadoran or half Mexican/Salvadoran descent – to watch the film and we were left astounded.
You may think it was because of how great the movie was, or how terrible it must have been, or how expensive the smallest bag of popcorn was.
Surprisingly, no. As I sat on the soft, cloud-like leather seats – that I religiously sit at for my favorite movie premiers – I expected nothing less or nothing more than the usual happiness or dissatisfaction I get from a film. I went in with no sort of expectation or prior knowledge as to what the possible plot might have been, and I am so glad that I did.
No other movie has made me feel the insurmountable joy and surprise I felt once I walked out of the pitch-black theater, into the brightly-lit hallway, resembling how my outlook on life itself transformed in that very moment. I went in with my same old mentality but walked out forever changed. It was as if the warmest, most welcoming arms came down from heaven above and wrapped me in their embrace. Why may you ask? Because I was finally seen. I finally felt understood. I finally felt as if I belonged because of Huerta’s representation.
Credit: Louise Bisset/CC BY-SA 2.0
After digging deeper into Huerta’s life, he’s become a muse because I have found someone who has been fighting for me and people just like me for years. Someone who is still pushing and breaking down the walls of racism day-by-day with his passion and pride for his prieto being.
“Prieto” is a slang term Spanish-speakers use for people with brown skin. Many use it as a descriptive word but others use it in a discriminatory manner. Huerta, however, has used that word proudly. It’s even the title of his 2022 book Orgullo Prieto, which translates to Brown Pride. In the book, Huerta describes the prejudice he has faced due to his brown skin color in the movie industry, at the schools he attended and in the places he’s lived and the racism that exists, but is constantly denied within Mexico, and of course, Hollywood.
Along with his writing, Huerta has also used his previous university studies in journalism to create numerous YouTube videos for his channel “Versión Extendida con Tenoch Huerta.” There he goes into detail about bigotry and even about mental health, to fight against the hidden discrimination that sadly still persists. He and others research the history of Latin communities, the history of mental health and discrimination, and how it has all evolved with time. Their purpose is to raise awareness in Spanish-speaking communities and households that carry unhealed trauma due to predominant masculinity and subconscious racism in their own culture.
In February 2021, Huerta presented a TEDtalk where he addressed racialization and how races don’t exist but yet racism does.
His main point in all of this was to describe colorism: the prejudice against individuals of darker skin, typically amongst those of the same ethnic background. He ties this into the impact discrimination has had on modern day social classes and how it’s affected people of color to make the view themselves as inferior, unworthy, and as the villains or criminals they see themselves portrayed as in films and television shows. Huerta pushes back on these structures and utilizes his oratory skills to take this tough topic and turn it into the motivation people need to change how we think of ourselves.
Fueling Self-Love with Antiracism Activism
“Only the most broken people can be great leaders,” Huerta’s character says in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Huerta has taken advantage of every platform and outlet at his disposal to help folks feel represented on and off the silver screen. It makes sense that he accepted the role of Namor because in interviews about the character’s impact, he always brings up the Latin American community and specifically for brown-skinned people.
Huerta is fueled by the passion he has for antiracist activism and this has created a movement and a sense of pride within the community itself that has even overwhelmed him because of the responsibility he now feels to keep leading the movement.
“… brown-skinned people feel more attached [to] the character. That’s my perception, because a lot of messages are coming from social media and most of them are from brown-skinned people saying, ‘Hey, man, finally I feel proud of my color of skin. Finally, I can feel represented. Finally, I can see someone like me. He’s not just a superhero, he’s a person like me in a powerful role, in a powerful movie making this strong representation.”
Tenoch Huerta said in Rolling Stone in an interview On nov. 22, 2022.
To hear him speak about living through the challenges of discrimination and see him literally act against it in the limelight, has healed hidden trauma within me by showing me a way to overcome it.
Many people have now joined José Tenoch Huerta Mejía’s movement. They have more self-love for themselves and their skin color — including me.
Josue Ponce, a senior Spanish and English double major at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) contributed this article to Noticiero Móvil.
This commentary is part of the “Latinos in the Eyes of the Media” special series. In this section, Noticiero Móvil publishes pieces by UNR students that dive into films and television shows in which Latino characters, culture and norms are portrayed. The goal is to explore and illuminate how a lack of Latino representation in the media continues to promote some of the discriminatory and stereotypical practices that affect Latinos to this day in the U.S.